death valley

Between the Badwater 135 last July and back-to-back century +’s on the bike the past two days, I am now quite well versed on the subject of pain and everything that goes with it. I’ve also become intimately familiar with the route from Furnace Creek to Lone Pine, so if anyone has ANY questions about it, I have a ton of worthless information in my brain to spew back at you.

Luckily, starting tomorrow I will be 100% focused on running (not sure I even want to see my bike for a while), so you won’t have to put up with me posting arguably off-topic stories about my biking adventures.

Greetings from the lovely DOW Villa Motel in the bustling metropolis of Lone Pine. My friends and I finished leg 1 of our Death Valley biking adventure in conditions that can only be described as MOLTEN. As "luck" would have it, Death Valley chose this weekend (of all weekends) to shatter an eleven year-old record high by more than 10 degrees. Doesn't Mother Nature know I need it to be cold????

My two friends and I drove to Death Valley yesterday (hence, no blog entry) and started our ride this morning at 7am. Without going in to TOO much detail, because I realize this is a RUNNING forum, the first 24 miles were mainly rolling hills with a high and low elevation of 5 and negative 280. The next 18 miles were straight up - gaining just under 5,000 feet - to the top of Townes Pass (see picture). We then descended 9 miles (losing 3,200 feet) feet and then immediately began a 20 mile 3,200 foot climb to the Darwin Road turnoff. The next 10 miles were downhill (dropping 1,300 feet) and the final 30 some odd miles were rolling.. The temperature in Death Valley when we started our climb out of it at mile 24 was 105.. that was in the shade. By mile 70, it was down to around 90.

Following a fantastic week of running last week, I scaled things back considerably to allow the old body to recover fully before putting it through a 69 mile schedule next week. To break up the routine, while still keeping the aerobic engine dialed in, two friends and I are heading to Death Valley this weekend for a cycling trip we've dubbed the "Badwater 235" (www.badwater235.com). Basically the route will follow the actual Badwater 135 course out on Saturday (cutting off the first 17 miles for logistical reasons) and then returning the following day. The event profile includes over 17,000 feet of climbing (most of it happening on the first day) and over 17,000 feet of descent (most happening on Day 2). It's not exactly good cold weather preparation, but with two good friends along (who just so happened to be crew members of mine last year at Badwater), it should make for a really fun weekend of cycling.

I know, I know.... "no it's not"... Well, if you think about it, once you get over the 160 degree temperature variance, they have a lot in common...

#1 - All things being equal, your body REALLY doesn't want to be there.

#2 - Unlike a regular marathon, gear choice makes ALL the difference..

#3 - Acclimate Acclimate Acclimate! If you don't, you're toast.. (real toast in DV, frozen toast at the NP)...

#4 - Powerbars are inedible in either place....

#5 - Neither can be run naked.....

I truly hope to prove my theory right by successfully running in the hottest race in the world and the coldest race in the world within 10 months of each other. It's going to be the trip of a lifetime (for someone anyway).