Death Valley Bike Tour

Lone Pine – Furnace Creek - Shoshone, optional Mt Whitney Ascent

Nov 14-16 or 17th, 2008

Our fall tour takes place in the vastness of Death Valley the hottest, driest and lowest place in the United States. The National Park is comprised of three million acres of stone wilderness, flowing sand dunes, snow-capped mountains, multicolored rock layers, and water-fluted canyons. This is an endurance cycling tour with covering 350 miles in three days over rugged and desolate terrain. We will be staying two nights at the refreshingly lush Furnace Creek Ranch near Badwater, the lowest point in the US (-282 elevation) with views of the Panamint Mountains. Day #1 and #3 take us over the tough Towne Pass featured in the Furnace Creek 508 (www.the508.com), a RAAM qualification race that some Team Sheeper members will be doing solo and in teams this year.

After the three day Death Valley tour, we are offering two optional add-ons: cycle out and back from Lone Pine (3700’) to Mt Whitney Portal (8,500’) or by driving to the trailhead, hike to top of Mt. Whitney (14,495’), the highest point in the continental United States. The Whitney add-ons are weather dependent and require special consideration (see below). While conditions are favorable in Death Valley in November, lingering summer heat, strong winds or an early winter storm are all possible.

The Death Valley Cycling Tour is 3 or 4 days, but you will need to set aside an extra day before and after the tour to travel to Lone Pine. Lone Pine, on Hwy 395, is 430 miles from the Bay Area (8+ hour drive). We will stay in Lone Pine on Thursday, November 13th and Sunday, November 16th to allow for safe driving to and from home.

• Route Descriptions
• Meeting Places and Hotels
• Meals
• Support, Ride Notes and National Parks Regulations
• Maps
• Preparation
• Gear to Bring
• Additional Information on Mt Whitney Ascent
• What's Included, Cost, and How to Register

Route Descriptions

• Day #0 – Drive Bay Area to Lone Pine
  Since we will meet at 6:00 am at the Comfort Inn breakfast area, all athletes will need to travel to Lone Pine on Thursday. The Comfort Inn is located within view of Mt Whitney and will provide parking for our three day tour. See below for information about making your own reservation at the Comfort Inn, Lone Pine. We have blocked 20 rooms until October 14th. Please book since early since construction engineers and workers for a major project on Hwy 395 also use the limited hotel accommodations in Lone Pine.
• Day #1 – Lone Pine to Furnace Creek (110 miles, 8,000' elevation gain)
  After an early breakfast, we’ll ride southeast through Panamint Springs (mile 50, elevation 1920') and then begin the climb to Towne Pass (mile 64, elevation 4956) and onto Stovepipe Wells (mile 84), the gateway to Death Valley. A rusted, old hand operated pump marks the location of a waterhole that was important to all pre-automotive travelers in the valley. Old stovepipes were pounded into the sand to form walls for the well. Stovepipe Wells has a ranger station and historic 49er sites. Past Devils Cornfield we'll turn south onto 190 towards Furnace Creek. Furnace Creek is a green oasis and our overnight stay for two nights
• Day #2 – Furnace Creek to Furnace Creek (125 miles, 6,000' elevation gain)
  We'll do a counter clock wise loop with very brief stops at some scenic areas, first Zabriskie Point, one of the most photographed views of a vast area of uplifted, eroded yellow hills. The contours are the remains of a lake bed whose sediments were deposited 5-10 million years ago. Sunrise highlights the hills with gold tones, while the mountains behind change subtly from pink to blue. We'll leave the park as we continue east to Death Valley Junction. Sig, our support crew chief, will provide water and nutrition to supplement the one vending machine at Death Valley Junction. It's another 25 hilly miles flanked by the Greenwater Range to Shoshone's Ranger Station (mile 65, elevation 1572'). There are two minor passes in the next leg, Salsberry Pass (elevation 3315') and Jubiliee Pass (elevation 1290'). We'll descend to below sea level as we ride along ancient crystalline salt flats on Badwater Road. An optional loop road of 6 miles follows Artist Drive where oxidation has produced a rainbow of colors in eroded clay deposits. In the late afternoon the colors are most intense making a mosaic of red, yellow, orange, green, violet, brown and black hues. Furnace Creek with its shimmering swimming pools will be a welcome sight. We'll share a group meal at the restaurant.
• Day #3 – Furnace Creek to Lone Pine (110 miles, 8,000' elevation gain)
  We'll reverse Day #1 back through Stovepipe Well, over Towne Pass's steep grade and past the Silver and Sierra Talc mines before skirting the dry Owens Lake Bed and returning to the Comfort Inn in Lone Pine. We'll have a last group dinner at the Pizza Factory and discuss the viability of a hike up Mount Whitney on Monday.
• Optional Day #4 – Whitney Portal to Whitney Summit and return
  There are two options on this day. Cycling up to Whitney Portal, a 5,000' climb over 10 miles. This is a truly scenic and memorable ride into the alpine High Sierra.
  The second option is to rise very early and drive your car to Whitney Portal, the trailhead for the hikers trail to the Whitney Summit. Steve Ropers seminal "Climber's Guide to the High Sierra" (1976) says this of The Trail route, "requiring nothing but patience and stamina, the 10.6 mile path winds upward from Whitney Portal. Most persons take two days for the ascent, but a one-day round trip is hardly out of the question for the climber who is in shape". It's a 6,000 foot ascent (and descent) . The trail splits off at Trail Crest Ridge with a lateral 2-mile trail north to Mt. Whitney's summit hut. The entire trail is a very well traveled rocky trail with virtually no exposure. The summit offers expansive views of the Owens Valley, the six other 14,000' peaks in the Whitney group and the Pacific Crest/John Muir Trail.. Weather will be a key deciding factor about this optional last day of the tour. November is considered very late in the season to do this hike.

Meeting Places and Hotels

We will meet at the Comfort Inn in Lone Pine, in the breakfast room at 6:00 am. We will start riding at 6:30 am.

You must book your own hotel rooms.

We've blocked 20 rooms at both Lone Pine Comfort Inn and Furnace Creek Ranch rooms until October 14th. When you make your reservations, please mention that you are with Team Sheeper so that you get a room we've pre-reserved.

Meals

• On Friday and Saturday we'll have team dinner in Furnace Creek Ranch
• On Saturday and Sunday, we'll have team breakfast buffets at Furnace Creek Ranch
• After each day of riding, we'll put out the usual Team Lounge post-ride snacks
• There are very limited services in Death Valley so Team Sheeper will provide lunch foods and sports nutrition for you to take with you in the morning. There will be designated support stops with water and food. It is imperative that you have plenty of water carrying capacity. Everyone should have a hydration pack and two large bottles or four large bottles.

Support, Ride Notes and National Parks Regulations

Sig Paulozzo, our experienced support driver and all-around helpful tour wrangler will provide sag support. We place a great emphasis on safety and will do our very best to see that each rider arrives at our daily destination safely. Since the support vehicle has some very challenging terrain and needs to be available at specific rest stops do not expect the support vehicle to rove or sweep the course. We'll have plenty of nutrition and 'pocket food' available in the morning and the route instructions will include the location of very limited services. Make sure you take advantage of all services and support so that you can be self reliant for up to 5 hours. This tour is for hearty, fit and self sufficient riders. You absolutely must ride with a buddy or in small groups on this tour.

November highs and low temperatures are 76/47. Sunrise is at 6:17pm and sunset is at 4:33 pm, so that means about 10 hours of riding time each day. We will need to start each day's ride by 6:30 am. Small battery powered front and rear cycling lights and some reflective clothing are a wise precaution for slower riders. There is no moonlight during this weekend.

The National Park Service requires that we ride single file at all times. We must also ride as far to the right hand side of the lane as is safely possible. The roads will seem quiet but be aware of these regulations. Also, since we are entering a National Park, we'll need to pay an entrance fee for each rider. If you have an annual pass for the parks, please bring it.

Maps

The best map to use for this tour is the AAA Death Valley and Southern Nevada.

Preparation

Make sure your bike is in excellent working condition, there are no bike shops on our route. We have limited capacity for spare wheels. Everyone should bring spare tires, tubes and a basic set of seat bag tools.

Gear to Bring

• Bring the usual cycling and running gear. November is absolutely the best time to visit Death Valley with moderate temperatures, light traffic and clear skies. However, we'll be at elevation (5,000') so bring a wide range of clothing options including rain gear.
• Swim suit
• Hydration pack or the ability to carry 4 large water bottles. The air is very dry in Death Valley, and you lose water just breathing, so even at moderate temperatures you'll need to drink several gallons of water a day.
• Electrolytes in the form of sports drinks and salt tablets.
• Bike lights, reflective clothing
• Whitney Ascent gear (guidelines to be provided later)

Additional Information on Mt Whitney Ascent

For the Whitney Ascent, you must have proper clothing, footgear and carry food, water and minimal wilderness gear. Altitude effects people differently and there are no specific factors such as age, sex, or physical condition that correlate with the susceptibility to altitude sickness. The main cause of altitude sickness is going too high too fast, exactly what we will be doing on the summit climb. It will be very important that each person know and recognize the signs of altitude sickness and be prepared to turn around and go down. Likewise if the weather is not good or we are not prepared for harsh weather, the only choice is to return to Whitney Portal. Each person must start and stay with a buddy. We will provide a list of gear and information as the tour approaches. We are really excited about being at the highest and lowest point in the continental US in the same weekend, but want to make sure we do these two extraordinary adventures in a safe and responsible way.

You may want to review altitude acclimatization information at these sites:
www.abc-of-hiking.com/hiking-health/acute-mountain-sickness.asp
www.dumaexplorer.com/altitudesickness.html

What's Included, Cost, and How to Register

• Team Sheeper will provide maps, gear sag, three dinners, two breakfasts, entrance fee to the National Park, three tailgate lunches and post ride snacks.
• Lodging not included. You will need to make your own hotel reservations at our suggested team hotels. Book early as we are holding these rooms with a one month cancellation condition.
• Cost $425 for the 3 day cycling tour, No additional cost for the Mt. Whitney day. Register at menloswim.com/accounts