When we arrived at Kelso we noticed the support vehicle for Team Monticore. Franz was checking on his iPhone and realized that they were in first place for our division and we were right behind them so we got all ready for when Paul approached.

Franz jumped on his bike and made a mad dash out, with no need to wait for the support vehicle. Franz was now feeling fresh again and was climbing up the hill at a fast rate. This stage was only 34 miles and the final one for Franz so there was no need to hold back and having Monticore ahead to chase made it all the more fun.

Although this stage had 2000 feet of climbing there was again more descent than uphill.

Franz was able to keep his heart rate higher, unlike the climb up Townes Pass.

Franz finished with a fast downhill to Almost Amboy with a total time of 1:34 on the stage, averaging 22.44 mph. That did not give Paul much time to recover before he started the last stage. But we had reduced the 12 minute lead of Monticore to less than 5 minutes. Although they had their strong rider doing the last stage, it was fun to chase them down.

Paul started out for the finish for what would prove to be the warmest stage of the race. It was a busy road and a long climb to the Sheephole Summit.

After reaching the summit, there was a descent before a long, but gradual climb to the finish. The stage totaled over 58 miles with 4,200 feet of climbing. A difficult stage for the final one for Paul to tackle.

The sun was moving closer to the horizon as Paul approached the last 5 miles. We decided to switch over to night time rules so the vehicle could be behind Paul, since the cars coming from behind had the sun in their eyes.

Paul rode the final few miles through Twentynine Palms, including a cruel little climb before the finish. About a half of mile before the end Franz got out and on his bike so they could ride in together.

They crossed the finish line at 6:25 pm, for a total time of 33 hours and 25 minutes and an overal average speed of 15.2 mph for 508 miles with 35,000 feet of climbing. It was a tremendous experience.

Categories: Furnace Creek 508
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We finished the Furnace Creek 508 in 33 hours and 25 minutes. Franz
thought it was the toughest thing he ever did. Paul, a prior solo
finisher, commented that even the two man relay is tougher than he
thought it would be.

Looks like we came in second place in our division. We we close to
first place but could not quite catch that team, but they knew we were
chasing them.

We have lots of photos and video we we post soon. We put up what we
could in near real time. We had a great crew with Russ and Sheila and can not thank them enough.

Categories: Cycling Racing
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Final Countdown, originally uploaded by franzkelsch.

I spent much of the morning fixing my son’s computer. He had been infected by a virus. I finally got going with my final preparations. I put the required reflective tape on both bikes in several spots.

I then put the aerobars on my Trek Madone bike since I will be riding it
most of the time. I was feeling very sluggish. I don’t like to take days
off from exercise, so I just had to go for a spin to make sure the aerobars were angled right. I kept it to only 5 miles. I could still feel in my legs I needed plenty of rest.

When I returned, I weighed the bike with the aerobars, san water bottles. I came out to 17.6 lbs.

I still need to pack but have most things staged now. We leave for Santa Clarita tomorrow morning.

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It is almost D day for the Furnace Creek 508. Because I have been tapering significantly and no biking today or tomorrow, I get a bit worried about losing conditioning. But I know I need to take the days off to be ready. I looked at my weekly biking miles through last week. I was able to get in over 300 miles last week. I guess it is ready or not!

Categories: Furnace Creek 508, Training Program
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As I usually do on Tuesday I rode the Metcalf Mauler club ride
tonight. Because of the upcoming FC 508 I rode at an easy pace, taking
17 minutes to climb the hill. I rode my older road bike which just had
been tuned up. It shifted well.

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I just picked up my Trek 5200 bicycle from the bike shop. They had to
replace the chain (which I had just replaced myself) in order to get it to
shift right. They also replaced many of the nipples on the rear wheel. I
was planning to use that bike on the Furnace Creek 508, but now I am
planning to take two bikes, just in case. So I will be riding most of the
ride on my new Trek and keep the 5200 for a backup.

I had put a SRAM chain on before, after I had replaced the crank set and the
cassette. I guess it did not work as a Shimano chain should because I never
was able to get it to shift smoothly. Hence I took it into the bike shop
and while I was there I had them check the whole bike. It was a good thing
because that bike has about 27,000 miles on it and I needed it looked at by
a professional.

I plan to be the fastest 59 year old on the 508 race. That is because I
will be the only 59 year old! There are 5 racers that are 58 years old, and
even 4 that are 61 years old, but for the 59 year old racers, it is only me.

Some interesting stats. There are 202 racers from 7 countries and 22
nationalities. There are 15 two man teams entered but only 3 in the 50+
category. I guess that means we will place!

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