Franz, Russ and Sheila took turns getting a little sleep as Paul was finishing Stage 4. With some rest, Franz was feeling much better as he started Stage 5. It was still not yet 7 am as Paul pulled into Shoshone so Franz made a quick switch to get ready to bike and started to bike at 6:45 am. The plan was for the support vehicle to follow for the required 15 minutes, then to switch to a leap frog method.

Franz was now enjoying sunny skies but still cool weather.

It was a slight downhill and a nice tail wind, allowing full speed ahead.

The route was 56 miles with only 2100 feet of climbing, much easier than the first two stages Franz had ridden. The way the stages are placed, the A rider does most of his riding up front on the first day and then it shifts to the B rider on the second day. That was all fine with Franz. Not only was this stage less climbing, there was more descent than climbing as shown by this profile.

The last 15 miles into Baker with flat and fast with a nice tail wind, allowing speeds over 25 mph. Franz ended the stage with an average speed of nearly 20 mph. He pulled into Baker at 9:32 am.

Paul then started stage 6 to Kelso, which was a short 34 miles but had 3000 feet of climbing with an end point higher than the start as shown here.

Franz and crew at stopped in Baker to buy Franz a hamburger (he had a craving for one) and a milkshake for Paul (he a craving for one). We finally caught up with Paul who had moved out fast.

Paul stopped to enjoy his milkshake.

Paul reached the summit and had a nice descent to arrive at Kelso, arriving at 12:16 pm. When we pulled up we saw the support vehicle of Team Monticore. Franz was now checking on his iPhone to see the race standings on the 508 website and we realized that we were now in 2nd place after Monticore. So be sure to reach the next blog entry about Stage 7 and 8.

Categories: Furnace Creek 508
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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.

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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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I have updated our team website with links for use during the Furnace Creek 508 race. These links include both those provided by the 508 organizers as well as our team’s own website, blog and photos. Just go to http://www.ultracycle.net/prairiedog

I have tested sending both blog updates and photos from my iPhone to the team blog and the team photo website. Since the race is in rather remote areas, I am not sure how often we can send in updates, but we will do what we can.

I completed a model to predict our times to finish each stage. It will probably need so tweaking, but the current thought can be viewed at: http://www.ultracycle.net/prairiedog/times.html  I think we can finish in under 36 hours, maybe under 35 if things go well. The course record for the 50+, two men division, is Team Yak, 2004: 30:43.  We may not set any age group records but will will have a lot of fun trying!

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I wanted to setup a blog for posting during our Furnace Creek 508 adventure. I had been thinking of getting a new URL so it would usable for the whole team and not use this blog. I was able to snatch the url ultracycle.net so I registered that and setup an Ultra Distance Cycling website and an associated blog. I then setup a subdomain for our 508 team and setup a special website there, plus blog. Yea, I know it is confusing with probably too many websites and blogs.  Hopefully this table will explain it all.

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I was looking foward with great expectation to do the Everest Challenge. This was the year of climbing a lot, hill repeasts, interval training and just putting in a lot of miles on the bike. I felt ready to do the ride and get a good time. But the weather has not cooperated. I had held out hope that maybe the forecast would change so I waited until this morning to make a final decision. When I got up it still showed a 60% chance of rain and cooler temperatures. This webcam shot of Tioga Pass says it all and that is not even as high as we would be climbing (click photo to enlarge).

I already expected very cold temperatures near the summit, but when you mix that with rain, it is not only misserable but more dangerous than I want to take on, especially considering I still have the Furnace Creek 508 in two weeks. And that ride is a much bigger investment, both in terms of money and time as well as others depending on me.

It is not all lost however. The initial reason why I decided to do the Everest Challenge was to kind of force me to ramp up the training and not wait too long to get in shape for the 508. That was all accomplished.

We all started out a couple months ago with Joe, Gary and myself doing a lot of training together. We all rode the Death Ride together. Gary and I were going to do the Everest Challenge together and Joe and Gary were to be a two man team for the 508. So between the three of us, that meant two doing the Everest Challenge and three doing the 508. Gary was injured and pulled out of the Everest Challenge, but still had hopes of doing the 508. But that is not going to happen now, so amongst the three of us, all that is left is my doing the 508. Oh well, there is always another year.

I have another great local ride I will do tomorrow, 100 miles with 10,000 feet of climbing.  Not quite the challenge of the Everest Challenge, but the training I need for the FC 508.

Categories: Everest Challenge, Furnace Creek 508
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The weather is turning noticeably more like fall. Although the days are still warm, the mornings are a bit cooler. I am also closely approaching the major cycling events I have scheduled for the year and am in the final stages of training.

First up is the Everest Challenge. I leave for that in only a week from today. Then less than two weeks later I will be doing the Furnance Creek 508. I had previously read an interesting blog of someone who attempted to do both in the save season. He blew up on the 508. I hope that doesn’t happen to me.

I took it easy today, only ran 6 miles. I will then do some good cycling over the next 3 days, then go into a 3 day recovery period. I hope it all comes together. I have a better handle on training for a marathon where I have worked out more of a detailed training schedule. Both the Everest Challenge and FC 508 are new to me so I am just trying to adapt what I do for marathons to see if it works for ultra distance cycling events.

Categories: Everest Challenge, Furnace Creek 508, Ultra Cycling Events
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