Mis-Adventures of Serge

OK It's been about 3 days since I stopped riding the inaugural Stagecoach 400, a race to test my mettle. I will try and start from the beginning a day or so before right up to the point where I was eating as if I was storing for a heavy winter. This is a long post, use the photos to figure out where you care to jump in reading.

So where to start, I was about ready to leave Arcata with my bike tuned up, Infinit Nutrition , bags, tools, warm clothing, sleeping gear, riding clothing, etc. everything was set to go. This was all coming at a very high intensity junction in my personal life, with a teen at home (enough said), a 9 year old that isn't happy with our move to Humboldt, a 21 year old about to board a transport out of Afghanistan heading right to where my race started although we were not sure when he'd arrive, a car I had been fixing up to hand over to the 21 year old. My wife and greatest supporter was also struggling with everything, having started a new job as the reservation manager for North Coast Adventure Centers, also anxious about our sons return, sad she couldn't come down and see him because the other 2 are in school. But all those stresses aside the task at hand was in fact getting through what may have been my most EPIC adventure yet.

On the drive down , I stopped to get a last minute mount for my new Garmin GPS the ETREX 20, which I will say right now, what a spectacular unit, battery life 25 hrs easy on Lithium batteries, usability etc. the only issues with it throughout the race were my own unfamiliarity with zoom levels or display settings. The drive was pretty nice 13.5 hours at least to Palm Springs, where I checked into the Rennaissance Palm Springs, I figured I had the points and could use a great nights rest before heading up to Idyllwild.

I arrived on the evening of April 25th, driving in off I10 I experienced first hand what Santa Ana winds may bring to the race as I was getting pushed sideways and being sandblasted driving into town. I honestly had concerns for the car and bike on the roof with the crazy winds and sand. I got to hang out for a little while Al Maxey a great friend from the USCGC Spencer was flying in to join me on our adventure. We were both so wired and off schedule we chatted for a while looked at our gear, started the mass charging of gear process and finally hit the sack.

The next morning, we ate a great breakfast at the hotel, took some photos with his daughters Flat Stanley, met some of the local bugs, headed over to a bike shop in Palm Springs to pick up some small items we both agreed we may need still. Then we started out drive up to SR 243 and up to Idyllwild.

The mountain west of Palm Springs was an impressive site as it jutted straight up to the sky and felt like an ominous message to us. However, the drive up was posibly more daunting as we drove up a steep beautifully scenic drive up SR 243. At about mile 15 and maybe 4000 feet it stopped being so steep but the fog rolled in, much like I am used to but did make me think we would have some serious temperature swings to deal with as the temperatures dropped to almost 45 degrees as we approached Pine Cove at 6000 feet and finally Idyllwild at 5500 or so.

The terrain was similar to Humboldt, woodsy, cool temps, slightly moist area and smaller Redwoods and pines. We arrived at mid day and were able to roll right up to The Hub Cyclery where we met Brendan Collier the race promoter and some of the other riders. The plan was a 6PM meet up and maybe a nice dinner at Cafe Aroma up the street afterwards, so we headed down for a quick snack at one of two Mexican restaurants for a little bite...as you can see. Next we checked into our cabin at the cozy Idyllwild Inn where Al had made our next nights reservation to get set up and relax a bit. We got most of our gear set up and selected but we were both so excited and new at this that all the best plans were making us second and third guess how to load the bikes.

After much debate we headed up for the race meeting and met up with all the other racers. We actually rolled up with out bikes semi-loaded to compare with others as well as verify that our bikes were loaded solidly. The meeting was pretty quick, some talk about private lands, BLM lands, safety, hydration and some tips about local terrain, food, stops SPOT Tracker details etc.. Start time did get delayed as the SPOT Trackers were delayed so our 8AM start got set back a couple hours.

As we rolled out back to the cabin to get our bikes situated completely before a dinner meet up at 8, I noticed my bike was not shifting quite right, the rear shifter sticky but the front did not shift at all. I have to say this was completely my mistake, the oldest parts on my bike were those shifters. I rushed back to the shop where Brendan and Simon the mechanic gave it their best. I wanted to buy a shifter but apparently they had none to offer so I guess this was going to be a 1x9 versus 2x9 event for me. I chose to leave things in the smaller ring up front since I knew it would be of more use anyway. (FEAR starts to set in here). Back to the cabin ....

After some dinking around with our gear on the bikes, debating whether we needed certain items, I decided to leave my sleeping pad and water filter. I did so after knowing that I could carry quite a bit of fluids, about 170oz=30 on the frame, 40 on the forks and 100 on my back. I also, pre-loaded my camelbacks with Infinit, the bottles and back ready to drink and the 30oz bladder had a concentrate good for 5 hours so I could transfer it to the 100 and add water along the way. So on the bike I had 12 hours of nutrition and electrolytes and in the baggage I prepped additional ziplocs with 5 hours of Infinit per baggy and a total of about 35hrs of ride time nutrition. This was a perfect drop into the 100 bladder with little though about caloric intake, electrolyte replenishment etc.. So we headed down for a great meal at the Cafe Aroma, we headed back to the cabin for a nice rest and semi early morning. The plan was meet at the Totem Pole, walk to the coffee shop, get the SPOT Trackers fired up, a small pre race meet and a 10AM start.

First thing the day of the race, we headed down for a pre race coffee, then came back a little later ready to go. It was great to see all the different setups. From makeshift boxes for carrying gear to minimalist riding for the fast guys that simply planned on never stopping. Jay Petervary the winner and ULTRA Racing phenom, does a great job of explaining his event and his style on his blog, Jay finished in under 50 hours. Thanks Jay for the inspiration. I will say I was pleasantly surprised to see such a large contingency of women, in a sport where ruggedness and tenacity is a requirement, these ladies kicked some serious ass. So after some SPOT issues, we started the race with a deviation through some of the neighborhoods a little above town, this immediately took us off course and would not have been an issue if we could have stayed with the pack but as Murphy would have it Al had a flat. LOL yes it was stressful, but the funny thing was the real test of having to find things in your bag started not even a mile from the start. I know Al was frustrated at the time, but in retrospect, I'm sure now it's all laughable. So he reinflated, we got on our way, dead last and maybe 20 minutes behind, and LOST LOL, they took us off course from the start so there was a need to ride with them to get on the course but we didn't know how?? Luckily a local lady stopped and pointed us in the right direction to Cowbell Alley she even guided us there and we were off. I remember stopping at one point for a photo op and thinking this is going to be a stunning ride. Some photos and video links will be below or embedded to Al's feed.

After a climb above 5500 to maybe 6000 we started a decent down. Here is where it gets fuzzy, I know we descended on some fire roads and even came to a private property that others reported became a subject of arguments about whether they were trespassing or it was BLM lands. We were alone so we got on a side route around the gate of consternation and kept right on moving. We came to some paved road down at Hemet Lake at about mile 5.5 and as we passed Apple Canyon I noticed a few riders had stopped to get water. This was a great feeling to be able to finally see people and not be last. Two of the guys were on FS bikes and wore orange tshirts so we dubbed them the orange guys. One guys seemed to lag behind at Apple canyon and it was the last we ever saw him. I believe from reading other blogs he (Von Petrol) may have saved one guy from dehydration later in the Anza Borrego desert. But we rode back and forth with these guys right up the point where we hit the Speed of Light Reflector and down to Negro Jim Trail. This was such a fun little decent but in the back of my mind I could only think how hard it would be upon return going up such a fast singletrack.

The next big event for us was reaching the end of the singletrack and as we hit some fire road as we passed the "Welcome to Anza" sign at mile 20ish we noticed that on the main road ahead as the fire road crossed over there were fire trucks cars and ambulances. All I could do was think the worst and apparently one of the guys did actually get hit by a car. This had to have been minutes before we arrived but Matt from Emporia Kansas was crossing when he did get hit and the officer told us hes banged up but he'll be fine. We left a bit rattled but he was in good hands at this point and at least it wasn't in some remote place with no help.

The fire road continued and I remember hitting a patch of mud, this patch completely covered my tires. They easily grew an additional inch on either side in just mud that did not want to shake off. this worried me a bit since I did not know if up ahead we would continue running into mud. The tires shook it off and we continued. Now this is where we started to learn how GPS versus Cue Sheets and the lack of local knowledge could prove to be difficult for our future. At mile 23 we should have seen the Anza Resort and Sunshine Market where Al should have topped off on water, but we didn't even notice passing the market and were so focused on the GPS track and not the cue sheet that we decided to just continue. This could have been much worse but somehow we did ok as we entered Coyote Canyon and then we hit our first little challenging decent. This was fun at the moment but it was definitely a rough little decent of boulders for about an 1/8th of a mile. Was this what we needed to expect for the next three days? Or just here? Well we quickly figured out that what the desert really had to offer was SAND SAND SAND and a whole lot of it.

After riding through lots of sand and passing Baileys cabin a rustic cabin in the middle of the canyon we reached the area known as the Middle Willows, a small oasis and jungle in the middle of this stark desert. This suddenly meant riding through a stream versus a sand wash, not as challenging but now we had to get wet. We both had reservations as to what being wet might do to us in miles to come, but we trusted the desert would dry us up quickly. Riding through the sand exposed each of our strengths and weaknesses and the bikes (tire selection, rigid, weight), it seemed that for the time being my bike was riding pretty smoothly through all this sand, and as we got closer to Borrego Springs and the sand conditions changed slightly, Al was able to move forward better than myself. This seemed to teeter back and forth all day.

As we neared Borrego Springs and we had to dip under a fence to continue we ran into a four wheeler named Bob. Bob offered us some water and Al took one but I still had quite a bit so I decided I would be fine for the rest of the ride into Borrego Springs. Apparently we had just crossed some land that no one crosses anymore since it became private and the owner loved to snub the government by allowing recreation but not rangers.

So we pressed into Borrego Springs and when we hit pavement Al opened up and pulled away. I was pretty spent but I also had no big ring so I was content with just spinning into town where we visited the local liquor store for a restock of water. On the way in as we circled the turnabout, I saw Karlos Rodriguez from Florida and the Huracan 300, he asked us to come back and get him before we left so I said we would. Next to the liquor store at the Mexican restaurant we ran into the organe guys again. They said that Matt had been hit by the car just behind them. Chocolate milk, starbucks espresso shots, lights on helmet, water, Infinit refill and time to go. It was almost dusk in the shadow of the mountain at mile 55. It took us about 7 hours to get here...WOW SAND.

We left here went to Christmas Circle and Karlos was already gone so we headed out of town on pavement through Texas Dip, the orange guys leading the way until we caught them and it appeared we may be a little faster on pavement. This lasted about 10 miles until we hit Old Kane Springs road and a sea of more sand. This sand was easier to ride in some cases if you could get enough speed to just float and drift but if it got you it got you and wanted to throw you. We passed some nighttime dune buggy riders, it was hot out here so I took some ice from them and we kept moving until we hit pavement again. We had another Cue Sheet/GPS/tired moment, a few goofy turns and some debate over which GPS was right but once we got on pavement it all made sense again. On Split Mountain road a mixture of old pavement and gravel we could start to feel the fatigue as we headed towards Fish Creek Wash and an area most riders recommended camping. Now as we rolled into the wash it was sandy in parts hard pack in others. I wanted to press on, but Al was tired and wanted to rest. I think he was right in stopping the ride there since I may have not have realized how tired I was, but in retrospect this could have been an important place to press as far as possible so that the second day would go much quicker in the heat of the desert that lay ahead. Morning came quick, and we headed out early. I thought it felt like the surface of the moon, so did Al. We rode into wash and canyon, this was a great place to start the day, it was stunning beauty that few people get to see.

Apparently we passed some riders on Texas Dip, some at the corner of Old kane and Split Mountain and one in Fish Creek wash as we rolled through because they started showing up as we worked through the wash. They must have gotten up earlier since we stopped later.

The next section was the toughest for me by far. As we left the Fish Creek wash, an area that was cool to start with but also offered some shady areas in the canyon, we came to some technical drops through some boulders, this was not my nemesis. My nemesis came when the sun kept rising, the shade started to disappear and the sand started to swallow my wheels. Things were not devastating yet but as I told Al to move on, since he seemed to have a good rhythm, I stopped to let a little air out of my tires, to see if I could get better rolling. Right as this happened two of the minimalst riders passed and asked if I was ok and I said SURE I'M FINE.... I then twisted my valve only to have it blow completely out, the Sealant had sealed with the valve and the whole valve core popped out. I quickly put my finger on it, picked up the core and sucked off the sand with my mouth. I inserted it and was able to keep the tire from going completely flat. I dug out my pump and I just about freaked out when I saw that the small cap at the air outlet had fallen off in my bag. I took a deep breath and realized that was the Schrader side not Presta. I pumped and pumped to increase the air to about 21/22 lbs. In the heat of the desert, any prolonged stop was a beat down, a complete sapping of energy. I soaked my IMBA bandana and wrapped my head since I was riding helmetless on the sand.

I rode like this for a while until I ran into Al at a place called Split Rock petroglyph (edge of Mortero Village) or as Al would call it Air Conditioned rock. This rock offered a great shade, any shady side of a rock stays pretty cool so I pressed myself against it to cool down. Al was doing much much better in the heat of the day then I was, this was not fluids this was just adjustment to the heat. I was a little light headed and felt I needed to open my jersey or remove it. I kept soaking my head. Signs out in this area warned of Mountain Lions, I did not understand why any animal would want any part of this misery, but in retrospect it had its beauty in the stark environment and remote nature.

Al pulled away again and got ahead for a little bit but as we neared what was called Pinyon Drop, a section of fire road that Rock Crawling jeeps like to roll down. On our climb up to Pinyon Drop a group of Jeeps passed and asked if we were OK, they mentioned the third Jeep back had one of our riders in it that had apparently been found dehydrated and disoriented. They SAVED HIS LIFE getting him out of there and hydrating him well. I spoke to him briefly as they passed, he was slurred in is speech but seemed to be ok. As we turned the corner we saw Pinyon Drop and now I thought WTF!! These Jeeps were coming down about 25 meters at over 45 degrees, we had to climb this with 50lb bikes!! Al made his way up and continued riding and I took some photos, as he departed they sent a few more jeeps down and I waited, then one of them decided to go back up. This proved to be a big problem and a big delay for me! I sat and watched this Jeep roll over on it's side, now I could no go up in case it would roll down on top of me. The winching and recovery process kept me out in the desert an extra 30 minutes I did not need to be there.

The next few summits, rolls, sandy roads and canyons were devastating. I really wondered if I was going to just be found out here curled up under the shade of a rock and it was only about 6 more miles to the StageCoach RV camp. From Fish Creek Wash to the RV site was only 17 miles but might have taken about 5-6 hours to get through for me. I got to Stagecoach RV and Al had a little Cabin reserved, we used it to rest, take a showers, restock, regroup and reflect.

This was the smartest thing we could have done, Oriflamme Canyon of Julian Death March fame was our next challenge and we decided to tackle it at night instead so as it started to get close to dusk we rolled out of the RV site. The road ride from there was awesome, a fast paved spin down to a dirt road as it got dark. The dirt road was not terrible, a little sandy and bumpy and as soon as we realized we had hit Oriflammes climb we did a roll-walk-roll up the canyon. This took a while but we couldn't imagine many others riding it either. The views were probably awesome but all we could see was each other on different sections of the climb. Finally nearing the top we passed a small patch of ground where some riders were camped as we passed them we got to the spot where the Pacific Crest Trail crossed the climb and we headed through another gate to Pedro Fages singletrack. This lead to a little more climbing Lucky 5 singletrack and then a paved climb to the top on Sunrise Highway. This was a steep slow slog to the top but almost redeeming. At the top Al and I stopped sat on the pavement and stared at the stars, we were bushed and it was getting cold maybe mid 40s. We talked about sleeping right there but the cue sheet said we were only a little bit away from water. I said we should push on and sure enough after a fast cold descent for about 2 miles we got to the spigot and 3 of our riding buddies. They were asleep so we set up camp about 20 yards away.

The next morning, it was chilly outside and hard to get out of the bivvy. I had slept with all my gear on plus leggings and a second jersey plus a beanie. We had ridden he hottest and coldest parts of the ride in one day and it took it's toll. Al had probably started building to some blisters and I was just wasted from the heat the day earlier. Everyone woke up together, Chi (Cynthia) showed up with her boyfriend apparently she had slept elsewhere after arriving here. I gave Jose from Venezuela some Infinit because I heard he had been bonking and was strictly on water. I hope it helped. We refilled on water and headed out.

Today was going to be the Noble Canyon descent and what a few people described as the Devils Staircase. This was supposed to be some fun descending mixed with some technical rocky descents. Al had had some great moments on sand and flat roads and even some climbs but now I finally found what I could ride well, singletrack and technical descents. As we descended I was having a blast but apparently too much of a blast and I had dropped my bike bladder and a bottle. When I noticed I stopped and decided to wait on Al. As he arrived he had apparently found my gear and somehow loaded it up and brought it for me. LIFESAVER!

Noble canyon as scenic as it was and fun for me was proving to be a true hassle for Al, between blisters from hiking the bike the night before and the technical descents forcing him off the bike his feet were starting to cause some real issues. He decided to stop and tape up but this did not last long.

As I rode ahead I kept stopping and some day riders came along and I would ask if he was behind me and in fact he was falling behind quite a bit. I was worried his feet would be a big problem. I was hoping we could make it to Alpine and maybe get to a pharmacy and even a beer at the brewery. When we left the Noble Canyon Singletrack and started a climb on pavement up a paved road to Lone Oak Tree. I couldn't do this climb due to my gearing but Al did muscle up this for a bit since he didn't want to hike anymore. As I passed him hiking later, he was talking on the phone and he mentioned the possibility of leaving the race at this point. I did not want to be pushy, but I knew he sill had some fuel in him. Somehow I convinced him or Paula his wife did on the phone and he pressed on. We descended again to Indian Creek Singletrack which we almost missed. This was a gorgeous section of meadows and fast clean tiny singletrack.

After this and some rolling hills we got to a great long bit of Merrigan Trail and some rollers leading into the small town of Descanso (strangely "rest" in spanish) and rest we did. In town we got directions from a Yorkie herder LOL and we stopped at Veronicas restaurant and refueled on some intensely great food. A quick refuel of water and small ascent up Old Viejas Grade until we got to what was described a a "shredalicious dirt road descent" and fast open and smooth it was. Heading into Alpine we did pass our turn off to some fire roads leading to Alpine. This took us on some steep hike a bikes again but none too long until we got to Alpine. By now with fuel in our bellies and not much more major hiking Al was feeling a bit better and we rode right through the town of Alpine.

The next bit of riding was quite startling for us, after we got to a steep descent to some fun singletrack Al got a flat, or a burp in his tire. I had already ridden to the bottom and started to worry. I hiked all the way back up only to find he was fine and ready to start descending. We rode this great dirt descent and then finally came to some climbs leading us around the edge of Loveland Reservoir. Al had found a second wind and was climbing like a champ. I caught up and passed him until I got to a concrete barrier where we were supposed to go over it and start a descent climb. This was the far from descent, for about 1.5 miles we were going to push bikes up some of the steepest gnarliest most rutted out part of the entire trip. It was getting dark and we weren't even half way up yet when we got to some sections that were perceivably impassable, but with some creativity we pushed through some bush and found a way over it. I was spent after this but we just wanted to get to San Diego at whatever cost. So after this incredible push, in a haze passing barbed wire and graffitti covered bridges in the dark we somehow made it to the area around Sweetwater Reservoir, much of this was a dizzying haze of singletrack and discussions about whether to go right or left. The Cue sheet said there were many choices and to stay close to the river. As Al would descibe it, an area of route finding. After many hike a bikes up some real steep single track we arrived at a gazebo near the end of the reservoir. Al's feet were on fire from the hiking and I was delirious, thing you can't tell until you stop. It was time to stop and sleep.

The next morning, I think Al and I were surprised to see some riders pass while we cleaned up camp. They were a nice couple that did not seem to be on any time frame just trying to finish. They left and so did we shortly after. A few more hills and we were rolling into civilization and some urban singletrack mixed with long paved rides. I kept telling Al that all I needed was a Starbucks cup of coffee and some food. After a short bit we came to a new type of Oasis and we had our coffee and a snack made of gold! Afterwards with some long paved city miles and city navigation.

We finally came into San Diego. It was bittersweet because we knew in the ack of our minds this was it for us. We weren't going to make it back on time and if we tried and failed we'd be stuck without a ride to get anywhere. So our plan switched to getting to the waterfront and maybe Point Loma and getting a night's rest and a ride back to Idyllwild.

The rest is lame but that evening we ate about 4 entrees 2 appetizers and a plethora of libations to match the way we were feeling!

What an awesome time, an awesome event and effort. I can't wait for the next one.