March 29, 2019
Day 5: Furnace Creek to Dante's View & Return
Dante's Infernal (Climb)
There is almost no photographic evidence of today's ride, because to stop and take photos meant an excruciating restart in riding up a climb that Sisyphus would have looked at and said, "Nope, I'm good" and taken his boulder home. I will swear an affidavit that what I'm about to share is completely true.
The advertised itinerary for today was a "Layover Day." You had options though. You could hang out at the campsite and avail yourself of the visitor's center and nearby resort (perhaps take a mid-day $11 shower), be shuttled with your bike to the top of Dante's View ... a prominence that was said to have the most phenomenal view in all of Death Valley .... and then have a rollicking 25 miles of mainly downhill back. Third option was to ride to Dante's View, and then ride back for a 50 miler. Leader Sue had warned us about the climb ... "Yeah, it's pretty steep, especially at the top." This gave us pause, because Sue is a big proponent of letting people make their own choices, be responsible adults, and then dig themselves out of whatever shit storm they may have created for themselves. The fact she was trying to exert even the mildest influence on us was a big yellow warning sign.
In the end, Marg, Steve and I were the only ones deciding to give the round trip a whirl. I hate to be constantly using Strava segments as a reference point, but here I go again. Essentially the entire trip from the campground to the summit is one long climb, increasing in pitch slowly but surely ... Strava says the full Dante's View segment is 23 miles long, gaining 5,200 feet and averaging (Wait for it!) 4%. I will LOUDLY emphasize that the last 5.5 miles average 8% and the last 1/3 of a mile pitch is 13%. Suffice to say there is a LOT of uphill here. For the 25 mile trip "up" we averaged a tortoise-like 7 mph.
The view WAS amazing. It almost looked like some sort of high-tech diorama. It took me a very long time to realize the dark grey sinuous line off to the side was Badwater Road and then see little specks moving along it that were cars. My jaw dropped. That made it worth the huge effort to get here. Gotta give full disclosure though ... we had to walk the bikes up the last two switchbacks to the top. So close, but we were absolutely shot. Broomwagon fodder at that point. Steve was waiting for us at the top and we all ogled the view and sat down and ate lunch together. Our egos were stroked a little too, as at least 3-4 cars gave us a thumb's up as they departed. One guy even rolled down his window and shouted "Nice Job! Hard Core!!" I'm pretty sure he didn't see us walking our bikes up the last two switchbacks, you think?
The trip down was "easier," although a bit of a crosswind and a bumpy and rough surface which we didn't notice crawling uphill really rattled our teeth on the descent. There was one ..... umm .... citizen driver, coming uphill, who decided to pass a couple cars just as I was approaching from the opposite lane/direction. The driver saw me waving my arm wildly asking her to notice me and get back in her lane so we wouldn't have to "share" my lane going opposite directions. She hit the accelerator, flashed her lights at me (honest to god ... flashed her lights! "Don't worry sir, I see you and I'll thread the needle at 65 mph!) and proceeded to pass anyway. Damn it, sometimes I think Sartre was right when he said "Hell is other people." There is a strong chance I may have flipped that driver the bird.
Once we got on the main highway and turned north we had a primo road surface and a full on tailwind. We were able to cannonball back to the campsite with ease. We were offered a hero's welcome from the group (as was Steve, and he was first man back!) for tackling the climb up Dante's. I'd like to say it didn't matter, but I must admit I felt a little surge of pride. I'm such a narcissist.
Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 309 miles (497 km)
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2 years ago
The view though!
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago