Tag: deathride 2023

advocacy, community activities, deathride

Updates From Markleeville – Caltrans, Deathride, Grover, and Arts & Culture Alpine

ADVOCACY. It’s THE reason we (Mrs. California Alps and I) founded California Alps Cycling. Not just for cycling and cyclists, or mountain biking and gravelleurs, but for the all of those that are Alpine; or wish to be Alpine, if only for a little while.

SURE, our primary mission is to “spread the gospel of cycling, all types of cycling,” yet it’s also about stewardship of the Sierra; helping to ensure that we, and others, have skin in the game, if you will.

CHAMPIONING for the area has become a passion. One that I’m reminded of everytime I ride a bike, or go fishing, or hunting, or birding.

Caltrans District 10 Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC)

AFTER five (5) meetings we’re getting to know each other better and our relationships are getting stronger. The committee, comprised of members of the public from the eight (8) counties in District 10: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne, and Caltrans staff, has had productive conversations about rumble strips, how they effect cyclists and potential alternatives.

WE’VE begun exploring bicycle event permits, how they’re handled and the financial impact they have on the mostly non-profit local groups that host these events, including Mr. Frog’s Wild Ride, the Ride & Walk4Art and the Deathride.

THERE have been frank conversations about unsafe intersections in Stockton (for pedestrians) and missed stretches of sweeping on some highways within the district. The Caltrans Team has been oh so gracious, and inviting of the criticism.

COMMITTEE Chair, Charles Carroll, has been instrumental, at one point reaching out to me to set up a meeting with leadership and legal, so we can continue exploring the idea of allowing bike and pedestrian (including wheelchair) access to Ebbett’s Pass or Monitor Pass, here in Alpine Co., after the roads are plowed but before they’re open to vehicles.

rock formations

YOSEMITE does something similar on Tioga Pass most years and I’ve had exchanges with their team to learn more about how they do it.

CREDIT to Krishna Rao for this post, by the way. It pointed me in the right direction.

WE still have a few things to work through/understand: liability, is one example, the possible use of permits, another.

Thank you Caltrans. We’re building bridges, and we’re all being heard.

We Continue to Adopt

HARD to believe it’s been five (5) years of pickin’ but it has. Holy detritus, Batman!

WELL, the work will continue for another five; we’ve just renewed our commitment to toiling on the turnpike. Not much work to be done presently, though, due to so much snow on the highway. Dang. 😉

The Deathride Is In Excellent Hands…Again

YOURS truly moved up here to Markleeville because of the Deathride. Since that fateful day in the fall of 2016 I’ve ridden in it three (3) times, doing all the climbs once. I joined the Alpine County Chamber of Commerce board back in 2019 because of the ride. For those who are not aware, the Chamber owns and operates (with a LOT OF HELP) this one of kind ride.

I’m currently the Board President, and along with my fellow “Boarders” – we all volunteer – and our amazing manager, Meghan, with institutional knowledge (and assurance) provided by our former Executive Director, Becky DeForest, we’ve begun working on this year’s ride. Professionals are the name of the game and so we’ve again inked a deal with Corey Bolton, last year’s Ride Director, to fufill the same role this year! We’re also very excited to have Di Bolton, the other half of the Bolton Team, taking on the role of Logistics and Volunteer Coordinator. We’re blessed to have these two fine individuals (key members of Curtis Fong’s Bike The West Team for many years) as leaders of ours.

MICHAEL Bayer, who’s headed up Alta Alpina Cycling Club’s (AACC) Alta Alpina Challenge for many years, and was part of some of the original AACC Deathride teams, has been instrumental too, and is guiding us on so many levels this year.

SPEAKING of Alta Alpina, the Club is hosting a training series this year. You can register for it when you register for the ride. For a nominal fee you can get some training in with these local experts so be sure to take advantage!

VOLUNTEERS, including our intrepid Kate Harvey, Boy Scouts, and more, help complete the team. Pacific Grade will again be the double-feature this year. We had such great feedback from riders regarding the course last year so it was a no-brainer for the 2023 ride.

Blue, green or ??? Samples of some of the artwork we’re considering for the 2023 Deathride logo.

OVER 600 riders have already registered and we’re grateful. Check out the website for more information.

BE sure to get your training in. For on the road training, if you’re looking for organized ride options, I suggest you funnel as many ducats as you can to those club-run or non-profit-benefitting rides like the Wildflower or Mr. Frogs. These events are often their biggest fundraisers.

We’ve published some posts on that very subject, training that is. Click here or here for a couple suggestions, or search this website yourself if you’re so inclined. For indoor training, Fulgaz is our go to; there are rides we’ve filmed available for your suffering, including all five (5) climbs of the “DR classic course.”

Coming Soon To Alpine County

THE Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) has received proposals for six (6) projects and we’re looking forward to reviewing them. From wayfinding to “Camping Like a Pro,” we’ve got some good juju focused on our local forests. Check out this recent post for more on the RAC.

MARKLEEVILLE’S water company, known as the Markleeville Water Company (who’d a thunk it?), on which I volunteer on the board, and am our webmaster, is hoping to finally get things flowing on a major project this spring. We’ve been working with the state for some time now on a grant to replace the core of our infrastructure, with new water lines for the town and surrounding residences. Timing is key because after that project, comes another for the town.

HOT Springs Road repaving would be it. The partial redo of one of the two (2) main roads in town, this one on the way to Grover Hot Springs State Park, will give us some buttery pavement on which to walk (and ride) and some wider shoulders to do it on.

SPEAKING of Grover…While the hot springs themselves are doing what they have for thousands of years, the infrastructure that funnels that hot, mineral-rich water into a walled pool, is not.

Camping is open on a first-come, first-served basis, and will continue to be, including for the Deathride, but the plumbing (among other things) is in need of repair and a start date is unknown at this point.

WE continue to communicate with the state, and fingers crossed we’ll come up with a solution soon.

BRIDGES? We’ve got bridges. And we’re working on them. Well technically it’s Caltrans and their contractors that are but we’ll reap the rewards. There are approximately five (5) in the county that are on the list, a couple of which have been started, including the bridge just south of town and the one on Highway 4 near Silver Creek.

LAST, but definitely not least, is the Arts and Culture initiative. Our former District 1 Supervisor, and Club-Mom, January Riddle, is heading up the effort. Our mentor, and sponsor, Arts and Culture El Dorado, has been instrumental in guiding us and will continue to be our partner. Work has begun on a tentative program to kick things off, and the team is forming its board and getting ready to file that “(c)(3) paperwork” with the state and the Feds.

THESE last few years have been a bit of a wild ride here in the heart of the California Alps.

HEY, the rest of the world has been experiencing its challenges too.

IT’S not just us. It’s all of us.

NONETHELESS, while we may still be grieving a bit over what was lost in the Tamamarack Fire, and the ensuing natural disasters that followed, we are NOT WALLOWING. In fact, as you have read, we’re rising!

MORE surprises are in store so stay involved and keep visiting, especially this spring and summer. We’ve got a good one (or ones) queued up for you!

crop unrecognizable black father disciplining adorable attentive son at home
deathride, fitness, health

Post-Surgery Discipline, and A Deathride Planning Update

Discipline, my sensei once told me, was not necessarily about when (or how hard) to practice, but when not to. Those words of wisdom do ring true, even more so today as I backslide to 60, yet heeding them is sometimes a challenge.

Wax on, wax off can also be interpreted to mean “practice on,” “practice off,” or “ride bike,” “don’t ride bike,” and even “lift that,” “don’t lift that.”

BECAUSE, three (3) weeks + since the “big ‘blation” (TURP by aquablation) I haven’t been able to lift much (no more than 10 pounds for the first 10 days) nor get any serious cardio (no strenuous activities, including sex, for 3 weeks). Strenuous sex? Really? Ah, the old days…

NO bike riding either, inside or out, until cleared by the doctor (that happens today, hopefully).

SO I’ve truly put into practice Mr. Arioto’s words of all of those years ago. For the first 7-10 days or so it wasn’t that hard. Now though, 3 1/2 weeks out, it’s getting harder. As I told Mrs. California Alps Cycling yesterday, I’m getting fatter and my fitness is getting worse. My CTL is dropping like a rock and my scale indicates those rocks are hiding somewhere within my expanding self.

I’M trying to eat less, and I did a good job of that as well for those first couple of weeks, and I’ve been walking, which can be agonizingly slow for a fervent rider, and make’s my bum right knee unhappy, but it has helped, and it’s especially enjoyable due to some good tunes and the snowy scenery.

ADMITTEDLY, I’m not real good at this type of discipline. Thankfully I won’t have to practice it much longer and I’m so ready to get back on the bike.

Dealing with the recovery (esp. since I had some complications) hasn’t been pleasant. I’m on the mend now, though, and feeling good. The plumbing is getting back to normal and that not-so-fun part is aways behind me. I’m thankful, too, for good health insurance, good robotics 😉 , good doctors and good drugs.

Let this horse out of the gate!

Deathride Planning

BASKING in the glory of this year’s successful ride, monkey now off our (the Alpine County Chamber of Commerce) back, has been wonderful. We gave ourselves some time to celebrate. Short-lived that time was, though, as we’ve already begun planning for the 2023 ride.

THAT “big schnozzola photo,” by the way, was taken during this year’s ride – I’m just below Raymond Meadow Creek on Hwy. 4 (Ebbett’s Pass).

WE’VE got to finalize our expo. location and are trying to find one other than Turtle Rock Park. We received a lot of feedback from riders after this year’s ride that hanging out there for the expo wasn’t the best experience. From vendors to volunteers we all agree and so we’re brainstorming ideas and doing a bit of outreach. If we have to go back to “TRP” again we’ll do our best to make it look less like a burnt-moonscape. Things are looking better post-Tamarack Fire. Greening up, more dead trees removed and snow on the ground.

Spring could be glorious with the grasses and flowers!

WE’RE hoping to work out a deal with a local cycling club to take on our warehouse and aid station logistic coordinating responsibilities. We’ve had volunteers take on this role in the past (and they’ve all done an outstanding job), yet we realize that to kick things up a notch we need to find professionals to fill this role, and pay accordingly. Fingers crossed we’ll be able to work out a partnership soon with this great group. Stay tuned!

PERMITS are another behind the scenes process that must be handled. Every year, we and other ride organizers, need to gain the necessary permits from various agencies (e.g., Alpine Co.; Caltrans; CHP; USFS, etc.) and that process too, has started. The great feedback we received this year from these agencies, and the support they’ve (and the riders) voiced for this years course, especially how safe it was, means we’ll be DOING THE SAME CLIMBS IN 2023. Monitor x2, Ebbett’s x2 and Pacific Grade x2. I’ll be riding it in 2023 and am looking forward to getting back to some serious training. I think we’ll have a few other CAC riders out on the course next year too.

VOLUNTEERS are a huge part of the Deathride and 2023 is no different. We’ve got the usual amazing folks already raising their hands, and at the suggestion of one of our captains, are going to expand the roles of the group captains to be more involved in the planning stages of the ride. Another “up our game” plan.

RIDE or course director is another “T” that must be crossed and admittedly that search has been a bit “interesting.” Our beloved Curtis Fong, while agreeing to continue to be our mentor and advisor, wouldn’t let us brow beat him into the role, and another gentleman we had hoped to hire declined due to his crazy, busy schedule. So, the search goes on. We’ve got some other very talented people to talk to, though, and we’ve talked to some local project management talent as well so we’re confident the right person or persons will come along.

WE are aware of some merchandise delays from this year’s Deathride, including jerseys, and are actively working with the merchant to resolve the problem. We’ve been short-staffed, but our new office manager started yesterday. It will, however, take her some time to get up to speed. In the meantime feel free to reach out to me. My contact info. is on our “About Us” page.

WE’VE got lots of balls in the air right now, as you can see. Par for the course this time of year. It’s an exciting, scary and nervewracking time, and IT’S WONDERFUL!

IT’S going to be another great ride! Registration open’s New Year’s Eve! Mark those calendars, k?

HAVE a happy, happy, Thanksgiving!

TWO of our local feathered friends, Wavy Beard on the left and Stumpy on the right, suggest that perhaps you enjoy beef, pork or a vegan/vegetarian option.

AS we told them though, while the suggestion is understood we’ll be eating turkey. Just not you!