Giro di HELL

It's September and also usually the hottest month in San Diego...well the weather is a record breaker this month with an add of flash floods....on EVENT day of course.  Nothing like riding into the eye of the storm.

I took on a challenge certainly bigger than my ability  a few months back and now it's here.  I trained hard for it though.  I cycled the largest hill,  Mt Palomar, 2 weeks prior up south grade and down east grade with some extra mileage to achieve 62 miles and 6800 ft of climbing, and then cycled the Medio route 1 week prior adding on extra miles and elevation to achieve 78 miles and 5300 feet of climbing. I had decided the gran fondo was a graduation event for the cyclist. I wanted to be in the 10,000 feet of climbing club. These 105 miles require beast mode effort to achieve all in one day.  I'd never climbed more that 6-7k at one time.  I'd never climbed Mt. Palomar or Cole Grade before either.  Hell, I'd never climbed 7 hills in one day .  A lot of firsts but I was game and I got my group of other first time IMAZers to drink the same koolaid!  Below are pictures of Mt Palomar on a clear beautiful day.  Winding and climbing and descending south grade of Mt Palomar would be unforgettable! Well, it's event day... Damn I forgot my phone!! oh well, I'm sure I won't need it....I'll borrow pictures from others.

 
 







I followed the weather and saw that between 10-3pm was a flash flood warning...hmmm wonder what that means for us because I knew I would definitely be on Palomar during this time range.
We started at 6am to try to stay ahead of the heat and so a group of us took off just before sunrise with big smiles.  We stopped at the first SAG (Support And Gear) at mile 13 for a group photo! Then we climbed San Elijo/Twin Oaks for a couple miles. Fresh legs no problem!  Then 13 fast miles later we are at SAG 2 just before Lake Wolford, our first winding climb, but at least it was closed to traffic.  Pretty tough 6 mile climb but another 8 miles more and we are at SAG 3 for a water fill before we climb 5 miles before we get to Mt. Palomar.  I hate this 5 miles because you THINK you are climbing Mt. Palomar because it's tough as hell, but when you see the South grade sign, you realize OMG..we haven't even STARTED the real climb yet!  Time for SAG 4 to top off 2 bottles for a 2 hour/7 mile winding climb.  I remember thinking the weather was pretty reasonable.  It has been hotter before and we had some cloud cover so that's pretty awesome.  Because I had climbed Mt. Palomar 2 weeks ago, I knew the turns and the signs that I called milestones up the mountain.  We start climbing at about 6 mph and it was just a grind but I could still enjoy the scenery.  It's more mentally tough than physical and some cyclists are pausing for a bit along the way but the girls and I saw the 3000 elevation climb...and  we kept going... to the 4000 elevation sign..and we kept going...because .I knew at 5000 ft, we would be close with a couple switchbacks to go so we just kept going but some riders turned around and said it was enough.  Jackie, Rochelle, Monica and I just kept going until we squealed at the 5000ft sign and kept going  to the top!  We celebrated for 30 minutes at the SAG with other finishers which was...WAY TOO LONG!!!  and then we heard the RUMBLING and CRACKING in the sky right above us.  Rochelle said -We Gotta Go! and we took off.  I had never ridden down South Grade before as it is much safer and less steep going down East Grade, but there is a nasty 10 mile connection in head winds to get back to south grade so I was happy at the time to descend south grade.  I just feather braked as we descended with control.  I felt comfortable and still had some energy to face Cole Grade or so I thought....  and then off in the distance was this terrifying view of our future. 

We were dry but the future looked pretty wet. We just hoped that sheet of rain was at the bottom of Mt. Palomar.  We ticked off the downhill miles as safely as possible.  With about 2 miles to go, we hit the sheet of rain pictured above.  I was in front and I could not see so I pulled over as I was very worried about the roar of water under us.  We were hydroplaning down the mountain.  I stopped by squeezing my wet brakes with all my strength quickly realizing  that I really had no brakes at all but I had to remove my glasses so I unclipped and dragged my cleats to a stop.  We girls chatted for a bit and took off again.  At this point the flood was a river running horizontal across the street dragging mud, rock, and tree debris with it.  The water was above the ankle but we couldn't see where it was safe to ride so it was like playing chicken across a busy intersection.  I made it through the first river flood although terrified.  The second river was worse and so I decided to cross over to the wrong side of the road because I could see there was no on-coming  traffic.  As I crossed over, I found out those cement pits in the yellow lines that deter cars from crossing the line are really bad for bikes!  The jarring was like riding on gravel and it shook me to my core but I made it across and passed all the debris.  Now it was time to cross back over to the right side of the road.  I decided to go slowly...umm not possible without brakes and I nearly flipped over my handle bars trying to get back over those cement pits and it jarred my hydration system loose which carried all my liquid calories and my bike computer which landed in the middle of the road.

 Cars and RVs and trucks were behind me trying to exit due to flash flood warnings on their phones and I had no control over my speed. Nothing like hearing roaring traffic/thunder/lightning during a descent. I unclipped and dug both shoes into the street while trying to slow down.  I probably slid  100 feet until I could throw my bike along the road.  I got off and ran up the hill in cleats waving my hands like a crazy person as I tried to go back to get my valuables in the middle of the street without getting run over!  I was so happy my stuff landed on the center line and no one had run over it.  I picked it up and my bottle was full but my computer screen was shattered...well at least it wasn't my face.  Garmin will replace it.  I had my 910xt on my wrist. It was going to be ok ... if I could just get OFF this mountain safely!!!  and then I looked up and a man was standing there asking me if I needed anything!  He came out of no where!  HELL YES SAG man!! Get me off this mountain so I can continue!  and he packed up my bike and my other friends who were waiting for me and he drove us a couple miles down the road to start  Cole grade.  Wow!  that was emotionally and physically stressful and my hands were killing me from squeezing my brakes too.

We unloaded from the van like soggy circus clowns with big smiles because we could continue.  We were soaked but it was Blazing hot!!!  It was actually nice to be wet at that point!

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We took off as a group on Cole grade when I suddenly realized I had ruined my cleats and it was really difficult to clip in and out.  Very unsafe and it really stressed me after what I had just survived as well as I had no idea where Marcus was because he was still at the top of Palomar with other guys when we girls descended.  I knew he had to go through what I had just survived and I had no phone to call him, not to mention there is no cell coverage on the mountain until near the bottom.  The girls had gone ahead and I quickly got behind on the 3 mile climb up Cole.  It was a horse shoe shape climb which you could see the entire uphill grind in advance.  I hate that.  It looked impossible.  How can I climb if I can't clip in well or clip out once I am jammed into the pedals?  I was a freaking wreck.  I climbed on the bike and walked parts as I was half clipped in and it was living hell on my body.  I finally walked up the last peak to the water station to meet the other girls.  We took off together to tackle the last 30 MILES!!!! OMG...I was so exhausted.  Stress can really drain your energy.

We took off but the girls pulled ahead of me as I was being cautious with my cleats.  I kept reminding myself that IMAZ was my A Race and I needed to be safe.  As I turned the corner onto Valley Center, my tire blew.  I pulled over and had all my stuff out to change the flat.  I had no strength left in my grip to roll the tire over the wheel.  I was struggling with the tire and then the same SAG Man that picked me up on Palomar was by my side AGAIN!  He got my tire on the wheel and I filled it with CO2.  As I put it on the bike... BOOM!  and the tire was split.   I raised both hands and said I SURRENDER!!  This is just not my day to finish.  Too many signs tell me it's not safe so mile 72 and 8100 feet of climbing was my finish line.  The SAG man took me to mile 81 SAG.  He hung around as another guy wanted to be taken to the end due to heat exhaustion.  Then all the events hit me.. I had no idea if Marcus was safe.  My friends were there and Rochelle called him but no answer.  I ate/drank and sat down and the tears started to flow and my body started to shake.  I just couldn't go on without knowing he was ok.  I used another phone to call. no answer.  I cried some more.  I called again.  Marcus answered. OMG "ARE YOU OK?"  " He said, "yes, besides my 2 sliced tires from the debris on the Palomar descent! But I used both tubes and a boot patch so it seems ok" .  I said "please stay there."  I just had a really bad feeling.  My SAG man volunteered to pick him up with his friend Steve who had a misaligned handle bar, and spoke replaced and flat fixed previously and a lot of physical stress from the climbs as well.

We picked them up before the Valley Center climb and noticed the boot patch didn't hold and I'm sure he would have blown the tire on the  descent down Valley Center. His future could have been pretty ugly.  I felt like my SAG man saved both of our lives that day.  We were so grateful for the 24 mile drive to the finish line, all broken bikes, but yet all our  bodies were in one piece.



And in the end... there were two.  I am pretty sure Monica finished earlier but below are Jackie and Rochelle after a 12 hour day of beating Mother Nature and completing the entire Giro Di SD Gran Fondo 105 miles!  So proud of them!  72 miles was enough for me.  I had to replace 2 tires, 3 tubes, a pair of cleats, 2 pairs of heels, a computer mount, and a Garmin 800 EDGE computer.  It was a costly experience but still proud of my first DNF event.  Cole Grade... I will be back.  60 days to IMAZ! 




Rochelle and Jackie are ROCKSTARS!!!