Desperado Dual 2010: The Short and Long of It, Part I

A note from J.B.: I will divide this post into two different sections, as follows:

"The Short of It": This will be a short paragraph that will include overall finish time, etc. Great for those of you that hate reading, like me, or just don't have time/give a crap about what I have to say.

"The Long of It": This will be a comprehensive narrative of Team Chasqui's epic journey at the 106-mile Desperado Dual, likely divided into two installments. Put on some comfy socks or slippers, grab the beverage of your choice and let me paint the picture of our two-wheeled trek over the rivers, mountains and valleys of rural central Utah.

The Short of It
Last year, I finished this race with an elapsed time of something like 9 hours 43 minutes. This included time at rest stops as well as pedal time. My goal this year was to finish with a pedal time under 7 hours. Son of a gun if I didn't finish in 7 hours and 1 second. Not even kidding. Elapsed time: 7:43:28.

The Long of It
Okay, now for you faithful followers.

The ride started at 7 am on Saturday morning in Panguitch, UT. For us Las Vegans, that translated to 6 am. We we stayed at the ranch, which is approximately 45 minutes from the start line, meaning that, if we wanted to get there in time to check in, get prepped, etc, we needed to leave the ranch by at 5:30 am at the latest. For us Las Vegans, that translated to 4:30 am. My point: it was an early morning.

Nevertheless, Chasquis Taylor, Nick and myself all arrived in just enough time to check in, have a quick chat with Chasqui Margaret who was staffing the race, pin our numbers on our jerseys, apply our sunscreen and DZ Nuts, take our bikes off the rack and clip into our pedals. As a matter of fact, the race began just as I mounted my bike. We were in a parking lot across the street from the start line when the race began, meaning that we had to cross the street, cut through a parking lot adjacent to the start line, wait for the crowd to funnel through the gate and start the race at the very back of the bunch, a good half-mile or so from the main peloton. Oh well.

The start was chilly; moving at about 20 mph in 50 degree weather makes for goosebumps and shortness of breath until your body gets warmed up. The first seven miles of the course are relatively flat as you head southeast out of Panguitch and follow the west fork of the Sevier River. Given the flatness and our placement toward the back, we formed a train just to make up a little bit of the ground we may have lost by starting at the end of the bunch. So there we are in about a 20 mph paceline at about mile 6.5 just about to start up the main climb of the course, when I turn around to see Nick right on my wheel, Taylor right behind him and then a string of about 8 other strangers that had hopped on and were enjoying the ride. I wish Graham Watson would have been there to snap a shot of the Chasqui-led pace line. It was one of the coolest feelings I've felt in a long time.

At just around mile 7, the course takes a hard left and heads due East as it climbs just over 1,000 feet over the next 8 miles. This is where the paceline falls apart as everyone begins to climb at their own comfortable pace (no need for anyone to waste themselves going up a climb when there are still 90 or so miles yet to ride. Taylor took off and remained about 50 yards ahead of me for most of the climb, with Nick just about equidistant between the two of us as we headed up Red Canyon. Red Canyon isn't a terrible climb, but it is a haul, averaging about a 3 percent grade with a few 30-40 foot segments as steep as 8 or 9 percent. About a third of the way up, the course deviates from the main road and enters a two-lane bike path, which twists and turns its way through the Dixie Forest and dumps you back on the road at about 7,800 feet.

At the summit, we were only about 14 miles into the ride and had been in the saddle for just about an hour. I knew there were about 16 miles of flats combined with a few small rollers between us and the first rest station, and I was tired of climbing and going slow, so I hit the gas.

Well, let me not get ahead of myself. I was riding along with this lady who, every time we saw her, Nick began singing this song, and she was great to draft off of because she had a good motor. So, I tucked in behind her for maybe 150 yards until she got me to about 17 mph, and then I gassed it.

Nick grabbed my wheel as I passed him, and Taylor caught his wheel once we caught up to him. And so we took turns leading the train as we headed toward the edge of Bryce Canyon, where we would turn north and enter the vastness of John's Valley. As we made the left turn, I looked over my shoulder and once again there were a good 7-8 people tucked in behind us. What a riot!

As we arrived at the first rest station, a handful of people commented on how great that last section was, being tucked into the Chasqui slipstream. I was feeling great, and it seemed like Nick and Taylor were feeling the same.

I guess this is as appropriate a place as any for a sidebar, a sub-plot, if you will. If you have been paying attention, you will have recognized that I have only been talking about myself, Nick and Taylor, but that there were four of us that were supposed to be doing this thing. Well, about 6 miles into the ride my celly rings and Warren is at the other end of the line, asking me where the start line is. He's arrived late and the start line is in a different location than it was last year. I did my best to explain it to him and he found it. He got checked-in and suited up, and then he headed out, about 15-20 minutes after the rest of us had started the race. Son of a gun if Chasqui mother-freakin'-Warren didn't show up at the first rest stop about 8 minutes after we had arrived there - a true testament that ol' Warnie doesn't see increases in elevation like the rest of us do; it's all flat to him as he puts himself on auto-ascend and just flies up the mountains. The purest of pure climbers, indeed. It was epic.

Now that the Chasquis were 4-strong and things were as they should be, we departed the rest station for Antimony, the location of the next rest stop and also Chasqui Cash' ranch, where we were staying. Population: 122. The approximately 25 miles between us and Antimony were either flat, minor rollers, or slightly downhill, with a steep downhill section toward the end. This is where I had a blast last year, and this is where I would again have a blast this year, even if it meant being completely dismantled by the end of the day when I would need my energy reserves. We rode side-by-side and chatted for a couple of miles before tucking into a paceline once again to conserve energy and keep moving as quickly as possible. I should clarify that we weren't going pedal to the metal at this point. We were keeping it funky at right around 20-23 mph and switching lead-outs every minute or so. This seems to be a spot on the course where the race really spreads out, as nobody at all passed us and the people/groups we passed were relatively few.

We arrived in Antimony where Chasqui Cash and Sam the dog were awaiting us with smiles. We grabbed some sandwiches and drinks and checked out other peoples' bikes. We had covered 58 miles in about 3 hours 20 minutes and were all feeling good.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the second and final part of the Desperado Dual race report.