Deathride vs. Climb to Kaiser

jeffss said:

How does the Climb to Kaiser compare to the Death Ride?
I have read the stats but would like to hear people's
opinions. Looks smaller, more relaxed and tougher.
Thanks Jeff

From the club riders who have done both, Kaiser is longer,
hotter, and steeper. Kaiser has about 40 continuous miles of
climbing, and there's a pretty substantial section at 18%.
Temperatures over 100F are commonplace.

I plan to do Kaiser this year, but not the Death Ride. I do
my own version of the Death Ride, with about a dozen others.
We have Markleeville to ourselves.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA bike.terrymorse.combike.terrymorse.comOpen ↗

[email hidden] (jeffss) wrote in
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Quoted message said:

How does the Climb to Kaiser compare to the Death Ride?
I have read the stats but would like to hear people's
opinions. Looks smaller, more relaxed and tougher.
Thanks Jeff

By far the better ride is Climb To Kaiser. I rode DR from
1988 thru 2000, and it has turned into a circus. When I
first went to Markleeville in '88, there were just under 500
riders. I saw it grow into a full-fledged 3-ring circus with
over 3250 riders in the mid-90's.

By contrast the CTK is must better covered by support
workers, and is much nicer riding territory. There is one
piece of stiff climbing - Big Creek Grade, ave 14% - but
it's only about 4 miles long. There are 3 other climbs of
substance, Wildcat at ± mile 21 [about 2-2.5 miles @ about
10-12%], Tollhouse at ± mile 37 [longish, varying gradients,
but around 6-8% ave.], and then after Big Creek Grade you
top it off with Kaiser Pass Road [about 7 miles, nothing
much to speak of at the bottom; the "good stuff" starts when
the road narrows about 2 miles from the top! Not real steep
though.] You end up with about 10k feet of climbing over a
60 miles stretch [mile 21 to the top], and then another 3k
feet of climbing on the descent; I understand it's the same
ridge line that the road snakes over 3 different times;
nothing to write home about.

I've ridden CTK the past 2 years and the heat has never been
a factor. There's a mass start at 0530, well before the
valley starts to warm up. On the way back there's only about
20 miles on the valley floor and that would be later in the
afternoon [or early evening if you climb with the dexterity
that I do!].

Fresno Cycling has a limit on the ridership of about 300
IIRC, which yields *OUTSTANDING* support on the road, and at
the rest stops.

--
Doug Goodwin YMMV

The thing about the cold is that you can never tell how cold
it is from looking out a kitchen window. You have to dress
up, get out training and when you come back, you then know
how cold it is. --Sean Kelly