Roll call for Sonora Pass 6/29/03

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

OK, time to fess up, who was out there on Sonora Pass today? Saw a guy in a Webcor jersey climbing
up the east side, another guy out there on a recumbent, and a number of others.

Some of the folks you saw were on our ride. We were on the steep part of Sonora Pass, riding east to
west, around noon. Webcor jersey wearer was Stefan Blum. He is a fast climber. A few minutes behind
him was Lloyd Chambers, in a plain olive greeen jersey. I was wearing a plain gold jersey, and I may
have been behind or ahead of Lloyd, since I passed him part of the way up. Behind both of us was
John Hofstader, wearing a grey sleeveless jersey. Another rider was Kevin Flynn, wearing a
red/yellow/blue Solvang Century jersey. I'm not sure where in the order he was.

We were doing the First Annual Kiss of Death Ride (it's my ride and that's what I'm calling it). We
started in Sonora on Saturday morning, riding Highway 4 over Ebbetts Pass to Markleeville, where we
had an al fresco Italian dinner at Villa Gigli and spent the night at the J. Marklee Toll House
hotel. Sunday morning, we headed out at dawn from Markleeville, over Monitor Pass, had a hot
breakfast at the Meadowcliff Restaurant near Coleville, rode the hot and windy 395 south to Sonora
Junction, over Sonora Pass, had lunch at the pass, rode back to Sonora and our waiting cars. But
before we drove home, we had a post-ride dinner at Nanna's Restaurant.

Folks were tired by the end, but everyone agreed it was a fun ride. We'll definitely do it again
next year. Ride stats:

Day 1: 90 miles, 10,500' ascent Day 2: 132 miles, 11,500' ascent Total: 222 miles, 22,000' ascent

I'll post the photos as soon as I can add all the captions.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA terrymorse.combikeOpen ↗

Terry Morse said:

We were doing the First Annual Kiss of Death Ride (it's my ride and that's what I'm calling it).
We started in Sonora on Saturday morning, riding Highway 4 over Ebbetts Pass to Markleeville,
where we had an al fresco Italian dinner at Villa Gigli and spent the night at the J. Marklee Toll
House hotel. Sunday morning, we headed out at dawn from Markleeville, over Monitor Pass, had a hot
breakfast at the Meadowcliff Restaurant near Coleville, rode the hot and windy 395 south to Sonora
Junction, over Sonora Pass, had lunch at the pass, rode back to Sonora and our waiting cars. But
before we drove home, we had a post-ride dinner at Nanna's Restaurant.

Photos from the ride are here:

terrymorse.comindex.htmlOpen ↗
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA terrymorse.combikeOpen ↗

Does everybody doing Sonora Pass stay at the Inn of California in Sonora? Been there too many
times to count!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

"Terry Morse" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Terry Morse said:

We were doing the First Annual Kiss of Death Ride (it's my ride and that's what I'm calling it).
We started in Sonora on Saturday morning, riding Highway 4 over Ebbetts Pass to Markleeville,
where we had an al fresco Italian dinner at Villa Gigli and spent the night at the J. Marklee
Toll House hotel. Sunday morning, we headed out at dawn from Markleeville, over Monitor Pass,
had a hot breakfast at the Meadowcliff Restaurant near Coleville, rode the hot and windy 395
south to Sonora Junction, over Sonora Pass, had lunch at the pass, rode back to Sonora and our
waiting cars. But before we drove home, we had a post-ride dinner at Nanna's Restaurant.

Photos from the ride are here:

terrymorse.comindex.htmlOpen ↗
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA terrymorse.combikeOpen ↗

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Does everybody doing Sonora Pass stay at the Inn of California in Sonora? Been there too many
times to count!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

Mike I am curious as I have never ridden Sonora, how does it compare to
Mt. Ventoux say from Bedoin for example?

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Does everybody doing Sonora Pass stay at the Inn of California in Sonora? Been there too many
times to count!

It's inexpensive, conveniently located, has good air conditioning, and the pool is a nice refresher.
What more could you want?

Welcome home from France, Mike. Got back Wednesday myself.
--
terry

Mike Latondresse said:

Mike I am curious as I have never ridden Sonora, how does it compare to
Mt. Ventoux say from Bedoin for example?

Well, having ridden both within the past 4 weeks, I'd say that Ventoux is a walk in the park
compared to Sonora Pass. I was doing 8-9 mph on Ventoux, and on parts of Sonora all I could manage
was 5 mph -- in my granny gear. The steepness and high elevation of Sonora makes it stand head and
shoulders above Ventoux.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA terrymorse.combikeOpen ↗

Terry Morse <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Mike Latondresse said:

Mike I am curious as I have never ridden Sonora, how does it compare to Mt. Ventoux say from
Bedoin for example?

Well, having ridden both within the past 4 weeks, I'd say that Ventoux is a walk in the park
compared to Sonora Pass. I was doing 8-9 mph on Ventoux, and on parts of Sonora all I could manage
was 5 mph -- in my granny gear. The steepness and high elevation of Sonora makes it stand head and
shoulders above Ventoux.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA terrymorse.combikeOpen ↗

Impressive! Perhaps Glabier would be a better comparison from the Telegraphie side.

Mike Latondresse said:

Perhaps Glabier would be a better comparison from the Telegraphie side.

Galibier is closer in elevation to Sonora Pass, certainly, and it's really long. But the grade on
Galibier tops out at 10% (I think), while Sonora Pass tops out at 26%.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA terrymorse.combikeOpen ↗

Terry Morse <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Mike Latondresse said:

Perhaps Glabier would be a better comparison from the Telegraphie side.

Galibier is closer in elevation to Sonora Pass, certainly, and it's really long. But the grade on
Galibier tops out at 10% (I think), while Sonora Pass tops out at 26%.
--

26%?? Awesome. You are right Galbier never gets much beyond 10 but it does grind you. I am really
going to try and get down and do Sonora.

If I had to pick a French climb that would be as obnoxious as Sonora Pass, it would probably be the
Pau side of the Col d Aubisque. Thankfully, I descended that side, climbing from Lourdes. That's
actually quite a pleasant ride, with some spectacular scenery near the top. But the other side...
that's one incredibly long descent, unbroken, with readings between 8-12% for kilometer after
kilometer.

My diary from the trip can be found at www.ChainReaction.com/diaryfrance2003.htm Racing photos at
www.ChainReaction.com/france03racephotos.htm

I've got literally hundreds of photos that I'm still sorting through, and lots more updates to
post on the trip, but still have to recover a bit... it was quite the exercise in sleep
deprivation at times.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

"Terry Morse" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mike Latondresse said:

Mike I am curious as I have never ridden Sonora, how does it compare to
Mt. Ventoux say from Bedoin for example?

Well, having ridden both within the past 4 weeks, I'd say that Ventoux is a walk in the park
compared to Sonora Pass. I was doing 8-9 mph on Ventoux, and on parts of Sonora all I could manage
was 5 mph -- in my granny gear. The steepness and high elevation of Sonora makes it stand head and
shoulders above Ventoux.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA terrymorse.combikeOpen ↗

As has been discussed before in some forums, no one has yet been able to identify any particular
100-foot section of Highway 108 which has a measurable grade of 26%.

Riding 100 feet up a 26% grade at 5 mph would be about 500 Watts for 14 seconds. Or at 4 mph, about
400 Watts for 18 seconds. Those who have ridden up the West side of Sonora Pass (not me yet) can
think if there were any sections that felt like that high a power output: 500 Watts on the flat is
something like 30 mph.

An athletic non-racer like me with a small chainring, previous hill-climbing practice, and lots of
patience can make it up most of those famous TdF climbs, including Galibier, Alpe d'Huez, Ventoux.
The population of riders I saw climbing Mont Ventoux on a random mid-week day looked nothing like a
racing peloton. It included two riders on fully-loaded touring bikes.

Ken

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

As has been discussed before in some forums, no one has yet been able to identify any particular
100-foot section of Highway 108 which has a measurable grade of 26%.

Riding 100 feet up a 26% grade at 5 mph would be about 500 Watts for 14 seconds. Or at 4 mph,
about 400 Watts for 18 seconds. Those who have ridden up the West side of Sonora Pass (not me yet)
can think if there were any sections that felt like that high a power output: 500 Watts on the
flat is something like 30 mph.

An athletic non-racer like me with a small chainring, previous hill-climbing practice, and lots of
patience can make it up most of those famous TdF climbs, including Galibier, Alpe d'Huez, Ventoux.
The population of riders I saw climbing Mont Ventoux on a random mid-week day looked nothing like
a racing peloton. It included two riders on fully-loaded touring bikes.

If you want an accurately measured steep hill, the Mt Washington Hill Climb site has the
following quote:

"The Mt Washington Auto Road is 7.6 miles in length, has an average grade of 12% with extended
sections of 18% and the last 50 yards is an amazing 22%! Sprint that to the finish!"

Tyler Hamilton has ridden the race several times, and has pictures of it on his web site. He held
the time record for a while in the lat 90's.

The base elevation of the road is 1565 ft, and the top is 6288 ft. If you do the math, that does
calculate out to an average of 12% for the 7.6 miles of run. I have driven it in a car, and can
testify that it's VERY STEEP in spots.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

"Ken Roberts" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The population of riders I saw climbing Mont Ventoux on a random mid-week day looked nothing like
a racing peloton. It included two riders on fully-loaded touring bikes.

Hey be thankful it gives you someone to pass, in fact dozens of them.