Goldrush 1200k Grand Randonnee

[RudAwkning]

Wrapped up the Goldrush 1200 on Saturday. The route took us from Davis, CA to just shy of the Oregon border and back by way of the Feather River Canyon, over the Sierras and through the high desert. It was my very first 1200 back in 2013 so, 4 years later, it was kind of a homecoming for me.

Here's a link to our course.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/15903786

750 miles and 40,000' of elevation gain are already intimidating numbers. But the ride is bookended with 100 miles of flat terrain which condenses the climbing into a mere 550 miles. We also had a nasty heatwave during the ride, and according to my friend Max, temperatures peaked at 117 on Janesville Grade on the return leg. The DNF rate was considerably high. I believe 24 of the 74 starters had to bow out for various reasons, but mainly due to the extreme heat.

With a 6pm start, I rolled the first 95 miles with 6 others, averaging just over 20mph to the control in Oroville. My plan was to bank time up front and get in and out of the first two controls quickly. After that, I eased off of the gas considerably, and spent the remainder of the route to Adin flying solo. Met my friend Erik Nohlen at mile 324 and we partnered up for the remainder of the ride. I've never done one of these on so little sleep before. Two 1 hour naps (mile 324 outbound Adin and again at mile 450 inbound Adin) and two 5 minute roadside naps. I wrapped up at 11:59pm Saturday for a 65hr59min finish time. Interestingly enough, my finish time in 2013 was 74hr59min, so I shaved exactly 9 hours off of my previous time and set a PR for this distance.

By noon on Saturday, the temps were already in the triple digits in the valley. I'm so glad we decided to ride straight through. Things got uglier as the day wore on and riders were being told to stay in Oroville for their safety until things cooled off.

My friend, Max Poletto, managed to beat the course record on a solo flyer with a finishing time of 57 hours and 26 minutes. This was 1 hour faster than the previous fastest time set by a group of 4 riders in 2005. This is most likely his last ride in the U.S. for a while, so what a way to go out. I'll miss him dearly when he and his family relocate to Switzerland at the end of the month.

[Mzilliox]

dude, badass. which bike was the choice for the ride?

[fiamme red]

Congratulations! That is an amazing finishing time for such a hilly 1200k. You weren't on a fixed-gear this time, were you?

[kingpin75s]

Congratulations! Great time, great ride. Thank you for sharing. Happy to see you beat the heat!

[SpeedyChix]

Huge congrats on that! Awesome job.

[krhea]

Amazing. Can't fathom a ride like that and even less so in that kind of heat. What bike?

[smead]

Great ride Jason, esp considering the temps. Big Max sure crushed it too - wow!

[guido]

Chapeau!

[AngryScientist]

750 miles and 40,000' of elevation gain are already intimidating numbers.

yowsa!

congratulations. very impressive!

[RudAwkning]

This was the bike I was riding. Although everything on it has changed except for the frame and fork!

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=56151

[Peter B]

Nice job Jason!

We had heat when I last did GRR in 2005 but not as hot as this year. IIRC it was about 90* at midnight in Oroville on the outbound and about 106* on the climb out of Susanville the next day. 103* or so as we returned thru the valley on the last day. Fortunately we climbed Janesville around midnight so it was mercifully cool. In fact, the descent back into Indian Valley had us shivering as we dropped into the morning fog. That ride can really hit extremes of temps.

Sounds like Max is in top shape this year!

[goonster]

With a 6pm start, I rolled the first 95 miles with 6 others, averaging just over 20mph to the control in Oroville.

Randonneur yada-yada-yada's 5-hour century . . .

[bicycletricycle]

super awesome, congrats.

I remember that Waterford, sweet ride.

if you have changed all the parts, do you have a surplus to requirement ti nitto stem around?

[marciero]

Very cool and impressive. Thanks for sharing. Am always curious about riders' experience regarding sleep on the longer brevets- 600k and 1200k

[RudAwkning]

Nice job Jason!

We had heat when I last did GRR in 2005 but not as hot as this year. IIRC it was about 90* at midnight in Oroville on the outbound and about 106* on the climb out of Susanville the next day. 103* or so as we returned thru the valley on the last day. Fortunately we climbed Janesville around midnight so it was mercifully cool. In fact, the descent back into Indian Valley had us shivering as we dropped into the morning fog. That ride can really hit extremes of temps.

Sounds like Max is in top shape this year!

Indian Valley was chilly but the coldest segment was the return to Adin from Alturus between 5-6 in the morning. It reportedly dipped into the 30s. And guess who forgot their knee warmers and vest? I was stuffing ziplock bags between my jersey and base layer to keep warm.

We hit Janesville at around 4:30 in the afternoon. It was hot, but the sun was casting some pretty nice shadows through the trees. We got to Boulder Creek with just enough time to descend from Antelope Lake to Taylorsville in daylight. That descent SUCKS at night. There's so much debris and sand in the road. And those expansion gaps beat you up too. After doing the 600k on 25s, I switched to 28s for GRR. Might have been happier on 32s.

Max wanted the record so bad, that he put aero bars on his bike! He only slept for 2 hours inbound Alturus. Crazy.

[RudAwkning]

super awesome, congrats.

I remember that Waterford, sweet ride.

if you have changed all the parts, do you have a surplus to requirement ti nitto stem around?

I have 3. 1 is on my white Waterford, 1 is on my Ellis road bike and the other is sitting on the mantle :)

[bicycletricycle]

!!!!!!!!!:mad:

I have 3. 1 is on my white Waterford, 1 is on my Ellis road bike and the other is sitting on the mantle :)

[muz]

Almost as impressive as Max, one guy did it in fixed gear in that heat! I considered that possibility for a few seconds before deciding on gears.

[RudAwkning]

Almost as impressive as Max, one guy did it in fixed gear in that heat! I considered that possibility for a few seconds before deciding on gears.

Took me a second to figure out who "MUZ" was. Metin. Duh.

BTW, the results are already posted on the RUSA site. I just went to submit for RUSA Cup #5 and came to the grim realization that I'm 66k shy of the required 5000k total since my last cup ended in August. Guess I'm doing that pop next month. [grumble]

[ptourkin]

Almost as impressive as Max, one guy did it in fixed gear in that heat! I considered that possibility for a few seconds before deciding on gears.

That was Shai (Frisky Camel) from PCHR. His bike is belt drive with only one available ratio.

[RudAwkning]

There were actually 2 fixed gears this year. Spencer Klassen was the other one, although I believe he DNF'd Susanville outbound.

My buddy Paul Rozelle did it fixed in 2009. I believe he still has the fixed gear record at under 79 hours.

[ptourkin]

So you basically did 3 22 hour 400ks with 13k feet in a row. What was your actual ride time (i.e minus ice cream and sleep?)

[RudAwkning]

So you basically did 3 22 hour 400ks with 13k feet in a row. What was your actual ride time (i.e minus ice cream and sleep?)

Adding my my in/out times on the spreadsheet, I was off the bike for 259 minutes on the Outbound and 351 minutes on the inbound. That includes time off the bike not recorded by their spreadsheet (I had two 5 minute naps on the roadside and stopped at KFC in Susanville after leaving the control + the Sutter receipt control where we sat down briefly and refueled). That doesn't include stopping to check my cue sheet, stopping to take a picture, stopping to catch my breath, etc. If you add those in, Then probably about 10.5 hours off the bike total. Which means I averaged about 13.5 mph moving. Not too bad considering the distance and climbing.

[ripvanrando]

Impressive ride.:hello::beer: