Death Valley Road

With a name like Death Valley Road, you might expect today's ride would be exceptionally grueling. This would be my final ride with the group, and after the past week's riding it would take more than a name to intimidate me.

In the first edition of the Complete Guide to Climbing (By Bike) in California, John Summerson ranked this as merely the 64th most difficult climb in California. In his top 100, he also ranks some crazy-steep Bay Area climbs as easier than this one. Climbs that I lack the guts (and the gearing) to attempt. [Go figure.]

The day would only get hotter. Ready ahead of most of the group, I got an earlier start; they would catch me before long, anyway. The sun had no mercy. My self-generated breeze wasn't enough to compensate for my self-generated heat as I pedaled upward through the desert. I was certain that the air was perfectly still, but whenever I paused a weak breeze would tease me.

I haven't spent much time in the desert. Maybe, like me, you imagine a landscape of drifting sands and cactus—not rocky brown acres dotted with low brush. Cactus plants were less common than flowering plants. I only caught a glimpse of the mysterious little critters that set off cascades of dirt and rocks as they scampered away as I made my way up the hill.

At the higher elevations, my wish for a breeze was granted, in the form of a headwind. [Sigh.] From the first turn onto this road, it had been evident that there would be no shade. None, whatsoever, save for a brief respite where the road cut through a massive rock formation ... and a single roadside tree at the summit. Having reached that point alone, I continued a short distance to be sure the road climbed no higher. The terrain on the east side changed immediately, with trees suggesting a seasonal creek might flow nearby.

I turned back before long. Descending into Death Valley was never part of the plan. The Owens River Valley was a welcome sight.

For the day, about 3.681 feet of climbing over 34 miles. The rest of the group will travel farther south to continue their cycling adventure and I will travel west, just as the Bay Area's heat wave breaks. I paid my dues here.