508 MILES OF MISERY FURNACE CREEK RACE TESTS CYCLISTS' SKILLS AND DETERMINATION.Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News This is one sick bike race - a 508-mile ride from Valencia through Death Valley and the Mojave Desert Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States. to Twentynine Palms. At the meeting the night before the race, organizer Chris Kostman exhorts the 114 cyclists who've signed up for the fun. He jokes about having experienced sleep deprivation-induced hallucinations Hallucinations Definition Hallucinations are false or distorted sensory experiences that appear to be real perceptions. These sensory impressions are generated by the mind rather than by any external stimuli, and may be seen, heard, felt, and even when he raced the Furnace Creek 508, including thinking he was attacked by jumping gerbils. It's hard to conceive of Verb 1. conceive of - form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case; "Can you conceive of him as the president?" envisage, ideate, imagine riding a bike continuously for 508 miles. That's about the distance between San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. and San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . Add desert winds and a more-than-Everest 35,000 feet of climbing and you have a prescription for some major suffering. Merrick Cohn from Camarillo is joking about winning at the prerace meeting. Cohn, 32 and a member of the Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both Southeastern Ventura County and Northwest Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It was discovered in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, and eventually became part of the Rancho El Conejo land grant by Cyclists bike club, has done four rides over 250 miles. In a more realistic moment he said his hope is to finish the race in 36 hours so he has a shot at qualifying for the Race Across America The Race Across America, or RAAM, is an ultra marathon bicycle race across the USA that started in 1982 as the Great American Bike Race. RAAM is arguably the best-known and longest annual endurance cycling event in the world. . The 508 solo course record is 28 hours. Racers at the 508 who finish within 15 percent of the winner's time will qualify for RAAM RAAM Race Across America RAAM Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts RAAM Remote Anti-Armor Mine RAAM Reducing the Availability of Alcohol to Minors (Ocean City, MD) . But just finishing the 508 is considered a triumph by most who enter. Lack of sleep, injury, sore butts, illness, dehydration, hallucinations or just plain fatigue cause many to abandon the race somewhere in the desert. The annual race costs $279 to enter as a solo rider, unless you sign up early. There are categories for men, women and mixed tandems. There are also two-person and four-person relay teams racing. Volunteer support crews follow each rider in a car or van. Instead of race numbers, each rider or team gets an animal ``totem.'' Cohn's is ``California Condor.'' The sign on the side of his support van reads, ``Better watch out ... I eat road kill for breakfast!'' Kostman, the race director, said numbers are impersonal, plus the racers have a hard time remembering numbers when they have to shout them out as they ride by a time station in the middle of the night. ``It's a fun thing we've done at the race since 1993 and racers and crews really embrace it,'' Kostman said. ``Several have even had their totems totems (tō·t  mz),n. tattooed onto their body.'' Why would someone enter a 508-mile bike race, beside the excuse to tattoo an animal name on his body? ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. ,'' said Cohn, who is studying computer science at Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. after being laid off from his job. Cohn explains he started riding 100-mile centuries, then double centuries, than several 300-mile rides. So 508 miles seemed a logical progression, though Cohn admits riding 508 miles isn't logical. ``It's really hard,'' he said. ``The course is really tough. Just when you're at your lowest, you look up and there's more climbing. It tears you up.'' The reality is that only about half of the solo riders who try the race finish it. It's not a kid's sport. This year, just one rider is under 30 and he won't make it. Cohn is lucky to have Bill Palmer, an experienced ultra-distance bike racer, on his crew. Palmer holds half of the two-person mixed team record for the 508, and has crewed RAAM races. Also, Cohn's wife, Chandra, and fellow bike-club member Lance Christensen will drive the support van, providing food, drinks, encouragement and trying to stay awake. `I felt like a mother worrying about her newborn baby,'' Christensen said after the race. ``We were constantly asking, `Is he eating enough? Is he drinking enough? Is he peeing enough?' Handing him his bottle. Sound familiar?'' The race starts at 7 a.m. in Valencia and the racing starts in earnest at San Francisquito Canyon as the riders head toward Mojave. After 100 miles, Cohn is only about 10 minutes behind the rider who finished third last year, and Cohn's crew is happy. It's getting warm. Chandra Cohn fills a tube sock tube sock n. A sock that lacks a shaped heel. with ice cubes for Merrick to wear like a collar to keep him cool. The wind picks up. In Panamint Valley Panamint Valley is a long basin located east of the Argus Range and Slate Range, and west of the Panamint Range in eastern California, USA. The northern end of the valley is in Death Valley National Park. , Cohn throws up. His crew isn't too worried at this point. Part of long-distance cycling is finding out what food your body can tolerate. As do many racers, Cohn is using a mostly liquid diet. ``You can be a victim of your gut if you eat the wrong thing,'' Palmer said. Riders can develop a sore mouth from breathing the dry desert air, making it hard to eat dry food. Cohn recovers and climbs Towne's Pass, catching three other racers. The climb is 13 miles with up to a 13-percent grade. Coming after 200 miles of riding it can be tough. The reward for all the climbing is a 50-mph downhill into Death Valley - especially interesting because night has fallen. After dark, the riders use lights on their bikes and are followed closely by their support vans. In Death Valley, Cohn starts falling asleep on his bike. Palmer pulls him off and allows him a 20-minute nap. Cohn gets back on the bike and pedals up Jubilee Pass out of Death Valley. Watching the sun come up can be the toughest part of the 508, Palmer said. This is where it sinks in that a whole day has passed and there are many miles to go. ``You want it to be over,'' Palmer said. At 325 miles in Shoshone, the California Condor starts to look like 3-day-old road kill himself. Ten miles north of Baker, 370 miles into the race, he melts down completely. He's shaking badly and can't keep anything down. Cohn's crew has been weighing him periodically to check his hydration hydration /hy·dra·tion/ (hi-dra´shun) the absorption of or combination with water. hy·dra·tion n. 1. The addition of water to a chemical molecule without hydrolysis. 2. . He has lost 10 pounds - the equivalent of more than a gallon of fluids. Cohn sleeps in the van and his wife and Palmer discuss whether to take him to a hospital. But after several hours Cohn wakes up and gets back on his bike. ``I wanted my crew to tell me to stop. I wanted an excuse to quit,'' Cohn said after the race. ``Then I saw one of my crew wearing a 508 shirt and I remember thinking I really want that jersey.'' Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. puts on his shoes, gets on his bike and rides away. His crew is amazed a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. at how well he is doing now. South of Baker comes a 28-mile climb. Cohn said seeing a car's lights behind him for 10 minutes and eight or 10 minutes more after the car passed was demoralizing de·mor·al·ize tr.v. de·mor·al·ized, de·mor·al·iz·ing, de·mor·al·iz·es 1. To undermine the confidence or morale of; dishearten: an inconsistent policy that demoralized the staff. . But he keeps cranking. ``I thought at that point I had about a 5-percent chance of finishing,'' Cohn said. For the last 200 miles of the race all he can keep down is Coca-Cola and a couple of pieces of bread. But Cohn's mental attitude is good, and he's determined to finish within the 48-hour cut-off cut-off Anesthesiology The point at which elongation of the carbon chain of the 1-alkanol family of anesthetics results in a precipitous drop in the anesthetic potential of these agents–eg, at > 12 carbons in length, there is little anesthetic activity, time. After that, no finisher's jersey. Cohn rides to the race finish at 3:30 a.m. He is 20th out of 25 in his category. Cohn's time of 44:27:20 earns him a jersey. One racer is disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. and 12 others in the men's under-50 category don't finish. The overall winner, Eric Ostendorff of Torrance, finished in 31:14:11. The top woman, Seana Hogan, finished in 35:06:03. Hogan, who has raced the 508 many times, said head winds made this the toughest race she's experienced. ``In my opinion if (Merrick} hadn't gotten sick, he would have qualified for RAAM,'' said Palmer, his crew chief. ``As a rookie, just finishing is good.'' Cohn said later it was an advantage being a rookie. ``If I had known how tough it was, I would have quit at Baker,'' Cohn said. As they drive home after the race, Cohn tells his support team the race is just too hard and he doesn't plan on doing another. ``I bet by Thursday you call me about racing next year,'' Palmer said. He missed his bet by a day. On Friday, when Palmer checks his answering machine, there's a message from Cohn. The California Condor wants to talk about riding in next year's Furnace Creek 508. IF YOU RIDE The Furnace Creek is held each year on the second weekend in October by adventureCORPS, which also organizes the Badwater Ultramarathon The Badwater Ultramarathon describes itself as "the world's toughest foot race". It is a 135 mile (215 km) course starting at 282 feet (85 m) below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the , a 100-mile run through Death Valley in the middle of summer. Visit www.planetultra.com and www.the508.com for more information. The Ultra Marathon Cycling Association supports long-distance cycling: riding a century, double century, brevet BREVET. In France, a brevet is a warrant granted by the government to authorize an individual to do something for his own benefit, as a brevet d'invention, is a patent to secure a man a right as inventor. 2. or long-distance tour. The association also promotes ultra-distance races and the Race Across America. For information see www.ultracycling.com. CAPTION(S): 3 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) ``The course is really tough. Just when you're at your lowest, you look up and there's more climbing. It tears you up.'' - Merrick Cohn participant in the Furnace Creek 508 (2 -- color) Merrick Cohn of Camarillo prepares to accept water bottle from support crew member Bill Palmer during Furnace Creek 500. (3) Bill Palmer drives the support van following Camarillo's Merrick Cohn during Furnace Creek 508. Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News Box: IF YOU RIDE (see text) |
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