The 508
Confessions of an understudy




A few months ago I was asked to join a team of 60+ riders in a race called the Furnace Creek 508. I said I would think about it and spent a week or two researching the race and assessing my ability to even attempt such a intimidating task. By the time I agreed the team was already established and I was offered the position of alternate rider. I took it and began training with climbing and saddle time in case someone fell out. As the date grew near there were a few indications that I might get to ride but in the end all 4 riders were willing to ride and I would be driving support. I will admit I was a little sad to be leaving my bike at home when I left for Les’s house to begin our adventure but I also learned a lot about my friends and myself.


The first leg of this adventure was driving the van to Valcenia. I am pretty sure people watching us drive down the road thought we looked like Porcupine with bicycles for quills. The attitude in the van at this point was light and easy. We were missing one rider in that Mike, (Wolf) had a late start. He joined us later in the afternoon.

Once we were all together we drove over to the race meeting and got instructions for the race and support crews. We had dinner and then did some shopping for food and other supplies. We now knew we had 212 other riders we would be racing against plus a team of former winners that had been flown in specifically for the race. All we had left to do was get some sleep and be ready for a 9am start time Saturday morning. After a good night’s sleep we got up had a good breakfast and got ready to watch the solo riders leave.

It was now our turn to get ready to leave and my first chance to contribute anything to this adventure. I got the keys to the van and started driving out of town to await our rider at the 24 mile mark. Johnny, (Sherpa) started the first stage for us and his first challenge was a 2500 foot climb in 15 miles that got progressively steeper towards the top. This was one of the hardest waits for the team because we had no idea where John was in the pack or if he was having any problems. We waited with everyone else and like everyone else wondered if our rider would be one of the first ones up the hill. When he didn’t arrive first we started to worry a few minutes after the leaders past John came charging up the hill.

We began to leap frog our rider at this point and discovered that he had started to develop cramps before the top of the climb. On the first downhill we switched to his TT bike and headed towards the flat area and got ready for the next climb of 1000 feet in 17 miles. The different position didn’t seem to make the cramps worse and John kept plugging away as we got close to the second climb where we planned to switch bikes again.

The second climb was no easier than the first but John persisted and shortly after reaching the peak we had to catch him to change back to the TT bike. The course was now relatively or even slightly down hill all the way to California City. It was here that things started to seem more like a race as John kept trading places with a much younger rider till at last he just started pulling away and we dropped that rider and his support vehicle. I realized John was running on pure determination and doing everything in his power to keep us on track to finish this race in under the allotted time. 83.97 miles after we started he made the hand off Bob, (Cycobob) wasn’t as smooth as silk but he was off and we took a few minutes before giving chase as he headed from California City to Trona.

Bob’s 71.32 miles was more deceptive that we expected. It was full of long rollers that slowly climbed with each roll. The key here was to keep a constant pace and drink plenty of fluids. The whole team took turns passing of water and electrolytes Gu and Bananas to try and keep our rider fueled and hydrated. Still Bob started to cramp with the relentless rolling.

Still Bob pushed through the pain and managed to scale the last rolling climb to a pretty nice downhill heading for Trona. It was getting dark as we got close to town and it was time to stop using the leap frog method and put on the flashers. The plan was to fuel up the van in Trona and while that was being down Mike, (Wolf) would get ready for his leg. The first bit of bad news was that Trona was out of gas. They said we could fuel up at Panamint camp ground but that was closed by 9pm. The second problem for me was that I couldn’t get any pictures of Mike because it was dark and nothing came through the windshield.

There was some good news however in that Mike wasn’t cramping but we still had the test of Townes Pass to come and that would require a 3800 foot climb in 13 miles. Mike started out slowly and got into a good steady rhythm. It was here that he started to live up to his nickname, Wolf. Once he started to gain on another rider he would peek our around their support vehicle once or twice and just as they started to slow at all he would break out around them and head up the hill. Five or six teams suffered this same fate as Mike seemed to get stronger the steeper the grade got. He did stop us once or twice to get chews, Gu, or something to drink but he crested the hill right behind a team we had chased for 60 miles. I also think the 17 mile 5000 foot decent was a great encouragement. 96.53 after he started Mike turned the ride over to Les, Warden, for the ride through Death Valley and over the 3600 foot climb over Salsberry Pass.


Les had a nice ride going till the drive train on his first bike started acting up. We switched bikes just before he hit the long climb out of Death Valley. The saving grace to this climb is it was divided into two parts and it was a nice day. Not too much wind and the temperature happened to be in the 80s. Still cramps started to rear it’ ugly head and you could see they discomfort on Les’s face. All we could do was offer water, Enduralytes and whatever else he asked for as he made the long slow climb out of the Valley.

The rest of the team was still in good spirits and we could tell we were still on track to finish in less than 46 hours. We still had hopes of finishing in less than 40 hours but we also had 4 more stages and the rest of this one to finish. Still after one last leap frog we waited at the top of the pass for a long downhill into Shoshone. We stopped to talk with another team we had been battling all day and waited to see which rider would get to the top first.

We past Les about 5 miles outside of Shoshone to see if we could find some gas for the van, I had been running on low fuel ever since we crossed over Salsberry and if we couldn’t get gas in Shoshone our ride would be over. We were in luck however because the station was open and we managed to get fuel just before Les rolled into town. Mike checked with the time people and discovered 8 teams had abandoned the race and we were ahead of 16 other teams. Both John and Bob were still suffering with some after effect of leg cramps but John took off on his next leg determined to cover the distance in less than 3 hours. More than one team fell to Johns relentless pace and he headed for Baker from Shoshone.

Bob was up next and he was suffering a bit more than John had, or seemed to be. His road was more like chip seal with a long steady climb of 25 miles heading for Kelso. Looking on the map the stage didn’t seem all that bad until you tried to drive or ride it. The constant vibration was enough to jar your teeth and numb your bottom and hands. Talking to Bob later I discovered that is just what had happened.

Mike was up again at Kelso and once again he drew the night shift. So far he was tired but had avoided the curse of the dreaded cramps. Mike was out tactician and was able to tell us if we were on track or not and when he figured we would finish the last leg. He was determined to give Les at least 10 or 11 hours to finish stage 8 and the pace he set leaving Kelso and heading for Amboy showed he was good to his word

Mikes stage was pretty much a long 2000 foot climb with a downhill heading into Amboy. Following him in the dark I almost felt sorry for him because you simply couldn’t see the top of the climb. Not only that is started to get cold and just before the summit had to put on a jacket. None the less he did get us into Amboy with just over 10 hours left to cover the last stage to 29 Palms. Les was doing well for the first 15 miles or so till he hit a very long grade that was at least 10 miles long. Les was operating on pure will power as he worked his way to the top of that climb. He took the downhill with care and then started the slight grade into 29 Palms. The problem here was he was running directly into a stiff cold headwind. There were times I thought he was finished and I am not so sure he didn’t think so as well. He managed to dig deep inside and just put one foot in front of the other as we got to the last turn in 29 Palms. There was one team in front of us but neither they nor we felt like racing at this point we just wanted to finish.

Once we reached our first street light Les seemed to get a second wind and he quickly moved through town and over to 29 Palms Highway. There was one small climb left just before we got to the Best Western Hotel and I thought Les would struggle with it but to my surprise he took it in stride and cruised into the parking lot to finish the ride in just over 41 hours.


These four men taught me a lot about cycling and the human spirit. I am reminded of the difference between two civil war generals. One of the best educated and well prepared generals the North had was George McCellan. He wasn’t all that successful however because he spent most of his time getting ready for a battle and rarely taking the battle to the enemy. Many times we as cyclists have a goal and spend a lot of time getting ready for that goal and yet never jumping into the battle to test ourselves against others. U.S. Grant had no such problem. He prepared but then committed himself to action and was measured in history by what he did not by what he got ready to do. To me these 4 men were more like Grant and worthy of being admired and respected. They now have the privilege of wearing a 508 jersey. It can’t be bought and is only given to people that finish in the allotted time. I feel honored to have been there to witness their accomplishment.