The Markleeville Death Ride and KhaiLearning

A few months ago my brother called me up to join him in the Death Ride, an annual event in Markleerville, California. This would be 125 miles on a bicycle over 5 peaks of 8,500 foot elevations climbing grades of 6-12%. We would log more than a 15,000 foot total elevation gain. He (and 3,000 others) did it last year, and when finished, he said he’d never do it again – so when he called me to ride with him this year, how could I say no? Honestly, this ride scared me – and knew I would need to prepare.

Let’s look at training from a khailearning perspective.

Knowledge: This would be no easy weekend ride, and I was slow on hills. I needed time in the seat and lots of hills to prepare. As I rode more and more, I learned that I needed to spin the wheels rather than do the hard grind up hills.

Hope: My brother is about 8 years younger than I, and I wanted to finish – hopefully with him and near his time.

Action: I started practicing with 12 mile rides, then 25 miles, and then 40, 80, 100 – and finally a preparatory 120 mile ride with an 8,000 foot gain in elevation. With each ride (1) my knowledge increased of what I needed to do to stay limber, how much to eat, and when to take a break; (2) my hopes changed to longer and longer distances; and (3) I acted on those hopes increasing my knowledge. The khai cycle perpetuated into greater capacity physically, mentally, and emotionally with each ride.

Inspiration: I felt good – inside. I was riding longer and longer with greater confidence. By the time the event came around, I was ready. I had grown from that first practice of an hour to an event of 12.5 hours (10.5 hours in the seat). I knew as we took off at 4:30 a.m. in the morning that I could and would finish. Finishing was the next natural step in the Khai cycle!