At the start we got a surprise gift - Rick distributed Descenders Hats to all Monster Climb participants (a new gear item currently available for purchase from the team store, contact Rick for details). We packed our bikes and gear into five cars, had some delicious coffee and pastries courtesy of Voris household, posed for the group photo (below) and drove off towards Bishop.

We stopped for brunch at Adelanto. It was not even 11AM but it was already very hot. At least 90ies hot. Next stop was bottom of Onion Valley. There was some road construction but we managed to find a nice shaded trailer parking area. The heat was relentless. We took some group photos (Len, Sheehan and Bill are not in any of them as they took off before the photos) and took off for Onion Valley.

Onion Valley (12.5 miles at 7.8% average, peaking at 12%, climbing 5,169 ft) is ranked #1 toughest climb in California, 5th in the United States (2nd in Continental US), just ahead of Horsehoe Meadows and White Mountain.

Oleg: "I ran to the car to put my camera back and by the time I got on the road everyone was gone! I was the last man on the road. Three years ago we all rode through alluvial fan as a large group, but this time we split into small groups 1-3 large almost from the start, as everyone was eager to get going due to the heat. I rode with Ernst and Claus for a while and then got to chase riders ahead. It ended up great as I took photos of everyone climbing on Day 1 except Rick and James who were obviously way too fast for me - those two were waiting as I got to the top, barely broke the sweat."

Rob: "It was HOT going up Onion Valley.  Bob P smoked himself going up the alluvial fan and needed to stop under the shade of a tree.  Mike Hodges rode well to catch me and then I pushed hard to break him.  He fell off on the final mile up Onion Valley but rode much stronger each of the next two days."

It was brutally hot in the valley but got cooler as we climbed. By the time we reached the top it was nice breezy 70F.

We hung out at the top as riders came in one after another. As the sun was setting, we headed back down. The descent was fast, as should be expected, considering the composition of riders. Oleg was solo-ing off the front, chased by Ernst and Matt, followed and soon joined by Sheehan. As a result, Descenders had the top 7 spots in the Strava Onion Valley Descent segment - which included Sheehan, Matt, Ernst and Oleg from 2013, as well as Arlyn, Mike McGowan and Rob's times from 2010.

Some of us (notably Hodges, who was screaming loudly) took a quick swim in the cold brook running through the valley before driving to Bishop, the same hotel we were staying in 2010. The hotel manager, himself an avid cyclist, had prepared signs "parking reserved for San Diego Descenders" waiting for us in the parking lot - nice touch!

Dinner involved huge amounts of pizza and homebrewed beer provided by Geoff. We had specially reserved tables by the brook, and Guido even went an extra mile and made special edition "Descenders" Logo plastic cups. Attention to detail!

We hung out till it got dark, just talking, drinking more beer and viewing some cycling videos.

Day 2: If the first day is "appetizer", our second day is the main dish - this year included a carbon copy of second day of 2010 edition of Monster Climbs. We aim to ride close to 100 miles and climb over 10,000ft, riding up Pine Creek (Cat 1, ranked 49th in California), followed by Rock Creek (HC climb ranked #10 in California, #20 in the US). We left the hotel and were soon spinning easy towards the support car, parked about 10 miles ahead (driven by Rob, Bill and Sheehan). The peaks of the mountains were covered in snow back in 2010 but not this year. We refilled the bottles and started the Pine Creek. Jim scored a KOM on Pine Creek to the mine segment, and Descenders now own the top 5 spots of this segment on strava, including 17 out of top 20. On 8-mile descent many of us averaged 38-39 mph.

Back at the car, we were already suffering from the heat. Many riders used socks filled with ice and placed behind the neck, underneath their jerseys, to keep themselves cool. 

We took it relatively easy on the ride towards Sherwin Grade leading to Tom's place. We had some snacks and refilled our bottles and headed off for the Rock Creek Climb. Finishing at around 10,220 ft, Rock Creek is the highest paved climb in California (of course nothing compared to Colorado's 14,000 footers). Many of us were already affected by high altitude, suffering from combination of heat in the lower valleys, and altitude as we climbed higher.

Oleg: "Matt, James and I climbed Rock Creek together. And by together I mean James was pacing us while Matt and I struggled to keep up. In 2010 there was still plenty of snow at the summit, so much in fact, that we had to walk our bikes through some sections of the road. This time was much warmer. Dipping our legs in cold water of the stream while eating snacks and recovering from the climb was fantastic! The descent was fun as well, Matt, Voris and I really mixed it up - I ended up averaging 41mph over the final 7 mies. On the way back Jim and I had some fun on fast Sherwin Grade descent, chased by Matt and Ernst. "

Following the short climb and sweeping descent of Sherwin Grade we slowly pedaled back to the car and then to hotel. The "Sweeper Team" was Rob, Guido, Jim, Voris and Oleg.

The day continued with beer drinking by the pool and finished with a fantastic dinner at Whiskey Creek. Thanks to Guido for organizing it, down to little details.

The third and last day we were doing something different. While Days 1 and 2 featured roads most descenders rode before, Day 3 called for White Mountain, a new road to most. White Mountain, Ranked #3 in California, just behind Onion Valley and Horseshoe Meadows, climbs 6,200ft in 20 miles, with a summit above 10,000ft.

If the first day was an appetizer, and the second day delivered us the main dish, this third day was supposed to be a dessert. A very filling, heavy dessert worth of 10,000 calories. The kind that also fills you with regret, as you wished you saved some room for during the main meal, and then you decide to share it with friends, but they want it even less than you as they are working on stuffing themselves with their own dessert. 

We checked out of the hotel and drove to the Big Pine (interesting how nobody wanted to ride to the start on our third day!). An obligatory group photo and we were off - a few flat miles to warm up, but not much warm up was necessary as it was already hot.

Oleg: "The sun was beating on us and I felt the worst at the start and better as we kept climbing. Several riders: Hodges, Cresap, Farkas - took off as soon as we started climbing, while I rode with Rick, Voris and Matt. Good company. Jim also took off in pursuit of fast time. Eventually Rick, Matt and I caught and passed early escapees (except for Jim, of course, we didn't see him till summit). It was very hot, when we passed Farkas, Matt decided to keep Mike company, so it was me and Rick from there on. Rick was kind enough to ride at reasonable pace, so I was able to keep up. At the support car (located half-way up the climb, courtesy of Bob Proulx) we refilled the bottles and Rick took off, but at 'Rick' superfast pace. Rick ended up getting a KOM from a pro Nate English on a White Mountain 10-mile climbing segment from 168 to the summit. QOM is held by US Champion Alison Tetrick, she beat me by almost 40 seconds, but in my defense, she probably wasn't stopping to snap some photos."

Summerson book describes the climb as 20 miles with 5.9% average, peaking at 11%. It sounds challenging, but not as brutal as it is in reality. What the book fails to mention is that there are a lot of shorter sections at 15-18%. Or at least they felt like 15-18%, which is the only thing that really matters. Many descenders opined that the #3 CA ranked White Mountain climb, especially the second half from the left turn to the summit, is actually more difficult than #1 ranked Onion Valley or #2 ranked Horseshoe Meadows. 

Despite the suffering, we were rewarded with amazing vistas of mountain ridges, combined with crazy cloud formations (see photos below). 

At the top we had a nice surprise - the park rangers, on request from Voris, brought us several coolers with iced water. It was fantastic!

We sat around waiting as more riders were coming in. The bristlecone trees were quite something. Some of them were older than dirt, literally - 4,500 years old, and to recycle Voris' joke (it's a pretty good one), Descenders felt right at home.

The descent wasn't scheduled till noon but many descenders felt compelled to leave early. At around 11:58 Sheehan arrived at the summit. He was pointing to his watch, as he made the time cut with whole 2 minutes to spare! Nicely done. 

The descent was fast. Matt, Ernst, Oleg and Sheehan set all sort of records, despite descending into a bit of a headwind. The final 9 or so miles of descent featured some dicey sections where the road felt a bit like rollercoaster - you are actually airborne a few times, often just before you need to make a turn. In the final few flat miles following the descent it felt like we are in an oven. 100F at least in the desert. We changed out of our sweaty clothes, using local source of water at the campgrounds for a quick wash - the lady running the campground grumpily and rather rudely refused our offer to pay for our temporary and rather minimal use of campground facilities.

On the way back we had a stop at the Lone Pine, "Mt. Whitney Restaurant" for lunch. We have been to this place in 2010 as well. The sign claims this is the "Best Burger in Town". Considering the size of Lone Pine it's not much of a statement, but we are tired and hungry, and the burgers taste fantastic. Then again, any food would taste fantastic considering the ride we just did.

We drive back to San Diego, reminiscing on the weekend spent and already planning the next year's ride. To the Monster Climb 2014 - the Mountains are Calling. Again.

Mountains have been calling us... Non-stop... For about a year now.

Chasing the group through the Onion Valley. AFF. Alluvial "F'ing" Fan.

Ernst and Claus. Looking sharp, boys.

Final mile.

Panorama at early slopes of Onion Valley.

Jim, Farkas and Rick at the top of the Onion Valley.

Everyone made it to the top. Farkas and Bill Wood are missing from this photo.

Time to descend. Fast!

Back at the hotel. We are a beer-drinking club with a cycling problem.

Private Party. But we are all invited!

We needed a lot of pizza.

Table is set. Note Descenders Custom plastic cups.

Dinner.

  Day 2:

Very early breakfast at the hotel

Ready to roll from the hotel parking lot. Amazingly, we are on schedule!

We are biking over THERE!

Smiling. For now.

More pointing.

First climb: Pine Creek. 

Chasing.

Almost there!

Top of Pine Creek. Voris and Ernst finishing - nice teamwork, guys!

Chilling at the top of Pine Creek.

Ernst at Pine Creek summit.

Voris and Rob: staring lovingly into each others eyes (Rob generously provided reflection of his shades while Voris re-applies sunscreen).

Oleg does his best Ernst imitation with Ernst's beautiful Giant.

 Staying cool and collected: Voris makes use of sock filled with ice behind his neck.

Transition towards Rock Creek.

Oh, Hodges!

Brief and rare descent

Guido at Tom's Place.

Jim and Voris. Looking rather haggard.

Eric and Eileen.

And we are climbing again. Rock Creek - highest paved road in California, just above 10,000ft.

The creek cold water felt great!

Brrr.... That feels nice!

There's about $100,000 worth of bikes right there

Returning back to the hotel

Dinner at the Whiskey Creek restaurant - the same place we had dinner at 3 years ago.

Sharing food, drinks and war stories.

Day 3:

Group photo before the start.

The first flat miles.

Everyone is still together. Not for long.

Amazing views as we climb

Relaxing at the top of White Mountain.

Top of Bristlecone.

Voris is happy to see iced water coolers left by kind park rangers.

Dave, Dave and Dave. Sheehan summits.

Sheehan made the cut with minutes to spare! It's not even Noon! The brochure says we do not descend until noon.

Sheehan. The man. The legend. Yet another Monster Climbs - and today is his wedding anniversary.

Time to go downhil.

Just before the descent: Guido, Oleg, Voris, Sheehan and Matt. Ernst took the photo.

Guido and Hodges descending.

The downhill speed deamons - Ernst and Matt. Voris just behind.

It's ALL downhill from here! (9 miles of it).

Sheehan and Oleg broke away in the end.

  Comparisons between 2010 and 2013:

Before Onion Valley climb - in 2010 (left) and 2013 (right).

Rob seems to be even happier climbing the Onion Valley alluvial fan section in 2013 (left) compared to 2010 (right).

Climbing through Alluvial F' Fan in 2013 (left) and 2010 (right). Note the snow at the mountaintops in 2010 photo.

Onion Valley in 2010 (left) and 2013 (right). Or maybe the other way around, I can't be sure.

Onion Valley Summit in 2013 (left) and 2010 (right). Much bigger group in 2013.

The road from Bishop to Pine Creek - in 2010 (right) we could see snow-cover mountaintops in June, while in 2013 (left) the snow is all but melted. 

The cows and dogs cheer on Descenders as we pass towards Sherwin grade in 2010 (left) and 2013 (right).

Pine Creek Summit in 2010 (left) and 2013 (right).