Death rider describes annual bicycle rally

"The view from the top of Monitor Pass looking west was absolutely stunning." This was one of the comments made by Chuck Sholtz who rode in the annual Tour of the California Alps Death Ride held on July 10.

This year marked the 30th year that the ride has taken place and it has become quite famous in the world of cycling. It is a ride, not a race, and for all five passes consists of riding from Turtle Rock Park, between Markleeville and Woodfords, first to the top of Monitor Pass and from there down to Highway 395 to the east.

Riders then return over Monitor to Highway 4/89 and ride to the top of Ebbetts Pass and then continue west to Hermit Valley. Next they return to the top of Ebbetts Pass and continue to Woodfords and up Highway 88 to the top of Carson Pass. Finally they return to Turtle Rock Park. The total mileage for the ride is 129 miles and there is a total of 15,000 feet of climbing. And it's all done in one day.

This year 3,500 riders were entered and 2,241 completed all five passes. Others could do one, two, three or four passes.

Sholtz was one of the 2,241 who completed all five passes.

Born in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1960, he came to the United States in 1968. He completed undergraduate work at the University of Michigan, obtained a doctorate at Stanford University and a juris doctorate from Santa Clara. He is a patent attorney and lives in Palo Alto with his wife, Catherine, and two children, Alex and Sophia.

"This was a phenomenal experience," Sholtz commented. "There was fantastic, really amazing support - the best of any ride that I've done. It was also the hardest," he added.

Sholtz said he had biked as a kid in high school, continued in graduate school and then stopped until about three years ago when he started trying to bike every weekend or at least every other weekend. Training for this ride consisted of biking to and from work once or twice a week - 32 miles each way from Palo Alto to South San Francisco.

"The scenery on this ride is spectacular," he said. "The best descents were coming down from Monitor. I was especially impressed with the logistics at the top of Ebbetts where the support people essentially provided valet bike parking."

His family was waiting for him at Turtle Rock when he returned from Ebbetts. He washed off, ate, rested, and donned fresh clothes, and then he headed out for Carson Pass.

The hardest part of the ride, he said, was from Woodfords to Picketts Junction.

"You're so tired at that point and the heat in the canyon plus its steepness plus the fact that you know you have a long way to go," he said.

The best part?

"The ice cream at the top of Carson Pass." It was provided by Schwan's which is a sponsor of the ride.

"That was the best ice cream sandwich I've ever had," he added.