2008 Whitney Classic Recap

A strong finish pushed us to 65% of our goal for 2008.

We're back from two blissful weeks in California, and I'm happy to report that the 2008 Whitney Classic was a great success. It was a fantastic time, a great ride, and a wonderful opportunity to spend time with good friends in a great setting.

Now for some details about the ride:

The weather was pleasantly mild. It was only 105 at the start in Badwater, and the temperature never got unbearably hot. Conversely, once we climbed out of Panamint Valley, the wind picked up significantly and temperatures dropped about 20-25 degrees. At the finish at Whitney Portal, temps were in the 40's...not too bad.

I was riding with two others, Tom Smith and Jair Drooger. Tom told us on Friday that he wasn't feeling well (turns out he was diagnosed with Giardia, one of the occupational hazards of working in the wilderness) and after one brief turn on the bike, he called it a day and did his best impersonation of a rock, unmoving and unresponsive, in the front seat of the van all the way back to Lone Pine. As a result, Jair & I rode more than we had hoped to, but all turned out well in the end. We finished at 2:36 AM, and that included a fast sprint to the finish stay ahead of the next team. Apparently, we were in a race with this team to the finish, only someone forgot to tell us we were racing until the last leg of the race when they were 30 seconds behind us.

Two tired riders at the finish. Jair seems to be in some type of catatonic state.

Most importantly, the fundraising part of the ride was successful. Our team, for the second year in a row, won the award for most money raised as a team, and as of this writing, the 2008 Whitney has taken in over $66,000. I had a fairly ambitious goal of $10,000, and was quite happy to finish with $6,525, which is very equitable with previous year totals. This means that through 7 rides, we've raised $46,090 for the ongoing work of Summit Adventure!

For the visual among us, the final Pie Chart.

As always, the success of the Whitney depends upon a concerted effort of staff, willing volunteers and very generous donors. Thanks for all of your support, financial and otherwise, and look for us back at this same spot next year!

You can see more pics of the rest of our trip at our normal Filatore site.