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AdventureCORPS Presents the Oct 16-18, 2004 Furnace Creek 508
Pre-Race Meeting and Hall of Fame Induction photos by Chris Kostman and Steve Teal |
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Pre-Race Hoopla
By Steven Barnes
Santa Clarita, California is probably best known as the home of a giant theme park, but the118 athletes and hundreds of support personnel gathered here are looking forward to a very different kind of recreation. Those athletes are ultramarathon bicycle racers, and they will awaken on Saturday well before dawn, eager to take part in the 21st edition of the Furnace Creek 508, an incredible journey of 508 miles by bicycle. The riders are briefed, the bicycles safety inspected, and equipment lists and support vehicles have been double-checked. There will be ten major mountain passes to climb, totaling 35000 feet of elevation gain. Riders will endure the heat of the Mojave desert, and the strange tricks that your eyes play on you in the middle of the night. Some will find that, despite their best preparation, they reach a point beyond which they cannot will themselves. But on Friday night there was only optimism.
Presiding over the traditional pasta banquet and pre-race meeting were Chris Kostman, the race staff, riders and support crews, and the seventeen charter members of the Furnace Creek Hall of Fame. These remarkable athletes have each finished the 508 at least five times, as a solo rider or a member of a two- or four- person team. The meeting began with an eight-minute video chronicling the 2003 edition of the 508, punctuated by spontaneous applause from the audience. Especially well received were the efforts of the youngest and oldest riders in the 2003 race, ages 16 and 80, respectively.
One rider spoke of his poor conditioning, hoping not to let his teammate down. Another, Larry Tarpon Kluke, is the father of a member of Lance Armstrong’s USPS professional team, Damon Kluke. Still another spoke of breaking the all-time course record, which has stood the test of time for eight years. But on Friday night at the pre-race meeting, everyone is an optimist. In the dawn hours on Saturday we will find out how the 2004 edition of the world’s premier ultramarathon bicycle race is to be remembered.