Waves to Wynn, 2015’s Challenge of a Lifetime

By Rishi Parliwala
I didn’t plan on it, but my 30^th birthday turned out to be my greatest physical and mental challenge to date. I made the decision on Sept 16^th to do a cross-country bike trip with six friends.  By Oct 1^st, I was with them on the West coast, applying handfuls of butt butter, scarfing down eggs and jazz juice while tooting, “puuu…mp, pump it up.” In less than two weeks, I got ‘ready.’ I prepped last minute by hiking up Mt. Washington, NH with my brother-in-law, riding from Somerville, MA to Gloucester, MA with my roommate, Ben, and running up and down Prospect Hill during my lunch breaks. Lucky for me, my summer excursions kept me in decent shape.
 
So here was the challenge: In October 2015, seven of us—six bikers and an artist—took on an eight-day, 600-mile bicycle ride that included roughly 30,000 feet of climbing (go thighs!). We rode from San Francisco directly onto the Strip in Las Vegas. The purpose was to raise money for the non-profit, IDEX (http://www.idex.org). Naveen Agarwal, Julian Rhoads, and Aaron Zukowski were the masterminds of this extremely well-planned journey, one they had been designing for years. I’ll speak for them, but while Anders, Michelle, and myself had our fair share of exertion, we were more or less along for the ‘ride’. RishiO, the artist and driver, brought not only his camera and keen ability to capture some intense footage of our ride, but also his minimalism, yogi-ness, and simplicity, which kept us at peace when times were tough.

It may be cliché to say, but each person provided value; after all, we kept each other going. Naveen for his daily leadership and constant push, in a big-spoon kind of way—he would provide guidance and comfort when days were rigorous, even the days I had multiple flat tires within hours. Aaron for his comic relief­­—we would not survive a day without hearing about his gout (it still has its mysteries). Julian, my closest brother, for being the head of the peloton and torch carrier—his wing-span was literally huge, which was awesome for the windy days—but even more so for his perseverance through a tough health condition. Michelle, also a leader of the pack, a mother, and a trooper, for kicking it with six dudes for eight days— WOW, she was likely a stronger mother (to all of us) by the end. Finally, Anders, the youngest of us, was surely picked on the most, but was found to be quietly the most mature when conversing. Somehow together individuals fill any void when working towards a common goal. You’ll have to ask the others what they thought I provided.  But I’m sure I provided something!
 
Our map was as follows:
Day 1: Dublin to Modesto (67 miles, 700 ft incline, 1,200 ft decline)
Day 2: Modesto to Mariposa (76 miles, 4,100 ft incline, 1,600 ft. decline)
Day 3: Mariposa to Yosemite (38 miles, 3,200 ft incline, 1,700 ft. decline)
Day 4: Yosemite to Lee Vining (77 miles, 8,600 ft incline, 3,800 ft. decline)
Day 5: Lee Vining to Lone Pine (128 miles, 2,600 ft incline, 5,700 ft. decline)
Day 6: Lone Pine to Death Valley (108 miles, 5,600 ft incline, 9,500 ft. decline)
Day 7: Death Valley to Tecopa Hot Springs (66 miles, 3,500 ft incline, 1,900 ft. decline)
Day 8: Tecopa Hot Springs to Las Vegas (93 miles, 5,400 ft incline, 4,700 ft. decline)
 
 

 
Gorgeous doesn’t even begin to describe this adventure. Day 4 was, however, plagued with snow at the start of the Tioga pass forcing us to divert and drive around much of the Sierra Nevada. Outside of this, we encountered the works—French travelers, winding roads overlooking 3000 ft drops, El Capitan of Yosemite, tarantulas, butt rashes, dry food curry, dehydration, afternoon sweat crust, Joshua trees, hot tubs, hot springs, a near serious injury, a birthday, RishiO always misplacing one of his five belongings, It’s It’s ice cream sandwiches, Clif shot blocks, bacon, rain in the desert during one of California’s driest years, and last but not least, cows.
 
Three experiences to me were most exhilarating. Day 5 proved that hills and the rate of incline, not length in miles, is what judges the difficulty in a day of riding. We only climbed roughly 2,000 ft., but this over a span of less than 20 miles, which meant my horizon was greater than 60 degrees, on the regular. Biking is 80% mental and 20% grit. Once you tweak your brain to stick to a rhythm of breathing, focus, and small wins, anything is possible. Day 5 also proved this, almost more than ever. The reward—a 5,000 ft. drop directly after the climb to below sea level, which led to cruising speeds of greater than 35 mph. Feeling the temperature change from 70F to 105F in under an hour was mind-blowing.
 
Day 7 was an entire day of Death Valley; it was “miles for days” in this basin as Naveen would say. A moniker one could say about all the days, however. Death Valley’s appeal was its mirage effect. Our eyes would play tricks, thinking we passed the same mudstone hill or canyon. Indeed, this lush oasis felt like it went on for days. Death Valley is known to be North America’s driest and hottest locations due to its lowest elevation on the continent – 282 ft. below sea level.

Day 8, our final day, and our landing on the Strip was epic. This day, we scoured for every drop of energy, it was my toughest day. For the first time I put on headphones and I jammed out to Tron’s soundtrack and some Miley Cyrus. That day, Naveen and Michelle left the Tecopa Hot Springs early in the morning ensuring they had ample time to reach our meeting point: The Biker Bar. The rest of us applied some serious grit along Hwy 160. Our heads were down for most of it and we were slow going. I am not sure if it was the rigor of the trek or that we were so close to finishing, but that day we had it all—incline, car traffic, heat, glass on the road, and the dream of Vegas. When we reached The Biker Bar, our legs were absolute jello. By this point, we had completed our last major hill and the casinos were in sight. Julian, who ducked out for part of the ride, surprised us at the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. It made our last mile down The Blvd. so fun and celebratory. We ended by rolling into the Vdara’s VIP parking, where we handed over our cycles and helmets to the valet.
 
I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy biking and the extraordinary camaraderie achieved when you ride in groups. We became a family in the eight days we were together and I look forward to our next journey.