The Topaz Rest Station at the base of Highway 89 was busy not long after dawn on Saturday.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
You could smell the brakes as a member of the Skeleton Squad signaled Death Riders to slow down for the Topaz Rest Stop after riding down from Monitor Pass on Saturday morning.
Volunteers fed and watered participants in the 43rd annual Tour of the California Alps at the rest station after they summited the first pass of the morning around dawn.
Once refreshed Death Riders made their way slowly back up Highway 89 before turning up Highway 4 to crest Ebbetts Pass and back.
The Death Ride started at 5 a.m. in Turtle Rock Park near Markleeville and the first riders made it down to Topaz by around 5:20 a.m.
“Now for the long climb,” a rider said as he began to pedal back up the mountain.
An estimated 1,500 riders participated in the annual ride. There were only a handful of medical calls after rain in the high Sierra caused few instances of hypothermia.
Not all of the riders opted to go up Highway 4, with those just choosing to go back and forth over Monitor turning off to return to Turtle Rock Park for lunch.
Highway 89 reopened at noon, while Highway 4 was reopened to vehicles at 4 p.m.
More than 13 hours after starting, the course closed at 6:30 p.m.
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