The Death Ride in Markleeville, California is one of my favorite cycling events and I look forward to it every year.  It consists of 129 miles with more than 15,000 feet of climbing over five mountain passes and in elevation as high as 8730 feet.  When I first bought my Powercranks, I told myself I wanted to be able to complete the Death Ride while using them.  I seriously questioned the possibility of ever being able to do this during my first week.  It just didn't seem humanly possible.  To make a long story short, I stuck with it and just completed the Death Ride on Powercranks!  My total time including my rest stops was 9 hours and 13 minutes.  The only time I missed my regular cranks was whenever I wanted to take a break by standing and using my weight to help me get the other leg up.  Cheating and being lazy while climbing on Powercranks just isn't feasible.  I kept my pace and effort conservative the whole time in fear of blowing up during the fifth and final mountain pass.  Most of the day I kept my heart rate below 145 bpm while climbing. My average heart rate for the entire ride was 136 bpm, partially due to recovery during the descents.  I was surprised at how good I felt because I had expected to feel a lot more fatigue toward the end of the day.  There was a point during the day when I started to struggle but I felt better after eating lunch.  Descending was a blast as usual as I felt confident and in control the whole time, with speeds up to 54 mph!  I only mention this because it was one of my concerns when I first thought of tackling the Death Ride on Powercranks.  I just didn't feel comfortable going downhill and around corners at high speeds when I first started.  This was the hardest challenge for me to overcome but I now feel very comfortable descending at fast speeds confidently and safely.  The day was a success and it felt really good to be able to complete something I had set out to do, especially when it seemed impossible when I was first adapting to Powercranks.