Erica Rackley, an Outdoor Connection Center employee, was determined to check an item off her bucket list this year and she did.

Rackley completed The Whitney Classic, a hard-core endurance cycling event that is held in late fall every year. The ride runs from Badwater, Death Valley National Park to Whitney Portal in California. Badwater, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere and Whitney Portal is the trailhead that leads to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet. 

She became interested in riding in The Whitney Classic last summer while working at Summit Adventure, a nonprofit wilderness ministry in Bass Lake, Calif.  The Whitney Classic serves as a major fundraiser for Summit Adventure.

Rackley taught courses in backpacking and rappelling to youth, families and college students. Once she registered to ride in the event, she began training consistently. She went on 20- to 30-mile rides during the week and 60- to -100-mile rides on the weekend.

After months of preparation, the day had finally come to start the cycling event. She and her cycling partner started the race in Badwater and covered about 40 relatively flat miles. Through the night until 5:30 a.m., Rackley spent hours climbing through two passes at an estimated 5,000 feet in elevation gain each and was able to cover an additional 80 miles. Midway through the night, her teammate decided to drop out of the ride because of deteriorating physical condition. At 6 a.m., Rackley rode the last and most difficult section of the ride alone, 13 miles and 4,500 vertical feet to the Whitney Portal. She arrived at the Portal just before 9 a.m. on Sunday.  In just under 24 hours, she cycled 135 miles of challenging terrain.

Because of the heat, the cold, the length, the hills, the dark and a number of other factors, it is not unusual for 25 to 50 percent of the participants not to finish. Not only did Rackley finish the ride, she was able to raise more than $700 for Summit Adventure.

­­­­Rackley began working at the Outdoor Connection Center in January.

“I couldn’t ask for a better college job,” she said. “At the Outdoor Connection Center, I have the opportunity to learn skills that I will use no matter where I am. I work for and with great people.”