Pre-Blog Ride Reports - June '09

Originally emailed on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:59:15 under the Subject: June Ride Report - Long ride, long report

I'm still not quite sure if I actually did it or if I just dreamt it, but I have memories of riding the SIR 600k brevet this weekend. The pain in my legs is telling me that it was real, so I think I'll go with that.

About 65 riders set out from Auburn at 6:00 am Saturday. I was feeling a little unsure about how you ride a 600k, I mean what sort of pace do you set when you know you need to maintain it for the next day and a half? I also wasn't sure if I should try to find a group to ride with or go it alone. But within the first ten miles, I found myself riding with a small group that consisted of a couple of guys that I had ridden with on the 300k and three others who seemed to be strong riders and nice enough guys, so I let the group set the pace. We rode along the Tacoma waterfront, over the Narrows Bridge, up the Kitsap peninsula past Gig Harbor to Waterman Point. For the first 50 miles the pace was fast but comfortable. At the first control we caught up to the one lone rider who was ahead of us, a guy named Ryan who is almost always among the first two or three to finish a brevet. He joined our group and bumped up our pace a notch putting it at something I could hang with, but just barely. um... fun.

The view forward and aft as we went through Fife. Ahead are three of the group I stayed with for the first 400k (l to r: Bryan, Matt and Dan).


Crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge

The next 125 miles were a bit of a blur. We rode along Hood Canal, and then headed for the coast through dried up little working class towns like Matlock, Cosmopolis and Aberdeen. We were riding into a headwind, not a severe headwind, but enough that you wouldn't want to ride it alone. Pretty early on in that stretch, we dropped one of the group (Dan). We were working as a disciplined pace line, taking 1 1/2 to 2 mile pulls each. I dreaded every time my pull came around, not because of my time out front, but because once I finished and dropped to the back it was all I could do to hang on. Being at the back of the line after a pull felt a little like how I've heard drowning described before. Drowning victims supposedly reach a point where they just let go and stop struggling, and a sense of calm comes over them. I'd be there at the back of the pack, struggling to hang on thinking how it would be so easy to just let go and slowly drift off to the bottom…

Heading toward the coast (l to r: Matt, Bryan, Dan, and Ryan hiding behind Dan)

Somehow I stayed with the group to the coast, through Westport (I don't mean to bad mouth Westport, but my God in the minimart where we stopped for water there couldn't have been more than a dozen teeth amongst the three people working there), Grayland, Tokeland until we finally turned inland and had the wind at our backs. I had been thinking that as soon as we had a tailwind, I could let the group go and ride at a less painful pace for a while. It was about that time that I got a flat tire. The group stopped and a couple of the guys helped me fix it. I had been really hurting just before the flat, but somehow getting off the bike for a few minutes to fix the flat restored me quite a bit so when we started rolling again I decided to stay with the group until the overnight control in Centralia.


About 150 miles in and still able to fake a smile.

The last 75 miles to the overnight control weren't too bad. The first half of it is a very gentle climb, but with the wind at our backs we were still moving at better than 20 mph. I was tired and everything hurt a little bit, but I was feeling surprisingly good all things considered. We got lost looking for the control that was about 20 miles out of Centralia which added about three miles and a few minutes of pointing at cue sheets and arguing, and Ryan got a flat and went through a couple tubes before he found the piece of wire stuck in his tire, but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing and we rolled into the overnight control at about 9:30pm just as it was getting dark. 400km done, only 200km to go.


My trusty steed resting at the Rainbow Falls Control 20 miles before Centralia

At the overnight control we were greeted by enthusiastic volunteers, mountains of real food, cold beer, and best of all, chairs! Four of our group had decided to make it a short stop and press on through the night to see if they could finish the ride in less than 24 hours. I entertained the idea of going with them for all of two seconds but instead opted to have a huge meal and try to get a few hours of sleep before getting back on the road. So, the two of us who were staying behind sent our riding buddies off into the night and grabbed a second plate of spaghetti.


Real Food at the overnight control!

I slept for about three hours and woke up feeling pretty rested, so I figured I might as well get back on the road. The volunteers made me a huge breakfast burrito (which I ended up regretting for the next 50 miles) and some paint stripper-like coffee. Bryan, the other guy from the group who stayed behind, was also up and ready to roll, so we headed out together a little after 2:30am.


Ready to roll at 2:30am

The first 50 miles after the overnight was mostly uphill, not steep but relentless. Strangely enough I really enjoyed the riding from 2:30 until the sun came up. It’s so peaceful with no cars on the road and the tunnel of light created by the headlights makes it easy to just focus on the task and get into a rhythm. Our route took us up back roads toward Mt. Rainier to the town of Morton. The sun was up by the time we reached Morton and we knew from that point it was another 80 miles of mostly downhill. From Morton on, Bryan and I took turns sort of running out of fuel and pulling each other along when the other guy was dragging. A big chunk of the last 80 miles follows the RAMROD route, and it’s some very scenic countryside, but by that point in the ride it was hard to appreciate it.

Bryan and I arrived at the finish in Auburn at 10:50am Sunday, 28 hours and 50 minutes after leaving. We were the second group to finish, the first being the four that we rode the first 400k with. It turns out they didn’t make the sub-24 hour finish they had been shooting for, but still finished in a phenomenal 24:35.

My cycle computer mysteriously reset itself somewhere around Enumclaw, so I don’t know what the actual total miles, riding time or average speed were, but it was something like 382 miles, and I’m thinking about 22 hours riding time.

Completing the 600k along with the 200k, 300k, and 400k makes me an official “Super Randonneur” (please say that with a French accent so it sounds like “zoo-pehr ron-duh-newwr”) according to l'Audax Club Perisien, which gives me the right to buy myself a shiney medal and brag about it to people who have never heard the word, "Randonneur." Woot!

Next up: RAMROD on July 30.

Steve

Pre-Blog Ride Reports - May '09

Originally emailed on Tue, May 19, 2009 at 11:30 PM under the Subject, May Ride Report (kinda long, sorry)

My original goal to ride a century ride in every month of 2009 has been completely subsumed by my new found obsession with the wacky sport of Randonneuring. I'm now shooting for the "Super Randonneur" designation for 2009. To be a Super Randonneur you just have to complete a series of four rides 200km, 300km, 400km and 600km in length. Each ride has to be completed within a set time limit. If you do that, you win the right to buy yourself a medal. Woo hoo! I already reported on the 200km and 300km rides in March and April. Last weekend I completed the 400km.

The 400km route started in Ephrata, about 180 miles east of Seattle. The route was to head North from Ephrata up the Methow Valley to Twisp, then over Loup Loup pass to Omak, down to Grand Coulee and then back along Banks Lake to Ephrata. I drove over to Ephrata after work Friday night, getting stuck in traffic on my way out of town. I got to the camp ground I was staying at about 10:30, so by the time I got situated it was pretty late. The ride started at 5am and I needed to ride the three miles into town to the start, so I got up at about 4am and geared up. It was a bit chilly, but I knew it was going to warm up so I dressed light and shivered on the ride into town.

About 60 of us set out from the Ephrata Travel Lodge. The first 20 miles were through rolling wheat fields and sage brush. The wheat was young, green and tender, and the sun was just coming up. The road climbed gently, gaining about 1,000' in the first 20 miles. The riders were starting to spread out, but at this point I was passing people and being passed as everyone was trying to settle into a pace that would work for 400km.

The first big challenge came about 20 miles in where the road turned to deep gravel with chunks of bigger sharp rocks. It was borderline unrideable and several riders actually got off and walked it. The gravel lasted for about 4 miles. The great thing about biking a road like that is how it makes pavement feel so wonderful when it's over. Somehow I came through without a flat and continued on on Hwy 2. Ten miles later I arrived at the first control at Farmer, a town with a grange hall, a silo, a cemetery, and apparently no living people. The ride organizers had some hot coffee there which made me very happy.

When I pulled out from Farmer, there was a group of riders about a quarter mile ahead moving pretty fast. For a minute I thought about going after them. As the gap increased, I decided to let them go since I would definitely have to burn some matches to catch them. So as the group ahead pulled off into the distance, I found myself completely alone. You can definitely travel faster as a group but there's something to be said for the peace and solitude of riding alone on lonesome roads with no cars. As it turned out, I wouldn't see any other bikers, other than way off in the distance, for the next 100 miles or so.

After Farmer the road continued to climb slowly up to McNeil Pass (which I'd never heard of before) at 3,011 feet. From McNeil pass, you get about six miles of screaming descent with grades up to 12%. It would have been easy to hit 50mph or more, but I kept it to about 45 not knowing what the turns were like.

The route then followed Hwy 97 along the Columbia River. The scenery was beautiful, but hwy 97 is a little too busy for my taste. I arrived at the control in Pateros at about 10:30. From Pateros I started up into the Methow Valley with a nice little tail wind to help me along. I pulled into the next control near Twisp at around 12:00. The organizers had sandwich makings and other snacks there. So much for "unsupported" riding. At this point I was still maintaining a pace that worked out to about 4 hours per 100k, which would get me to the finish at about 9:00pm. Ha. Folly.

Immediately after the Twisp control, the climb up Loup Loup pass starts. It never gets super steep, but after 10 miles of consistent 6% grade it gets old. It was also starting to get hot with temps in the 80s. Something about the climb and the temperature sort of messed up my 4 hr/100km pace. On the climb, I could see a group of three other riders keeping pace with me about a 1/4 mile back. These were the first other riders I had seen on the road since Farmer. The volunteer at the Twisp control told me it was about 12 miles to the summit, so the summit came 2 miles before I expected it. :) I'm sure he did that on purpose. After the summit, it's nearly 20 miles of coasting down into poor, depressing Okanogan and slightly more upscale Omak. The group of three caught me on the descent and we rode together into Omak.

From Omak the route goes through the most desolate stretch of the course. This is also where the 20 mph headwinds started. I decided to stick with the three riders that caught me on the descent. With the four of us taking turns breaking the wind, we averaged about 10 - 12 mph for the next two hours into the wind. At that point the wind started dropping off a little, and I was having some leg cramp problems, so I let the others go. It was still 20 miles to the next store and I was getting low on water, but I figured I could make it. I was really hurting on this stretch of road by myself. But just when I was about to pull over and take a nap beside the road, I came upon a "secret control!" The support volunteers had hot Cup o' Noodles and Ibuprophen which surely saved my life. Thanks guys!

After the secret control there was a brutal 8% - 10% climb for about a mile. But I was feeling so restored by the Cup o' Noodles and the vitamin I that it didn't bother me too much. And somewhere near the top, I came upon a big old full grown black bear about 20 ft off the side of the road. We stared at each other for a while and said our Hullos and I kept riding.

The desolate road finally came out on Hwy 155 near Nespelem where the route heads south, finally back in the direction of Ephrata. After an hour or so on Hwy 155, the sky and my mood started getting dark. Hwy 155 has these nasty expansion joints every 20 or so feet, so you're constantly riding along going, "bu-bump... bu-bump... bu-bump..." Eventually I pulled in to the final control in Electric City. I sat far longer than I should have at Electric City, probably a half hour at least which made getting back on the bike tough. The sun was down now so I turned on my lights, put on all the reflective gear I had and pulled on my arm warmers. I think it was about 8:30 when I left Electric City.

This is where I entered completely unexplored territory. E City was about 200 miles into the ride, and I had another 55 miles to go. This was my first time beyond 200 miles, and my first time doing some serious night riding. The next four hours were a bit of a blur. I was completely alone, not many cars, on very lonely stretches of road. I talked to myself a lot but I wasn't very interesting to talk to. Every few minutes I'd start thinking about how far I still had to go and how slowly I was moving and how easy it would be to just lay down on that nice little piece of pavement between the highway and the guardrail. And then I would tell myself, "come on, it's not that hard. All you have to do is just sit here and pedal." That became my mantra, "just sit here and pedal." Somehow 50 miles became 40, then 40 became 30... then eventually I found myself just sitting there and pedaling into Ephrata at 12:30am.

It turns out I was the 9th to finish out of the 60 who started. One group of 3 finished about 15 minutes before me and another group was 15 minutes before them. And one other solo rider finished TWO HOURS before me! The two groups ahead of me had both been together for the whole ride. So the first finisher and I were the only riders of the first nine who rode solo most of the way. The next rider behind me was nearly an hour back.

It was a very tough ride, but also incredibly beautiful with some wonderful cycling roads. The organizers did a fantastic job. I was hurting at the finish, but I had enough left in me to have a beer at the Travel Lodge and then pedal back to my campground three miles out of town.

By the way, sorry for not having pictures. I meant to bring a camera but forgot.

Some other stats:
Distance: 264.26 miles
Time: 17:56 in the saddle, 19:32 total
Climbing: 13,071
Dead rattlers on the road: 1

Pre-Blog Ride Reports - April '09

Originally emailed on Monday, April 06, 2009 10:46 PM under the Subject: April CAM09 Ride Report

My pursuit of at least one century ride in every calendar month in '09 rolls on... Saturday's SIR 300k helped me get April's ride out of the way early in the month. Four days before the ride it was snowing in Western WA, but the velo gods smiled upon us by giving us a beautiful clear day for the 300k.

About 50 entrepid Randonneurs and Randonneuses set out from the Clinton ferry dock on the south end of Whidbey Island at 7:00am. One thing about ferry docks: they're always at the bottoms of hills... But I was actually happy to start out on a hill since it was still about 32 degrees. Time to get the blood pumping. About a mile or two into the ride I caught up to a group of six other riders who were moving along pretty well, and I ended up staying with that group for the next 315 kilometers.

Our course would take us the length of Whidbey Island, up Chuckanut drive to Bellingham, then east toward Mt. Baker as far as Deming. At Deming the course headed South and stayed on Hwy 9 for something just short of eternity--which it turns out is just south of Arlington. From there we would hop on the Centennial trail to Snohommish, then back over to lovely Everett, over a big hump and back down the Mukilteo speedway to the ferry.

Here's the course: http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=40288

One thing I've learned to do on rides like this is to avoid thinking about the entire ride. Starting off up that hill out of Clinton thinking, "two miles down, only 193 to go" is a BAD idea. Breaking it into nice bite-sized chunks is the only way to survive. So, I started thinking about the beautiful views from Deception Pass and got to work.

The group I was riding with was awesome. All strong riders, they knew how to handle a pace line, fun guys to chat with, supportive if anyone was starting to drag, I couldn't have picked a better group. We had a couple others join us or drop here and there along the way, but basically the core group of six stayed together to the end. I was the only one in the group who didn't have at least a couple of seasons of Randonneuring experience, so I really appreciated how welcoming they were.

So, here's something I learned about experienced hardcore Randonneurs: These guys do not mess around with rest stops. If we stopped at a minimart for water or food it was, jump off the bike, run in and grab some water and a candy bar, get back on the bike and go. If you needed to get water AND pee, then you were going to need to do some work to catch the group again. No waiting around until everyone's ready. As soon as you're ready to go just get on the bike and start riding. Ride slow for the first couple minutes to let the group reform, then back to business. We stopped about six times in 12 hours, and five of those were forced stops because we had to get our brevet cards signed at the check point (Randonneuring = bicycling with paperwork).

I have to admit that while I'm sure the scenery was beautiful the whole way, I didn't see a lot of it on this ride. The benefits of riding in a pace line are many (drafting, encouragement, conversation, help with navigation, etc.), but one of the drawbacks is that it requires concentration to stay 12" off the wheel of the guy in front of you without killing yourself and everyone behind you. It doesn't give you a lot of time to check out the world around you. I experienced a lot of pace line riding in last year's STP and mostly hated it. But I realize now that the problem with the STP was that most of the people there don't know how to ride in a pace line. With a group of six strong riders with tons of pace line experience, it's really a thing of beauty. For about 20 miles down Hwy 9, we even ran as a double pace line, acting like we owned the whole damn road. Needless to say, some of locals trying to get by us weren't too impressed by our blue angel-like precision.

The pictures here were taken by one of the other guys in the group. I had a camera with me, but again the pace line made picture taking seem like more challenge than I was willing to take on.

Here we are gathering for the start

Early on, Bob and Mark taking the lead...

Our group taking the lane, critical mass style, as we cross over the Deception Pass bridge (I was at the back of the pack at this point trying not to worry about that semi on my ass)

Somewhere around the 150 mile mark I started hurting everywhere all at once. Back, neck, shoulders, butt, feet. Nothing horrible, but it was definitely annoying. Luckily we had to stop for a control not long after that which gave me a chance to swallow a couple Advil. That totally did the trick and I felt great for the rest of the ride.

We rolled into the finish at the Mukilteo ferry dock a little before 6, plenty of time to hang out and watch the sun set over Whidbey Island while munching on the BEST PIZZA I'VE EVER, EVER HAD IN MY LIFE (probably from Dominos or something...).

The numbers:
Distance: 195.8 miles/315 kilometers
Time:10:53 in the saddle/11:52 total
Climbing: 7,659 ft.

Pre-Blog Ride Reports - March '09

Originally emailed on On Mar 22, 2009, at 9:20 AM, under the subject, CAM09 March Ride Report: In Like a Lion, Out like a Lamb

That pretty accurately describes how I rode the SIR 200km yesterday. But I finished, which means I'm now officially a Randonneur. In case you don't know, Randonneur is a French word that basically means "crazy person." I also rode a solo century a couple weeks ago, but I'm counting the SIR 200km as my official March entry in my Century a Month bid for 2009.

The 200k started in Kent at the organizer's house at 7:00am. It was pretty amazing to see 115 other cyclists, gathering in the dark with the temperature well below freezing. But the stars and the moon were out, so the weather looked promising. Here's what the start scene looked like:



As we rolled out the sky was starting to lighten up. About 1/2 mile into the ride I had to stop at the first gas station I saw to "offload some excess baggage." This pit stop put me a few minutes behind everyone else in the pack, which turned out to be kind of nice because as I worked my way back past the other riders I was able to get a good idea of who these Randonneur types are. Ages range from 20s to some maybe in their 70s, but most are probably between 35 and 50. This crowd wears wool, rides steel bikes and sits on leather saddles. No carbon fiber and lycra for them, thank you very much.

The ride headed out to Dash point, with beautiful views of the water with the Olympics in the distance. By the first control at 20 miles I had worked my way up to about first third of the pack. We then headed inland through Kent and Auburn on our way to the next control at the Black Diamond Bakery.



Black Diamond was about 50 miles in. By this point I had hooked up with a guy named Michael who seemed to be riding about my pace, so we worked together for most of the rest of the ride, trading pulls every mile or so. Here we are pulling out of the "secret control" somewhere between Black Diamond and Enumclaw (Michael is the one with tree trunk like thighs).

The ride went through some scenic but smelly farm land on it's way to Enumclaw where we got on Hwy 410 and continued on up to Greenwater. Greenwater is a turn around point, so we were able to see that we were only about 20 minutes behind the lead riders. After getting our Brevet card stamped at the Greenwater store and gulping down a Coke (shameless product placement), we started back down the hill into a headwind.

Somewhere around the 100 mile mark Michael and I missed a turn. Michael decided to take a short cut back to the start since he knew the way. I turned around and started retracing our path to find the missed turn since I wanted to be official about riding the course. After about six "bonus miles" I got back on track and caught up to a group of five other riders who looked like they knew where they were going. The rest of the ride was uneventful and was ridden more in the traditional randonneuring style, which is to say slow.

At the finish they had plenty of cold beer and hot chili, the perfect recovery meal.

Overall it was beautiful ride and I really enjoyed the Randonneuring thang. I ended up finishing in the top twenty, and without the bonus miles I most likely would have been in the top ten (although, I think polite Randonneurs aren't supposed to talk about their finishing times).

The SIR 300K is in two weeks. Stay tuned...

Ride Stats
Distance: 135 miles (217 km)
Time: 7:47 saddle time (8:35 total)
Climbing: 6,153 ft
Road Kill: 2

Pre-Blog Ride Reports - Feb '09

Originally emailed on Feb 7, 2009, at 9:46 PM, under the subject, Put a fork in February - Ride Report

Today the God of weather smiled upon me and allowed a fantastic February day for the second installment of my Century a Month in 2009 bid, aka CAM09. I decided to try a 200k this time to make sure I'm ready for the first SIR 200k brevet coming up in March. I mean, how much harder than a century can a 200k be, right? About 1/4 harder, it turns out.

Temp at the start was about 38 degrees and the sky was cloudy. The sun broke through just before noon and the second half of the ride was under sunny skies with the temp in the mid 40s. Perfect.

My route took me through the standard list of backwater, white trash, hick towns in King and Snohomish counties. I passed through Woodinville, Snohomish, Arlington, Granite Falls, Sultan, Monroe, Duvall, Woodinville again, and then back to my own backwater, white trash, hick town neighborhood of Ravenna.

Here are some highlights:

Fales Rd between Woodinville and Snohomish. Obviously I need more practice taking pictures while riding since the focus sucks.


The trusty steed in downtown Snohomish looking down at the Snohomish river, which incidentally seems to flood every year, and still people insist on living on it's shores. Kind of like those folks who choose to live in trailer parks in the midwest even though they know it's just a matter of time before a tornado gets them.


Ah, the fabulous Centennial trail. A little boring, but a great way to get in twenty easy miles.


A barn between Arlington and Granite Falls that didn't fare well in the big snow storm last December. Incidentally, there is still snow along side the road in the shady spots in this neck of the woods, presumably left over from December's big dump.


Old Pipeline Rd between Granite Falls and Sultan. This is my new favorite cycling road. I saw about four cars in ten miles on this road, but plenty of big rollers, some with 10% grades.


Once again, the velo striking a pose in front of the Sultan Red Apple Market. Stopped in here for a couple of those Starbucks super sweet espresso in a can drinks. Those drinks may quite possibly be the perfect cycling fuel. Caffeine + Sugar = Vroom!

Also note the hillybilly saddle bag. It's a repurposed military surplus bag that is actually quite useful on these long rides. It easily holds my rain coat, a few Clif Bars, my wallet, phone, spare tube, and tools.


The home stretch! The bumpy Burke G trail near Lake City.

A bit more than the 200k I'd planned but with such a beautiful day, why not?

Ride Stats:
Distance = 133.7 miles (215 kilometers)
Riding Time = 8h 10m
Elapsed Time = 9h 20m
Total Climbing = 5,602'
Ibuprophen Consumed = 400 mgs (50% decrease compared to Jan century!)