Day 1, 223 miles, 11,860 feet climbing
Day 1, 223 miles, 11,860 feet climbing
Monroe, wow the adrenalin is pumping as we arrived at the start line for the big ride! Sign in, get route sheets, pump up the tires, and pack the food and energy drinks for the day.
At 6 AM the gaggle of bike riders headed south to Carson. For a few miles we were all in one group until Ames Lake road which has a bit of a tilt to it. Then Duthie Hill road stretched it out further.
After winding our way through towns of Issaquah, Hobart, and the first control at Cumberland, through Enumclaw, we then turned south through Orting, Eatonville Control and on to Randle. The pace was fairly fast at 18 mph for the front group. But the grins on the rider's faces showed that the energy was high and not a care in the world, seemed like we could keep that up all day. Of course, that was not to be. By the time we left Randle the real climbing for the day began. After 140 miles of bike riding Elk Ridge Pass looms ahead and followed closely by Old Man Pass. Since this on Forest Service roads the grade is neither consistent nor straight. It just seems to follow the contours of the original terrain. Near the top of Elk Pass the roads consisted of a twisty, windy roadway with spectacular views of Mt St Helens.
As I neared the top of the pass I kept saying to myself that just on the other side there would be a fast decent... Fast decent... Fast decent...I think I can...I think I can...(Hmm sounds like a good name for a children's book :-)
Cresting the pass I dropped to the areobars and rocketed down. Wheee... now this is what I live for! :-)
Near the top of Old Man Pass I spotted 4 Ospreys riding the thermals off in the valley. Fabulous! Now this is living...
Another cresting, another "switching to rocket mode, captain!"
This was a long 20 mile decent. This must be what heaven is like... in rocket mode forever... :-)
By the time I got back to reality and starting to peddle again the night had settled in. I brought out the lights and cruised into Carson for the overnight stop.
Day 2 - 218 miles, 8340 feet climbing
Next morning, breakfast in the gym, reload the bike with the day's fuel, water, cue sheet and we are off to see the wizard...sorry got carried away, again.
We headed east into the sunrise along the mighty Columbia River on Highway 14. Three of us started out together on another glorious day in the saddle, weather cool but just right for biking. We would later want that cooler weather to return. As the route turn up highway 142 so did the grade of the road. The closer we got to the next Control the steeper the climb. After some time we got to the plateau and into Goldendale.
Leaving the Control point the route climbs up even more to Satus Pass. A 3100 foot climb in 14 miles, the higher we went the hotter it got. Both in energy output and air temperature. Another crest and I assumed the bullet configuration. One woman in our group said to me at the breakfast after the ride. "I know you; you're the guy that breaks the sound barrier on decents." Guilty as charged!
Toppenish Control and hot, hot, hot. The temperature hitting 98 degrees F. I headed off to Mattawa and Cue Sheet says "No Services for 53 miles". Good thing I filled all of my water bottles and Camelback, I used it all by the time I got to Vernita and water. It was getting very hot crossing the Rattlesnake Hills, but in the desert an oasis... and an angel of mercy appeared with cold drinks, cookies and potato chips, and most important a bit of shade. Now that's timing...
After we went up "Yes, up THAT Hill" it was a long ride into the control, but the hills were cooling down and the views were long distance...you can see for miles and miles...
Matawa Control was great and the volunteers have sandwich stuff that really hit the spot after many calories burn this day.
Next stop Quincy, but to get to Quincy we had to travel along the Columbia River and VERY gusty winds. We got no relief as we climbed out of the canyon and up to the plateau. As Dave Read said, afterwards, that that was probably the toughest 40 miles that he had ever ridden. I think that I have to agree. Finally we could see the lights of Quincy, but they never seemed to get any closer. Why is it the last 5 miles are always the longest? :-) Between the wind gusts and the lights it made it a long slog.
Day 3 - 168 miles, 9140 feet climbing
Dave and I headed out at a luxurious time of 5 AM. It would be a lighter day for me at only 167 miles today instead of the 223 miles of Saturday. Dave was on the 1000 K and would turn off at Farmer. The weather was cool and overcast. It promised to be a much cooler day if not out right rainy. But as I recall there was a bit of rain, mostly drizzle. The roads were quiet and traveled through rolling hill after rolling hill always up, or so it seemed. This was in beautiful contrast to the heavy forested roads of the western side of the state.
Sagebrush Road took us through some more interesting country, the great lake area that scoured out rock from an ancient ice flow. It was another contrast in scenery from other parts of the ride that we had been through.
The Control at Farmer was interesting in the fact that it was practically the only building around, save for the outhouses in back.
I said good-bye to Dave and wished him luck on his ride back to Monroe through Stevens Pass. Then I turned on Mud Springs road and more uphill. I was looking forward to what the cue sheet promised to be a "Fast, Windy Decent". Oh BOY let me at Śm! But joy turned to disappointment as we started down. Twisty, wet with a very slick looking surface to the road. When we got to the bottom of the decent one of the Canadian riders remarked, "What a waste of a decent!" I actually had to use my BRAKES! :-(
Crossing the Columbia River again the road was fairly flat so I was cruising on the aerobars and picked up some speed on these "flats" as the road wound along side the river. The overcast skies kept the temperatures in the cool range. There were some head / cross winds but not as bad as last night. Keeping in the tuck position lessened the fight with the wind. At Brewster I stopped in a McDonalds since I saw a number of bicycles parked out side that said "Randonneurs Inside". Stoked the fires on some calories and we all headed out to the Control at Malott.
Leaving Malott the road turns up and connects to Highway 20. Loop Loop Pass after a long day in the saddle and 120 miles this pass is a long climb. Some rain and steep grades add more to make this difficult and challenging climb.
The decent was cool and fast. Being tired it was a little harder to enjoy. At the top, I stuffed some calories in and made the best speed as safely as possible down. When I hit Winthrop the road turned in the middle of town and I headed out to the overnight control at Mazama. As I rode the highway there was little traffic and not much movement. Being tired and nothing to distract me I start feeling a little light headed. The eyelids were heavy as well as my head. The road was very scenic and a very nice wide shoulder, light traffic and the promise of tomorrows ride for even more scenic vistas and mountain wildlife.
I pulled into Mazama Country Inn, got off the bike and I do not know which was holding which up. Was the bike holding me up or was I holding the bike up? But after a couple of plates full of pasta, rice and sauce I felt a whole lot better. Next a shower and to sleep, a full 6 hours of sleep and I was feeling great.
Day 4 - 165 miles, 7060 feet climbing
Next morning and a hearty breakfast, the biggest climb just down the road was waiting for me. So I mounted my trusty steed and headed off up the road towards the high point of the ride, literally, Washington Pass at 5860 Feet of Elevation. At 6 AM as I headed out again, the roads were quiet and all I could see and hear were trees rustling in the wind, the water of many streams cascading down the rocky falls and the call of many birds greeting this fine morning. This was all I could hear except for the little sound of my tires on the road. I saw no one in front or behind me. But it was a cool morning and with a good night sleep and fuel stores topped off, I was feeling really good.
I thoroughly enjoyed the solitude, quiet and scenic mountains. I rode for about a half an hour when I spotted three riders up ahead. I kept my pace and about twenty minutes later I caught up with them.
One guy was from Florida, and when I asked him how he trained for riding these hills he said that he used the bridges across the intercoastal waterway. These bridges are fairly steep and I suppose if you ride back and forth across them you could get some elevation training.
Washington Pass took a long time but the view was worth it. Looking back over the edge of the roadway down to the road we had just climbed up was beautiful as well as "Wow, we climbed up THAT!" It looked even harder from this angle.
At the top of the pass we all stopped and put on all of the extra clothes that we carried for the cold decent that was next. The temperature at the top hit all of 44 degrees F. I asked the guy from Florida if he knew what the name of the next pass was and he said "Rainy Pass". I told him that they call it that for a reason.
It was a short climb up to Rainy Pass and sure enough it was raining fairly well at this point. So I battened down the hatches for the rain and wind that would be a fast soggy decent.
So I grabbed the areobars and headed down. It was a cold decent, at some point everything was shivering so bad that I didn't know if the bike had a flat or that the bike was so cold it was causing me to shake or that I was so cold that I was causing the bike to shake.
Then after miles of this shaking I saw an awning and a SIR Support point. Another oasis in the desert. But this one had hot chocolate, coffee, soup, and cookies. It was sure great to add some heat to the core body temperature after the cold wet ride.
Several riders came in as I drank my hot chocolate. With the bike not causing me to shake anymore I headed out again. By now the rain had stopped and it was the road and me once again. A few miles down the road a deer popped out of the underbrush about 300 yards ahead of me. Next two little fawns came out following mom across the road. I whistled and mom stopped and had ears turned toward me in radar fashion. The fawns stopped too and then turned back across the road and ran into the ditch just off the road. I was riding at about 25 mph and caught up to the two fawns that were jump / running on all fours legs like springs along side of me. The three of us ran like this for several hundred yards before the fawns made a fast right turn into the woods. It was quite a sight to see them run like that.
After the road construction, it was a short ride into Marblemount. The Texaco station was not there, apparently change into a Shell Station over night! :-) Fortunately I saw a couple of Rando bikes parked at the restaurant next door. They told me about the morphing gas station, so I lost no time in getting my card signed, buy a chocolate milk and one of the volunteers was there giving away some last minute sandwiches. Topping off the tank I headed out again.
This next section was a hard one for me. The ride was a long 66 miles from Marblemount to Granite Falls. The road was fairly flat with a roller or two in there for good measure. It was pretty going through the trees but it was getting to the end of the ride and I was looking for the end. I caught up to a tandem and rode with them for awhile. The guy on the back asked for my opinion on seats. He said his butt hurt and wanted to know if I had and information as to a better seat. Since my butt was hurting too I had no advice to offer. I told him that if he found an answer to that he would have the thanks of every Rando rider in the world.
Finally Granite Falls, I got something to eat and got the card signed. My cue sheet was folded so that only the route from Marblemount to Granite Falls was showing. I was thinking that I had forty miles left to go and that was depressing. But one of the other riders told me that "No, it was only 20 miles"; I turned my cue sheet over and sure enough it said 20 miles to Monroe. I told her that she had just made my day. We all started out together. As we rode we joked and commented on the ride. At one point the route turned and one person asked if this was the way. I said that it had to be because upon turning the road climbed a hill, and Randonneurs only route the finish through hills!
We turned into the parking lot that the hotel was and found a number of volunteers cheering us as we parked our bikes and entered the hotel to have the last sign-off for the ride.
The ride was the most spectacular ride I have ever done. Great people, both riders and volunteers. Good food. Wonderful route.
All told the climbing was 36210 feet in 784 miles!
Temperature range from 48 to 98 degrees F.
So would I do it again? Well ask me when my feet and butt stop hurting and I will probably say "YES". It is interesting to me that I had thought that it would be my tired muscles that hurt the most from this ride, as it turns out it is that man-machine interface that is the real problem.
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