Ride: 2003 Mountain 100 km
Organizer: Jan Heine
Date: Sunday, Sept. 14, 2003
Time: Start Time: 8:30 a.m.
Start Location: Issaquah Park and Ride Parking Lot
Address: Corner of SR-900 and Newport Way, Issaquah
Entry Fee: Free!

Requirements: Beyond the usual (bike, helmet), bring a map sheet and a pen. Navigation in the 'burbs is complex, and some of the controls will be questions where you fill in the answer.

Other: The first hill is only 1 km into the ride. A warm-up is recommended: Ride to the start!

Time Limit: All riders should finish the ride within 6 hours 40 minutes.

Description: This is a challenging ride over 110 km (70 miles), including as many hills as we could find. If you like climbing, this is for you. If you don't like climbing, you will after you have ridden this. The hills may be steep, but they are short (the longest is 2 km/1.25 miles), with enough flat terrain to recover after each hill, so this ride is suitable for anybody comfortable riding 110 km...

Gearing: Lance Armstrong probably would do this on a 39-23. I need a 30-21. Smaller gears are better.

Route: From the Issaquah Park & Ride, we head west and immediately reach the first, longest and steepest hill: the Cougar Mountain Zoo climb. If you find this taxing, don't worry - it is the best or worst of the hills, depending on your point of view. New this year is a short, but steep hill soon after the first. This is an out-and-back, but the view up here is amazing, and you'll appreciate how high you have climbed when you see Seattle and Lake Washington far below, the Olympics and Mt. Baker in the distance! Then we descend a nice, open road (last year, our tandem reached 89 km/h/56 mph here), before climbing Cougar again from the other side. This is less steep and shorter than the Zoo climb. These two first hills are taxing, but then you get to recover on lovely, empty, rolling roads through the May Valley and the Maple Valley. Tiger Mountain is next, but while it is a long climb, it isn't very steep. The descent is fun and fast, with a few challenging turns. Back to Issaquah, then Black Nugget Road. This one is truly steep, but not very long. On backroads, we descend into the Snoqualmie Valley and head to Carnation. After a stop at Sandy's Espresso (they have other drinks, too), we tackle Tolt Hill, Duthie Hill and then get back to Issaquah. The "piece de resistance" is the final climb up Mt. Olympus Drive. Knowing that the finish is not far will get you up this formidably steep hill. Last year, a few boys were selling lemonade on top, but we can't make promises!

End of the ride: Issaquah Park and Ride Parking Lot

Route Sheet (Preliminary, subject to change)

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Last Updated: 09.07.03