3 Volcanoes Reminders and 2005 Pre-Ride Notes

Pre ride was ridden Sunday July 24th. Started at approximately 5:15 am from Packwood with temperatures in the 50ís and patchy fog. Lots of Elk on the east side of town and along highway 12 towards Randal.

The 10 mile section of unpaved road up and over Baby Shoe Pass is rougher this year than last. I road with 700 x 35 Pasela Tour Guards. Started with about 90 psi and then stopped at the start of the gravel section and let some air out. The nice thing about a large volume tire is you can adjust the pressure for more ride comfort and control on rough surfaces without causing tire or wheel damage. (pinch flats, rim dents). The road conditions get worse the closer you get to the top of the pass, more washboard and looser surface. There was some cursing on the last pitch from the summit due to surface conditions. Do NOT try to make up time on the downhill! The backside of Baby Shoe Pass is a 3 mile decent on gravel. It is extremely rough and washboarded. If you are really getting beat up on the descent try reducing tire pressure. I tried cursing and gritting my teeth and found it to be ineffective. Should have stopped and let some air out of the front tire.

Back to the pavements and what great pavement it is, the road surface from Baby Shoe Pass to Trout Lake is one of the finest in the state. The term ìsmooth as a babyís bottomî came to mind.

The cafÈ at the corner is a good choice for a sit down lunch. Shaded picnic tables, hamburger, fries, milkshake sort of place, bathrooms and a nice stream to soak your hot feet in. I stopped at the store. The store in Trout Lake has no public bathroom but it is well stocked with the usual Rando foods and has a very nice bench on the front porch. There is a public restroom at the ranger station on the left side as you are leaving town. Make sure you have lots of water as you leave town itís a long climb and can be hot. It was around noon when I left Trout Lake and it was already quit warm No services until Northwoodís and only water at Upper Falls campground.

The climb to Big Tire junction was nice, some great views of Mt Adams. After Big Tire there are some short gravel patches on downhills please be careful. From forest road 88 and 90 junction to the Upper Falls campground had some headwinds but a lot of this section is downhill. I recommend stopping for water at Upper Falls. There are at least three climbs between there and North Woods.

Nothing big but it always seems to take longer than it should. There are some bad sections of pavement on some of the descents in blind corners use caution. Amy met me at Northwoodís. The hamburger stand is still closed and looked like it may stay that way. The store is open but has a limited selection. We plan on having the Northwoodís control manned this year so you can plan on getting some basics from the control. Stock up the next services are in Randle and thatís 45 miles away with 20 miles of steep climbing to Elk Summit.

Had some great views of St Helens on left and Adams to the right also noticed you can see Mt Hood in the distance just before Elk Summit. The descent of Elk Summit is in generally good shape but there are several spots where the road surface has sunk leaving large dips or ledges in the pavement. Most of these are on the far right side of the lane. If you are descending Elk Summit in the dark be careful and do not ride too close to the shoulder. We moved the start time earlier this year so most people should still have daylight for the descent. All descents on this course should be approached with caution as the road surface can be dodgy.

For the 15 miles from Randle to Packwood there is usually a good tailwind in the afternoon and there was Sunday. I stopped at the Randle Quick Stop located just east of Randle next to the lumber mill for a coke. This is a good spot to regenerate for the last push to the finish and they are open late.(11:00 pm)

This is a hard 300K ride. Three big climbs many small ones.

The Hotel Packwood is full for Friday night. The Inn of Packwood is just across the street and about a block away.

We have changed the sign-in to Butter Butte Coffee, just across Highway 12 from the Hotel Packwood. This is a new, very nice, coffee shop which will open early for us and have coffee and muffins available for sale. Please be on your best behavior. Jeb the owner has agreed to open at 4:15 am just for us. His usual hours are 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. They roast their own beans on site. So, come sign up and get your morning buzz going before the ride.

The ride start is 5AM, registration from 4:15-4:45AM at Butter Butte Coffee.

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