New reflective gear is coming soon to SIR. Here is a preview of the wind jacket and vest:
These meet the PBP reflectivity requirements as well as RUSA guidelines for permanent and brevet riders. Will also be available in pink or yellow. Jacket has no pocket. Vest has one big pocket. Pony not included.
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Filed under SIR Swag
In 2014, four SIR members completed an unofficial challenge that they’d started twelve months earlier to honor SIR rider Donald Boothby, who passed away in 2012. The four finishers are Keith Moore, Mick Walsh, Hugh Kimball, and Joe Llona. Along with Don’s wife Mimi and challenge-instigator Narayan Krishnamoorthy, the finishers discussed the challenge with George Thomas on his excellent podcast Over the Top Cycling. You should go listen to it, I’ll wait right here. OK, welcome back. Now scroll on down to read some Q&A with Keith, Mick, and Hugh who were kind enough to talk to me about the challenge.
Keith Moore, Mimi Torchia, Joe Llona, Mick Walsh (L to R, back row), Narayan Krishnamoorthy, and Hugh Kimball (L to R, front row)
What is the Boothby Challenge and why did you decide to attempt it?
Keith Moore: Don had the crazy (crazy!!) idea to do a 300K R-12; he started his own personal challenge in 2011. About half way through the year, he was diagnosed with cancer. Treatment and surgery didn’t completely keep him off the bike, but it prevented him from riding long distances. Don died the following year. I guess you could say that we finished what Don started. We weren’t trying to raise money or awareness, we just rode to honor the memory of a friend.
Don died before I became active in SIR. That said, given the stories I’ve heard from other riders about his sense of humor, his love of riding (and his love of pie!), I know he & I would have been friends.
As to the “why” part, that’s more complicated, and I’m not sure I have a definitive answer. I like a good challenge, and even though I had not yet completed a “normal” R-12, this seemed like it would be “fun” (for some definition of the word).
Mick Walsh: It’s an R-12 with 300k or greater ride every month instead of 200k. Why? Because it sounded like a great way to honor the memory of a wonderful man.
I don’t think I ever rode with Don, I’m a newbie to Randonneuring, just hearing all the support he was getting during his illness showed me how well liked he was.
Hugh Kimball: The Boothby Challenge (BC) is a 300k ride every month of a year. It’s like the R-12. Maybe we should call it the B-12. It was proposed at the end of 2013. So I looked at my record and I had done it in that year (2013) except for November and December. So I decided to do it in 2014.
A number of my 300’s are for riding Seattle to Portland or the reverse. I have a new grandson in Portland (Dec 1, 2013). So it’s an excuse to ride there and back. For example to get October and November done I rode to Portland on 29 October and returned on 1 November.
Unfortunately, I did not know Don. But my son Todd and his son Josiah played in the Garfield High School Orchestra. Todd played a trombone and Josiah the French horn. It was not until Don’s memorial party that I connected the dots. It was really sad that I had not done so earlier when I could have ridden with Don.
Donald Boothby
December 3, 1950 — July 18, 2012
What is the best moment you remember from the challenge? The worst?
Keith: Maybe it’s the randonesia, but I can think of mostly great moments. The only bad moment I can think of is missing the ferry for the November 300K [on 11/8, which Mick and company finished in 11hours].
As far as great moments, there are many, including:
By far the “strangest” moment occurred 02/15 when a few of us rode the MI-3 300K. The weather was horrible — windy, rainy, cold, dark. Everything you don’t want in a 300K. We rolled into Carnation just after 7pm and stopped at the IGA grocery store for hot food and a little rest for the final 28 mile push back to Mercer Island. Inside the store we were accosted by a very drunk woman. She tried to warn us to stay off the roads, mostly because of drunk drivers (people such as herself). I’ll never forget her words: “If you guys were my kids, I’d kick your asses!”
Mick: I think the Race to the Border 400k preride was the best memory, we had a great group and went so fast! Though the November 300 in 11 hrs was special too 🙂
Feburary and October rides ended up in vicious wind storms and torrential rain, they were ugly.
Hugh: One of my best moments was when Ken Ward accompanied me to Portland. And one of the worst was riding by myself toward Portland along highway 30 when it was 38 degrees and raining.
Keith: One more anecdote, then I’ll stop:
Before the December ride, six of us met for breakfast at the Twin Eagles Cafe in Snohomish. As I was paying my bill the waitress asked about our ride. I told her a little about Don, and explained the Don Boothby Challenge. I told her we were riding for Don. She told me that the cafe’s owner, Sue, had died from cancer only two days earlier. She asked if we could ride for Sue as well. Of course we could.
Would you do it again and would you do anything differently?
Keith: “Never” is a long time, but I have no plans of attempting this next year. For one thing, I want to focus on PBP. Ask me again in 2016. 🙂
I’d do more research on downtown Seattle parking before trying to catch an early AM ferry.
Other than missing the ferry for the [11/8] November 300K, everything else went as smoothly as one could hope for. My bike performed flawlessly (modulo the occasional flat), I kept on top of my nutrition (no bonking), etc.
Mick: Yes, I might. Never say never.
Um, I would do the first 2 and the last 3 in warmer climates. No, riding in the miserable NW weather is what makes this a worthy challenge.
Hugh: I would do it again but it would be nice to do more riding with others- not so much solo. That being said I am retired and can often ride depending on the weather. Not many riders have that flexibility. I admire riders with full time jobs that did the BC.
“There are some crazy bicyclists who like riding long distances who decided to try my father’s bike challenge: at least one 300 kilometer ride (186.4 miles!) per month for a year. Here’s some pie to celebrate the people who took this challenge on!” — Josiah Boothby
Photos from the Challenge:
Keith: This is a self portrait I took when you and I were at the Shell station in Sumner, WA — our last control before the finish of the November 300K [11/15]. I think my face exactly expresses my feelings at that point in the ride:
“Woof” – Keith Moore
Mick: [At the Barlow Pass control on the Spring 400K] with Adam Morley, who, like me just completed his first R-12
Adam Morley and Mick Walsh (L to R)
Hugh: “Everyone is getting older, but just because you’ve gotten older doesn’t mean you can’t do things.” — Derek Jeter
Hugh on the Volcanic Arc 1000K – Photo by the editor
Filed under SIR Members
If you’ve been hearing howling, that’s our record-setting pack of 13 K-Hounds!
The K-Hound award represents 10,000K of randonneuring in one year. A few of our beloved overachievers rode 1.5x or 2x that distance. In total, they rode 149,880K+ (some results still pending) — that’s enough for a Galaxy and a Mondial award, or to wrap around the equator 3.75 times.
Last year, SIR took the lead for most K-Hounds in any one club with 10 members riding the required distance. This year we bested ourselves with 13, thanks to several repeats and a few first time K-Hounds.
Here are the K-Hounds and their distances as of (12/28/2014 at 23:24). And a hearty congratulations to all!
Jan Acuff (#2163) 11,134K
Rick Blacker (#2806) 10,094K
Jason Hansen (#6652) 10,026K (first)
Hugh Kimball (#4914) 22,651K
Joe Llona (#3439) 10,128K (first)
Audunn Ludviksson (#7563) 10,840K
Keith Moore (#5355) 10,391K (first)
Vinny Muoneke (#5004) 15,086K
John Pearch (#5290) 10,358K
Theo Roffe (#5988) 10,006K (first)
Andy Speier (#3911) 10,202K
Geoff Swarts (#4089) 13,953K
Mark Thomas (#64) 15341K
Filed under Club Info, Other Rides, SIR Members
On Sunday, November 2nd, several SIR members cleaned up a stretch of road officially near Lake Sammamish adopted by our club. After coffee and a safety briefing, they were assigned safety vests (Mark brought his own), hard hats, and arm extenders for picking up litter.
Narayan Krishnamoorthy, Hugh Kimball, Wayne Methner, Bill Dussler, Douglas Gemin and Jan Acuff at Lake Sammamish. Photo by Mark Thomas
SIR has been cleaning this stretch of road since 2007. Amy Pieper “proposed getting involved with the Adopt-A-Road program as a way to give back to a community through which [SIR] often cycled” [1] She told the paper, “We chose East Lake Sammamish Parkway for our Adopt-A-Road project because of its popularity amongst cyclists, its visibility to motorists, and its fairly central location for our membership.”
In 2008, Mark Thomas noted on his blog[2] that “although most of the roadside trash appeared to have originated from passing cars, we did find empty gel packets and energy bar wrappers suggesting that we cyclists aren’t always the best of citizens either.” He suggested a simple solution: “Let’s put the empties back in our jersey pockets, ok?” This is an important point. While it’s great that some of our members head out to clean up our adopted road each October, all of us need to do our part throughout the year by keeping litter off the road in the first place.
Let’s thank our fellow club members for their work this weekend and, if we can, join them in the effort next year.
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Filed under Club Info
This past Sunday, October 26th, was the SIR Annual Meeting. About 60 SIRs came to the Rogue Meeting Hall in Issaquah, WA for food, beer, socializing without helmets, and Mark Thomas’s presentation recapping a big year of riding for the club. Some of us came early to pick up the newest batch of wool jerseys (thanks Amy Pieper!) and permanent cards (thanks Jeff Loomis!). Jeff arrived lugging one of those 19 gallon blue IKEA shopping bags full of permanent cards. Of course, he’s more organized than I am, so they were boxed in alphabetical order and not just tossed into the bag. Jan Acuff and Hugh Kimball took home, collectively, about half of the perm cards.
Jan Acuff and Hugh Kimball take home some serious stacks of perm cards. Apparently this is how Hugh fuels his winter riding.
Photo by Susan Otcenas
Mark Thomas called for attention while we sat down and filled up on pasta, cold-cuts, garlic bread, and, yes, beer. We voted for club officers: Mark for President/RBA, Eric Vigoren for Treasurer, and Theo Roffe (that’s me!) for Newsletter Editor. All three ran unopposed and won.
One phrase I kept hearing around the room was “best club in the country.” It was easy to see why as Mark presented the club’s accomplishments of the last year (check out his entire slide show at the end of this post).
Let’s start with the riding. Participation in SIR events added up to 474,173KM this year* (brevets, populaires, the flèche, and perms). The 300 SIR members rode 380,000 RUSA KMs . We earned 2,064 ACP Points, putting us ahead of all but one club in the country (for every 100K of ACP brevets completed by one rider, the club gets one point). But we came in first for RUSA Points with 3,188. Our 18 ACP brevets were attended by 622 riders (including our members). Cascade 1200 had 85, Flèche NW 50, and our 3 RUSA populaires had 192.
All that riding earned a lot of awards:
But it doesn’t end with the riding. SIR members are a volunteeristic bunch, so you’re sure to see a smiling face at a control, whether if it’s raining in the middle of the night in Olympia or 100F in the exposed hills outside of Bickleton. There’s always someone at the finish to hand you an adult recovery beverage, a slice of pizza, and congratulate you on your effort.
Despite all of those good reasons to stay in Washington, SIR members keep seeking out new roads in places all over the world. Here is a list of Grande Randonnées abroad which were attended by at least one SIR (often several):
Paris-Brest-Paris is August 16, 2015, so there will be a lot more of us abroad next year. And with a full calendar in 2015, there are plenty of opportunities to qualify.
Just when we were all feeling really good and really proud of ourselves, Mark brought the 2015 ride schedule with several dates in red – we needed volunteers! Several folks stepped up to help, but there is still some need. So get in touch if you’d like to organize any of these riders:
08/01 300k
08/02 200k
09/26 100k
Here’s Mark’s entire presentation. Simply click on it to advance the slides.
*You’ve got to stop counting somewhere, so Mark’s stats stop 10/23/2014.
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Filed under Club Info
[UPDATED 10/30: rides still in need of volunteers are in bold, below]
From Mark:
I hope to see many of you this Sunday at our annual meeting. It’ll be a fun opportunity to review a great year and to talk about next year.
We have a pretty ambitious schedule for 2015, designed to give us (1) multiple opportunities to qualify for Paris-Brest-Paris, (2) good training for PBP, and (3) great rides and challenges for those not going to PBP. All of this will only happen with a lot of your help. Please contact me before (or at) the meeting if you are willing to organize (or co-organize) any of our events for next year.
As a reminder, here’s the schedule of events:
(Additional RUSA events can be still be scheduled, but the ACP event schedule is set).
ACP brevets (PBP qualifiers)
Fleche
NW Crank / Brevet Week (PBP qualifiers)
ACP brevets (PBP qualifiers)
Additional PBP qualifiers
PBP training rides
Fall rides
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Filed under Rando How-Tos, SIR Members
The SIR Summer 600k may not be the ride for you . . .
. . . if you are looking for an easy flat ride (this one is difficult and has hills)
. . . if you need to update Facebook often (at least 400km of no cell coverage)
. . . if you require pristine pavement (lightly traveled forest roads are also lightly maintained)
. . . if you aren’t prepared for long stretches without services (it’s130km from Randle up into the forest and back to Packwood)
. . . if you don’t like seeing the mountains (we had jaw-dropping views of Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams)
. . . if you don’t like the sights and sounds of rushing rivers and creeks (paralleling and crisscrossing the route)
Rick Blacker, Vincent Muoneke, and I did a scouting ride of the 600k course this past Wednesday and Thursday. The ride is spectacular and challenging. I’ll try to give a bit of a preview of what to expect. Bear in mind that we rode on weekdays, not on a weekend, so there may be differences in traffic and services from what we encountered.
The warmup first 20k takes you to Black Diamond, but you’ll be there before the bakery opens, so no apple turnover temptation. The Green River gorge stands between you and the first information control in Cumberland. Be careful with the one lane bridge across the river. There may be an SIR volunteer to sign cards in Cumberland; if not, answer the question on the card.
Familiar roads will take you to Enumclaw (which you’ll skip by going around on Mud Mountain Road), Buckley, South Prairie, and Eatonville. In South Prairie, divert to the bike path, but be alert for the turn to rejoin the road. It’s an unmarked turn onto gravel street heading toward a red barn and just as the trail starts to diverge from the highway. We encountered truck traffic (but quite respectful) on the first part of Orville Road after South Prairie, but otherwise the first 100km was pretty calm.
At 100km, we had a wonderful breakfast stop at the Eatonville control at the Cottage Bakery Cafe (on right as you enter town) – pastries and nice breakfast sandwiches are available. If you get there before 8AM, the good news is that you’re killing it. The bad news is that you’ll have to head down to the convenience store for your control (the Shell station/market is on the left after the turn onto Center Street).
The climb up to WA-7 on the Alder Cutoff Road can be a bit unpleasant with traffic, so be careful. Be even more careful about the railroad tracks that you’ll encounter just before and just after Elbe. The tracks cross the road at a very sharp angle. Please be mindful of the vehicles behind, if any, as you manuever to cross them at a better angle. Elbe (120km) and Ashford (132km) provide the last opportunity for services before Packwood (174km). Elbe has nice public restrooms on left before at the entrance to the town. (I recall that Ashford does too at the Rainier Base Camp area on left, but we didn’t check that).
Skate Creek Road takes you to the first of the four major summits of the route. It’s a wonderful road and much of the elevation gain came along the way to Ashford, so the descent is way bigger than the climb. Which is nice. With the creek alongside, the descent to Packwood provides a great treat. But please be cautious about the pavement. Potholes and road subsidences appear suddenly when you are travelling at descending speed. Someone (RAMROD volunteer, perhaps) has highlighted many of the flaws with spray paint, but be alert everywhere. The last part of the descent to Packwood after you exit the forest is a wonderful thrill ride on good pavement.
The Shell at the corner of US-12 has a sandwich shop and lots of food options. The town offers other choices, but we used the Shell. After the control, head west to Randle on US-12. Some of our traditional opportunities to avoid the highway are no longer available. Davis Creek Road has been two dead-end spurs since a bridge washout a few years ago. But US-12 has a good shoulder except for a couple of bridges and traffic was light. After about 17km look for Silverbrook Road on the right, which will deliver you to Randle via a nice back road.
Randle has a convenience store (just before US-12) and a market and a cafe (on the other side of US-12). Fuel up and stock up here; the next store you’ll see is nearly 130 challenging kilometers away. We expect to have SIR support at the high point at Bear Meadows, but it’s a long way up to there.
After Randle comes one of the key navigational challenges of the ride – finding Forest Road 26. Although you could get up the hill on Forest Road 25, you’d miss one of the nicest parts of the ride. When you head south from Randle, the route starts as WA-131, but changes to Forest Road 25 without fanfare as you enter the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The turn to Forest Road 26 comes about 14km after Randle. I suggest being alert to the milepost markers on the right side of Road 25 and pay special attention after you pass MP7. Note also the signs on the bridges. After MP7 you’ll cross a bridge over the Cispus River. Just past that, the main road (25) bears left (a black on yellow arrow directs the Road 25 traffic to left; there is also a sign indicating that the Tower Rock RV Park and campground are 7 miles to the left – see photo). Forest Road 26 heads straight at this point. Don’t follow the arrow! If you look carefully in the weeds to the right, you can see a brown post with “26” on it. Also ahead there was a big sign that faces uphill, but on the downhill side that you can see, someone has painted an indication that you’ve found road 26.
I love this road. We saw fewer than ten vehicles on the entire stretch of road 26 and the scenery is wonderful. The climbing is gentle and fierce by turns. The road isn’t in great shape and includes patches of gravel. Not much of an issue when ascending, but be especially careful on any descents where you may be picking up speed. Near the top, after you start seeing the scarred blast zone trees from 34 years ago, you’ll get a pretty extended descent. I hit a stretch of gravel at a pretty good clip and exploded a tire beyond repair. Don’t do that. (I was glad I hadn’t dumped the spare tire to save weight on this ride).
At the top of Forest Road 25 is the T-intersection with Forest Road 99. To the right is Windy Ridge; the route heads left towards Bear Meadows (the highest point of the second big bump on the elevation profile of the ride). Views of Mount Saint Helens and Mount Adams took my breath away. Look in the parking lot on the right at Bear Meadows for Bill Gobie (and bathrooms). (Of course, it’s possible that unforeseen circumstances prevent him from making it up there, but that’s the plan. If no SIR presence is possible, there will be no way to notify riders, but check our backup spot at the Wakepish Sno-Park on left just before the left turn onto Forest Road 25.)
A long descent awaits on Forest Road 25. This starts at about the 260km point of the ride. If you’ve managed to reach this point before nightfall, that’s great. The road surface is far from ideal here. By night, or by day, please be really careful and keep your speed in check. Have good lights, good tires, good alertness, and good reflexes.
Watch for the next turn carefully. I’m pretty sure that it came after MP9. In addition to the indications for NF-76, you should also see signs indicating the Cispus Center. (There may also be signs for the Tower Rock U-Fish, RV Park, and Campground, but I can’t recall seeing those. By the way, there may be water when you get to Tower Rock, but we didn’t investigate). Forest Road 76 and Cispus Road provided some wonderful quiet night riding in the forest along the Cispus River. With the earlier 4am start for the brevet (we started at 6am), some of you may do this in daylight, which is probably pretty cool as well. You’ll encounter few T-intersections along the way. The first, before Cispus Learning Center, is a right turn, the others are lefts. One is the location of the information control. After the last one, you’ll be heading west back towards Randle. Look carefully after another 12km or so for the right turn onto Cline Road. (If you miss it, you’ll fairly quickly arrive at where the road ends in a T-intersection with WA-131/NF-25 where you were before the climb. Head back a short way and look again for Cline Road.)
Cline Road and Bennett Road will keep you off US-12 until about 12km before Packwood. No control this time, but a stop for supplies before the climb up White Pass is a good idea. White Pass is a thousand meters above Packwood, so settle in for a long climb. We had a glorious starry night for our climb, with the occasional meteor for inspiration. Three of four of the big bumps done. A nice, possibly cold, descent (about 450 meters worth) takes you to Rimrock Lake. Look for the Silver Beach resort on the right for an SIR staffed control with food and beds.
After the break, the route continues east (and down) towards the junction with WA-410. Unless you’re desperate to visit Yakima, follow the route west (uphill and into the wind) towards Chinook Pass. The next 75km will take you up about 1150 meters. That’s only about 1.5% on average. Sounds easy. Partway up you’ll see evidence of the Nile Valley landslide that closed the highway five years ago. Not that you’ll really need a reminder of the power of gravity.
33 kilometers up is the Whistlin’ Jack resort on the left. (The info control is a sign on the right side of the road opposite the resort). Whistlin’ Jack’s has a convenience store as well as a restaurant with great breakfast offerings. For us, the breakfast break was wonderful; totally worth the time spent fortifying ourselves for the next 43km up to the summit. (If you run short of water on the way up, the Lodgepole Campground on the right about 12km from the summit has a water pump – right side of campground opposite campsite 23. The water is cold and likely good for the iron-deficient.)
Chinook Pass represents the highest elevation of the ride. Enjoy the triumph; we did. Ain’t over yet, though. Still another 100km to the finish. As always, be careful on the downhill. The steep section down to Cayuse Pass has some tight turns and tourist traffic. About 40km after Chinook, you’ll reach Greenwater. Given the likely headwind, the milkshakes at the deli on the left may provide the needed power for the last stretch home. We opted for beer and food at the Naches Tavern on the right. 21km after Greenwater, watch for the left turn to Mud Mountain Dam. Take the Mud Mountain Road all the way to 410 (west of Enumclaw) to find the last information control near the Boise Creek grocery store.
Just under 20km from the finish, the ride has a little sting left in its tail. “Enjoy” the climb up from the Green River valley on 218th Avenue. The finish is close!
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Filed under Pre Rides
Here are some possible dates for the 2015 calendar.
Training rides
Jan-Feb – WTS
03/07 100k
ACP brevets (PBP qualifiers)
03/14 200k
03/28 300k
04/04 makeup 300k
04/05 makeup 200k
Fleche
04/10-12 Fleche NW
NW Crank / Brevet Week (PBP qualifiers)
04/18-26 Brevet Week
04/18 NWC-BW ACP600k
04/21 NWC-BW ACP300k
04/22 NWC-BW ACP400k
04/26 NWC-BW ACP200k
04/23-26 NW Crank
ACP brevets (PBP qualifiers)
05/02 400k
05/30 600k (changed from 5/23 to avoid Memorial Day weekend)
Additional PBP qualifiers
06/13 Second chance 400k/600k
06/27 Last chance 400k/600k
PBP training rides
07/16 Night start 400k and 1000k (with other options, likely permanents, for 18th and 19th)
08/01 300k
08/02 200k
Fall rides
09/11 1000k
09/19 200k
09/26 100k
Crater Lake 1000k
by Jeff Loomis,
photos by Noel Howes & Shan Perera.
Andy, Jeff, Noel and Eric Peterson at Crater Lake (by Noel Howes)
Thursday before the ride
I took the day off to sleep late, get my bike ready, pack and nap before the 10:30 PM start. In the morning I got my bike all tuned up and was ready to declare it “perfect” when I decided to loosen my pedals to make sure they weren’t stuck. I knew I would need to remove them with a small wrench for the trip home from the finish. Pedals were fine but I noticed what looked like a crack in the left crank. Closer inspection revealed it was cracking from both sides. I didn’t feel safe riding this for 3 days and nights. Uh-oh, panic time! I called my buddy Andy who is a great mechanic with a large parts stash. We were planning to do the ride together along with Noel and Shan, some other riding buddies.
Me: I can’t do the ride, I just found my crank is cracked
Andy (paraphrasing): You idiot, just take the left crank off another bike
Me: duh, OK, I’ll call you back
The left crank on a neglected bike looked like it would fit so I made the swap. Everything looked fine initially until I noticed the cranks wouldn’t line up with each other. It turns out my TA Carmina crank (the cracked one) has the square taper such that the sides of the square are parallel to the crank arm. Every other square taper crank I have encountered, including the Sugino I was trying to substitute, has the taper at a 45 degree angle. I call Andy again:
Me: I can’t do the ride (explain the problem)
Andy: Your commute bike has 46-30 chainrings right? (the same as the rando bike I am trying to fix.)
Me: Uh, yeah (mumble, mumble some misgivings…)
Andy: throw both bikes on the car and get over here
With the help of Andy’s fully equipped shop we swap the cranks and bottom bracket from my commute bike to my Boxer randonneuring bike in record time, adjust the front derailleur for a slightly different chainline, and the ride is saved! We also notice my right crank is starting to crack as well. Whew, that was a bullet dodged. I’m not impressed with the design of the cranks because it seems to focus the stress in a way that will cause these cracks. The original chainrings are still in good shape but the cranks are toast.
After a panicked pack due to all the wasted time my wife gives me a ride to the ferry dock along with the drop bags for the guys (they are riding to the ferry.) Waiting for the ferry we run into most of the other riders, including Hahn, a super strong rider who decided to do the ride at the last minute. The rest of us have booked train tickets for Monday or Tuesday after the ride finish on Sunday afternoon/evening. Hahn is so confident he booked a Sunday morning train ticket. He isn’t using a drop bag, planning to ride the entire way with only the contents of his handlebar bag. He even forgot his water bottles but fortunately finds some water that fits from the ferry cafeteria.
First leg
We roll out at 10:30 and after a fast start south out of Bremerton the pack quickly divides into the racers and the plodders. We decide early on to let the fast group go. It’s a long way to Klamath Falls. I run over some debris on the shoulder of route 3 and notice a rubbing sound. I ignore it for a while but Andy is sensitive to any noise from a bike. “Are you going to stop and fix that rubbing?” I decide to stop and Andy stops too. We discover a thick, stiff wire wedged between my rear tire and fender. Andy can barely turn the wheel with it in there. Yikes another disaster averted. We are now all alone at the back. A strong effort lets us rejoin the slower group but we notice that Shan is gone, having hung on with the fast group. We joke that he will pay for that effort later…
Noel, Jeff & Andy on the long Astoria bridge crossing (by Shan Perera)
It starts to drizzle as we ride familiar roads through the night, passing Belfair, riding along the Hood Canal then past the prison to the first control in Matlock. We find tireless ride volunteer Vinny sleeping in the van with the drop bags, but he has left us some water and coke. It’s nice to ride these roads with minimal traffic in the quiet of the nighttime rain. The weather is warm enough I don’t bother with a rain jacket and it is light enough I don’t get really wet. We are all happy for our fendered bikes and think about the faster crew who mostly removed them to save weight. Somewhere around here we find Shan who has been shelled by the fast group and is now beat. Leaving the control we notice Eric, a rider from Chicago, has left the wrong way going back the way we came. He doesn’t hear our yelling and we hope he figures it out before putting in too many bonus miles.
After Montesano we head south towards Raymond. Empty log trucks are passing on the way to their morning pickups. They mostly give us plenty of room but one driver lays on his air horn right behind us and passes uncomfortably closely with the horn blaring the entire way. The road is completely empty so I guess he just hates bikes and doesn’t mind possibly killing someone. Entering Raymond around 7 AM we debate stopping at McDonalds or the Kosy Kitchen Café for breakfast. I vote McD’s for speed but Andy hates it. He is outvoted and we make an uncomfortably slow McDonald’s stop. The tiny early morning staff prioritizes the drive through customers. Conclusion: always listen to Andy. Somehow we never learn.
Jeff, Shan and Andy in McD’s (by Noel Howes)
The route continues south to Astoria where we make a scary bridge crossing and look for lunch. Andy knows a great “hippie café” downtown but decides it will be too slow. We settle for a bad burrito. Our first sleep stop destination is Pacific City. The route is hilly but nothing too crazy. Sometime in the afternoon Noel jumps ahead. We regroup in Cannon Beach and make a quick ice cream stop. Unfortunately Andy and I end up dropping Shan and Noel pretty quickly on one of the many climbs along the coast.
We decide to look for dinner in Tillamook so we can just go right to sleep in Pacific City. We crave Teriyaki but don’t find anything so end up settling for the Chinese steam table in the Safeway. We look for Noel and Shan but they end up passing us while we eat. We arrive around 8:30 to see them headed to the Mexican place by the motel where the organizer has booked some shared rooms. Vinny is sleepy and confused about the room assignments but we eventually agree to get up at midnight and sack out for 3 hours. 400km done.
Second leg
Day 2 begins (by Shan Perera)
We roll around 12:45AM after some snacking with a plan to stop in Newport for a real breakfast. There is a detour to an info control up Slab Creek Road where the coastal bike route skirts some dangerous bridges on 101. Near the top of the steep climb Noel’s GPS says the info control is here but we don’t see the described sign anywhere. The mile marker matches the cue sheet also. We hunt around for a while but eventually give up, figuring we will get the answer from another rider. The other side of the canyon is a screaming descent down dark, twisty roads. Shortly afterward we hit Lincoln City and get some rando gas station food. I make the unwise choice to eat a microwaved Jimmy Dean egg and sausage bagel that burns my mouth.
The sun is coming up and the views are beautiful as we make our way to Newport. Night riding is a good antidote to crazy 101 RV traffic. Unfortunately our route takes us though a trendy district where everything is closed. We see a bakery and beg though the glass but it doesn’t open until 7 and we are ignored. Andy asks a local if there is a breakfast place in town that is open and it is a mile back on the main road. We decide to press on to Waldport where we find an espresso stand with muffins and scones.
Traffic is picking up and we notice an incredible number of huge wheeled pickup trucks, often pulling boats or travel trailers. Most people are willing to give us room when there is no traffic but we often get squeezed when there is oncoming traffic. The giant motorhomes are the scariest. We saw one tour bus sized motorhome pulling a pickup truck with an ATV in the back. The traffic and noise are balanced by beautiful views. Rolling climbs are pretty constant. On one we are passed by a couple on bikes carrying small packs. Andy chats with them to find they are doing a credit card tour of the coast. He feels the need to leapfrog them on the next several climbs and I hang on too so we are feeling pretty strong. Noel is just a little way back but Shan is out of sight.
There are a couple of pretty scary tunnels on this stretch. It is a designated bike route but the shoulders are often narrow or nonexistent. After the final tunnel I stop at a view point and put on sunscreen. When I put my glove back on I get stung by an ant that was inside! Andy finds my reaction hilarious: “you were screaming like a little girl.”
Florence is a wasteland of strip malls and traffic. We decide to press on to Reedsport to eat lunch right before the major climb of the day. Now we are in full-on pickup truck pulling sand buggy territory. 101 is getting tiresome and I am fighting sleep from time to time. It is unusual for me to get sleepy during the day on these rides but maybe the night start is taking a toll.
In Reedsport we go to a great local restaurant for sandwiches and milkshakes. The staff is super friendly and quick. Shan texts that he is at the McD’s. I reply that we are heading out: get over here. We don’t see him as we leave.
The next section thankfully takes us off the main road. We follow the Umpqua river which goes all the way to our next sleep stop in Roseburg. That would be a nice flat ride, but we are not going that way. Instead we turn uphill on Loon Lake road. This is an amazing, fun climb along a beautiful stream. Before reaching Loon Lake, we head onto an even smaller road: Camp Creek Road. We know we have to climb around 2000 feet but the road is very gentle. Ominous.
We are startled by a pickup truck that pulls up with a redneck straight out of central casting at the wheel. He has a beer between his knees, is chewing tobacco, wearing a trucker cap and overalls with no shirt and has a stereotypical hillbilly accent. He is curious where all the bikes are going. We tell him about our ride and he enthusiastically wishes us a good ride. He and his buddies are fishing and bear hunting. They have to keep moving camp because “the rangers keep hassling us.” Currently he is on a beer run. We wish him the best and head onward.
After several miles of gentle climbing we reach the elevation gain. The road just heads up with one steep switchback after another. We see only one or two vehicles in a two hour period. The road has shifted in a couple places such that only a higher clearance vehicle could pass. This is a climb I would love if starting on fresh legs but today I am just looking to survive. I have to stand in my 30×32 granny gear on several occasions. Andy is waiting as I reach the top and Noel arrives a couple minutes later. The descent is crazy steep on fresh chipseal and loose gravel. Andy is gone on his 42mm 650B tires. I am a bit more cautious and Noel brings up the rear, stopping a couple times to cool his rims.
Once we reach the bottom we paceline it into Roseburg as the sun sets, anxious for sleep. Entering town we decide to stop at Sizzler just as they are closing. Noel has a slow leak so he fixes it in the Sizzler lobby while we finish dinner. I have not been to a Sizzler in decades, if ever, but it is rando heaven. The salad bar includes pasta, meatballs, dozens of salad fixings and a dessert bar. We load up, knowing we will sleep soon.
Making our way to the sleep stop at the Travelodge we follow a cue that says “meander through park.” Huh. Good thing Noel has the route in his GPS or we would be screwed. Mark the organizer is waiting for us and has saved a room with 3 beds. Mark also reveals that Hahn is sleeping, having underestimated the course a bit. We leave the bed by the door for Shan who is the last one left out on the road. Deciding we have plenty of time on the final day we allow ourselves 3 ½ hours of sleep, setting alarms for 2:30AM. 730km done.
Final Leg
Andy and Jeff (by Noel Howes)
Today is the shortest day but we have to climb around 7000′ to the peak of the Crater Lake rim road. There are a few downhills on the way as well to make a total of about 10000′ of climbing for the day.
We awake to find Shan has arrived during the night but only slept for one hour. He was at least an hour back at the top of the climb and then made a wrong turn coming into town. His GPS battery was dead and he had a miserable time but finally found the Travelodge after two hours of riding in circles.
Breakfast at Denny’s fortifies us for the day and we are on the road by 3:30 or so. There are few turns between here and Crater Lake and we take off enthusiastically. Unfortunately the lack of rest is catching up with Shan and he drops off the back on every climb. Eventually the three of us left decide we are going to ride and hope he catches up. He does find us when we stop for a snack at the Dry Creek store control but then he immediately decides to nap so we press on.
The scenery today is awesome and the roads mostly have decent shoulder to give us room when the RVs speed past. I fix my only flat of the ride this morning. We climb steadily and are making good pace when we find Mark waiting for us with cokes and snacks in the late morning. I tell Mark I could kiss him when I see the cokes. He isn’t enthusiastic about this idea.
We stop at the Diamond Lake resort for lunch. Andy says, “This is a resort, but for working people.” Noel thinks it is straight out of the ’50s “like everything in Oregon.” It’s a pretty cool spot that I would like to visit when I have more time to spend. I have a rueben, fries, and a milkshake. Hopefully that will power me to the top. As we leave the resort we pass the biggest campground I have ever seen along the shore of Diamond Lake.
Once we enter Crater Lake park we lose the shoulder but not the RVs. Fortunately it is getting later in the day so there aren’t too many vehicles entering. The speed limit is theoretically 40 but some cars still seem to be in an awful hurry given that it is a park road. Some of the climbs are getting steeper but I am still enjoying the day. Noel passes us when I stop for a restroom break and I fall behind Andy on one of the climbs. Eventually I reach the rim road and stop to enjoy the views of the lake. There is still some significant climbing to the highest point, and then a fast descent to the lodge and the penultimate control.
At the lodge we regroup and meet up with Eric and his family who had arranged to meet him there. We get a photo overlooking the lake. There has been a reroute on the final section to get us off US-97 into Klamath Falls and there are two riders from Vancouver who can’t read the cue sheet in English. The reroute isn’t on the GPS route so we tell them to follow us. We all head out and enjoy the winding descent from the lodge followed by a long, fast, straight downhill for many miles.
We enjoy a tailwind on some rural roads and make fast time to US-97 for the final stretch into Klamath falls. It has high traffic and narrow/no shoulders in spots so I am designated to lead the train to the turn onto the dirt road reroute. I memorize the turn info and as we take off a cloud of bugs appears. They are so dense they are pelting me like raindrops in a thunderstorm. I try to speed up to get out of the cloud but that makes it worse and I keep dropping the others. They are getting in my mouth, jersey, helmet, glasses, everywhere and I am very agitated. This is actually the worst part of the entire ride for me. Later Noel tells me he just slowed down to keep pace with the wind and barely noticed the bugs. Finally I reach the turnoff and we head away from the marshy lake with the bug clouds.
Everyone is thinking we have an easy 12 miles to the finish now but there is one more surprise in store. We know about the 6 miles of dirt but it turns into a steep climb and it is now dark. One of the Canadian riders loses traction on his skinny racing tires and goes down. He is OK but very tired. He also has no rear light, his battery having run down. We try to keep him in the middle and flag down a car, asking how far to the end of the dirt. The driver tells us only 500 feet of dirt and then “just one steep climb” before coming down in an old fort. Well, cyclists know that when a driver tells you that a climb is steep, you better believe it is STEEP.
It turns out we have what amounts to a mini mountain pass between us and Klamath Falls. Fifteen or twenty minutes of hard climbing get us to the top, where we start an incredibly steep, twisty downhill. It is now completely dark and I drop my chain for the only time on this ride. Everyone else is gone as I struggle with my inexplicably hard to remount chain, covering my hand with grease. Finally I get back on the road and everyone is waiting for me at the bottom of the hill.
Ten minutes of easy riding later and Mark is greeting us at the finish motel. The best cold pizza and local beer awaits us. Mark even has a gojo wipe for my greasy hand. He’s the best. 1000km done in 71:26. Shan rolls in just after midnight, having skipped the optional dirt road reroute.
Many of the riders booked Monday morning train tickets or got rides from family. We opted to sleep late, rest, and eat several meals on Monday before heading out on the Tuesday morning train. Tales were told over beers as randonesia kicked in and we were already planning the next ride.
Andy had everything organized for us to have our bikes ready to go in the Amtrak boxes the second the train station opened. He was first in line to get the boxes and we got all the bikes packed up just in time. Then it was a relaxing twelve hour trip back to Seattle.
Andy and Jeff packing bikes for the trip back to Seattle (by Shan Perera)
Ride details here:
http://www.seattlerandonneur.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=483:crater-lake-1000k-acp-&catid=51:2014-brevets
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