Rest In Peace

Sheldon Brown 1944-2008

STP 2007

I rode my third STP on Saturday and it went just fine. I set a goal of finishing in 12 hours and I beat that goal by 1 minute. The day started off a little rough by seeing two bad crashes. I didn't actually see either of them happen, but came upon them immediately after. One was on the way to the start line and I'm sure the woman had a broken collar bone. The other was a bad one about 1/4 mile after the start on the Montlake Bridge. It reminded me to keep my distance from other riders in an event like this, which is difficult to do when riding with 9,000 other people. There are a lot of very poor handling skills out there and the first 30-40 miles can be pretty hectic until things spread out.

I was focused on not stopping unless I needed water (I was carrying most of my food with me). Because of the heat/humidity, I ended up stopping more often than I wanted. But I kept the stops short and in most cases, didn't even get off of my bike. I just rode right up to the water station, filled up and went on my way. I rode in some nice pace lines for the first 75ish miles, but I realized that they were either a little too fast for me, or the pace was inconsistent. So after that, I was content to let them go and I rode the last 130 miles mostly by myself.

I ate and drank consistently and had no nutrition/hydration issues. No corndogs this time. Mostly Clif Nectar bars and PB&J. Also fresh fruit if they had it at the stops and I could grab it to go. I drank mostly water and took a few Hammer electrolyte tablets as the day heated up.

About 100 miles into the day, I decided that the gear I chose might have been a little too large. It was perfect for 95% of the course, but it made that other 5% a little tough. There are some rollers in the last 100 miles that are nothing serious, but my thighs were screaming at any incline. I was moving kind of slowly from mile 120 to mile 160, but then I began to feel better and picked it up the last 45 miles. Luckily, we had decent wind and it kept me moving along the flats pretty well. I only saw one other rider on a fixed gear and that was at the beginning of the day. I heard of 2 brothers who were riding 70's Schwinn fixie conversions though.

It was interesting to see what short rest stops can do for your ride time. I got passed by the same 25 mph pace line probably 5 times throughout the day and had about the same finishing time as them. They were a well organized group that would blow past me on the road, and I would in turn blow past them at the rest stops. I think that I spend more time at a single rando control than I spent off my bike on this whole ride.

Since my last (slow) fixed STP in 2005, I've wanted to try to do it fast. So I tried it and feel good enough about it. I don't think that I'll do this event again though. Way too many people out there and a little too well supported and organized for my liking. I think I'm starting to sound like Kent Peterson.

Stats:
total miles: 204
total ride time: 11:59
total average spd: 17.02 mph
on bike ride time: 11:31
on bike average spd: 17.7 mph
century time: 5:35
double century time: 11:41

bike: Kogswell Model G58
gearing: 42 x 14 = 80.4 gear inches

OR Randonneurs 400k - May 19, 2007

A short ride report

Randonneur #1 and randonneur #2 are 251.5k into a 400K and are standing outside of a convenience store control. Randonneur #1 has just eaten a chicken strip and chased it with an apple strudel. Because of this, he has an unsettled stomach and is belching rhythmically in an attempt to settle it. Feeling the need to explain himself, randonneur #1 says to randonneur #2, "At this point in a ride of this length, a person's etiquette kind of goes out the window. You don't really care who you burp, fart or adjust yourself in front of."

Randonneur #2 replies, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Randonneur #1 then says, "For instance, you were picking your nose the whole time I was explaining that to you."


fin

Organizer's Ride Report - Snoozeville Populaire

Thirty six brave souls tested their luck against the weather forecast on March 10th, 2007 as they started the first official event on the 2007 Oregon Randonneur calendar, the Snoozeville 100K populaire. This number is way up from the 15 riders that we had for the event last year. The group assembled and registered in the parking lot of the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. After some pre-ride instructions and a quick photo shoot they were off. We had a couple of tandems on course; Mike and Bonnie on one and the Youngberg's on their new purple Bike Friday tandem. Two people (Drew and Ira) were on bikes they had built themselves. I'm sorry to report that there was only 1 fixed gear on course, piloted by Steve White. C'mon people, last year we saw 20% of the Snoozeville field riding fixed. Let's try to get that fixed gear rider percentage up!

Riders were treated to a staffed Snoozeville control at 19.8 miles and then another staffed control at Maggie's Buns at mile 47.3. At Maggie's, some of the faster riders got their cards signed and moved on, while some decided to take a break and have some food before tackling the last 15.5 miles to the finish. I don't have a lot of details about what went on out on the course, but everybody that finished seemed to have had a pretty good time. There was a little rain toward the end of the ride, but nothing serious. Many finishers chose to gather upstairs in Imbre Hall to refuel and rehydrate. A nice way to end a nice ride. All total (including 3 pre-riders) we had 38 of 39 people successfully complete the ride. We had one reluctant DNF. He was plagued by flats (5 on the day) and decided to call it in Forest Grove, where he caught a bus home. I talked to him yesterday evening and he told me he'd stopped by the bike shop on the way home and bought 2 new tires and tire liners and he assured me he'd be back. That's the spirit!

Thanks to all of the volunteers and to all of the riders for getting the season off to a great start. Hope to see you all for the 200K on March 31st.

Snoozeville Populaire - preride report

I did the preride yesterday for the Snoozeville Populaire that is scheduled for this coming Saturday. I met up with Rick Smith and we rolled West from the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse at high noon. Not a bad day for a bike ride as there was plenty of bright sunshine and warm temperatures. It was the first time my arms and legs had seen the sun since sometime last fall. I wish the same for all of you on Saturday. The course gets you out of town and onto quiet country roads after about 2.5 miles. Take care at the 4 way stop at mile 7.6. Rumor has it that there is a local law official who likes to give tickets to cyclists who don't come to a complete stop at that intersection. While it might be a little early in the ride to have to stop to refuel, there is a little market in North Plains that sells a mean carton of chocolate milk and stick of pepperoni. At mile 11.6 you'll take a right on Dairy Creek Rd for an out and back, with a control in between the out and the back.

This is a real nice section of the course. There is very little traffic as you wind up the road along side the river. Rick and I made it to the control at mile 19.8 in 1 hour and 20 minutes. We had a snack, signed our cards and headed back the other way.




Take care at "Frogger Junction" at mile 29.6. This is a highway crossing that you should look both ways on.

Continue on through and you'll find yourself in Banks where there are services if you need. On the far edge of town, you'll take a left on Cedar Canyon Rd. This is the first time that I've ridden this course when I didn't miss that turn. You have to take the hard left instead of just veering left. It's not a real tricky spot, but it is one that I manage to miss most every time. Make your way out of town and don't forget to keep an eye out for the info control at mile 36.9. After a short time on SR 6, you'll take a right and make your way up the featured climb of the day. Just a 0.4 mile climb up Stafford Rd. It is nothing to fear, but it will let you know how your legs are feeling. Enjoy the rolling and curving roads as you pass through the many fruit orchards and nurseries in the area. There was a pretty active and aromatic silage pile at one point on Strohnmayer Rd, but hopefully the winds will be in your favor on Saturday.



Navigate your way out of the country and back into town for the Forest Grove control at Maggie's Buns on 21st St. If you have time, grab a bite to eat and some coffee. Rick and I got to Maggie's 3 hours and 23 minutes into the ride and we sat down for 1/2 an hour and had a big pasta lunch.

From there, you only have 15.5 miles left. On Verboort Rd, you will encounter 2 roundabouts. Go through the first one and then at the second one, take a right onto Cornelius-Scheflin South at mile 51.8. After a few more turns you'll notice it starts to get a little more residential as you near the finish back at the Cornelius Pass Road House. That is where the eating begins.





Preride Stats
Riders - (2) Rick and Nate
Total Time: 4:57

Average Speed: 12.56 mph

Time on bike : 4:06
Average speed on bike: 15mph

Rando Porteur - No hands in the Cascades

Cascade 1200

June 24th-27th 2006:

Before this year's edition and my first attempt at the Cascade or any 1200K for that matter, I read all the ride reports from last year's inaugural ride to get an idea of what to expect. Some of the reports that I read sounded horrific. People showing up at the overnight controls with barely enough time to take a shower and eat some breakfast before having to move on down the road. That sounded miserable to me and there was no way I was going to do the ride like that. I would roll into the overnights at dusk and leave them at 6 in the morning after a couple of hot meals and a good night's sleep. Something went terribly wrong with my game plan and of the 89 hours and 46 minutes I was on the course, just over 5 of those hours were spent sleeping. Three of them were on the first night.

We made our way North to Monroe from Portland on Friday afternoon. Once settled into the hotel, I grabbed my bike and headed down for rider check-in and bike inspection. I got to meet Kent Peterson and he inspected my bike and gave it the green light. I decided to ride a prototype Kogswell Rando/Porteur 650B. It was a last minute decision to ride this bike, so by the time I got it built up I was only able to put about 50 miles on it before the 1200. Kind of a scary thought, but I could tell that it was a comfortable ride and would serve me well. There was a great energy at rider/bike check-in. Everybody was very excited about what we would be starting the following morning. I saw a lot of people that I knew and a lot of people that I didn't know yet.

The wake up call came and next thing I knew I was in the lobby of the hotel eating a continental breakfast. They opened it up an hour early especially for us. It was the best continental breakfast that I've ever had. The highlights were the Belgian waffles and the biscuits and gravy. After assembling in the parking lot and receiving our last minute instruction, we rolled out and headed South out of Monroe. It was a beautiful crisp morning and we all chatted it up and checked out each other's bikes. Before I knew it, the fog had lifted and we rolled into the first staffed control at 52 miles in Cumberland. I got my card signed, ate a couple of hand fulls of gumdrops and continued South.

The large starting group of 75 or so riders was beginning to string out and separate into smaller groups. I found myself riding with the usual suspects- Eric Vigoren, David Rowe, Mike Richeson, etc. On the way up the hill to Eatonville, my friend Del Scharffenberg caught up with me. He had driven the 3.5+ hours from Portland to Monroe that morning and was 16 minutes late to the 6:00am start. It took him 93 miles, but he finally caught me. While I was ordering a nice sit down sandwich lunch at the Truly Scrumptious Bakery in Eatonville, he bought some pastries and hit the road on his quest for no night riding through the entire course - a goal that he would achieve. Man, that guy is fast. There were a lot of randos eating lunch as the day was getting warmer.

Later, when we showed up at the control in Randle, it was getting downright hot. I was popping electrolyte pills and chugging water and V8. There were quite a few riders at the store and one of them was sitting outside working on a tall boy of Budweiser! I consider myself to be a beer drinker, but I can't consider beer an option with 80 miles left to go for the day. A hard man is he who sucks down 24 ounces of American lager before charging up White Pass.

The schlogg up White Pass is where I got a taste of what this ride was about. It is where I first realized that I chose the right bike for this ride. Up until about a week before, I had planned on doing the 1200 on my fixed gear. I rode our whole spring brevet series in Oregon fixed on the same gear. I'm quite certain that I would have showed up to the Cascade 1200 with that same gear and my ride would have ended somewhere in the middle of the climb up White Pass. This pass was unlike anything we rode during our series in Oregon. It was manageable on a bike with gears, but on a 75" fixed I would have been toast. There were two riders who were riding single speeds; Bob Brudvik and Will Roberts. I don't know what gear either of them were riding, but I kept them in my thoughts as I slowly ground my way up that 14 mile climb in my 34x26.

The climb was exposed and it was early enough in the day that it was still hot. It cooled off immediately at the top of the pass when we arrived at the staffed control. I ate the first of many SIR control sandwiches- made to order. Darkness fell and we rode East to the overnight control in Cowchie. I don't remember what time we finally got in, but after 220 miles and a lot of climbing, I was cooked and ready for a shower and bed. I was happy to get 3 hours of sleep before my wake up call.

The second day started well. My butt didn't hurt the way it had on day 2 of the 600K a few weeks earlier. It was already warm when we set out for an out-and-back to Ellensburg. A lot of the miles were on chip sealed roads, but I was riding my cush 650B's so I didn't have a care in the world. The canyon was really scenic with the Yakima River and railroad running through it. I envied the people that I saw jumping into the river off of some high rocks. I was looking for a convenient place to access the river to cool off, but never found one.

We stopped at McDonalds in Selah for the open control. There were several other riders there taking refuge in the air conditioned restaurant. It had just reached 100 degrees. The Tenneseeans were there and so was Albert Kong. Albert was sitting in a booth with his tray of food in front of him and he was sound asleep. Nothing like a BigMac and a power nap to get you recharged. We stayed in the cool for as long as we could justify and then we left.

It was at this point in the ride when I figured out that I was going to have some difficulty. I am a wimp in the heat. Typically, if it is over 90F, I don't go for a bike ride. I didn't really have that choice here and it was well over 100F. I was concentrating on taking electrolyte and keeping up with taking fluids. I didn't have the snap that I normally have. I was having trouble keeping a smooth cadence. I was focusing on each stroke of the pedal and looking at my cyclometer way too often. At about this point Susan France and Peg Winczewski showed up in Susan's support Suburban and bestowed upon me the greatest gift known to man- the ice sock. They had a pack of white tube socks and a cooler full of ice. They filled a sock with ice, tied it closed and slung it around my neck. The ice cooled my neck and the rest of me as it melted out of the sock and down my neck. I was reenergized and inspired to ride. Three cheers for evaporative cooling! I don't know that the ice socks made me ride any faster, but they kept me feeling better and kept my mind off of my cyclometer. I stopped at any orchard that had a sprinkler going, any hose I saw on the side of a building, and anywhere I saw Susan and Peg waiting to fill my ice sock. I tried to keep myself soaking wet and covered in ice as much as possible. One of the ice sock refueling stations was in a cherry orchard. It looked like the harvest had just taken place, but I found a tree that didn't get picked very well and had at it. Good stuff those Eastern Washington cherries.


The heat was getting to people and was causing some DNF's at the Sunnyside control at mile 345. It is a shame to see somebody in the midst of calling it a day especially when the entire season has been spent preparing for this ride. The sun was starting to set and I headed off toward the infamous Rattlesnake Hills. Everybody had been going on and on about how brutal the Rattlesnake Hills were going to be, but I rather enjoyed those Rattlesnake Hills. It is true that they are long, and kind of deceptive looking in that it doesn't seem like you are riding up hill, but you look down and you are only going 8mph. I rode the majority of them with Kathy Murphy from Orlando, Florida. Kathy was super strong and we rode well together. Up and over the hills, we had an incredible descent down the other side. The scenery was new, the sun was setting, it was cooling off and the road was downhill and smooth for a good number of miles. I'd have to put it on my list of top 5 descents of all time. We joined a small group after a secret control and rode into the night towards Mattawa, the final control before the overnight in Quincy.

While crossing Vernita Bridge over the Columbia River, we hit a massive hatch of something. Biggest concentration of bugs that I'd ever seen and they were all hitting me in the face. It looked like a blizzard, especially in the light of our lamps. All of you fast daylight riders probably missed that experience. On our way up a really steep hill, we ran into Manfred Kuchenmuller from BC. He was using the Cascade 1200 as a warm up for the Van Isle 1200 that he was doing the following week. He had broken his chain and we were able to remove the broken link and splice it back together to get him back on the road.

I ate another made to order SIR sandwich at the Mattawa control and got some information about the last 40 miles to the overnight control in Quincy. I think the volunteers sugarcoated the description of that last section because they didn't talk about the seemingly never ending climb that would take place. It was almost 2 in the morning and the only thing that I could see were the taillights of a car that passed us going up the hill. The taillights kept going up and up until they finally disappeared over what I thought was the crest of the hill. Then they would reappear and continue to rise into the sky. I thought we would never finish that climb. I was really tired and was talking to David and Manfred to try to stay awake as we rode. After finally cresting the hill, we had a wild descent back down to the flats.

The last 15 miles to Quincy were tough for me and I ended up taking a very brief nap in a ditch while one of my riding partners took a quick biological break. I don't think I was laying down for more than a minute or two before I was woken up and told it was time to go. I felt like I had been asleep for an hour. We dodged a couple of stealth dogs as we rode into Quincy. I missed a turn and got us a little bit lost in town. When I finally figured out that we needed to turn around, I had to wait for a while to proceed because there were 5 skunks meandering around in the road. The last thing I wanted was to roll into the overnight smelling like I was on the wrong end of a family of skunks. We finally got in just after 4 in the morning and I took a quick shower. My mom lives in the area and she and my stepdad were there with their motorhome for me to sleep in. It was nice to have a bed to sleep in, I only wish that I could have spent more than an hour in it.

Before I knew it, we were on the road again for another scorcher. Most of the daylight hours of day three were spent in the exposed desert on roads that seemed to always tilt up. It was hot and I rode too hard in the morning. I think that is where my problems began. I got a good water feed from Peter Beeson and Eric Vigoren at around mile 472. They asked me how I was and I said that I was doing fine since I now had 2 full bottles and only 10 miles to go to the Farmer control where I would eat and take a rest. I don't know how it happened (I think it had something to do with climbing US-2), but I found myself out of water and actually yelling at the road that kept going up after every corner that I went around. It wouldn't stop doing that. When I finally got to the top of the hill, I was mentally and physically finished with being on my bike. I was still a couple miles out from Farmer and I had enough cell phone reception to call my wife and tell her that I couldn't go on with the ride. She was supportive and I told her that I'd call her when I figured out what I was going to do. I slowly rode into the Farmer control and layed down on the floor for a rest. Several people tried to talk to me but I wasn't having any of it. I told Mark Thomas that I wasn't good. He got me some electrolyte and told me to rest. So I did. Susan and Peg showed up and I told Susan that I was done. She said, "No, you're not." She had me rest some more and eat some food (SIR sandwich #3). She got me a different shirt to wear and she soaked it in water. She waited until I was showing signs of improvement and she loaded me up with ice and sent me down the road. I started off slow, but soon began feeling a little better. I was riding through the desert on the hottest part of the ride and I was finally feeling ok again.

Somebody snapped a picture of a bank temperature board that read 109F. I made the fast and scary descent down to the Columbia River. I'm stealing someone else's description, but that near 50mph descent was like riding into a hairdryer. No relief. I showed up at Beebe Park and there were randonneurs and randonneuses layed out all over the place. There were coolers full of cold drinks and sacks full of Subway sandwiches to eat. Susan and Peg were there helping out along with Eric Simmons from Colorado, a rider-turned-volunteer (RTV). It was a nice spot and it sounded like some of the riders had been there for hours taking refuge from the heat. Ray McFall and I were the last to leave Beebe Park and we rode the 40 miles to the Mallot control together. I like riding with Ray. He had been down for some of the Oregon Randonneur rides earlier in the year and we had ridden together then. We had a good time as the sun went down and it cooled off. We had to watch out for snakes on the road when it became dusk.

I ate SIR sandwich #4 at the Mallot control and we left for the climb up Loup Loup Pass. Thai Nguyen joined Ray and I and together we rode up into the darkness. We met Chris Ragsdale midway up the climb. He was there to lend moral support and resupply us before we continued on. I knew that we were going up, but I couldn't tell how steep it was or how long we had been going. I was starting to doze off while riding my bike, so I decided to get off and walk my bike for a change of pace and to stay awake. Then I started falling asleep while walking my bike up the hill and I told Ray and Thai that I needed a quick ditch nap, and they agreed to it. We all layed down for what I think was about 15 minutes. I was totally out, but felt good when we woke up and got moving again.

We made it up and over Loup Loup and were heading down the other side when we found David Rowe huddled up on the side of the road in a space blanket. He had gotten chilled while descending and had to stop. He fell asleep in the space blanket and had no idea how long he had been there. We managed to get him warmed up and on his bike again. I don't remember what time it was, but we knew that we were in a race against the clock to make it to the overnight control in Mazama before it closed. The 4 of us raced the next 30 miles as the sun came up and we made it to the Mazama Inn with minutes to spare before the close.

We all hit the hay for about an hour before we were back up and eating something before heading up Washington Pass for the last day of riding. I was getting ready to go and noticed that I had a flat tire- my first of the ride. Before I could even consider breaking out my repair kit, Chris Konger from Minnesota was on it. He fixed it while I packed up the rest of my gear. Chris was another RTV, and I can't say enough about what he and the other RTVs did for me and others. This was a tough ride, and without their help I would have been up shit creek.

Thai, Ray, David and myself all left Mazama at the same time. We were running short on time and we all decided early on that we would all do our own ride that day, especially riding our own pace up Washington Pass and then Rainy Pass.

I was doing a good ride and then my right knee started hurting me. It was getting worse when Peter Beeson and Eric Vigoren showed up to see how I was. I told them about the pain and that I thought I needed to make a saddle height adjustment. They drove behind me and watched me pedal for a while. I said that I thought I should raise my saddle by 1/2 cm or so. They told me they were going to suggest that I lower it by 1/2 cm or so. We decided I should leave it where it was and eat more ibuprofren. That's what I did, and within 30 minutes my knee pain had subsided and I was moving along again.

Washington Pass was beautiful. Best pass I've ever ridden my bike up. Really majestic with lots of scenic overlooks to view your progress from. I rode up and over Rainy Pass, and the descent down the North Cascades hwy through the Ross Lake National Recreation area was out of control. Another for my list of top 5 best descents of all time. Thirty miles of descending beautiful curving roads overlooking incredible mountains and lakes. I hit 50mph for the first time on the ride and on this bike- not to mention on the 2nd and 3rd wheels that I've built in my short wheel building career.

I was feeling good and rolled into the Marblemount control and had a couple of grape sodas and a nasty turkey sandwich from the gas station. Ray caught up to me at the control and we left there together with pretty good plan for how to make it to the finish on time. We were riding well together and were finally enjoying a reasonable temperature. We hooked up with Chris Hanson, a friend of Ray's from Redondo Beach. Chris is a strong rider and we made our way to the control in Granite Falls. I ate yet another BigMac and the three of us headed out for the last 21 miles of the 2006 Cascade 1200. It was dark and navigation was kind of sketchy over the last few miles. We realized that time was tight and a wrong turn could cost us finishing by the 90 hour time cutoff. Everything worked out well and we soon found ourselves descending into the lights of Monroe.

Ray, Chris and I rounded the corner of the motel to the cheers of everybody waiting for us at the finish. My friend Michael Rasmussen was there, and he saw to it that I had a beer in my hand before I even brought my bike to a complete stop. We went into the lobby and had our cards signed at the finish. With a cushy 14 minutes in the bank, we finished the ride 89 hours and 46 minutes after we started. I had a tough go of it, but it was a great time for me. We made it through without incident, except for what happened to Ray in the parking lot before rounding the corner to the finish. You'll have to ask him about that one.


Many more photos are here.