"Triple-By-Pass": one of my favorite rides and, definitely, my favorite name for a ride.
The weather forecast was
pretty good (i.e. 10-20% chance of rain and partly sunny). The plan was for Scott and Mike H to meet Les
and Mike S at the top of Cayuse Pass and be leaving on our bikes by 6:30 AM on
Sunday, July 1st. When we arrived at the
top of Cayuse; it was misting heavily, and the roads were quite wet. It didn’t take us long to decide to drive
over Chinook Pass and look for a drier place to start the ride on the eastern slope.
About 14 miles east of
Chinook Pass (on Highway 410), things had dried out considerably. We unloaded our bikes and headed out on a
clockwise route. The temperature was
cool but not cold (1/2 fingered gloves and no jackets seemed pretty
comfortable). We were riding past Whistlin’ Jack’s Resort in no time. As we descended next to the Naches River, the
landscape changed from an alpine setting to the more arid scene that is found
near Naches and Yakima. The ride from
where we started to the junction with the road that leads to White Pass was downhill
most of the way, so it was relaxed and fairly brisk. 
As soon as we made the
right-hand turn onto the road to White Pass (Highway 12), things changed. The road started going uphill almost
immediately, and it was into the wind (as it is almost every time that we do
this ride). We just chugged along in a
pace line and were at Trout Lodge (the place where we traditionally stop to
replenish food and liquid supplies on the climb to the summit of White Pass. After a brief stop for food, liquid, and bathroom;
we were off again.
The climb to Rimrock
Lake seemed to go by quickly, and the relatively flat riding by the lake was a
nice break before the steeper final climbs up to White Pass.
The temperature was cool probably high 50’s
on the final climb to White Pass which eliminated overheating and made this
final part of the climb comfortable. We
were at White Pass with a minimum of stress or effort. After restocking at the
summit of White Pass (and the all important bathroom break), we were off
descending the west side of the pass. Les,
Mike S, and Mike H took off pretty fast; but Scott took off like a
missile. He waited for us after a few
miles, and the next time he took off I (Mike H) stayed right behind him in this
little “cocoon” of a draft. It was
wonderful. We were going 40 mph – AND I
WASN’T PEDALING!! Okay, so maybe I
pedaled a few times on the rest of the descent, but not much. Thank you, Scott.
We reached the bottom of
the White Pass descent and turned right onto Highway 123 (the road to Cayuse
Pass) with Les and Mike S right behind us.
We ascended past the road to Paradise (Steven’s Canyon Road) and headed
up toward Cayuse Pass. Mike H had to
stop for a bathroom break early in the climb.
Scott and Mike S went on ahead, while Les waited. Scott and Mike S were out of sight by the
time the bathroom break was over, so Mike H and Les took off with the idea of
trying to catch up. We rode well and
were pretty strong for the entire climb, but there was no catching Scott and
Mike S. They were cruising.
We regrouped at the top of
Cayuse and headed up to the summit of Chinook Pass. The section of road from the top of Cayuse
Pass to the summit of Chinook is a “Cyclopath Classic” (i.e. you are climbing
the entire way and the scenery is breathtaking). In spite of being fatigued, we seemed to
breeze up this section.
After the Chinook summit, it was 14 miles of fast descending back to our vehicles. This was fast and fun and a little scary (scary because our fatigue compromised our judgment and reactions (at least mine). Before we knew it, the ride was over. The sun was shining, it was warm, and we’d had a memorable Triple-By-Pass.
View all the photos from this ride: https://picasaweb.google.com/103821724300588557330/2012_07_01CyclopathTripleByPass#
View Route Map (“zoom in” three or
four clicks): https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/albumMap?uname=103821724300588557330&aid=5761414795162685329#map
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