2015_09_05 Mt. St. Helens' West Side Ride to Johnston Visitor Center and Back

Author:  Mike Hassur

When you do this ride, “The West Side of Mt. St. Helens to Johnston Visitor Center and Back”; you know that you will be getting up early.  In order to get started on the bikes by 7:00 AM, our group usually meets in Tacoma (the McDonalds at the junction of I-5 and highway 512) around 5:00 AM which dictates getting out of bed around 4:00 AM.  That was the pattern that we followed again this year.

Les and Dwaine - ready to go...

Tom and Conor - all set to go...

Leon - it is difficult to get a really sharp photo of him as he is always moving!!!

Les, Dwaine, Tom, Conor, Leon, and convened at the appointed meeting place and were heading out in our little caravan toward Toutle High School (our starting point) by a little after 5:00 AM.  The drive down was uneventful.  After a quick bathroom stop at the Toutle McDonalds, we arrived at Toutle High School and were on our bikes by 7:00 AM.  This ride is about 84 miles long with a little over 7000 feet of climbing.  The roads are in great shape, and the shoulders are wide which makes for a safe as well as challenging ride.  Finally, the scenery is usually great on this ride; but not so much on this particular ride.  It was cloudy which meant nice cool temperatures for the entire ride but no scenery (not even a view of Mt. St. Helens).

Not too far into the ride we started on the first of the three main climbs of this ride.  Leon immediately took off which usually means that there is a Strava Segment lurking nearby.  Sure enough, he was waiting for us at the top of the first climb having taken over 1^st place in his new age group (65-69) – way to go, Leon.

Mike, Tom, Les, Dwaine, and Conor at the top of the day's first climb (Leon not pictured)...

Our group enjoyed the descent from the first climb.  Soon, we were headed up the second major climb of the day to Johnston Visitor Center (the end of the road).  Again, Leon was soon out of sight – another Strava Segment.  Once again, Leon is now the “King of the Hill” for that segment. As the rest of our group, made our way up this climb, Tom had a problem with his chain popping off of the rear cassette and diving down between the cassette cluster and the spokes of the rear wheel.  I stopped to help Tom.  By the time we got things fixed and adjusted, the rest of our group was out of sight.  Tom and I sort of “visited our way to the top” which was easy and enjoyable.  When we got to the top, Les said that they had seen a herd of elk on their way up.  Drat, I would have loved to have seen that!!

At the Johnston Visitor; we ate and drank, refilled water bottles, and hit the restrooms.  Soon, we were headed back down the way we had come – AND IT WAS COLD (mid-forties).  Most of us had not anticipated that it would be this cold and had not brought warm enough clothing.  The first few minutes of the ride down were uncomfortable.  In fact at one point, Les turned around and rode back uphill a ways, just to warm up some.  Fortunately, it didn’t take long to descend far enough to find warmer temperatures.  We gradually made our way up the final climb, and were then left with about 25 miles of mostly downhill to get back to our vehicles.  Needless to say, this last part went by very quickly.

Today's ride was of particular interest, because we were planning to do a race in British Columbia the following week which had slightly less mileage and climbing than this ride.  Hopefully, this ride might serve as somewhat of an indicator for how things would go in the following week’s race.  Things seemed to go pretty well for everyone, though I some fitness issues.  A problem with my neck and some right arm numbness and tingling when riding had limited my riding over the preceding couple of weeks.  Some changes in my seat and handlebar height seemed to be helping a bit, but I just wasn’t confident that I had enough fitness to make a decent showing in the following week’s race – more on that in our next blog post.

We made it back to the vehicles just in time to avoid the first rain shower of the morning – whew!!  The long drive down to Toutle is a pain, but this is a great ride.  It should be a fixture on our ride schedule for most years to come.

Next ride “Windy Ridge on Mt. St. Helens” – September 26^th.  Can’t wait!!

2015_08_22 Cycling Up Pikes Peak

Author:  Leon Matz

For the last 7 years, John Summerson’s list of the U.S.’s 100 most difficult climbs has been my major goal in cycling. In the original list, Pikes Peak was not ranked because it had a significant segment unpaved and the route was not open to cyclists.  3 years ago the climb became fully paved, and last year it was opened to cyclists.  In John Summerson’s newest addition, Pikes Peak was moved up to the 2^nd most difficult climb in the U.S. I felt that it was only right that I complete that climb now.  Since I have a daughter living in Colorado Springs, it was a wonderful way to spend time with her and do the climb.

One of my major concern’s in doing this climb was trying to get adjusted to altitude.  Since the trip was a weekend trip, that was going to be a big challenge. Thursday afternoon I flew out of sea level Sea-Tac and headed to Denver and then Colorado Springs. Friday morning my daughter Heather and I drove to Breckenridge to watch the USA Pro Challenge TT for men and women. It was great fun watching the pro’s race over the short course. Breckenridge is a beautiful little town that was overrun by cyclists on this day.

Saturday morning Frankie (Heather’s boyfriend) and I went on a short ride through The Garden of the God’s.  It is an incredibly beautiful place with red rock’s and cliffs jetting out of the landscape.  It is a must see if you make it to Colorado Springs.

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods

Saturday night I didn’t sleep very well as I kept worrying about the challenge ahead. After having only two days to get used to the 6,000 feet above sea level of Colorado Springs, I was worried about trying to make it to the 14,100 ft. summit of Pikes Peak.

Frankie and I were in the car and off to the beginning of the climb by 7:00. We arrived at the parking lot and were on our bikes slightly before 7:30.  We started out at 7,000 ft. and were going to hopefully end at 14,100 the summit of Pikes Peak.  Almost immediately the pitch of the climb hit double digits.  My legs were pretty fresh and the cool 50 degree temperatures made the first few miles feel not too bad. When we entered the park and paid our $12 to climb PP, the ranger cautioned us that the wind was blowing 25 mph at the summit and that the current temperature was 33 degrees. Yikes!

Heading up Pikes Peak...

As we were climbing, racing cars came rolling down the climb. They must have had an early morning rally for the cars. It was fun watching them come down. It distracted us from the pain of the climb.  The riding went fairly well until we hit 11,000 ft. At that point, the wind started to blowing in our face.  Soon, I found myself in my 36x34 gear with my head down and pedaling as hard as I could. The talking stopped and our strongest effort possible started. I had to move my riding line in a foot or so inside the white line to avoid being blown off the road. I prayed that the cars following me up the climb would watch out for me because I had my head down just trying to minimize the effects of the wind and was not able to watch out for them.  I didn’t feel very safe doing this, but didn’t feel I had a choice. The wind was horrible in deterring our progress. My arms started to ache as I had to hold firmly on the handlebar to keep the wind from jerking me out of my intended line. I had brought my phone and had intended to take some pictures but that was no longer an option.  The next 3,000 ft. went by slowly as the pitch of the road ranged from 12-16%. With the addition of the wind I wish I had brought my racing bike with my 36 cassette. I also wished that I had arrived in Colorado a few days earlier to give my body more time to adjust to the altitude. Breathing was not easy.

Frankie and Leon at top of Pikes Peak...

After 3 hours and 2 minutes of suffering, I arrived at the top exhausted and relieved. I was hunched over my handlebar desperately trying to get my breathing under control. After about 5 min Frankie arrived. We found someone to take our picture and then retreated into the restaurant at the top. We were both shaky and unstable from the extreme effort and the altitude. After grabbing some food and drink, I checked my HR and was shocked to see it still at 118.  

After about 15 min. of re-cooperating, we headed back down climb. The first part was rather cold, but it went by quickly. Frankie was pretty aggressive on the downhill, and we passed numerous cars and even some motorcycles. In 45 minutes, we were down and climbing back into the car.

Summerson has the climb listed as #2 behind Mt. Washington. With the wind we encountered today, I would make Pikes Peak thee # 1 climb in the US. It was 3 hours of very hard work!

2015-08-16 Hurricane Ridge Ride... With Short Notice

Author:  Mike Hassur

The road to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center in Olympic National Park takes you 17 miles south of and 5,000 feet above Port Angeles, WA.  It is listed as one of the 100 Toughest Cycling Climbs in America.

Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center...

About mid-week of last week, I received an email from Les Becker asking if I would be interested in doing a ride up Hurricane Ridge on Sunday.  I had been planning to do Hurricane Ridge all summer.  I was hoping to do it in September as I wanted to be in really good shape (the goal being to have the best time in my age group on the Strava Segment which encompassed the entire climb).  Having the opportunity to do it with someone else – particularly someone like Les who rode about the same speed as me – was too good to pass up.  I said “sure – I’m in”.

By the time Sunday arrived, Conor Collins had also committed to do the ride with us.  On Sunday morning I met Conor in front of my house, loaded his bike in my van, and we were headed to our meeting point with Les by 5:00 AM.  We were to meet Les at a “Park and Ride” near the Narrows Bridge at around 5:30 AM.  We were a little early, and – by 5:30 – Les was pulling into the parking lot.  We were delighted to see that Dwaine Trummert was with Les.  All of a sudden the little duo of Les and me had doubled in size – this was sizing up to be a fun ride!!

The weather was perfect (cloudless sky and temperature in the 50’s), and the drive to Port Angeles was uneventful.  We parked at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles, hit the bathroom, got our gear ready, and were heading up the 17.6 mile climb by 7:45 PM.  We had decided that our goal was to ride together “briskly” and to maintain that as long as it was acceptable to everyone in the group.  If someone wanted to “take off”, that was fine.  By the time we arrived at the Ranger Station (a little over 4 miles into the climb), we were warmed up and feeling good.  There was a line of cars waiting to enter the park which had the potential to cost us considerable time.  Luckily, a second Park Ranger appeared.  He checked my National Park Pass and waved us all through.  We had lost a full minute regarding our Strava Segment time, but it could have been far worse.

Because of our early start, there was very little traffic.  The temperature was still around 60 degrees, and we climbed steadily at a good pace.  Conor could have easily left us at any point of this ride, but he chose to stay with the group for most of the ride (also, he chose to goad me about the seconds that I was losing by not riding as fast as he thought I should – I’m going to miss Conor when he leaves for college next month).

At about the 12 mile mark, I noticed that I was beginning to have beads of perspiration running down my face.  It had warmed up some, but it was not hot (probably in the low 60’s).  I had chosen to wear a Cyclopath cycling cap under my helmet (really helps to cut the glare on sunny days) and that was probably contributing to my head “heating up”; but the MAIN reason for those beads of sweat was exertion.  At about this same time, I started to have trouble keeping pace with the rest of the group – NOT GOOD.  I whipped out my Clif Mocha Gel Shot, sucked it down, and drank some Power Aid.  Soon, I was feeling better and able to maintain the group pace pretty easily. 

While I my “mini-crisis” was occurring, the rest of the group looked good and seemed to be moving up the mountain easily.  This is a beautiful climb with stunning views of Vancouver Island, the Straights of Juan De Fuca, Port Angeles, and the Olympic Mountains.  Unfortunately, we were so focused on the work at hand that we missed all of the grandeur (at least I did) until we reached the top.

Between 14 and 15 miles into the climb, Conor decided to pick up the pace a bit.  He took off and was not seen again until we reached the top.  Dwaine was riding very strongly; and, soon, he was off on his own as well.  Les and I continued at our respective paces and made it to the top feeling good about our efforts.  Conor did the climb in 1:42 (1 hour 42 minutes), Dwaine was 1:48, and Les and I were around 1:50 (not accounting for the minute that we lost at the Ranger Station).  If Les and Dwaine had ridden on their own the whole way, I’m confident that Conor would have been in the 1:20’s and Dwaine in the 1:30’s.

View from Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center...

The view at the top was spectacular – as usual.  We took a photo or two, refilled water bottles, ate, and visited with other cyclists who trickled in after us. 

Visiting with Lhaslo (?spelling?) who arrived shortly after us... he took the ferry over from Victoria to do the climb...

The ride down was fun though we got stuck behind an SUV right at the top and had to follow him for about the first 10 miles of the descent.  It was obvious that we could go faster than the motorist; but we didn’t want to do anything foolish/dangerous by passing him out of frustration, and he refused to pull over despite passing one “turn-out” after another.  Finally, he pulled off; and we shot down the remaining 7 miles or so of the descent – ONCE AGAIN MISSING MOST OF THE FABULOUS SCENERY!!

By the time we arrived back at our vans, we were all enthused about what a wonderful experience this had been.  After visiting a bit about the ride and changing clothes, we packed up the vans and headed home.

Next Ride:  Windy Ridge on Mt. St. Helens (this coming Saturday).  Can’t wait!!!

2015_08_08 Quadruple Peaks/Passes Ride

Author:  Mike Hassur

Our goal was to start this ride at 5:50 AM.  Leon, Conor, and I arrived at the Crystal Mountain turn off from Hwy 410 at about 5:45 AM to find John, Les, Brent, and Scott W. already there.  Our group of seven was smaller than for some of our rides; but they were all strong riders, so staying together for most of the ride would be relatively easy.  Our plan was to ride up to do the Cayuse Pass and Chinook Pass part of the ride first so as to avoid the heavier traffic volume that would come later in the morning.  We would then ride back down to the turn off to Sunrise and do the Sunrise climb.  After that, we would head back to the cars, restock, and head up to the Crystal Mountain Ski Area for the final climb of the day.

6:05 AM and ready to head out...

By 6:05 AM we had our tires pumped up, the Garmins turned on, the sunscreen applied, food in our back pockets, and water bottle solutions mixed.  It was a little chilly, so most of us had on long sleeved t-shirts or arm warmers on in addition to our jerseys.  We headed out and visited/cruised our way up Cayuse Pass and on up to Chinook Pass.  We encountered very little traffic, and Leon said later that he felt we were riding faster than usual (which was probably the case considering the strong riders that comprised our group of seven).

Top of Chinook Pass...

Conor Collins on foot bridge at top of Chinook Pass...

At the top of Chinook Pass, we stopped for a couple of minutes, enjoyed the scenery (I love the top of Chinook), ate, and drank.  Soon, we were headed back down toward Cayuse Pass.  It became evident on this descent that the long sleeves, arm warmers, and/or vests had been a good idea.  We were on the chilly side on the way down to Cayuse and on down to the Sunrise turn off; but, with just a jersey on, it would have been miserable. 

Soon, we were passing the gate that marked the beginning of the 10 mile climb to the Sunrise Visitor Center.  Conor and Brent had been riding ahead of the rest of our group and were out of sight as we started the climb.  I was riding pretty briskly in hopes of catching a glimpse of them before they got too far up the road.  John Winter was riding with me during this early part of the climb.  Before long, I heard Connor Collins’ voice – coming up behind me!!  He and Brent had stopped at the base of the climb to take a leak in the trees.  Okay, so now I’ve been working hard to this point, John has stayed with me in a seemingly effortless manner, and Connor has caught up with me – and he’s not even breathing hard – it was evident that this was not going to end well for me (i.e. I was not going to be able to stay with those two all the way to the top).  After a quick calculation, my goal was to stick with them up to the second hairpin turn.  Because of low oxygen levels (it was all going to my legs), my brain wasn’t functioning very well; so I’m not exactly sure where I lost contact with those two, but I’m pretty sure it was before the second hairpin.

Not long after the second hairpin, I heard Brent Moody’s voice behind me.  Brent rode with me for a bit.  It was evident that he was feeling good, so I encouraged him to catch up with John who was still in sight ahead of us.  Brent took off and was riding with John by the third of this climb’s four hairpin turns.  I was still feeling good at this point – I just couldn’t go as fast as Conor, John, and Brent (not a big deal as this was more of an issue of them riding really well rather than me not riding well).  When I’m doing these long, tough climbs, I will often find myself counting pedal strokes to sort of help me maintain my pedaling rhythm as I begin to feel fatigued.  I was doing this between the second and fourth hairpin turns on this climb and counted 2400 pedal strokes (revolutions).  I lost count a couple of times, so I may have been off by a couple hundred; but accuracy was not my goal, and the counting really helped to maintain my cadence.  When I finally got to the Sunrise Visitor Center parking lot; John, Conor, and Brent were gathered together with John pointing at Mt. Rainier and talking to Conor.  I suspect that they were discussing the hike that John and Conor are planning to do to Camp Sherman on Mt. Rainier within the next week or two.

John pointing out Camp Sherman area of Mt. Rainier to Conor and Brent...

Sunrise Visitor Center and Mt. Rainier in background...

Once the rest of our group had joined us; we headed down the fun, fast, and twisting descent as a group.  I stayed at the back of the group taking video and really enjoyed watching the rest of our group sweeping down the mountain road.

Re-supplying at the vehicles before heading up to Crystal Mountain Ski Area...

Once down, we left the national park and headed back to our cars.  At the cars, we shed clothing (it was getting warm), refilled water bottles, restocked food supplies, and headed up the six mile climb to the Crystal Mountain Ski Area.  We were riding fairly quickly on this climb, but no one seemed phased by it as we were able to visit as we climbed.  Before long, we were at the ski area.  We had a group photo taken, took a swig from our water bottles, and sped back down the descent to our cars.

Brent, John, Les, Scott W., Conor, Leon, and Mike at the Crystal Mountain Ski Area...

Awesome weather, great group, and wonderful memories – can’t wait for the next ride – Windy Ridge (Mt. St. Helens).


** CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO FROM THIS RIDE (THE BEST PART BEGINS ABOUT 2:50 INTO THE VIDEO) **


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Addendum by Brent Moody:

Thanks again for the ride. I'm still re-playing in my mind that I'm riding my bike up those passes.  I was so looking forward to this ride and getting to hang out with some of the best guys around for 4 hours. The day played out just like I imagined, great weather, perfect temp, we all had fun, caught up on past and current life events, and we were all healthy and still smiling at the end. I keep these fun times in my mind while traveling along with some of those pics to look back on. Only thing I wish I could have seen is that bull elk that the rest of you saw as we were heading up the Sunrise climb. I was too busy sweating it out and wondering how much longer to the top, lol. This is what life is about, great memories and experiencing an event that most people would only dream about.. it's good to be a Cyclopath!

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To see all of the photos associated with this ride, click on the following link:  

Photos for Quadruple Peaks_Passes Ride

2015_07_30 RAMROD (John Winter's Account)

Author:  John Winter

It had been a long time since I managed to get into the Ramrod so I was looking forward to doing this ride again (At least I think I was).  I’ve been more consistent in my riding this year so I felt prepared but the weather forecast for a hot day left me a little intimidated.  I arrived at the Eatonville High School early so I could be on time to leave with the ‘second wave’ of Cyclopath riders at 5:30am.  As it turned out we all arrived a bit early so we were on the road by 5:20am.  There was a little chill in the air as we got on our way so I was glad I opted for long sleeves (for time being anyway).  We all rode in a smooth paceline with each rider sharing the lead.  The group began to get a little scattered, however, as we approached the intersection at Kopowsin and riders began to bunch up.  All of the sudden I heard something rubbing against my wheel and I came close to falling over before the rubbing suddenly stopped .  “Someone must have touched my back wheel”,  I thought to myself.  I took a look back and saw Mike a few yards back but he was still on his bike so  I assumed all was well.  It wasn’t until I reached the Ashford rest stop that I learned the bad news that Mike’s wheel was significantly damaged and he had to abandon the ride.  What a bad break for Mike!  At least he wasn’t injured and was able to make it home on his wobbly wheel.

After Kopowsin I got separated from our group so I decided to ride at a steady pace with some of the other pacelines until I reached Ashford. At that point I figured I would rejoin the rest of the Cyclopaths.  As the morning sun began to pierce through the trees I could feel the first heat of the day.  A harbinger of things to come.  I had plenty of fluids with me so I decided not to stop at the first aid station in Eatonville.  Shortly after leaving the city limits a friendly rider came up beside me.  It was Mario!  It was good to see a familiar face after riding alone for the last half hour.  We decided to ride together in the next paceline that came along and we continued a steady, but conservative, pace.

After passing through Elbe and Ashford we rolled into the first stop of the day.  Since I had been forcing down fluids all morning my first order of business was getting in line for the Port-a-pottie.  After grabbing more fluids, a cream cheese bagel, some fruit, and a couple of cookies I walked back to my bike and found Scott, Les and Conor over by the bike mechanic’s truck.  As it turned out Conor was having trouble with his rear wheel and it looked like the tire was not going to get him all the way through the course.  Darn!  Then I heard the news about Mike.  What a bad break for the both of them. We’d only made it to the first aid station and already two Cyclopath riders out of the ride due to mechanical issues.  Not a great day for the team.  As I left to continue the climb up to Paradise I hoped that luck would keep me from succumbing to a breakdown as well.

As I made my way up the climb to Paradise I was already beginning to sweat.  Geeze! It usually doesn’t get this warm until we reach the climb to Cayuse.   At that point I realized we were in for a scorcher.  Fortunately after the Nisqually bridge I was in the shade again and feeling pretty good, all things considered.  Towards the top I spotted another Cyclopath jersey.  Leon was looking strong and riding steady up the last stretch to the top.  We chatted briefly and I brought him up to speed on Conor’s misfortune.  I told him I was planning on stopping at Box Canyon aid station and would  meet up with him there.  As I crested the climb and pedaled past Refection Lake the descent back down into Stevens Canyon came as a welcome break from the first big climb.

As I rolled into the Box Canyon aid station I saw Tom Peterson.  He wasn’t too happy with how his ride was going but I said “hey, you can’t be doing too bad if you’ve gotten this far already!”  I don’t think I convinced him however.  He said that he just hadn’t been riding enough this season to give Ramrod a good go.  I wished him luck just the same and after downing another cream cheese bagel, a chocolate croissant, and a banana I made my way on to the climb up and over Backbone Ridge.  As I came down the descent toward the Steven’s Canyon entrance I noticed how hard my tires were as I rode over rough spots in the pavement.  I was worried that the hot pavement was heating up my tires and that I was going to have a blowout as I rounded one of the hairpin turns.  Turned out to be a bit of paranoia, however, as the rest of the ride down to the east entrance went without incident.     

I had hoped to get to the start of the climb up Cayuse before the sun really started beating down.  For the first section I was fortunate to be in and out of the shade for the most  part.  I kept a steady pace as I made my way up what is now a very familiar stretch of road.  After riding up this pass so many times one might come to think of it as an ‘old friend’,  but I knew that in these conditions Cayuse would be anything but friendly!   I developed a good rhythm as I made my way up, switching between sitting in the saddle and standing on my pedals.  Then I began to feel my right cleat begin to loosen.  Arghh!  This climb is tough enough with two cleats – I didn’t want to have to do it with one!  My luck held out, however,  and after laboring up around the two hairpins and through the tunnel , I finally reached the top!  No more climbing!  I refilled water bottles and then found someone with a phillips head screw driver so I could repair my cleat.  Got that fixed and headed into the final stretch.

As I made my way down from Cayuse Pass I noticed there weren’t a lot of riders on the road at this point.  I figured they must all be stuffing themselves at the deli stop.  I was dreading having to do the last stretch without anyone to draft behind and considered stopping for a sandwich myself.  However, when I reached the turn off for Crystal Mountain I noticed Mike resting under a tree.  What a welcome sight!  After fixing his wheel at home he decided to make the most of the day by riding out to meet us.  We rode together until Greenwater when Mike decided he needed a ‘pick me up’ at the general store.  He told me to ride on and that he would join me later in Enumclaw.  At this point I just wanted to be done so I continued on.   A bit later I managed to hop onto another paceline and rode with them for a mile or two.  That’s when it finally happened.   Two miles short of the Mud Mtn turnoff I hit a rock and got a pinch flat.  After fixing the flat I rode alone at my own steady pace to the finish line in just a bit over 9hrs.  Since I didn’t really have a time goal I was happy enough with that considering the heat and the flat tire.  I was greeted with ice cream, fruit, cookies,  potato chips and finally something to drink other than warm Gatorade!  A short time later Leon rode in strong and joined me and Mike to rest  under the shade of a tree.  Overall a good ride.  Unfortunately I had another commitment later in the day and had to leave so I didn’t get to spend time with the rest of the Cyclopaths.  I hope to have a chance to trade stories on the next Cyclopath ride!

2015_07_30 RAMROD (Mike's Mis-adventure)

Author:  Mike Hassur

Up at 3:40 AM, bikes and gear already packed in the van.  All I needed to do was eat and drink, get dressed, and be ready to meet Leon at 4:20 AM.  We met on time, headed out, and arrived at Enumclaw at 4:50 AM (which was our goal).

Upon arriving, I texted Scott Wagar to let him know that we had arrived (I had some RAMROD info that he needed) and told him that I would meet him at the Starting Line to give it to him.  As I was walking across the parking lot in the dark, someone called my name – it was Scott.  Great, no long walk to the Starting Line.

Leon and I unpacked our bikes, got our gear ready, and were at the Starting Line by about 5:15 AM.  Soon, most of our group had arrived (Les, Dwaine, Scott, John, Leon, and me).  Mario, Mark, Kurt, Tom, and Nick were also doing the ride; but they had left a bit earlier.  By 5:22 AM, we were crossing the Start/Finish Line and were beginning our ride.

It was forecast to be a hot day (in the 90’s); and, even at this earlier hour it was not cold.  I wore a short sleeved shirt under my jersey to start the ride with the idea that I could easily stow it in my fanny pack as the day warmed up.  It was cool enough that I was chilly at the start of the ride but not uncomfortable. 

It was beginning to get light when we started, so visibility was not an issue.  Our group cruised through Bucklely, then South Prairie, past Orting, and on to Lake Kapowsin at a comfortable pace and without mishap.  As we started the final short climb up to the four-way stop by Lake Kapowsin, someone warned that there was a truck approaching behind our group.  I turned my head briefly to see where the truck was.  When I turned back, my front wheel was overlapping the rear wheel of John Winter’s bike; and, before I knew it, the spokes of my front wheel were “strumming” against John’s rear derailleur.  We weren’t going very fast at this point, and no one crashed; but my front wheel was damaged and very wobbly. 

It was clear that my RAMROD was over.  The immediate question was what to do next.  My first thought was that I needed to give the keys to my van to Leon before our group vanished.  I yelled; and, fortunately, Leon heard me and came back.  I gave him my keys, and he headed up the road in pursuit of the rest of our group.  By releasing the front brake, I could get my front wheel to spin without hitting the brake pads.  It wobbled, but it seemed to be “rideable”.  I took off for home (Puyallup) which was about 10 miles away.  While I was riding home, it occurred to me that I still had the whole day to do a ride – I just needed to get a different front wheel on my bike.  With that in mind, I headed home as quickly and safely as I could.

When I got home, I called my wife (Kathy works out of our home) to warn her that I was at the front door.  I didn’t want her thinking that some intruder was breaking into the house.  I quickly put a different front wheel on my bike, shed the t-shirt that I had been wearing under my jersey, refilled my water bottle, and headed out.

I had decided to ride my bike over to Enumclaw and do the RAMROD Route backwards until I got near Cayuse Pass.  I was hoping to meet someone from our group and ride back to Enumclaw with them.  I was so excited about my new plan that I zoomed up Eli Hill (the hill on highway 410 going up to Bonney Lake) in a time that was near my PR – probably not wise, but fun…  I continued on through Bonney Lake and Buckley and took the back road up past Mud Mountain Dam.  Soon, I was back on highway 410 headed toward Greenwater. 

It was on the way to Greenwater that my phone rang.  It was Conor Collins.  He’d had the misfortune to have two flats and a ruined tire.  He’d abandoned the ride and was waiting to be picked up by his dad in Ashford – looks like I wasn’t the only person to encounter misfortune in this year’s RAMROD!!  I wished Conor well and resumed riding. 

I passed through Greenwater and was heading toward the RAMROD Deli (located at the junction of highway 410 and the road to Crystal Mountain) when I noticed that my front tire was going flat.  Fixing the flat was easy and uneventful; and, soon, I was on my way again. 

It was starting to get pretty hot, and I was beginning to get some slight cramping in my calves.  I thought “Oh crap, I was looking forward to the ride back to Enumclaw, but now with the head and my cramps…”.

I arrived at the RAMROD Deli, refilled my water bottles, ate, and stationed myself under a tree right next to the highway.  My plan was to latch on to the first Cyclopath who rode by and ride back to Enumclaw with him (or as far as I could get before I overheated/cramped).  It was not a particularly comfortable wait as it was hot (even in the shade) and my legs were cramping just sitting there. 

After about 50-60 minutes, I spotted a Cyclopath jersey approaching.  It was John Winter.  I yelled, hopped up (hobbled up??), threw on my helmet, and we were off.  John was still riding strong.  I helped him as much as I could, but I started to overheat badly as we got to Greenwater.  I told John to go ahead without me as he was trying to finish in less than 9 hours. 

I had a cold Gatoraid and an ice cream bar at the Greenwater general store and took off for Enumclaw.  By this time, I was pretty much toast.  I wasn’t going very fast and was surprised that I wasn’t passed by more people (or groups) in that final stretch – everyone else must have been feeling as bad as I was. 

That final leg to Enumclaw seemed to take forever, but I finally made it.  I found John Winter (who didn’t look nearly as wasted as everyone else) and congratulated him on a really good ride.  Soon, Leon came in followed by Dwaine and Les. 

After a quick shower, Leon and I hopped into my van and headed home. 

My day had included frustration, innovation, and physical hardship all wrapped up into an “interesting” RAMROD package.

Next up:  Quadruple By-Pass

2015_07_30 RAMROD (Kurt Maute's Account)

Author: Kurt Maute’

This was my first RAMROD and it certainly lived up to its billing.  I almost didn’t do the ride as I was not sure I would be in the right condition if I had another international business trip or heart issues.  Even with no trips planned and a healthy heart, it was still tough to get my head into the idea of doing the ride as it was the most challenging ride I had ever undertaken in my life.  Previously, doing STP in a day (204 mi.) was my personal record, but some of my fellow Cyclopaths did STP in a day as a warm up – crazy? yes. 

Mark Delros helped to push me over the edge explaining that I had actually ridden all the segments before, just not in one fell-swoop..! Just before the ride Mark and I had agreed that we would endeavor to ride together with Mario agreeing to help lead us on the first leg of our journey. We headed out just as sun began to rise at 0-dark-thirty something – actually around 5:00 am along with most of my fellow Cyclopaths.  It was nice to see several familiar trademark orange Puyallup Cyclopaths jerseys even though it was difficult to ID cohorts given the darkness. The pace was pretty easy going as Mario lead us from Enumclaw > South Prairie > The Climb > Eatonville where the 1^st snack stop was – around 32 miles into the ride. We were averaging low 20s speed-wise I would guess. 

Several of my fellow Cyclopaths skipped the Eatonville stop, we know who you are..! We however made a leisurely stop and met up with Dr. Nick who would join our team as Mario headed out ahead of us.  The 3 of us stayed pretty much together reaching the Ashford (Wildwood) food stop at the 55 mile mark.  About 5 miles from the stop I noticed that I had left Dr. Nick and Mark behind as I was feeling pretty good at this point and had been hydrating and taking in some calories, often one of my shortcomings along with staying within abilities.  When Mark arrived he complained a bit about his stomach and the onset of early cramping.  The 3 of us posed for picture at Wildwood and took in some needed calories and a bathroom break.  This is the point where we begin the ascent up to Inspiration Point.  The grade starts out easy enough at 2-4% for the first 10 miles and we all enjoyed the forested areas as we pasted thru the Nasqually entrance to Mt. Rainer National Park.  At this point pace-lines really don’t help as speeds slow so the three of us split up with me feeling pretty good for the 1^st 15 miles or so of climbing.  At about the 70 mile mark, I began to suffer from the dreaded “hot foot” where my pace slowed considerably as the grade reached about 6%+/-.  I made it up the last 3 miles in a bit of agony but pushed on to the Inspiration Point water stop at the 73+ mile mark.

Having reached the top of the 1^st major pass, I was anxious to enjoy the long decent into Backbone Ridge, which by now was getting pretty familiar, having just done this segment a few week prior.  After taking some Ibuprofento ease my foot pain and slathering on some sunscreen, I filled my water bottles and sought some shade while I awaited my fellow Cyclopaths arrivals.  This stop ended up taking longer than I had planned and I began to get anxious to do the decent but wanted my fellow Cyclopaths along with me to share the great experience. When Mark arrived, I could see pain on his face as the cramping really took its toll on this difficult accent. As we made the 8 mile decent, we would enjoy the stunning views and tourists who posed by Louise Lake with Mt. Rainer in the background.  You really haven’t lived until you take in this view in my opinion – one of the many Great Northwest highlights.

Mark and I would stick closely together thru the summit of Backbone Ridge then on to Stevens Canyon Road where the second major climb up Cayuse would begin. The climb was pretty easy for the 1^st 10 or so miles, but when we took the left at SR-123, and I passed a group of slower riders, I noticed that Mark was struggling a bit to keep pace.  It was clear the cramping continued to get to him as he eventually disappeared in my helmet mirror .  This was a bit of a reflection point for me as it became obvious that we would not be riding together the remainder of the journey but knew if the shoe were on the other foot, I would be okay with this.  Hot Foot would again plague me at about the 100 mile mark and I decided to stop momentarily to rest and cool my feet.  A fellow old timer and I (me #188 and he my senior at #68?) decided to walk a few blocks up to a small waterfall where we would both dunk our feet in the cool water. We both found immediate relief and got to know each other a bit, him (Dan) having ridden RAMROD several times before.  For those not aware, RAMROD officials assign numbers based on age with the oldest (82 I think) proudly wearing the #1.  This system would explain why many older women riders displayed no numbers on their backs…J.  I recall seeing #11 during the Cayuse climb and was pretty humbled as I think I was the one being passed.  I calculated that I was in about the upper 23% age-wise at almost 58 while Nick (#18), our eldest statesman, was in the upper 2.25%. The water stop at mile 103.2 was a welcome site at about 4 miles from the summit being packed with fellow riders of all demographics.