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Midnight Ride
Monster Cookie
MS-150
Peach of a Century
Pedal the Pinchot
RACC (Ride Around Clark County)
Reach the Beach
Rim to Roseburg
Ride through Portland at midnight near the end of June. 2000 was the first year it was done.
Rox Heath
Monster Cookie - 1999
62 miles, cookies, lunch, social "slinky line" plan on 5 hours or so.
2:00 or 3:00PM from a 9:00 AM start is easy. If we got serious we could be done around noon.
Don "but that would leave a mark on ya" Bolton
If you start at the "official" course opening time, you should have no trouble getting back to the start by 3PM, if you ride at an average greater than 12mph, and do not take long at rest stops or lunch.
This is a very flat ride (less than 500 feet total gain in 62 miles), so you should be able to maintain a suitable speed - even if there is a strong headwind - since it is an "out and back" ride, your average should be low in one direction and high in the other.
This ride is a super early season ride, even for beginners.
Curt Coleman
Sunday was in my neighborhood, I spent the day with "the girls of Team Bag Balm". We took several side road detours and added several miles to the course and managed to avoid some of the traffic in the process.
Thanks Amy, Diane, Nanette! You wore me out ;-)
It was really fun running into so many familiar faces at these two events [RACC and Monster Cookie]. Seems like almost everywhere I went I ran into someone from this forum. I think TBB represents its own marketing demographic :-)
Don "a bit tired today though" Bolton
MS 150 – 1999
Just finished the MS 150 ride, my longest trek yet on a bicycle. What a wonderful ride it was. The first day was from Clatskanie to Warrenton on back roads that I was familiar with, but on day two we crossed the Astoria Bridge into Washington and all was new to me. What a fun time crossing that Astoria Bridge en masse! Police held up traffic on Hwy 101 so we cyclists could turn left and approach the ramp without risking our lives. What a thrill to climb that bridge then let it rip the rest of the way across!!! Then we followed the Columbia for 30 miles or so and experienced some spectacular views. We turned onto a back road and lunched next to a covered bridge after riding across the wooden boards that rattled and smelled of days long ago.
Next it was onto pastoral Puget Island which we approached via a short bridge and left via the only remaining ferry crossing on the Columbia. There was a bit of a wait for the ferry. Ferry folk definitely give preference to motorists and we cyclists had to wait as much as two, yes TWO hours to board the ferry, but lucky for me, I was with three other women who decided we would just get on the darn thing, an earlier ferry, before our official turn had arrived...and that's just what we did. I won't even mention the perpetrator's names...they know who they are!!! And I'm thankful we did just what we did or we may still be there waiting to board that boat...lol. After the ferry it was 12 miles along hwy 30 to the finish. I was reluctant to ride along this busy highway, but along this particular stretch the shoulder was ample enough for riders to chat two abreast. Smelling the finish line, I zoomed off and pedaled as fast as I could...averaging 20 mph on that last leg!
The only bad thing was the boilers were turned off at Warrenton Elementary School where we camped and a cold shower after a 75 mile ride is not what one would prefer!!! But the CO vets assured me that CO showers are HOT.
There were some climbs that were a cakewalk compared to CO according to the CO veterans. The elevation gains were lower, the climbs shorter. But still, nothing to scoff at for a newbie. 75 miles two days in a row. Count 'em!
Julie "working up to that Larch Mountain climb" Kay
Peach of a Century – 2000
What a Peach!
What a Peach of a ride on a Peach of a day ... and I couldn't imagine anything that I would rather be doing on such a day than riding my bike through beautiful country with good friends.
Greetings to all of you whom I met today, and all of you whom I missed -- especially Curt. I hope that I'm riding 66 on my 66th!
Please allow me a personal note.
Two years ago, I rode the Peach for the first time, and completed my first ever century (I think), in 25 years of riding. CycleOregon XI had given me the confidence to do it.
Last year, I rode 31 miles of the Peach, and my front forks exploded, thankfully leaving me almost unscathed, but unable to finish the ride through want of a steed. That would have been my only century of the year. What a downer!
This year I rode 7 organized centuries -- the RACC, the Wheelman's Spring Century, the CCC (a 114 mile day), the Covered Bridge Century, the Torture 10k, the Antelope Century on CO XIII, and today the Peach. This is probably my strongest and best year of riding _ever_. Let's hope that it is not all downhill from here!
And here is a thank you to all of you who have shared these miles with me and made them so much more fun, those who have encouraged me and given me advice, those that have listened to me gripe, those who have let me suck their wheel, and those of you who have just been there to wave or smile. There is something about cycling that brings out the best in people. I'm proud to be a part of such a fine herd.
Andrew Black
See lugnut. See lugnut get dropped. See lugnut get dropped by everybody :-)
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Crisp and quite cold in the AM. This kept the haze down and we were treated to an awesome panorama of the Willamette valley.
I can finally say I did the hundred. First 25 miles I chased Andrew at a pace just beyond my ability. Second 25 I chased Lonnie, again just beyond my abilities. After an extended "regroup" layover at midpoint, Lonnie, Andrew, and I began to do battle with the rapidly maturing headwinds. A few miles out, S&L Airways (Scott and Linda) does a flyby past us and Andrew does an excellent drill Sergeant "GET ON THAT LINE!" to Lonnie and instantly we went from just beyond my abilities to "ohhh sh*t! I'm gonna go solo here soon".
I held on for a couple of miles till a leader change over and the line leapt ahead while I flailed off the back. Its disconcerting watching your draft disappear ahead while you are flailing against the full force of the headwinds. Oh well...
The ride went over two of the covered bridges and skirted two others. With minor modification (approximately 1 mile additional with 75 ft more elevation) the ride could cross the Shimenak and Hanna bridges as well and avoid several miles of bone jarring high traffic road to boot.
Still sore from CO - I think as I had a bad case of "Antelope *ss" :-) Just couldn't find a comfortable seating position which didn't help my attitude in a few places. Nonetheless the scenery was good and the miles rolled by.
Does anyone know what the white tape was about at that one road crossing? It looked like there was an "ambush" being set up for some rider. Curt was this a b'day surprise sprung on you?
All in all it was great day but next time I'm bringing a bungee cord to make sure I don't lose the paceline :-).
Don "the rapidly shrinking speck in your rear view mirror" Bolton
Jason and I will be up there. I am towing my trailer up to the Lone Fir Resort in Cougar Friday after work and will return to civilization on Sunday. (Missing the Mid Valley Covered Bridge Century this year).
There is one other campground in town plus the city park just east of town has camping. The Lone Fir also has rooms (non air conditioned) I learned this in 98. :-( One Cafe in town (food was really good, though).
The drive to the start involves some real distance off I5 (47? 67 miles?) It’s a long early AM haul.
I've done this ride since its inception. The 88 (actually 84 mile on my odometer) is a real test of your hill climbing abilities. I classify it as day two from last year's CO [CO 12] but at lower altitudes. Ie: its a real challenge but it won't quite kill you like that day did :-)
Seriously, it’s a real workout for us mere mortals, start as early as you can in order to make the food at the end.
The ride profile is an easy one. A brief gentile uphill for warm up followed by a long steep grade with a rest stop about 2/3rds up it. At the crest it goes downhill fast (this climb coming back is the one that is the killer). Left at the bottom for another rest stop followed by another long upgrade. Suddenly the rich forest becomes matchsticks, the road is cracking and slipping away while you listen to the gentile sounds of ash falling off the hillsides above you. You go up a little, down a little, up a little more, eventually getting to the rest stop at the top.
This rest stop is shared by the long Mountain bike route course! Interesting to see pumice coated mountain bikers alongside us road geeks. Windy Ridge is appropriately named.
For the trip back you simply undo it. The work doesn't end till you are almost done and that last downhill will wake you up for sure :-) Not for the meek of heart, but this is one great accomplishment of a ride.
This one's a great warm-up for the torture ten.
Don "see you there" Bolton
A snick under 86 miles and 8,600 feet elevation gain. This is one of the most challenging and beautiful day rides one is liable to encounter anywhere!
I'm chronicling this in some detail this time to have a record of the course so next year I "remember" the insidious grades that somehow manage to fade from my brain between the years...
Weather was *perfect*! A bright sunny day, cool, low atmospheric haze. Occasional panoramic overviews were awesome with distant mountains clearly visible...
From our group here Jason Penney, Ira Pollak, and myself ventured forth to battle the mountain. Along the way I ran into Linda (a riding friend of Nanette's from up north) and a fresh face to this group, Cathy Masters.
The ride....
Jason and I left out around 7:10 and greeted Ira on his way to registration on our way out...
Leaving Swift Forest camp is a simple grade for several miles that eventually gives way to a gentle descent for approximately 2 miles and then the first serious climb begins. This "warm up speedbump" is a mere seven or eight miles in length and varies in grade from a mere 5% to a more noticeable 7% (fortunately in small doses). I began to ease away from Jason in the early stages and was surprised to see what I thought was him gaining on me from behind. Turned out to be a woman from Vancouver who will be on CO [13] and we spun and chatted for awhile till hitting the first stop.
About a mile and a half short of this climb easing off is the first rest stop where I began inhaling sports drink. Jason appeared and after a few minutes break we resumed our attack on this "speedbump".
After the grade eased up a bit I was beginning to consider my recent spate of tire problems and was intent on making a stop just to visual things before cutting loose on the descent I knew was coming. We crested this climb and a nice downhill ensued. Somewhere in my mind I remembered this to be a "false summit", but Jason almost had me convinced it wasn't. We stopped and checked and continued down until it turned skyward again.
This little piece of torture was only about two miles and finally it gave way to one of the finest descents in cycling. Close to 5 miles of serpentine road at speeds between 35 and 40 mph. Corners tight enough to feel the bike "set" on the turn in, but open enough to not require braking. For the first 1/4 to 1/2 mile the road surface on the downhill side is trash but at that hour the uphill traffic is 0 and the visibility to traffic good so I adopted my usual UK line to get past the gnarly stuff. After that it’s a regular "E ticket ride"!
Now we are at the Wakepish trailer drop rest stop and our only ways out are up. As we were leaving the stop Ira rolls in... Now I had been telling Jason who was getting annoyed at the climbs that we had only this one hill left and then some "rollers" at the top :-). So off we went. Again, I dropped him quickly and spun off into the sunrise.
I'd forgotten just how insidious this pitch got and at several places found my heart rate hitting redline. Had to force myself to relax on all non pedaling muscles, concentrate on breathing, and back off just a hair on the pedaling. This worked and I topped this 5 mile torture test and started to peel off layers while waiting for Jason to arrive. His arrival seemed to take a long time. Turns out when he hit redline he'd stop for a few minutes. As we were discussing the "rollers" to come Ira spins up. We are now a force of three!
A short subtle drop from this crest gives way to a short rise and a blind turn from towering forestation to utter devastation! In the three years I've done this ride I've been amazed by the way nature has begun to reclaim this zone. It's a lot greener now than three years ago. Still, it’s an awesome reminder of the sheer power of the mountains blast, though. A mile or mile and a half subtle descent leads way to one of the "rollers".
Let me explain these rollers... The road rises and twists upward in mile and a half to two mile sections followed by gentle drops of similar length till you reach Windy Ridge. The thing is you gain significant altitude on these little stretches. Having no vertical reference points gives you no visual clue as to how steep these little monsters are. I'd estimate a 10% pitch in places :-(. These little muthas hurt. I could hear Jason calling me names from three crests behind :-). "rollers my *ass! You LIE"
I rolled into Windy Ridge and about 20 minutes later Jason and Ira appeared. In the meantime Linda had shown up with Cathy. They had linked up somewhere on the climb.
Introductions were made, sports drink and food consumed and we started out to undo the trip. We are now a force of five! Well we were for awhile anyway. On the first "roller" back up the ladies and I dropped Ira and Jason.
Now the first truly wicked descent of the ride begins.
Picture a narrow two lane roadway ribbon carved into an almost sheer face. Add the fact that this roadway is constructed atop ash from the blast. Also, there is no guardrail, the downhill side of the roadway is slipping off itself leaving cracks (and in one case a concrete barricade to prevent drivers from driving on a piece of road destined to slip away down the hill). Now imagine riding down this at speeds between 38 and 43 mph!
This is absolutely one of the best two wheel rushes I have had *ever*! Flying down this stretch required absolute concentration, pinpoint control, and constant minor correction to compensate for drift! The bike would "set" at turn in and lightly drift out through the corners bringing me back to my youth and motorcycle racing days. YES!
Eventually this fun had to end and the climbs began again. Fortunately the "rollers" going back lost more than gained and the uphill grades were likely 4 to 5% and not nearly as annoying as the way up was. The final section prior to the downhill back to Wakepish got a little urgent for a couple hundred yards, but nowhere near the redline episodes that hit on the other side going up...
This descent is also a genuine rush featuring gentle switchbacks and several "roundhouse" curves. Here, at least, the road had some run off and something to hit besides air if you overshot the curves. Several of these curves required braking, but it was impossible to tell till one was actually in the corner. I used late braking techniques and managed to maintain 35 to 40 mph thru these exchanges. My heart was racing here again, but from the sheer joy of flying.
Everyone in the Wakepish rest area was grinning ear to ear after I rolled in war whooping about the "kick-ass" downhill! Eventually the ladies rolled in and I can't tell you that Linda sagged up the hill leaving the area. ;-) (Linda: I said it would go on the internet) :-)
Eventually Ira rolled in and then Jason. Ira took back out ahead of us while we imbibed on more sports drink.
The climb back out of Wakepish is almost as bad as the climb out going up. Feels worse since you've all those miles of abuse under you by then. I found myself again at redline at one point and had to go thru the drill of breathing and shutting down non essential involuntary death grips :-) Eventually I crested and did the drop down in the "saddle" between the hillcrest and what I referred to as the false summit.
On the way up to the false summit I encountered Ira in a pullout and stopped (had to, sports drink travels fast). Ira and I then spun up the remainder of this final ascent chatting and just glad it was almost the home stretch. At this summit we just kept on till the rest stop on the hill back.
It was closing as we got there. Official word was that they were waiting for rider #49 (Jason). Funny so were we :-) Jason rolled in and the three cowballeros pointed our steeds downward one last time. ANOTHER pure kick-ass section of over six miles of late braking, set and drifting fun! One of the roundhouse corners was sort of sneaky having a decreasing radius requiring I brake almost 2/3rds of the way through in order to exit still on pavement. My head was aching from grinning so hard! YES! Can I go again? Can I? Huh? Can I?
The final leg involves a mile and a half gentle rise. Found myself in my big ring pulling 18 mph up this one! Pulled off at the crest (did I mention that sports drink travels fast?) Joined Jason and Ira for the final roll down to a photo finish at 5:30!
Cathy was there already and we joined her chatting and chowing down spaghetti. After two plates of the precious pasta we decided to go back to the trailer and get cleaned up for dinner. Agreed to meet Cathy in the AM for breakfast.
Mindless notes....
Both Jason and Ira were glad that I "lied" about the "rollers" :-) Had they known the truth they admitted they would have turned back. As it was, they both have reason to be proud of their achievements.
Total turnout was 138 riders :-( Event sponsors blame themselves and lack of promotion. We discussed schedule conflicts and I have pointed them to the Bicycle Paper's website and told them to review the calendar. Suggested latter July would be good..
Cathy looked to me to be some twentysomething bicycle goddess, turns out she's a fortysomething bicycle goddess. I'm in awe!
Jason and I had adventures setting up the trailer at camp Friday. It tried to roll away on us after we unhooked it from the truck :-)
I achieved my goal of not requiring use of my small front chainring for the ride. I found myself spinning over the hard pitches above 6 mph and only dragged down to 5&1/2 in several stretches to observe redline or one place where that was just how fast I could go.
I drank lots of sports drink (did I mention that sports drink travels fast?) and felt very strong at the finish. This in part may have also been due to resting while waiting for the group to reform in a number of places. At any rate, it's unfortunate that I have to wait almost a year before experiencing those absolutely divine downhills again...
Don "I'm there regardless of conflicting rides" Bolton
Pedal the Pinchot - 1999
Windy Ridge is the "Pedal the Pinchot" 88 mile option. Their entry forms are everywhere, but sized more like a recipe card. Last year was the first one. They have 3 road course options. two of which just parallel the Lewis river out and back. The third route goes up to the Windy Ridge viewpoint overlooking the Mt St Helens blast damage.
Unlike the TdB, this route is on narrow bumpy roads with no shoulders and goes through the heart of the blast damage. It is NOT for the meek (my impression last year.) The pitches are long and steep. The downhills have hard, tight corners (you will learn much about your braking abilities here).
They also have two mountain bike options, the long one shares the Windy Ridge rest stop. Kind of interesting when you have a bunch of sweat encrusted "roadies" interacting with a bunch of pumice coated off-roaders.
The elevation gain is over 8,000 ft on the Windy Ridge option. (Last years brochure posted it as 5,000-ish and all of the riders with altimeters I polled got between 8,200 and 8,800. This years brochure posts 8,200. Guess we were right.)
Don "the Torture 8,000" Bolton
RACC (Ride Around Clark County)
Ride Around Clark County (RACC) – May, 2000
RACC is a bit of a test really. The 67 and 103 mile routes have little to no flat stretches. You are always going up or down. Net gain is not significant however, but the ride is more work than the Sunday Monster Cookie follow up (winds not withstanding).
Parts of the RACC are rigorous, especially considering the early month, but they are very short stretches and the scenery on the 103 mile loop more than motivates.
I've done this ride since 96 and the section prior to the first rest area has gotten more urbanized and the traffic increased enough to make it "interesting". Note, I think more than 20 cars passing me on a 60 or 70 mile ride is a busy day (I live in a rider’s paradise). This ride's real appeal shows up after Lacamas Lake.
I've done the 67 mile route twice and the hundred twice. I can say without reservation that if you think you can pull a century at this early date, you *should*, as the scenery is worth the extra work. It only adds one hill of consequence. Though it does add several thousand feet of elevation gain overall.
Don "You won't be sorry, sore maybe, but not sorry" Bolton
Ride Around Clark County (RACC) – 1999
Hey fellow northwesterners, how about that weather this weekend? Awesome!!! The RACC and Monster Cookie events had a complete weather reversal from the rainfest/windjammin of last year...
Spent Saturday with Andrew, Ted, and Nanette. 5050 feet ascent by my altimeter at 100 miles just about on the money. (They changed the exit from Yaccolt, cutting out the three extra miles of years prior).
Nanette's spinning/training class has her really strong, folks. As a group we averaged almost 14 MPH, told some bad jokes, had a near miss with an irate motorist, almost got sideswiped by what may have been a car theft in progress, and just enjoyed a beautiful day. Rather an eventful day. Thanks for the company and a great time.
Ask Ted about the horse :-) (Big dogs in the burbs folks, BIG dogs, with horseshoes) Nice doggy o-)
Don Bolton
Along with leg cramps, 'the bonk' and rude motorists who don't share the road, another hazard I should alert RACC cyclists to is runaway horses. As Don mentioned a couple days ago, just as I was cresting a hill on the RACC century, I heard some clippity cloppity coming at me as I rode by a gravel driveway in horse country. Yep, that runaway horse was coming right at me. Just cresting a hill, my speed wasn't all it should be, but amazingly I was inspired to reach down and pick up the RPM's. As you can imagine, I had no argument with the horse when he declined to make a left hand turn onto the asphalt pavement. Just how far he passed behind me I have no idea but it could have been ten feet or less. He continued across the street and onto the neighbor’s drive. The RACC century does go through some great country. It is easily a ride worth repeating, though you've got to watch out for runaway horses at mile 77. Don Bolton said he saw a guy standing in the driveway waving a branding iron or some such device at his rapidly departing livestock. I have no reason to doubt him, but cannot verify the sighting as I was too busy turning the cranks at the time.
Ted Magnuson
Reach the Beach – May, 2000
I think we started around 7:30 or 8. We were slowed down for various medical reasons.
We did around 17 or 18 mph on a large portion of it (while on the road) because we had a good tail wind until the last few miles. The rest stops mostly took 15-30 minutes and lunch even more. I am not sure why... there were no lines.
My advice to anyone who wants to do the full century and is not very fast at this point in their training - get there before registration opens and get your bike and gear all unloaded and set up so that when they open you can just pop in and grab your stuff and go. This will take some of the pressure off and make you have a more enjoyable ride.
This is a super route.
Rox Heath
The first time I did this ride I worried and worried about how bad the climbs were going to be. My previous experience in routes to the coast were the Nestucca and car trips over Sunset and Wilson River Highways.
I kept looking for the hill... and looking... and looking... I did finally see one short, sharp hill a couple of blocks long - but it wasn't at the summit - and still didn't require my lowest gear.
The actual summit is around a couple of corners with very gentle slopes and then you see a small sign off to the left that states it is the summit and the elevation (about 700 feet I think). Kind of an anti-climax - Look quick or you'll miss it!
But the scenery is beautiful and it’s a super ride - I wouldn't miss it. Part of the reason for the lack of a big hill is you spend one whole leg of this ride very gently climbing - you hardly notice it.
Actually the real hill is the end.... the last 5-8 miles can have an extremely strong headwind - just when you are good and tired and think you are almost there.
Rox Heath
Rox is right!
The worst hill is a 9-10 percent hill just prior to the last rest stop. The length of the hill is about 0.10 mile.
ALL other hills are pretty gentle, and not very long. Some segments, like Dayton to Amity are essentially flat - - like we're talkin' less than 100 ft total gain in 10-12 miles. I will pull out my old map profiles and let everybody know what to expect.
As to the headwind at the end - - plan on it. A calm day on that stretch is the exception. You will not notice this wind until after the last rest stop - say about a mile. And, it will not get very tuff until you are out of the sheltered and wooded portion and into the flat part of the road, where the wind channels up the valley. Last year, when I rode my 'bent, for the first time, the headwind against the fairing seemed to actually accelerate. I am sure that experience was mostly psychological - but I'll take it anyway.
Amy B is also right on regarding highway 18 from Sheridan to Grand Ronde. It is busy and has just enough up-grade westbound to be tiring.
Curt Coleman
Dear Phil (I sure hope I'm up to this) Ford,
With a body as hard as yours?!?!?
No sweat!
A 7.0% hill for 0.3 miles between Start and Sherwood.
A 5.3% hill for 0.3 miles between Sherwood and Newberg.
A 6.9% hill for 0.1 miles between Amity and Sheridan.
A 9.5% hill for 0.1 miles between Grand Ronde and rest stop.
Plus two sections with essentially no gain at all.
A total gain of 2,415 feet in 103 miles.
Piece of cake!!
Except for the headwind at the end.
See you enroute.
Curt Coleman
Thanks Curt, but fossilization doesn't count!
Phil Ford
Rim to Roseburg - 2000
We highly recommend this ride!!!
We did the Rim to Roseburg last year. It was a fun ride. Not a very large crowd. (Two yellow school buses - maybe 60 - 100 people) We were treated very well. Was VERY cold and windy at the top. Some rough road. Awesome scenery. Some of the downhill was gradual enough and into a headwind, that you had to pedal to keep going. David stayed with me, and we were the very last two. They kept the rest stops open until we came through. Plenty of good food. The sweep vehicle kept a close watch on us to make sure all was ok. Almost everyone else was gone when we got to the finish area, but there were still a dozen people and lots of food left. We had a really good time.
We drove home Saturday after the ride. We highly recommend staying overnight and coming home on Sunday. We were sssoooooo tired. We had to keep stopping and stretching and changing drivers
Hope all you who ride it have a great time.
Edna & Dave Van Gundy
I rode it last year. Had a lot of fun, met a lot of very nice people. I have pencilled in the date, now all I need to do is get the logistics arranged.
Donald Lockridge
