Fueled by Ice Cream and V-8

Given that the first two attempts at my August rando ride were non-starters - 1 DNF, 1 DNS - if I wanted to keep the R-24 streak going, I had to successfully ride SOMETHING.  I own three perms.  It shouldn't be hard.

Decided on 1401 - Beaverton - Hagg Lake - Carlton.  Other than the breathtaking number of info controls, it had the advantage of not getting that far away from home base.  I think spousal unit was getting a little worried about me.  All the ride buddies were unavailable, so it would be me, myself and I.  Preparing wouldn't be hard - the bike was all ready for that ride it did not start.  Wore the Randonneurs USA jersey.  I have learned that if one rides in red, white, and blue, chances of harassment are reduced.  And since it was just me, I was going to exploit that.

Breakfast of eggs, toast, and juice, then off to the Starbucks for a pre-ride mocha and receipt.  Uneventful ride west.  There was a bit of a headwind, which was just enough to make me feel like I should have stayed in bed.  Overcast, and very agreeable temperatures.  I actually wore arm warmers until I got to Forest Grove.



Jackson Quarry Rd has fresh chipseal.  St Francis Church in Roy (a control) has brand new concrete pavement and they've remodeled the bathrooms.  The donation can is currently not present.

All of Banks turned out to watch me ride through town.  Chairs lining the street, and so on.  Ok, well, maybe it wasn't for me.  Perhaps a parade before the Combine Destruction Derby.



By the time I got to Forest Grove, I wanted something substantial.  An ice cream sandwich and a Sobe sounded pretty good.  By the direct route, I can make it from my house to Forest Grove in just over an hour.   By the perm route, it took almost 4 hours. :-)





Keeping on south, out and around Hagg Lake.  There was a sign about culvert repair and construction for September.  Not clear if it would close the road.  Up and down and up and down and up and down.  Brief pause at Sain Creek.  Learning - a bicycle will fit in the handicapped stall.







Though Gaston, with a stop for more drinks.  Their drink selection was severely depleted.  Got a V-8 to drink right there, and a Coke for my calorie bottle.  At this point I was beginning to wonder if I'd finish on time.  By my reckoning I was running it pretty close.  And so I tried to pick it up heading south to Yamhill and Carlton.  Waved at all the people in Rick and Catherine's driveway :-)  By the time I hit Laughlin Rd, I figured I was going to be ok, and relaxed a bit.





Stopped at the market in Carlton, where I got more V-8, another ice cream bar, some Sobe for the calorie bottle and water for the water bottle.



Only 44 miles to go and lots of time in the bank.  The wind was supposed to get favorable for awhile, but it was "variable".  Finally heading north on North Valley.  While this ride was NOT finishing in Forest Grove and NOT finishing in Hillsboro, I always feel like I am on the home stretch once I am on North Valley.



Lots of haying in progress.  Oregon summer - hot shimmery blue sky, not a cloud in sight.  Queen Anne's Lace and a few other wildflowers by hay-brown roadsides.  By now the temperature was slowly dropping from its mid-80's high of the day.





Hoping that the turn east onto Geiger would get me some tailwind.  Maybe.  Still variable.  Some harassment from a driver headed the other way on a totally empty road. Huh?  Needed more liquids, and the Forest Hills Golf Course was just ahead.  I stop there often, but never buy anything.  That changed on this ride.  Snapple for the calories bottle, another V-8 to consume on the spot.  Got my vegetables on this ride, yes indeed.

Turned right onto SW Johnson School, and saw the ROAD CLOSED sign.  The detour would be Tongue Rd to Hwy 219, then south to Burkhalter to rejoin the route.  I very much dislike riding on Tongue Rd, so I thought I'd see exactly how closed it was.  As Cecil says... "there's closed and there's closed".  Finally, just at Behrman Farms, I saw a very big piece of construction equipment parked across the road.  "Bridge Out". Well, there's out and there's out.  After squeezing around the equipment, I found an entirely passable road.  Well, dirt, and boards, anyway.  There were other bike tire tracks in the dirt :-)  Not that I recommend this for you, of course.



Back on the bike, crossing 219, oooh!  look! the alpacas are back!



Last info control, and then working my way into Hillsboro.  I love the "Reduced Speed Ahead" signs.  Coming into a town.  Pulled in at the Jackson's for the last timed control and bought a half height Pringles to munch on for the last 6+ miles.



Finally, the tailwind!  Finished off the last bit pretty quickly, for a total elapsed time of 11:43.  Not much slower than our February ride, but a bit slower riding and a bit less faffing.  Some day I'll get the faster riding and the less faffing together on the same ride.

Including the to/from, 132 mi. 13.5 avg.
All the pictures here

THAT was a hot one...

This past weekend was the Oregon Randonneurs Tygh Valley Traveller 400k.  I was the co-organizer, and the day-of person in charge.  It would not have gone off as well as it did without the wonderful volunteers - Dave and Edna, who staffed the Pine Point control, Dave and Kevin, who surprised everyone at the Secret Control (gotcha Michael!  Not on Judd Rd!), and Vinny and Theo, who did some sightseeing, set up at mile 169, and then wandered back along the route after awhile.  And not to forget the Main Co-Organizer Susan O, who designed and submitted the route, and did much of the pre-event running around.  And all of our pre-riders, some of whom were not local and could not infer from tribal memory what some of the cues really meant.





After sending the riders off, getting Vinny all his supplies, and waiting out the hour, I set out to the start point for the 200k perm I planned to ride.  The speediest 400k rider assured me he wouldn't finish before 8pm, which would give me enough time to do my ride.

The temperatures were going to be extreme - over 100, which for Portland is awfully darn hot.



South about 6-ish miles to NE Broadway and NE 22nd, where I inhaled a pumpernickel bagel with lox cream cheese, then off.  Eventually the route had me headed west on SE Stark, which turns into SE Water and eventually dumps me on the Springwater Corridor Trail.  All well and good, except when I got to the part where Stark turns into Water, there was a train.  A very long train.  A very long stopped train.  Ok, then.  A bit of mental navigation, and I turned around on Stark, turned right on SE 6th, followed it all the way to SE Madison, west on Madison. crossing the tracks on the Hawthorne Bridge approach and dropped down to the Esplanade, which would get me right to the Springwater Corridor Trail.

And, where the trail turned onto SE Umatilla, I was zapped with a Secret Control as well :-)  Good morning David!

Continued east, not too hot yet. Eventually off the trail and into Boring.  The clerk at the control told me several riders had stopped there - once on the Springwater Trail, I was on the same route until the turnaround.  Sucked down more liquids and continued on.  Eventually I ended up on Judd Rd, one of the two annoying climbs on this route. (7-9%).  It got warmer here.  But the reward for suffering on Judd is the drop on Van Curen. I was about a mile shy of getting up to the speed limit (45mph).  Next time maybe.

Getting hotter and hotter.  I stopped at a skate park on the outskirts of Estacada for more water.  And stopped again at Promontory Point, 13 miles down the road for more water.  The headwind on Faraday Rd was pretty stiff; it was like riding into a blast furnace.



Then up to Ripplebrook.  If the headwind had been anything like the stretch on Faraday, it was going to be a very long day.  The first 10-15 miles actually weren't all that bad.



Between bridges 3 and 4, though...  It was really hot.  My bottles were hot (yes, I was drinking).  The last 5 miles was painful.  My feet were really, really hurting (this much foot pain is very new), and, then, of course, there was the heat.  I pulled off the road at one point, took off the helmet and just sat.  One motorist (of MANY) asked if I was ok.  I would have killed for some cold water, but he didn't have any.  Shortly after that was the Indian Henry climb.  I walked it, which is a first, for me, ever.  It did occur to me to turn around and go back down, but the store was now less than three miles away, and it was the closest source of cold liquid things.



Topped that pitch, and started pedaling again.  I was also back in the shade.  And, maybe a mile before the store, who should I see but Paul W.  He was not having fun, and decided to turn back.  He thought I had already gotten to the store and turned around.  Hah.  No.  We went to the store, and I got a bag of salty chips and a bottle of Gatorade, and we sat in the shade.  At one point I moved and my right quad made like to cramp up.  Paul tossed me some Endurolytes.  Had a nice visit.  I've been on many rides with Paul, but not had much opportunity to have a real conversation.  Back into the store for liquids for the bottles, and then, after a really long sit (the control had closed 30+ minutes ago), we decided to head back.  Just before we left, Norm C rode up.  He wasn't having fun, either, but he was going to get his wife to collect him in Estacada.  Texted the control workers to expect 2 fewer riders.



Except for the drop at the top, the downhill was not nearly as much fun as it had been in June.  Paul: "has the wind shifted on us?"  Toward the bottom, Paul allowed as how he needed water - we stopped at Promontory Point, went inside, and I flopped into a chair and sat.  Big cups of ice.  The smart thing to do would have been to eat something, but I think I was past smart.  I was drinking calories, but not eating them. We used up all our warm water by dumping it on our heads, arms, and legs.  I dumped some on my jersey as well.  It lasted most of the way into Estacada.

Headed off to Barton.  Did I mention that it was hot?  Really, really hot?  Over 100 degrees hot?  Our bottles were hot again.  Finally pulled over into some shade, and flopped down.  Paul offered up some cold water- his Camelbak was still cold.  After awhile he said that while he wasn't as far along with the heat issues, he wasn't very far behind.  I thought about it a bit, then called Fitz and asked if he would please pick us up at the Barton Store.  Called David to tell him I was abandoning.



By this point I'd gotten a text that another rider was abandoning, and then one more rider called from Maupin to say his ride was finished as well.

Laid around in the shade for awhile longer (tried to get up twice, got a bit dizzy), then rode the last 4 miles to Barton at a very relaxed pace.  We got some cold drinks, and, not 15 minutes later, Fitz appeared.  We must have been sitting in that shade a good long time, because it isn't that quick a drive.

So much for that perm.  Sigh.  Back to the start location, where I checked in, and we all got showers, and went to find some dinner.  The Island Cafe on Hayden Island is kind of fun, and it was certainly the right temperature to be eating outside on a floating restaurant.  Paul and I demolished some burgers; Fitz was more restrained - "I didn't earn that".

Back to the hotel - no one had finished yet.  Got a text from Vinny estimating a midnight finish for the speedy riders.

Sat around.  Dozed.  Probably fell asleep.  At midnight, there was a knock on the door.  Opened it to find Michael W (first finisher), and Vinny and Theo.  Finish card rituals, visiting, then Theo took Michael home.  He came back (he had Vinny's truck :-) ) and more sitting around.  Kevin showed up for his shift right about the time Del finished, just before 1am.  He ate a bagel and visited for awhile, then took himself home as well. I turned control over to Kevin and fell asleep.  Vinny and Theo fell asleep.  For all I know, Kevin fell asleep.

Woke up at 4:45.  So did Vinny - "got to get home before the traffic picks up!".  So we went out and moved the control equipment and supplies back to my car.  He and Theo departed, and shortly after that, Kevin left as well.

One more phone call - a rider abandoning in Troutdale.  He had deliberately gone off course on Devil's Backbone.  The climbing finally did him in.

More dozing, then a call from Shun.  The folks at the front desk were great - they'd sign the card, and then send the rider up.  They thought this was great fun.  Shun ate a bit, took a shower, and got a nap.  Just one rider still out there.

I went down to get some breakfast, sitting where I could see folks come in.  And just as I sat down, Ed finished! Yay!  He joined me for breakfast, as did Shun.  Shun headed out.  Ed got a shower and a nap.  I loaded the car, sat around, and eventually wondered if Ed was rested enough to get home.  He was, so we cleared out of there.

I went home and was catatonic until we went to the Portland Timbers game.  Catatonic there as well, and not at all sad to leave at the half because Fitz wasn't feeling great either.

For the day, about 109 miles.  For the 102 miles of the perm, I averaged 13 mph.  I just spent so much time off the bike in the heat, though, that finishing in time just wasn't going to happen.

Permanent #1603: Frankfort to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse (and back again)

(It's official!)

Route map/gps track
Cue sheet
Reg form




I always take a bike along when we go to the family cottage just north of Frankfort, MI.  My favorite ride is the loop around Crystal Lake (25+ miles), but for several years, I've been wanting to get in a longer ride.  And, every year, something distracted me from that (sister-in-law: "want to pick berries and make pie?" well, YEAH).

Not this year.  After looking at the maps, it seemed to me that a ride with a real destination would be best.  I'm a sucker for lighthouses.  The Grand Traverse Lighthouse was just about the right distance away.

I started from the cottage.  For the perm, you'd start in Frankfort proper, a few miles to the south.



Much of the route is on US Bicycle Route 35, although the route is not signed.

The cue sheet makes it sound a bit more complicated than it really is.  Except for the Sutter cut-off early on, the route follows M-22 all the way until it dead-ends at M-201 in Northport.  Then north from there, mostly, but not always following the LIGHTHOUSE THIS WAY signage.

Given many of the road and place names, it would appear that much of the population is descended from Scandinavian immigrants.

Get to Leelanau State Park and the lighthouse, sightsee, and then return the way you came.

The route is pretty flat - Sutter is the steepest bit, and there are noticeable climbs south of Empire and south of Northport.

There are many, many cyclists out along this route.  So many that I was never asked where I started from or how far I was riding.  Drivers are very considerate.

What you'll see:











all the pics here

Tygh Valley Traveller 400k Tantalizing Teasers

Some notes and pics from the pre-drive.

Pause at the Ripplebrook Store for snacks.  They have free wi-fi, flush toilets, and a good stock of snacks and drinks.

First order of business was to explore the Anvil Creek Portage.  This is the adventure part of the brevet.  At about 84 miles, the road will stop.  But you won't!

Go to the end of NF-4810.  Go past the orange bollards.

Pretty soon, you'll run out of pavement.

Keep going.  You can probably ride most of it, but it is a short hike.

Then there's Anvil Creek - we crossed it without getting our feet wet, and I bet it will be easier having the bicycle to balance with.

Then you have to go up the bank.

And turn right - there's the road again!

Except you'll come to a big pile of dirt.  Go around it on the path to the left, because the dirt pile is steep and slippy and has glass bits in it.  The path through the trees is much nicer.

Then along Timothy Lake - we are planning a staffed control at the Pine Point Campground, just across the Timothy Lake Dam on NF-57.  Loads of new water spigots and new, clean pit toilets.

You'll now be working your way toward Maupin - long descent and you are on the dry side of the Cascades.  Drop down into Maupin (yes, this implies a climb out), and tank up on food.

Then up, and over to Tygh Valley.  Wonderful descent, but the left turn is before the bottom of the hill.  There is a store in Tygh Valley; it closes at 6:00pm.  We'll have an info control question for those arriving after 6pm.  This is why you needed to stock up in Maupin.

Turn around and almost immediately turn right onto Wamic Market Rd.  About 5 miles out of Tygh Valley, there is the Sportsman's Pub and Grub on the right.  The kitchen stays open until 10pm.  

Somewhere along here there are real cattle guards (just ride straight over them, bzzzzt!) and horizontal expansion cracks, for about 5 miles.

Then a long stretch (approx 34 mi) climbing gradually up to US-35.  You will join up with US-26, and stop in Government Camp.  Public toilets at the north end of town (where you hop off US-26), a Shell Station, which will likely be closed, and further along, the Huckleberry Inn which is open 24 hours, and is reputed to serve great breakfast meals.  Pancakes at midnight!

(brief nostalgic aside - I ate breakfast at the Huckleberry Inn just about every Saturday during ski season in the late 70's and early 80's.  The waitress was... memorable.  I asked at the Govy Store if she was still working.  No, she's retired.  You are safe.  The cashier at the store and I shared a good laugh over that.)

You can also get something to eat at Charlie's, across the street from the Govy Store.  The Govy Store closes at 9pm.

Pull on your extra layers, wind shell and warm gloves.  The descent on Hwy 26 will cool you down right quick.

But yet, you are not done with the climbing.  Eventually you will be on SE Marmot Rd, which starts out fairly harmlessly.  But then it gets, as Theo puts it - lumpy.  Quotes from an anonymous co-organizer along this stretch: "Marmot Rd is kind of evil.  Holy S----.  I need a bigger cassette!" followed by "good company might be critical at this juncture"

SE Shipley - ditch naps inadvisable on this stretch.

SE Gordon Creek Rd - innocuous until the steep descent (truck on a triangle) sign.  Impressive hairpins along here.  Ride carefully!

So, from 6 or so miles into SE Marmot Rd, until you arrive at the Historic Columbia River Hwy, it is a challenging 20 miles.

Then, all downhill/flat from here to the finish.  SE Bell Rd is a wonderful descent in the daylight, but in the dark, if you don't know it, exercise caution.

More later after the pre-ride!

Olney Gothic Logger 300k

The Portland Crew designed a new 300k route, and we got to ride it this past Saturday. Among others, Lesli was going to be riding. This was great, I haven't gotten a chance to ride with her since November.



One bike update - put on the Grand Bois Cypres tires. The Hutchinsons were still hanging in there just fine, but with over 4000 miles on them, I was getting a bit uneasy about taking them on long rides.

The start was in Cathedral Park, under the St Johns Bridge. I found Ed and David waiting to check us in. Ed was looking at my bike... "Lights, good. Where is your reflective gear?" Wait, what, I am getting a bike inspection? Pointed at the pocket with the reflective gear, and got a brevet card with the Bike Inspection box initialed. My very first bike inspection, ever.



There had been a message that it might be challenging to get to the first control at Birkenfeld in time, if one was a slow to medium pace rider, and we should just make the next time cut and it would be ok. Being at the slower end, I took that as a personal challenge. There were two climbs on the way, NW Newberry, which is about 2 miles long and spectacularly steep (it feels great halfway up when the the grade drops below 10%), and the Scappoose Vernonia Highway, which isn't steep, but it goes on for about 10 miles. Newberry was getting steeper in my mind; I had climbed it once, several years ago on the go-fast bike, back when we had weekly evening hillclimb rides. I told Michal he'd love Newberry.





And off we went. First, up, around, and over the St Johns Bridge (oh FUN!), then out on Hwy 30 through Linnton, and up Newberry. Michal had gone on ahead; Lesli and I worked our way steadily up. She didn't want to know the incline :-) and we got to the top; no pauses. I was very pleased with myself. West on Skyline. After crossing Cornelius Pass, we saw a couple of cyclists ahead. Eventually we passed one, who was fiddling with his bike. It was Michal, and he said he'd catch up. Lesli says he has two speeds, normal and bionic, especially where hills are present. I'd noticed.

Got to the top of Rocky Point, our first interesting descent. I've ridden up it, but never down. 3 miles, 6% constant grade. Technical. Lesli, Michal, and I made it down without incident, and I might have taken it a bit faster than I would before.

Into Scappoose, where we stopped for some coffee at a gas station before tackling the next climb. Norm and Paul came up as we were getting ready to push off. Enjoyed the climb up. Conversations about some "next bicycles" and custom builders, and what would be wanted on those bikes.  Interesting to listen, but I'm actually NOT considering another bike at this point.  Met Shun from the Tri-Cities, chatted with Bill for a bit, kept going up. Nice smooth new pavement. Then the 10 mile descent with a few rollers.  I had fun punching it on some of the downhills, then zipping past the others on the uphill.  To Michal: "this is how I drop people on hills who aren't you".







Then at the bottom, and off to Birkenfeld. Munched on a lot of Cyndi's yummy cookies along the way.  Got there with over an hour to spare. Bought water, topped up bottles, applied sunscreen, took pictures. Kevin offered up some flavored chips, but my stomach just wasn't interested. My second VO water bottle cage broke. I can't recommend the Moderniste cage; two for two. Kevin had some electrical tape, which made for good on the road repair.



Westward toward Olney. Brief pause at the elk refuge (no elk visible), and eventually started up. There must have been some moped convention going on; periodically we'd be passed by flotillas of buzzing mopeds. Amusing. Started falling behind.





Shortly before the summit I got a drink, and had some water bottle reinstalling issues, resulting in a topple over situation. Of course, by that point,they'd summitted, and were gone. I found them 10 or so miles later at the Olney store (91 mi). Saw a few riders headed back when I was about 4 or so miles out.  Happening place. Many riders still there.





Ate a yogurt parfait, and sucked down a Cranberry Grapefruit Sobe, my control at a convenience store now drink of choice.  Maybe I'll go back to the Doubleshots, but they might be tweaking my stomach a bit.  The Sobe has the same number of calories, but no caffeine, and a lot more liquid.

Then back.  We did have a tailwind for the ascent (nice).  I commented to Lesli that I had no awesome, my riding style is diesel (keep on going).  Eventually they pulled ahead, but I kept plugging along, and after some time, found them again.  Thanked them for waiting.  They assured me they hadn't stopped, but would have waited at the summit.  Must have slowed then :-)  Thank you!



The tailwind started cutting out on the run back to Birkenfeld.  Another short stop at the Elk Refuge, then on to the Birkenfeld store.  The proprietor was sitting out on the porch, and told us we were amazing.  Jeff came up and wanted to know where we'd be stopping in Vernonia.  That was an advanced question; we hadn't given it any thought.  My stomach was a bit crabby (maybe 320 calories of yogurt parfait and 250 calories of Sobe in one go was a bit much?), so I crunched on some antacids.  Topped up water, and left again.  It was warm, but not the stifling heat of last weekend's 200k.  I was going through a stretch of (as MG puts it) liking more the idea of randonneuring, than the actual required riding :-)



As we rode along the Nehalem River, my stomach calmed down (yay!), and I started feeling better.  It is weird, riding in the summer, all of a sudden it is 6:30 in the evening.  How did that happen?  Time goes away.  We stopped at the gas station - I got a Sobe, some hard boiled eggs to split with Michal, and a bagel.  Well, the Sobe and egg were good; the bagel wasn't working.  Did eat some fruitcake.  There was an offer of chips with sour cream flavoring.  Nope.  I have better luck with plain potato or corn chips.

We headed off to the Banks Vernonia trail.  On the way, some person was upset that we were riding on the ROAD - "hey, there's a trail over there".  Yeah, there is, all the way from Vernonia Lake, but then we would not have been in Vernonia enriching the local economy.

The Banks Vernonia trail is one of my very favorite places to ride, and it was very restoring on this day.  Sunlight slanting though the trees, and, as it was in the evening, very few other trail users.

And, 20 miles later, we found ourselves at the Banks Trailhead (164 mi), with Ed staffing a Secret Control with a very great variety of junk food.  And bananas.  Another round of topping up bottles.  Jeff A joined in with us here.



Ever since Vernonia, I had been totally on autopilot.  Banks, through North Plains, east on West Union.  Alerted the others that West Union east of Cornelius Pass is not entirely bicycle-welcoming - busy area, and the road still thinks it is a 2 lane, no shoulders farm road in many spots.  We got onto NW Springville (the very last climb) from NW 185th.  I have not done it that way; I take the park and rec paths through the greenway a bit south of there, and manage to miss all the preliminary rollers :-) and traffic.  This is one of the hills I take myself onto for climbing work.



Michal: "where's the climb?"  Well, not for a bit, and it wasn't a long climb.  He just wanted it to be done with.  Turned the corner and started to go noticeably up.  Red lights eventually vanished up ahead, but I finally saw the streetlights that marked the intersection with Skyline and found everyone at the top, but for Kevin - he went on.  Pulled on my jacket and clipped on the Ixon for the descent.  NW Germantown is not a long descent - maybe 2 miles, but it is steepish, and technically curvy toward the bottom.  Lots of fun in the daylight, less so at night.

I was happy to have the secondary light - the white edge paint was gone in many spots.  We stayed together on the descent, and picked up some trailing automobiles, who were crabby at the bottom.  We were still taking the curves faster than they were.  Oh well.



Across the bridge, to find a bunch of blinkie lights at the first turn.  David had moved a block up from the park, because "it was getting really dark down there".  We confused some finishing Seattle to Portland riders. Down to the cars, said goodbyes to Michal and Lesli, and then had a really, really hard time driving home.  A short nap in the car prior would NOT have been a bad idea.

Finished at 11:16pm, so 17:16 total elapsed time.  13.6 moving average, 10265 vertical feet.

Other than the broken water bottle cage, no flats or mechanicals.  Those Grand Bois Cypres tires roll very nicely.

I think I have now arrived at the mental place where riding a 300 doesn't evoke much, if any, stress.

Sweetpea rolled over 8000 miles on this one.  My YTD miles are now at 3700.

All the pictures here

ridewithgps route here