2009 High Pass Challenge

The first part of this blog will appear in the October Cascade Courier Newsletter. I also share additional comments that will not be included in the Courier.

On September 13th, the third annual High Pass Challenge was once again blessed by spectacular late summer weather. The weather was dialed in so perfectly that the riders had benign winds on “Windy” Ridge, and a 20+mph tailwind assisting them on the last part of the ride.

The High Pass Challenge is yet another Cascade event superbly produced and organized by the highly efficient Cascade staff and volunteer team. The HPC is the signature event of Cascade’s High Performance Cycling Team, and it is designed to be a very challenging event for fit riders. The High Pass Challenge was created to give “high performance” cyclists a late season hard ride they could then fondly recall over the ensuing rainy months. To make the event unique, it’s a challenge, complete with finisher “precious” medals given to people who ride the route within certain cutoff times.

This year’s event was a sellout! We expect the ride to sell out every year, and I would encourage our loyal High Pass Challenge regulars to register early for the 2010 event, where we will likely again have a 600 rider limit.

Cyclists came from far and wide to this year’s HPC. We had riders from as far away as Boston. CBC staffer Kim Thompson’s brother in law, Steve, flew in from Anchorage just to ride the event! A rider who calls his home Wellington, New Zealand, was visiting Seattle and decided he just had to make the HPC. At the finish line, 110 riders met the Gold Challenge with a finish before 2 PM.

Riders started in Packwood, and then climbed 4600’ up to Mt. St. Helens’ Windy Ridge Viewpoint. From Windy Ridge, the riders returned to Packwood via quiet roads lined by lush forest. Total mileage was 113 miles with 7650’ of climbing. Judging by the feedback on event day, the event route was not only tough, it was also noteworthy for its scenic beauty, as well as the overall low volume of auto traffic.

Many riders enthused about the HPC. CBC Board member and Team HPC member Ed Zuckerman had this to say about the event: “The HPC was a masterfully organized ride. Of course, this is what I have come to expect from the professionalism of the CBC organized events, yet this one in particular had the feel of a perfectly timed Swiss watch!”

Team HPC member Tim Hennings said, “The event was very well run and organized. Thanks a ton to the whole crew! I thought the food stops were terrific. I noticed a younger crowd than at other CBC events - that is a very good trend. I really love the ride; in fact it is my favorite CBC event.”

Reg Norberg, another Team HPC rider commented, “It was a great ride...well supported! I had no traffic problems at all. The last part of the ride on Highway 12 was really fast with the tail wind. Too bad we can't count on that every year!”

From Team HPC member Brian Unger: “It was my first High Pass Challenge, so approaching the ride I was a bit nervous about just how challenging it would be. In the end, I think the Team HPC rides and clinics helped a lot, as well as the camaraderie of the team members during the ride and afterwards. I ended up stopping at the Wakepish stop. The route guide said water only, but I was pleasantly surprised to find bananas as well. My next stop was at Windy Ridge, which was very well stocked. I’d never been to Windy Ridge before. What a spot! The views on the way up were just amazing, and I had a blast descending back down the road. Overall, I have to say it was an incredible ride. The support and logistics by Cascade were great, and like they say in real estate; location, location, location or I suppose in this case route, route, route, and the HPC has it.”

Karl Huber, another Team HPC member reported, “I was all alone out on Cispus Road. No other rider could be seen ahead or behind me, really an eerie feeling for a supported ride. I slowed and relaxed and realized it was so beautiful to be out there on such a gorgeous fall day with no traffic, smooth asphalt and no noise! I feel that most riders who attempt HPC are more experienced than at the typical event, and that keeps the stress level down.”

Finally, a comment from Team HPC member Mark Klausen: “Support for the ride was consistently outstanding. The route was well marked and there were Cascade people at all critical points.”

For more on Team HPC Powered by Cycle U, visit the High Performance Cycling page at Cascade.org.

Thanks to all of the volunteers who made this event possible, as well as to the entire Cascade staff for organizing and delivering such a polished event. Special thanks go out to Rod Ludvigsen of the Special Uses Group at Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Without the support of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, it would not be possible to hold the HPC.

I know I’m looking forward to next year’s High Pass Challenge, and hope to see many of you out there on the route next year!

Now, here are my own personal thoughts that I didn’t think were appropriate for the Courier. I don’t know if anyone else noticed a few things that were different with this year’s High Pass Challenge, but I did. It appears to me that we have reached our target audience. Whereas during the first two HPC’s we had a large number of people not finish within the 10 hour limit, this year we seemed to have a collection of very serious and fit cyclists. While we certainly don’t want the HPC to become “elitist”, it is designed to be a very challenging event for strong riders. It’s not the STP; we have a 600 rider limit, not 10,000, and the route itself is very difficult.

We had a serious accident at this year’s HPC. The crash occurred at the one lane bridge above Iron Creek, and the rider somehow plummeted off of the bridge and fell 30’ or more into the gorge beneath the bridge. The rider is expected to make a full recovery, and that is wonderful news. Anybody who rode in the event likely believes that this rider was extremely fortunate, as the potential for very dire injuries or worse certainly was a possibility.

The purpose of this column is not to lay blame, or dwell on circumstances that may or may not have contributed to the accident. Since there were no eye witnesses and the rider himself has no recollection of the crash, it appears that we will never know what happened. I do think it is worth doing a little postulating about some potential factors in the hope of reducing the chances of another very serious crash.

When we were working on the concept for the HPC, we thought it would be nice to give the event a unique twist; we went with a finishing time medal system to give the riders a challenge. We couldn’t predict whether our medal system would be popular, or how riders would view it. One thing is for sure, we never had any intention in making the event into a “race”. The USFS would never condone such an event, and CBC has no desire in producing one.

In this year’s event, 110 riders managed to finish before 2 PM and earn gold. Based on what I saw, about half of these riders carefully calculated what it would take to get in before 2, and monitored their progress along the way. They stopped for food, chatted with the Cascade staff and volunteers, and seemed to really be enjoying themselves. This is exactly what we envisioned when I started working with Cascade on the event concept.

The other half of the 110 gold earners were clearly involved in a “race”. Of those 50-60 riders, I am going to guess that while all were strong riders; it’s probable that about half of them were highly skilled and experienced riders. Perhaps they had done some stage racing, or maybe they had done a lot of high-speed descending in Europe. Of the 50-60 riders who were really going for it, I am going to guess, and that’s all it is, that half of them were in way over their heads when it came time for the technical descents. We had reports of riders making sketchy passes of other cyclists, crossing the center line, and coming close to riders climbing on the other side of the road. Unlike a race, not only were the roads not closed to car traffic, there were riders (and cars) on the same section of road going in opposite directions. One of the great things about the HPC is that most of the route is in the shade. That said, many of these technical sections lie in the shade, and many of them occur in the only area of the entire route where there is broken pavement, holes, and cracks. At the start of the event, we warned riders about the bridge, about the shade, and about the rough sections.

Every rider who went down Rt. 25 and across the bridge first went up the same bridge. In both directions, there was signage well in advance of the bridge alerting riders of the one lane restriction. There were full sized stop signs at each end of the bridge, made necessary by the fact that it was difficult to see whether there was a car approaching from the other direction. While we will never know what happened on that bridge, it’s hard to imagine that it’s possible a crash could happen to a rider who came to a stop at the bridge.

I rode the HPC in 2007, the inaugural year, and I got the gold. Maybe because it was very cold on the ride, it seemed like all of the riders made stops for food, and to warm up. I never got the sense of taking part in a race; we rode hard just to stay warm! The weather has been perfect the last two years, and clearly a different attitude has prevailed.

Tracy and I volunteered as a team in 2008 and 2009, and it was a blast being around hundreds of riders who were enthused about what they were doing. Due to the accident, we were late getting back to Packwood, and therefore I didn’t see the first riders come in. What I can tell you is that there were no prizes, and outside of those 50 or 60 riders, I don’t think anyone cared who “got first”. After all, there was no first place to get. I suppose I could ride the HPC again, and I likely would try for the gold, but I guarantee you that I won’t be among those first 50 riders coming back down to Iron Creek, no matter what time I arrive at Windy Ridge.

1st Annual Volcano Tour

Day One (September 10th) Miles: 122 Climbing: 7367’ Triple Bypass Route Clockwise: Tracy drops me off in Greenwater at 6:30 AM—Cayuse Pass—Chinook Pass—Clifdell—Nachez—Rimrock Lake—White Pass—Packwood

Day Two Miles: 80 Climbing: 6000’ Skate Creek Loop Route Counter-Clockwise: Packwood—Steven’s Canyon—Backbone Ridge—Paradise—Longmire—Ashford—Skate Creek Rd.—Packwood

Day Three Miles: 76 Climbing: 6663’ HPC Route: Packwood—Randle—Iron Creek Campground—Windy Ridge—Iron Creek CG—Tracy meets me as planned and we drive to Packwood, where it is 100 degrees

Day Four Tracy and I volunteer at the third annual High Pass Challenge

I intend to make this an annual September trip, and perhaps doing it solo is really the way to go. I had a blast! The trip requires a perfect weather window, so one must be able to act on short notice. Also, it is so much more pleasurable to be riding after Labor Day, when the summer Rainier crowds have vanished. Ideally, every year I will tie this trip in with volunteering at the High Pass Challenge, unless I ride in the event.

I really enjoy the base camp concept. Not having to relocate to a new motel everyday is nice, and I seem to rest much better. Having my recovery food already in place enables me to relax and enjoy myself. Before I even checked in to the Cowlitz River Lodge, I rolled by the grocery store and stocked up.

It’s important to think out your timing and loop direction, as your choice can greatly influence traffic conditions and the weather you will experience. Going mid-week and off-peak in September makes the weather a little riskier, but guarantees extremely light traffic.

Having ridden a lot at Rainier, I kind of know the traffic patterns. On this trip, it wouldn’t have made much difference, as there was hardly any traffic anywhere, even over White Pass (Rt. 12) mid-day. As far as the weather, I was happy to be on Skate Creek Rd. at the end of my second day. At the “Packwood 4 miles” sign, it was 73 degrees, and I was in the shade. Four miles later, I was in the sun big time, and it was at least 90 degrees. While I didn’t enjoy the rough road conditions on Skate Creek, I definitely enjoyed the shade.

Going to Packwood to ride is not like going to a quaint village in the French Alps, but the people are friendly, and the location is ideal (well, not as ideal as Chamonix). The Cowlitz River Lodge offers a free continental breakfast, mini-fridges in the room, and a super cold air conditioner—all nice to have on those long cycling days. I guess the major issue is a lack of good restaurants, but I never have a problem finding something I like when I have a voracious appetite going day after day. Saving those three pieces of pizza from Thursday night’s dinner was the best choice I made on the whole trip. Upon returning from the Skate Creek Loop, I fired up the microwave and was eating right after I set foot in my motel room.

There are at least four really good (and really hard) days of riding available using Packwood as a base. In addition to what I did, it would be a great out and back ride to Sunrise via Cayuse Pass. I rode White Pass from the east, but riding from the west (Packwood) would give you an almost 3500’ climb. The next time I ride the Triple Bypass, I’d like to do it in a counter-clockwise direction, which would require doing White Pass first from the west. Finishing up the ride with a long descent from the top of Chinook Pass would be classic.

On Thursday, September 10th, Tracy dropped me off around 6:30am (I drove down and then she went to work!) in Greenwater, and I forgot to remove my trail running shoes that I had driven with! I wound up strapping them to the Camelback pack I used to get my stuff down to my Packwood base camp. This gave me the aerodynamics of a refrigerator, making descending a noticeably slower process. I had never worn a pack while riding a bicycle for an extended time, and it really wasn’t that bad, despite the heat and 122 miles I rode that day. I still prefer using my Moots Tailgater system for fast and light touring, but I only had to transport stuff for one day on this trip, and total weight was only about 4 pounds, even with the extra shoes.

As usual, a minimalist approach was required, and all I took with me were a pair of flip flops (plus the extra running shoes!), a Capilene t-shirt, and nylon running shorts. Yes, I had a toothbrush, but not much else, and I didn’t bring a book. This was a big mistake, as we have not watched cable television for over 7 years, and I was a little bored after the day’s ride was done. I tried the TV, but it was just so bad! I wound up taking my time at dinner, and going to bed early.

The plan was for Tracy to drive down from Seattle on Saturday and meet me somewhere on the return route from Windy Ridge. I started about an hour later than I planned, as I decided to linger and chat at breakfast, and then wait for the sun to warm Rt. 12 down to Packwood. After Tracy met me near Iron Creek, we headed back into the heat at Packwood, and later on enjoyed a great dinner hosted by Steve H. and other Team HPC friends. The next day’s weather was perfect for the third annual High Pass Challenge, making for a great conclusion to my Volcano Tour.

Chelan Redux and 8-30-09 Hills of the West Coast

As I was riding in Chelan last weekend, I was trying to think of a better town in Washington to serve as a cycling base camp. About all I could come up with is Seattle! The variety of terrain in the Chelan area is impressive, especially for climbing aficionados. You can do a traffic free 1500+’ climb to Echo Lake Ski Area literally out Tim’s front door, and that’s just for starters.

I really enjoyed riding the Chelan Century Challenge in June, and thanks to Tim’s invite, I was able to repeat much of the route. Tracy came along with me Thursday evening, and Tim even encouraged her to invite friends so that she would not be a cycling orphan. Mike and Jen arrived on Friday, and while Mike took a day to go hiking, Tracy and Jen hit the local wineries.

In addition to all of the available activities, the Chelan area also provides very well designed roads for cycling, and a local population that seemed quite comfortable with us.

Tim has had his house in Chelan for 16 years, and has cycled thousands of miles in the area. Much to my surprise, and his, in the last month he has managed to discover yet two more outstanding climbs. While I am sworn to secrecy, what I can say is that new development is not always all bad; there can be an upside for cyclists. When the necessary new road provides stunning views and dead ends high above Lake Chelan…I’ve said too much already! By the way, Tim’s house is on the far lakeshore about 1500’ below my left shoulder.

During Saturday’s ride, we were keeping track of our climbing to mileage ratio. After 21.5 miles, we already had 2895’ of climbing. We wound up with4800’ over 46.5 miles. Kind of like Cougar Mountain on steroids.

Speaking of steroids, and Cougar Mountain, perhaps some type of extra special juice could have helped 15 cyclists survive last Sunday’s HOWC. Here is Luke’s report on the final HOWC of the year at “summer pace”:

“We closed out the final month of furious summer pace HOWC riding with a climb packed day. The plan was to do two hard climbs on each of Cougar, Squawk and Tiger. Rather than thinking about any climb as ‘optional’, each was billed as having a ‘base’ and an ‘extension’. The idea is everyone does the base route and some choose to do the extensions. We had 15 riders today and I knew it would be tough to finish the entire menu:

Montreaux – Base to top of Village Park, extension up 173rd
Zoo – We all did it all! (Through the curves was Base)
Squawk - We all did it all! (Up 12th to Wildwood was Base)
North Tiger – Base to big cluster of mail boxes, extension up to end of road
South Tiger – Base to fire station, extension to top of 154th
Licorice on Cougar– Base to the start of SE 100th loop, extension through loop

We scratched South Tiger due to time limitations. The group hung tough through the first four climbs. SteveH had to bolt early and ditched the last climb. About 2/3rds of the remaining riders followed him back.

Jeff, Mike and I completed the entire route and several others did almost all of it. Credit goes to everyone for enduring some hard climbs today. It was nice to have three HOWC leaders there to keep everything smooth – thanks Emil and Jeff. Stand out climbing performances were delivered by Jeff and Mike. We had super strong, late-ride pulling after the climbs were finished from all the guys who remained.
- - -
Rider note: Typically, folks do not jump at the chance to lead the pack back over the bridge to the tunnel. The person who finally pulls gets the reward of being dropped - riders emerge from the draft and blaze past as the bridge deck turns upwards.

It was a little different today. Mike instinctively jumped up in front and led us all the way to the tunnel at a furious pace. His first target was the rider who had exercised a sketchy / annoying pass as the HOWC massed around that hairpin turn out of Enatai. That did not take him too long. He hammered on – climb included – up to the tunnel. Jeff and I were right behind him and neither thought to jump past as we approached the tunnel. We all just hung in the draft and appreciated his hard, late-ride effort.”

Sounds like everyone rode hard, and showed some class as well. I’ve always thought it very bad form to let someone do all of the work across the I-90 Bridge, and then blast by him on the bridge ramp. Better to ride up alongside and thank him for the effort, rather than make the rider in front a sacrificial lamb.

After all, camaraderie is really what group rides are all about, at least our group ride.

8-23-09 HOWC Report Passing the Torch

Miles: 71.4 Climbing: 4039’ Route: Downtown Seattle--Mercer Island--Factoria—Honda Hill climb—Eastgate Elementary—Newport Way to Issaquah—Highland Trail climb to Sammamish Plateau—Issaquah Fall City Rd—SE 40th—W. Snoqualmie Rd.—Tolt Hill Rd.—Rt. 203 north—Carnation Farm Rd.—Ames Lake Rd. climb—202 north—244th climb—Inglewood Hill Rd.—216th climb—212th—E Lake Sammamish—Issaquah—Sammamish Parkway—I-90 north frontage trail—Eastgate P&R—Mercer Island—Downtown Seattle Attrition Rate: 0% of 12 riders

Emil led his first HOWC today, and he pretty much took care of things from start to finish. For the first time in the six years of the HOWC, I actually had the crazy thought that this ride could still be going on 100 years from now. Long after all of us are gone, will some future generation be reading this blog’s archives to see how the Oldtimers survived the ride? I don’t have any kids, so it will be up to others to insure that the legacy of the ride continues. Down the road will there be a little Jeff, or little Luke or Emil to spearhead things? While it’s kind of a silly thought, it’s also kind of a nice one for me.

Based on intuition derived from six year’s experience leading the ride, I would have wagered early in the ride that at least two of our riders would not be with us at the end. I would have bet poorly, as both Jim and Mario dug really deep and hung in there. All of us dig deep on the HOWC. Churning up a steep climb or pulling into a headwind hurts everybody, no matter how strong a rider might be. It must have been pretty rewarding for Jim and Mario at the end of the ride to realize that yes, indeed, they pulled it off. I hope they come out again, as they are both good guys, and you just know they won’t quit.

It’s also rewarding to see how things progressed during the ride in terms of skill level and safety. We had a few people freely admit that they were not very experienced with group rides, and the HOWC is not really a good place to learn the basics. Our first paceline was a little ragged, and at our first stop at Tibbet’s Park, Emil made a few suggestions as to how to tighten things up a little. By the time we got to the opportunity for a long uninterrupted line on West Snoqualmie, we were operating like a finely oiled machine. The machine averaged almost 24mph for about five miles of riding directly into a pretty stiff headwind (at least by Seattle standards), so it was a good effort, but it was more satisfying to see all of our riders going smoothly. Even as fatigue built in all of us, I thought the group rode more cohesively the longer the ride went on.

I had kind of a weird day, in that early on my legs didn’t feel great, and I thought it prudent to hang in the draft and see how things developed. I was pleased that I was with the front group up every climb, and that I made every move. There were gaps behind me, but never in front of me. The legs hurt, but they were working. Late in the ride, I felt good enough to do some decent work on the front, so my reward for perseverance was to be pleasantly surprised at having a pretty good day when I didn’t expect it. Overall, I would say the pace was hard, but not super maniacal hard.

Thanks go out to Sami, Steve, and Nick, the three of whom did a lot of work on the front throughout the ride. Mark C. did some nice pulling before he left the ride to head home for a family obligation. Very late in our 72+ mile ride, Nick pulled us strongly back home across the I-90 Bridge, and just stayed there when we hit the uphill ramp. Pretty impressive, considering we had already knocked off 68 solid miles.

My best guesstimate is that I have ridden somewhere close to 10,500 miles on the HOWC. I had a flat today, and I’m pretty sure it was only my third one, and one of those was due to a presta valve separating from the tube. I can’t blame it on the “fragile” Vittoria 320tpi open tubular, as the rather large imbedded glass shard would have cut through just about anything. On Thursday, my friend Justin and I both received a ticket for “Not obeying the rights and duties of a motor vehicle operator,” which is a kinder and gentler (non-moving violation) version of running a stop sign. The officer was correct; we did indeed roll through a downhill stop at about 5mph, although he did point out that we did much better at the next one at the entrance to Seward Park. It’s a little ironic that both Justin and I have really made the effort to do our part to clean up cycling’s image by following the rules, and I even do my best to keep things clean on the HOWC.

Emil would like to lead the HOWC through the winter, and it’s great to have him onboard. I’m out of town next weekend, but Luke promises a special ride next Sunday, our last ride of the season at summer pace. Forget about 100 years from now. I think it best to take it week by week, and we have had some great Sundays.

I hope to see you on the road.

8-16-09 HOWC "E Ticket Ride" for a First Class Weekend

Miles: 57-62 Climbing: 4000’-5000’ Route: Downtown—Mercer Island—Coal Creek Parkway—May Valley—132nd climb on Tiger Mountain—Issaquah—Wildwood climb on Squak Mountain—Montreaux (Village Parkway) climb on Cougar—Montreaux directissima option to the school on top of Cougar (60th)—Pinnacle climb option—Forest—Coal Creek—Mercer Island—Downtown Attrition Rate: 15%, but we had a few riders deep in the Hurt Locker

Luke led the HOWC this past Sunday and here is his take on the day:

“I had this ride’s route set before I rolled out the door in the morning. I really didn’t care who showed up or how many. HPC in the Park (Rainier) is Thursday and I needed to tune-up. It seemed back loading three tough climbs on the HOWC would get the job done.

We had a rare double flat and dealt with a route diversion due to some construction early on. When things did finally get rolling for that long stretch on May Valley, the paceline was whipping around a lot more than I like. Funny thing. The group agreed to short pulls, no more than a minute. I counted 11 pulls the entire stretch of May Valley!

Climb #1 was the “Far North Tiger” up 132nd. This climb gets really steep near the end. After climbing a very hard ramp the turn reveals a nice view coupled with an unexpected continuance of the punishing grade. A few guys almost blew up on that part.

Climb #2 was “Wildwood on Squawk”. This is the most even gradient way to climb Squawk. It still delivers over 1000’ of climbing and is pretty tough so close to the previous climb.

Speaking of hard climbs after hard climbs, Climb #3 was “Mountreaux+Pinnacle”. For the core of six or so riders who stuck out all three climbs, this is where the suffer-based camaraderie emerged. Lots of chippy comments as we did the “+” - extending Montreaux up those two steep ramps to the utility crossing strip. Lots of big smiles as we finished off Pinnacle and enjoyed the view. Credit to Warren and Death Ride Bob for pacing this phenomenal workout.

This was one of my favorite HOWCs thus far in the season. A great workout on a beautiful day with good people. Bring on Mount Rainier!”

I did two group rides this past weekend, and I was a passenger on both. David did a great job on the Team High Performance Cycling ride on Saturday, and Luke ran a very smooth operation on Sunday. Leading the HOWC over the last six years has been a fantastic experience, and I must thank the Cascade Bicycle Club for giving me the opportunity. Every so often it is really nice to do the ride, but not have to be responsible for leading it. Thanks to Jeff, Luke, and soon to be HOWC ride leader Emil, we have a deep bench of strong riders who are eager to step in and safely lead the ride. Thank you, gentlemen!

Luke covered all of the bases today with a very hard and diverse route, “summiting” all three of the Issaquah Alps (Tiger/Squak/Cougar). Luke continued a theme I have been working with this summer: trying to offer a super hard route, but with options to cut out a few of the extreme sections. Some days, even super strong riders are not really into it, and it’s also great to have an alternative for someone who is just barely hanging on. As we all know, a cracked rider is a slow rider. The HOWC always gives even very strong riders plenty of opportunity to toast yourself, but we find the ride often goes more smoothly if we give an option to stay away from the toaster.

We had a really strong group overall today. The ride went smoothly even with a few riders in the Hurt Locker, mostly because they were able to take a “break” now and then. I felt good pretty much all day, and was climbing pretty strongly. I skipped a few of the 20+% grade sections, not so much to save the legs, but just because those type of climbs were not what I was looking for on Sunday…not that I really seek them out very often anyway. I got exactly what I needed and wanted from the ride, and I think the same can be said for most of the riders.

Usually when you lose someone, they are behind you. We managed to lose Reg when he was in front of us. He had gone ahead by zipping onto a bike path on Mercer Island while we waited at a light. I tried reaching him on his cell phone, and we waited for five or ten minutes. When we came upon him just past Mercer Slough, I was wondering if he caught a helicopter ride, but Reg said, "I figure if you guys are going to hammer, I’ll get a head start." Is this kosher?

About the only criticism I can level is one that Luke has already pointed out. Namely, the May Valley paceline went off at a very hard pace, but it wasn’t the smoothest train I have been on. I had a few ideas as to how to make it better, but I kept my mouth shut and just enjoyed the E Ticket Ride as a very content passenger.

Thanks, Luke and David.

8-9-09 Hills of the West Coast Gorillas in the Mist

Miles: 77.5 (more if you did the “extra leg”) Climbing: 4000’ Route: Downtown Seattle—Mercer Island—Honda Hill Factoria—Newport Way—Issaquah—Issaquah-Hobart Rd.—May Valley Rd.—148th—Jones Rd.—196th hill—232nd—224th—search for phantom Soos Creek Trail—various roads using my nose as a compass—Petrovitsky to the east—Whoops, Petrovitsky to the west—140th—Cedar River Trail—Renton—Rainier—Seward—Downtown Attrition Rate: technically 17%, but we had some cracked riders

For six years I have been leading the HOWC, and if there is one thing I take pride in, it’s the GPS in my head. About the only time I have been lost on a bicycle was in the French Pyrenees, when I took a wrong turn near the top of a climb, and went about a mile before I turned around. Then, it was a Cycle Miles Tour GPS that led me astray; today, I just messed up.

We were planning on a nice ride out through Snoqualmie Valley, but when we got to Cougar Mountain, every hilltop was shrouded in mist. Not wanting to risk the climb up to and over the Sammamish Plateau only to find pea soup fog, we changed plans and headed south. Since we had already been well to the east, I decided to cut off the loop that I use that takes us to the very south end of the Soos Creek Trail. Without going into the morbid details, we couldn’t find the trail from 224th. But it had to be there!

Yes, we had more hairy legs in the bunch than clean shaven ones, but I was the true gorilla in the mist today. Looking at the King County Bicycle Map, I still cannot understand how the 12 of us could not find the trail—one I have been on a thousand times—that intersects 224th, at least on the map. I’m going to have to go down there by myself to sort that one out. Not finding the trail in itself would not have been a big deal, as we actually discovered some nice riding roads in the Lake Youngs area. Trying to orient myself by looking at my tiny hand drawn map sketch while riding? Well, that was my true FUBAR.

Somehow I got myself turned around (more likely I had the map turned around), and we headed the wrong direction on Petrovitsky. I have all of the many routes we use on the HOWC in my head, and I only brought a map because I had never been on 224th. A lot of good that did! Ultimately, I got myself oriented and the group back on track, and the reality was that it was actually a good route, one that I will use again on the ride.

The ride was also unusual in that for what seemed like 60+ miles of the 77.5 we did, the group was fragmented into little groups. While sometimes the HOWC in the summer flows with the rhythm of a fine symphony, today we experienced more like the staccato burst of a machine gun. The ride is advertised as Super Strenuous in the summer, and those who have been on a typical summer ride have a pretty good idea as to what that entails. We need two key ingredients to pull it off: first, we need a strong group of 4-6 (unless Chris Ragsdale shows up), to share the work and lay down the pace-making. Then we need the rest of the gang to be capable of hanging on to the wheels. On a good day, I am one of the pacemakers. On a bad day, I am one of the wheel suckers. Forget about the climbs, we can wait around a little bit and re-group at the top. What I am talking about are the roads in between the climbs.

Having to make a few U-turns to retrace our route didn’t help, but we really didn’t have a very cohesive group today. Despite not riding as hard as we usually do, after we left Issaquah, about 2/3 of the group was off the back right from the get go. Our front group was slowly rolling away from stops, etc., but in my little mirror I would see the group split almost immediately every single time. If it would have happened early in the ride, I could have easily addressed it, but by the time we were in the MON (middle of nowhere), I couldn’t just let people get lost (even more than we were). That’s just not what we do on the HOWC. If I had it to do over again, I would have called a stop on May Valley before we headed south, given anyone who wanted to an opportunity to cut loose, and directions back to the ride start if required. At that point, anyone who elected to continue with the group would be responsible for staying with the group.

Don’t get me wrong, we had people digging deep and doing their best. You certainly can’t discount that, and the way to get faster is to ride faster with stronger riders. But we also had a group (including myself) who came out to ride hard with as few interruptions as possible. We never really got into full hammer mode, as we were aware that the harder we rode, the longer we would wait.

It wasn’t one of the smoothest HOWC’s on record, but we still had a good ride. I apologize for being a gorilla in the mist and getting us lost, and I apologize for not keeping the ride focused and rolling along like it normally does.

It just goes to show that even after six years of trying to run a really consistent hard group ride, I still have things to improve upon. Some lessons were learned today, and I’ll do my best to keep them in mind as I try to make the HOWC show as fun and safe as possible.

Fukeneh, Tom and Tracy go to Canada

What do Australia and Canada have in common? Both countries have a large land mass with a relatively low population. Could this be the main reason why the inhabitants of Australia and Canada are so incredibly friendly and outgoing, especially with strangers? It seems that these countries are also amongst the very few in the world where people seem to like, or at least tolerate, Americans.

Back in June 2003, I started a cycling trip in Whistler, BC that ultimately took me across BC to Jasper and Banff, and then back to Washington via Kootenay Provincial Park and northwest Idaho. I’ve been to Whistler several times, but had never spent enough time there to really scope it out. Tracy and I spent seven nights at the Whistler Westin in July, hiking, cycling, and hanging out.

Whistler is an incredibly cosmopolitan place. We have never been around so many friendly Australians, except in Australia itself. Combine Australians and Canadians with a strong representation from Europe and what you get is a recipe for a great party. The town reminded us of Chamonix, France except for the fact that about 50% of the Whistler population was speaking some form of English.

Summertime Whistler has a very young median age. It was great to be in a community where the norm was closer to a thin athletic body than a morbidly obese one. Oddly enough, once we were in BC, we didn’t see one Washington license plate. It was still easy to spot the occasional American in the crowd, but they were not likely from Seattle. Tracy and I are pretty fit and thin, and we felt like we meshed better with the young Whistler crowd vs. the typical American crowd, at least size-wise.

Economists talk about supply side and demand side. The demand side for calorie consumption is pretty high in a town with all of the sports and recreation opportunities that Whistler provides. In Canada, as with most of the rest of the world, the supply side is addressed as well. Restaurant potion size is under control, and there doesn’t seem to be quantity size based competition for the consumer food dollar. Smaller portions=smaller people. Here we were, pretty close to our home in Seattle, and for us it was very easy to imagine that we were in Europe or perhaps New Zealand, given the similar terrain.

Whoa, let me get on topic before I digress even further; after all this is supposed to be a blog about bicycling.

Mountain bikes (especially “downhill” bikes) are literally everywhere in Whistler, and this might be a turnoff for some people. Supposedly there is a $2000 fine for riding a bike through the main village, but if so, there must be a lot of wealthy riders in Whistler, as they ignored the law. Other than resort skiing, I have never understood the fascination of going downhill, certainly not without the fun of earning the descent with a great climb. The up has always been more important than the down for me.

Just 19 miles north of Whistler is the small and laid back town of Pemberton. Pemberton would be an excellent base camp for road cycling and fantastic hiking, if the glitz (and higher cost) of Whistler is not that interesting to you. The most notable ride is up Cayoosh Pass, a solid HC climb, and harder than anything in Washington State. You could make the argument that Hurricane Ridge is harder since it is longer, but Cayoosh is much steeper. It feels like a big climb in Europe.

As a matter of fact, Cayoosh Pass from the south is quite comparable to Alpe d’Huez. Consider the stats:

Alpe d’Huez: 8.6 miles in length at 7.9% average grade for a vertical rise of 3700’—first two miles at 9.7%

Cayoosh Pass: 8.4 miles in length at 7.9% average grade for a vertical rise of 3500’—first two miles at 10.25%

I have climbed both, and the biggest difference is that an average of 1000 cyclists ascend Alpe d’Huez on a summer day. On Cayoosh, hardly a car went by, and I was the only bicycle.
With Pemberton lying at 650’ elevation, and the surrounding peaks reaching up to 9500’, there is a sense of a spectacular vertical relief difference. The mountains surrounding Pemberton (and Whistler) are huge, heavily glaciated, and stunningly beautiful. There are some flat valley rides, as well as an easy climb over Pemberton Pass to the tiny town of D’Arcy. Tracy drove up and met me at the top of Cayoosh, and we hiked up to the Upper Joffre Lake, which lies in a spectacular cirque ringed by massive glaciers.

Road cycling in Whistler itself is mostly about the excellent system of bike and pedestrian paths. We walked and rode these paths to get to the various lakes scattered around the Whistler valley. As long as you aren’t in a hurry, it’s not a problem to deal with the bikes, kids, and unleashed dogs, but serious cycling it is not.

Just as in Seattle, Whistler was experiencing a record heat wave. On the bike it wasn’t a problem, as I started early, and I like the heat anyway. Around town, the heat was made more tolerable with a few ice cream cones, and I must admit that we chose a restaurant one night simply based on the fact that it was air conditioned. There were a few nights when the heat was cut by intermittent showers...the precursor to the area's terrible slew of wildfires. What it all comes down to is that Whistler (or Pemberton) is a great place for a summer outdoors based holiday. Other than the horrendous traffic through Vancouver and the return border crossing, it’s pretty close to perfect.