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Post-Ride Analysis

By the numbers:

 

Number of miles ridden: 780 in 14 days by Mac and Dick, 660 in 12 Days by John

 

Number of calories burned: 111,000

 

Days camping versus days in motel: 7/7

 

Number of beers consumed: 60

 

Ounces of whiskey:  50

 

Total feet climbed: 29,003

 

Distribution of Category Climbs: Cat 5 – 17, Cat 4 – 7, Cat 3 – 3, Cat 2 – 4, Cat 1 – 2, HC – 0

 

Number of mechanical issues – 1 flat, 1 loose pannier, 1 replaced rear hub

 

Miles walked: 2.6

 

Miles ridden in construction pilot truck: 1.1

 

Number of spills: 3

 

Number of self-inflicted injuries: 1

Day 12 - Cascade Locks to Portland

The last day starts out rough and gets worse as we take a Google suggested back road in an attempt to avoid the busy and narrow Historic Columbia River Highway. It is gnarly and straight up so we can ride for a 100 yards then push the bikes up 100 yards.

The road unceremoniously ends after about 2 miles at a cell phone tower. So it is back down, which also requires some walking due the extreme grade. So now we are back to square one after an hour. We borrow the Best Western computer to find a better route to Portland. We find a very nice bike path that, unfortunately, includes a very challenging walk up some stairs with a bike through obviously not designed for fully loaded touring bikes.
As the trail abruptly ends, we have only two options: the Columbia River Hwy or I-84. We opt for I-84 which at least has very wide shoulder and rumble strips (except for some very scary bridge crossings where the shoulder disappears). We ride about 20 miles on I-84 uneventfully and exit at Troutdale for a quick lunch and then some well marked bike paths for the last 20 into Portland (a very bike-friendly city as was Seattle and Bellingham). After several map checks and asking locals, we find the hotel and check in completely spent at the end of the boys' excellent adventure. We make a celebratory trek (almost a pilgrimage for Johnny) to the nearby Rogue Public House and Brewery. Tomorrow will be spent getting bikes packed up and shipped by a local bike store. None of us care how soon they make it home!

Day 11 - Eagle Cliff to Cascade Locks, OR

A nice gentle start out of camp today, then we start the two stage climb to Oldman Pass (appropriately named, no?) It is steep, then gradual, then steep again. We reach the top and have our favorite sighting: not elk, not bald eagle but the illusive "downhill truck sign"!

Another white knuckle descent for 5 miles and then a beautiful, slightly downhill cruise through with NO traffic and we are all thinking: " Now THIS is why we do this stuff" We turn towards Carson, WA & the Oregon border and encounter the ubiquitous afternoon headwinds and more traffic. We take a short stop in Carson for some lunch and then press on the last 7 miles to Cascade Locks. We go from the best riding conditions to the worst in a span of about 3 hours as we ride on Hwy 14, narrow and winding with minimal shoulders and lots of truck traffic. We cross the old, metal-grate Bridge of the Gods w/ spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge which those of us with acrophobia can't fully appreciate.

We find a campsite close to the river but even closer to a very busy train track but, again, free hot showers and easy access to food and adult beverages.

Day 10 - Randle to Eagle Cliff campground

Jerry discovers a flat rear tire as we get ready to leave the Randle motel, a short delay before breakfast at the Mt. Adams Cafe (same place as last night's dinner, great local ambiance) where Dick and I opt for the usual breakfast sandwich but Jerry branches out to a Denver omelet which is too big to finish (I tried to help him a little, being a team player). There is a very steep 2 mile uphill climb out of Randle but then some very nice cruising on Hwy 25 through the Gifford Pinchot Natl Forest. Some of the best riding of the trip. Five miles of steep climbing, then 5 of gradual and the last 4 straight up. We crest Elk Pass at 4,00 feet (the passes aren't even signed anymore so they seem almost anticlimactic).

We then head downhill to Clearwater Viewpoint, where we catch a magnificent view of Mt. Saint Helen's and meet "BMW Bill" who takes the picture and gives us some extra oatmeal. He is a rep for Ortleib bags (panniers) and Cervelo (high end road bikes) and gives Jerry a card to send us some free swag. A little more uphill follows before the hairiest downhill yet, bad sunlight, uneven pavement and 20 mph U-turns; very white knuckle. We find the only campground for miles, Eagle Cliff and check into a great big site and we are the only ones in camp. Again, the other two key criteria are met: easy access to beer and firewood. Unfortunately, Dick thinks the guy living in the converted bus (much like the one in "Into the Wild") has the potential to slice us up and feed us to his dog, so he has a somewhat restless night.

Day 9 - La Wis Wis to Randle

This was supposed to be our only rest day but we opt to book some miles as there is not much to do in camp (you may know that Jerry is a tad hyper). But since we are in no real hurry, we have the luxury of our 1st morning camp fire. We take a steep but unloaded 1/2 mile climb out of the campground and then to the Ohanapecosh Visitor Center in Mt. Rainer NP. Since Paradise has low visibility there is no point trying to hitch a ride up there (it is, after all, about 25 miles and 2,500 ft of climbing!) so we head back to camp and some PB&J's made with Dave's Killer Bread from Carrie's delivery.
We leave camp and make the 1/2 mile climb again, this time fully loaded. so we have ended up with 12 additional miles w/ the trip to the park. It's mostly downhill but with a strong headwind where we resupply from "Liquor Store Larry" who gives us a tiny funnel which he says he gives to "touristas for pasties". Next up is 15 more miles into a brutal headwind to Randle where we opt to stay in a pretty run-down hotel for $40 over the crappy campground for $15. The owner is an EMT who is out on a call and his wife works at the restaurant where we end up having dinner. We dub the owner Frank the Philosopher as he imparts these word of wisdom to us: " Some men have balls, others have Harleys"! Dick is feeling much better and has multiple beers.

Day 8 - Windy Point to La Wis Wis campground

Dick gets a head start this morning and we start a gentle climb towards White Pass. Jerry and I stop at a nice roadside cafe before the climb in Rimrock and get a great fresh-made breakfast sandwich (do you detect a theme?). It's a 7 mile climb to the top with good news, bad news: bad news is that the road is under construction with rough, grooved pavement, good news is that it limits the traffic to short spurts following the pilot truck and they give us wide berth. We make the top and find the Kountry Kitchen store and as we talk to the clerk, Carrie, about our provisioning options, she says she'll be happy to deliver our groceries and beer to our campground when she gets off work at 6 as it's right on her way home. Sweet!

On the way down we get our first Dick sighting at a viewpoint with a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier. Dick was forced to ride a bit in one of the pilot trucks, something Jerry and I somehow avoided. Dick manges to dump his bike in the soft gravel on the way out of the viewpoint and a pannier comes off. Unfortunately, it decides to come off again on the downhill, but it is easily recovered and re-attached. More construction and we have a 30 minute delay at one point but then a brisk 7 mile downhill to  another beautiful Forest Service campground right on the river. Carrie shows up as scheduled with groceries and beer and we are in biker heaven.

Day 7 - Ellensburg to Windy Point CG

Nice flat ride with tailwind along Yakima River Canyon, a beautiful canyon with lots of float fly fisherman on the river. We stop by the river for a break and meet "Rad  Man" a hippie-type that ties a big bungee to a tree along the river, then gets on a board and drifts downstream until he buries himself under the water and comes shooting out for a wild river ride called "rad boarding".
We have a gradual climb into Selah for burritos at Taco Bell. Leaving Selah we a cursing Adventure Cycling as they take up and down brutal climbs which could have been avoided by staying on the main road. Dick is starting to fade in the desert like heat and we stop by the only shade foe miles and a nice woman invites us to rest on her shady grass and fills our water bottles. Navigator Johnny ignores the woman's elicit directions in favor of confusing ACA ones and takes us on a unintended 5 mile round trip detour. Dick begins the Bataan Death March on a 2 mile uphill climb, where proudly he refuses a local's offer of a pick-up truck ride. Then down to Naches, where Johnny has a brief moment of panic as it is Sunday and the State Liquor store is closed.

We finally start a 3 mile route along heavily trafficked Hwy 12 w/ minimal shoulders, then head south and reach the Windy Creek Forest Service campground, a beautiful site on the Tieton River. Our total is 63 miles w/ the 5 mile screw-up. The gentleman, Brain Anderson from Sacramento, gives us homemade oatmeal cookies.

Last 2 days @ nice camps

Last 2 days @ nice remote camps w/ no service. 2nite in Randle b4 2 pass climbs 2 Cascade Locks OR next entry Portland on Fri.

Day 6 - Wenatchee to Ellensburg

This morning we opt to take a route Googled by Dick, since nothing else looked promising. We start on a beautiful bike trail along the river that's a nice city park with lots of joggers and biker out on a Saturday morning. When it's time to leave the bike trail, we head towards the mountains and are stopped by a guy with mountain bikes on the back of his car, many colored tattoos and toes painted neon yellow, asking were we are going. When we tell him he says you can't go this way because it dead ends. We tell him we are going over the mountains to Ellensburg and he says it starts out as Forest Service roads and then gets worse and that they have a big mountain bike race there every year. Since MapMyRide indicates it is an HC climb, we opt to take an alternative route. So we return by the main street back towards our hotel, which gives us an 8 mile warm up ride.
We take Route 2 and 97 west, and it is just like riding on I-10. Lots of traffic, climbs, headwinds, heat, etc. As we turn to the south up 97 we are greeted by a sign that says 51 miles to Ellensburg and we have already logged 24! We know there is a Cat 1 climb waiting but have no idea that it's the climb that wouldn't end. Finally, at about 47 miles (about 5 miles further than we estimate the summit), we crest Blewett Pass at 4,100 feet at about 3PM. (we had a picture to post but the Days Inn computer is still running IE6, so no luck. Maybe later)
After a screaming downhill made scarier by the crosswinds and heavy traffic, we make the turn east towards Ellensburg and are confronted by another 3 mile killer climb. At the crest, we see a windmill farm stretching out through the valley. Fortunately, they indicate a brisk tail wind, and we sail down the other side, not pedaling for 10 full miles! It is definitely, the longest downhill any of us had experienced. We make it to town about 5:30 after 10 hours in the saddle and opt for motel over camping (mostly because the only campground is 3 miles backtracking into a 15 mph headwind.) We find a Days Inn, load up on "muscle relaxants" (beer) and decide to continue the spirit of adventure by eating at the next door truck stop. Maybe more on that later...

Day 5 - Lake Chelan SP to Wenatchee

We are greeted right off this morning by an absolutely brutal climb of 1.5 miles out of the campground. Amazingly, 3/4 of the way up, Dick decides to walk his bike for a bit. Even more amazingly, Johnny continues to ride but cannot catch him. After cresting, we are again teased in the morning by some of the most spectacular riding through the river valley with mountains and farmland all around. It is, of course, short lived, as we are dumped again on to Highway 97 with the heat, headwinds, and traffic. Fortunately, the sholder is wide and the surface is good.

After a brief stop in Entiat for refreshments, Dick gains the benefit of his candy bar and surges ahead on a pull. As you may know, sugar energy is short lived and he eventually returns to the group. Being a short day of only 37 miles (this now constitutes a rest day for Jerry), we check into a motel in Wenatchee and head out for some burgers, fries and cokes. Johnny is having some mechanical issues with is bike (no surprise there) and there happens to be a bike shop about 2 blocks away. They think it is a freewheel hub issue estimating it will be about $25 to remove, clean and lube. A couple hours later after Johnny hits the hot tub and Jerry hits the treadmill (seriously!), Johnny gets the call that the rear hub is trashed and will require a new wheel since there is no time to rebuild the exiating wheel, to the tune of about $150. After some concerted complaining over the phone, Johnny walks down to get his bike and finds they have installed a new hub and an upscale Cervelo wheel and want no payment for it. They insist they are cyclists and want to help another one on long trek like ours. This is how it goes on the road sometimes and we are all humbled by there generosity. BTW the shop is VIM Sports in Wenatchee and I will be doing all I can to promote them. I pass on some of my good fortune by buying the boys' dinner.

Day 4 - Winthrop to Lake Chelan

Today we left Winthrop on a nice downhill run to Twisp and Hank's Country Store for more great breakfast sandwiches and coffee. We also loaded up on lunch supplies and followed the Twipd-Carlton Road along the Methow River to Carlton where we are dumped back on to Highway 153 to Methow and Pateros where we find a nice little country store for some refreshments and rest. There we meet a motorcyclist heading back to Seattle who gives us some great information about the road ahead. We also meet a retired serviceman who got tireed of hiking the Pacific Coast Trail and decided to take our same Sierra Cascades route from Canada all the way to Mexico. Of course, being 47 and carring 22 lbs (as opposed to our 40) he blows by us latter at one of our many rest stops, never to be seen again.

Now we follow Highway 97 and the Columbia River south towards Chelan and the traffic and heat pick up considerably. To add to the misery, there are some long, gradual climbs and some afternoon headwinds. We finally make the city of Chelan and resupply fro dinner and tomorrow's breakfast and then it is on for 10 more miles to Lake Chelan State Park. This is complicated by the fact that the closest beer stop is 6 miles from the park so we must add some weight to a beautiful rolling ride along the south coast of Celan. We make the park about 5 and, lucky for us, had reservations as the campground is jammed full. We end up camped closer to our neighbors than to each other but, amazingly, the campground falls dead silient a 10 and we retire after what was supposed to be an "easy" 72 miles. It turned out to be an excellant decision to push on te extra 14 miles the day before, as we would have never made it 86 miles.

Day 3 - Diablo Lake to Winthrop

The climbs begin! Got an early start and had a monster climb right off. Nice views of the lake and the mountains but only able to enjoy on the frequent rest stops. At one of the stops a motorcyclist coming the other way stopped to talk and give us some info about what was to come. He told us they were working on the roads at the passes and there was 30 miles of chipseal (kind of gravel that the prees into fresh tar). So some of the most spectatcular riding in Washington is lessened by the road surface. Turns out to be not so bad as they had closed off several miles of the road and we got to ride in the middle of the road with no traffic.
Started some brutal climbing up the first pass (Rainy) at 4,800 feet. It was great to finally make it to the top, but we knew we had some downhill before climping up to Washington Pass at 5,400. As we got towards the top, our motorcyle friend came back by with some cold Coke for us! Boy, did that help. Finally crested Washington and had a long, screaming downhill to Mazama, our intended destination. On the way down, were held up briefly by a wreck between a motorcycle and a bicycle. It did not look good and made us all think it could have easily been one of us.
When we got to Mazama, there was a great little county store there with excellent sandwiches and cold gatoraid. Not many places to stay though, and since we had a planned 88 mile day for tomorrow, we decided to press on to Winthrop. Got a nice motel on the river and managed to hook up with Dan Kuperberg and his wife Sally, who run a B & B in Winthrop. They treated us at the local Mexican Resturant, and, amazingly, Dan was going out for a 15 mile training run in the dark after dinner since he is training for a 100 mile run in Europe.

Day 2 - Rockport to Diablo Lake

Left Rockport campground and followed the Sagit River some more. Jerry kept wishing for a breakfast sandwich and, lo and behold, in Marblemount the two restaurants were closed, but the convenience store sold some killer breakfast sandwiches. Road on to the North Cascades National Park Visitors Center and checked the topos for the rest of the ride. Started climbing up US 20 (North Cascades Highway) and had to go through a couple of tunnels, the first of which had a push button to warn motorists that there we bicycles in the tunnel. Nice view of Diablo Dam as we finish the ride to Colonial Creek campground at the bottom of Diablo Lake. Beautiful campsite close to the lake and we got to see an osprey catch a fish. Had the usual freeze dried (except Dick who is a more adventurous backwoods gourmet) and turned in early which is becoming the routine.

Day 1 - Bellingham to Rockport

Day 1 and the boys are under way! Today we encountered log trucks 1 foot from the bike and local yocals throwing bottles at us (same a-holes 3 times!) But the route, scenery & weather was spectacular & we made the 78 miles to a beautiful campsite on the Skagit River, with, fortunately, a tavern across the street.. Tomorrow we only have 36 miles but the climbs to the Cascades begin.

Pre-Start

July 30

While a national default may have been averted, nothing could keep the dynamic duo of Jerry and Dick from completing their pre-ride 116-mile adventure from Seattle to Bellingham.  Within in an hour of landing Dick and Jerry picked up their bikes from REI in Tukwila and were on the road fully-loaded and ready to ride north.  Within two blocks of departure, the first of many obstacles were encountered with a closed bike trail. Fortunately, we were rescued with the first of many helpful cyclists more than willing to offer directions.  The only problem was no two cyclists provided the same directions.  Possible bike trails in the Seattle area were a complex of confusing options only a local could figure out.   After two hours of navigating the rat maze of off-map possibilities, we successfully managed 5 miles of northernly progress and 5 miles of back and forth retracing of false starts and misunderstood directions.  The only saving grace was the excellent weather in the Seattle area - sunny skies and mid-70's.  Every bike in Seattle must have been in use on this Saturday afternoon.

Our naviational confusion was not limted to the Seattle area as we were confronted with at least an unintended 6-mile detour of cartographial mishaps.  By the end of the day, we we made it to Snohomish, WA a mere 40 miles in our 116 mile pre-rid adventure.  After a local suggested the lack of campgrounds in the area, we relented and chose one of the few motels in downtown or any where nearby for that matter.  As luck would have it, we got the last room available.  Otherwise, we would have had to ride another 20-30 miles or sleep under the deck of the local recommended Mexican restaurant where we had a nice dinner later.

Sunday, July 31


With an early 6:30 AM start from Snohomish, Jerry and Dick headed out on a great off-highway paved bike trail, called the Centennial Trail. Temperatures were cool at the start to the 76 miles ahead of us this Sunday morning enroute to Bellingham to meet up with Johnny. The trail was flat and easy to follow after the confusing mess ups out of Seattle. After about 20 miles, a light rain started, enough to hang on your glassess, but not enough to feel cold. We saw no one on this trail for several hours so we were surprised when a lone ride came up on us while we were stopped a crossing. He was friendly and asked lots of questions about our intenary offering the most important suggestion about where to have breakfast. Arlington was the place.
With the end of the Centennail Trail, we cruised into Arlington passed a police cruiser. A quick turnaround found another friendly cop with his recommendation for pancakes at Brewters. Wow, even the short stack was too much to handle, but it sure hit the spot. By now the rain had stopped, the skies were overcast, and we were grinding out some pretty impressive double-digit averages making our way along the backroads over to the I-5 corrider.


Old Highway 99 and the Pacific Coast Highway parralled I-5 and rose and fell over the next 40 miles. Mt. Vernon was our first town of any size and we hit it right at lunch time with lot's of traffic and not much sholder. A fruit stand provided a nice break in the action. The trek continued north opening up some impressive valley views over massive lakes. Lake Samish was one that provided a winding shoreline road which led to some hilly climbing on the outskirts of Bellingham.

Using Google bike maps was a little tricky with lots of turns as the city opened up before us. A quick detour through a small park put us on a four-lane busy highway for the last couple of miles to the HI Express - our destination for the meet up with Johnny. We pulled in the lobby at 3:05 PM leaving Johnny a little befuddle because of our earlier than expected arrival time. So eary, he didn't even have to time to get the beers iced down. Within minutes of our arrival, the sun shined brightly.

After long hot showers and endless pre-ride boasting, we all went out for a well deserved pizza dinnter, though we opted to walk and not ride the half mile trip to the restaurant.





  

Final Planning BNO

Tentative plans for a final planning BNO at 4^th Quarter, 6 PM Thursday, June 30 (depending on Dick being back in town by then). All sloths and slothettes welcome to live vicariously through those that are actually doing this ride!

Opening Entry

Only four Boys will make the trip this year: Mac, Hunter, Dowdy and, yours truly. This year will be a road trip as opposed to the last two off-road Great Divide trips. Bill and I will be riding newly acquired 64 cm. Motobecanes, with Mac on his Cannondale Touring and Dick on a new Novara. The trip begins August 1st in Bellingham, Washington and is scheduled to end on the 12th in Portland, Oregon. The lastest itinerary can be found on the Team Bovine website at http://teambovine.embarqspace.com