Cascade 1200k

[Mike]

Wow, what a ride. This was my first 1200k and quite an experience. The volunteers were great. The riders were great. The weather... not so great although I guess it could have been even worse. The headwinds at the end of day 2 and beginning of day 3 were pretty demoralizing. The rain and cold on the descent down Washington Pass were a big bummer as I wasn't really able to enjoy the descent due to being so cold. My bike handled well and thanks to good fender coverage really isn't even that dirty. My right big toe is still numb and I have some raw spots on my ass but surprisingly my hands, back, shoulder and neck feel fine. I managed to do minimal night riding, getting into the overnight controls at 11pm, 10:30pm and 11pm approximately. I didn't sleep as well as I hoped but never nodded off while on the bike although my vision did get a little whacky in the final 2 miles into Quincy on day 2. My main goal was to finish and my second goal was to finish in 86hrs if possible. My finish time was 85hrs 21 minutes so I'm totally stoked. 

I told myself going into this that I'd do this one 1200k. Even told myself that during the ride. I probably don't need to tell you how I feel now that it's done... Let's just say I'm looking forward to 2014...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335973@N00/collections/72157630322651394/

--mike

[Joshua Bryant PDX, OR]

Awesome Mike.   Glad you wanna do it again.  Maybe I'll join you next time.

-Joshua

[Mike]

I sure hope so. I also hope we can get more ORR folks to come up and do it. It's so close and such a great ride, I can't believe more OR randonneurs didn't show up for it. I'd also say it's quite the bargain for $300. 

[Bill Gobie]

On Jun 27, 2012, at 9:36 PM, Mike wrote:

> Wow, what a ride. This was my first 1200k and quite an experience.
> The volunteers were great. The riders were great.

The staffed controls were super as always. And hot showers in Naches
this year. Yay!

I enjoyed riding a fair bit with Matthew and Eric (I'd like to get in
touch with you guys, email me please).

The one flub I encountered was no one warned me the kitchen in Quincy
would be closing at my wake up time. I would have slept less. The
volunteers handling the sleeping accommodations should have been
informed so they could warn riders requesting late wake up times. In
the morning the kitchen folks should have been told there were still
riders sleeping. I was lucky the uneaten food had not been thrown out
yet. The volunteers were great, waiting on me hand and foot and
finding stuff I wanted that had already been packed up. Once Hugh (I
think it was) learned there were still several riders asleep he kept
some food aside for them.

> The weather... not so great although I guess it could have been even
> worse.

The weather here is never like that. ;-)

Holy smokes it was horrible.

The week prior the weather suddenly changed to summer and I realized I
did not have enough good lycra for the ride. That turned out not to be
a problem! Wool was the order of the day, every day.

Riders who stayed through Wednesday or Thursday got to see what the
weather should have been like.

> The headwinds at the end of day 2 and beginning of day 3 were pretty
> demoralizing.

On my recumbent headwinds impede progress but are not as demoralizing
as on an upright. Crosswinds when climbing at low speed make for
difficult bike handling. I almost got blown off the road several times
the second night climbing (I think) Beverly Burke Rd.

I was so hammered on day 3 after climbing from Dry Falls that I turned
off on a farm road and took a nap. I set my alarm for 15 minutes but
was awakened by a farmer who, "Didn't want to run you over with mah
combine." I had slept through my alarm so I thanked him for waking me
up. According to my gps track I was only stopped for 25 minutes. If
the farmer hadn't come along I might have slept a couple of hours.

> The rain and cold on the descent down Washington Pass were a big
> bummer as I wasn't really able to enjoy the descent due to being so
> cold.

That is a fun descent, 37 miles from Rainy Pass to Newhalem, but cold
even in good weather.

Conditions were brutal. I had dnf'd early that morning so I was in a
car. When the Mazama control was packed up no one had the foresight to
send thermoses with hot drinks in the cars. All we could offer the
riders was pretzels, cookies, and cold Coke. Coke and cookies were the
favorites. I half caught one rider who could not stand when she
stopped. I think Steve Davis made the right decision to abandon on the
descent. I think some other riders ought to have abandoned for safety.
The striking thing was there were also a number of riders in fine
shape, showing no signs of discomfort, let alone distress. I think we
are lucky no one had a serious accident on that descent.

The third night I was nodding off descending Loup Loup Pass, and lost
count of how many times I almost ran off the road. There was a sag
vehicle at the bottom so I quit there. Could I have ridden 20 more
miles to Mazama? Sure. Might I have ended up in a ditch? It seemed too
likely. I have no regrets.

The main thing I learned is I need to eat even more. I estimate I went
through 7000 calories a day. I learned I really like string cheese on
a ride (thanks Jennifer and Kole!).

Horrors aside, there were some beautiful moments. Skate Creek Rd was
as pretty as ever, and repaved no less! The moon setting over Rimrock
Lake with clouds lit by the sun from below the horizon. Stopping at
the top of Beverly Burke Rd at night and looking back, seeing the
field of red lights marking a wind turbine farm, and the red lights
atop the ridgetop turbines all blinking in unison. Riding through
miles and miles of nuthin' but wheat fields under wide-open skies near
Mansfield.

And apologies to all who had to endure my squeaking rear wheel.

Bill