Another Cascade 1200 Ride Report
jake Kassen
photos:
http://www.jkassen.org/loadpage2.php?pageid=74
If you hate photos or prefer text, I've posted it below.
I'd also like to thank all the SIR volunteers for putting the event
together and providing such great support. I can't believe how
dedication and effort the volunteers put into this ride. I regret that
I'll be too far away next year or I'd offer to volunteer as a way of
repaying the favor.
Jake
--------------------
A month ago I impulsively signed up to ride the Cascade 1000. I needed a
1000k ride to round out my R5000 and the dates matched up perfectly with
when Emily was going to be gone teaching. Shortly after signing up I
started reading about how hot and hard this ride could possibly be. When
I asked about this on the mailing lists I was reassured by many people
that this year was unseasonably cool – so cold it was still snowing on
the mountain passes. “You’ll have nothing to worry about,” they said.
Besides, I was riding the easy 1000k, not the difficult full 1200.
A few weeks before the ride I unexpectedly picked up a lot of freelance
editing. I became so busy that I had to stop riding on the weekends and
even gave up sleeping for a few days. I was a wreck. Not the best way to
prepare for any ride, let alone the Cascade 1200.
In the days before the start the organizers were still frantically
rerouting the route to avoid roads closed due to snow and construction.
They posted the revised 1000k route and control closing times and I
suddenly realized the 1000k rides would have even less time to get
through a majority of the ride. Even after the 600 mile finish we’d
still have to ride another 170 miles to get back to Monroe. Why did I
get myself into this?
I arrived in Seattle a few days early and spent some time with my mother
in Vancouver, BC. She tried hard to talk me out of doing the ride, going
as far as to offer to pay me the entry fee so I wouldn’t lose the cash.
Tempting as it sounds, I came to Washington to ride. I didn’t know if
I’d make it to the finish but at least I could make it to the start.
Day 1
Around 65 riders left the parking lot of the hotel on Saturday at the
late hour of 6am. All 65 riders were promptly stopped a few minutes
later as we waited for a long freight train to cross. The other rider
from Boston, Charles “Chip” Coldwell, pulled up beside me to chat. Chip
is a very strong rider, part of the Melinda Lyon crowd. I don’t ride
with Chip – I watch him depart the start hear about his ride when I
return. Chip is a C1200 veteran and gave me the lowdown on the days to
come. “Save all your energy for White Pass at mile 173. Nothing else
matters but getting over that mountain,” Chip warned me.
I thanked Chip for the tips and soon we were moving again. All the
riders stayed together for the first 40 miles. In this time I spoke to a
bunch of people who seemed eager to talk about Emily’s various rides. (I
think she was featured in the recent RUSA newsletter but neither of us
has received our copy.) I enjoy talking about Emily and it’s great to
hear she has so many fans. (For the record, we both completed PBP on
fixed gear.) For this ride I was on my new bike Molly Stark whom is
equipped with gears. While I like riding fixed, this season I wanted to
see if gears really do make these rides faster and easier.
After a while of riding over rolling hills and lush green farmland (not
unlike Vermont) I made it to the first control. I was bombarded with
helpful volunteers who offered to take my bike, fill my bottles, and
give me a place to sit. Coming from Boston, this type of support is a
bit unnerving. I applied sunscreen while my bottles were filled, grabbed
a cookie, and was off.
After the 100 mile mark things took a turn for the hot. I ride in New
England where we’re used to riding in cold, wet weather. It gets warm in
the summer, but never sweltering hot. I’m not a hot weather rider. Give
me 60 degrees and mist and I’ll do just fine. I came to Seattle to
discuss fenders and mudflaps, not ways to beat the heat.
After a while I met up with Mike and another rider whose name I didn’t
catch. I met Mike the previous year in the hotel at PBP. Air France had
"misplaced" his bike on the way over. This year Mike was on a bike tour
when his riding partner decided to end the tour early. Mike then decided
to ditch the bags and do a day-of registration for the Cascade. That’s
impressive. Other highlights of the first day were riding with a couple
from Texas. They do a long ride each weekend with a very active club out
of Dallas. At least they would be accustomed to the heat.
At the second control (a grocery store) I bought a “festival Sandwich”.
I’m not sure what was in that disgusting thing but I’d warn others from
making the same bad purchase. This would be the only time in 780 miles I
found something too revolting to eat and I ate a lot of nasty things in
four days.
I also rode a bit with Nicole Honda. As it turns out about half of the
C1200 riders were either riders or crew on the Furnace Creek 508 ultra
race. I had not previous met Nicole but knew about her. She rode team
RAAM with Janet Christiansen, one of Emily’s crewmembers the first year
she did the 508. Small world, eh?
I don’t know how hot it got the first day but suffice it to say I was
pretty uncomfortable. I pulled into the third control lacking any desire
to eat. I tried to stomach a tuna sandwich and a slupree but didn’t get
though much of either. The sun baked down on my back like a heat gun and
I was wondering how I’d make it through the first day, let alone the
first two. (I promised myself I’d make it to at least the second
overnight before DNFing.)
Just when it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to take any more of the
heat, I came across the first hidden control. Chip reassured me that
just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any worst, the SIR crew
would come out to save the day. Sure enough, there they were with tube
socks filled with ice. Ice is nice. I ended up going though a dozen sock
refills over the course of the ride.
As Chip had predicted, climbing White Pass was no trivial task. It isn’t
nearly as steep as most of the climbs in New England, it just goes on
and on. Including the SIR water stop on the way up, it took nearly 2 and
1/2 hours to make it to the summit – about 4000ft of climbing.
Near the top I ran into two people I met last year in the Hotel at PBP –
Chris Hanson and Mike. The three of us had made it to France while our
bikes of bags did not. It’s strange to think that out of the 600
Americans at PBP, the three of us would meet a year later on the top of
a west coast mountain pass. We rode to the last control of the day and
were treated to some delicious soup while the SIR volunteers gave us the
best VIP treatment I could imagine.
I left the control alone, but quickly decided to stop and wait for
others as the prospect of riding through the dark Cascade woods wasn’t
sitting well with me. A group of five riders soon appeared and was
traveling at record speeds. In the next 30 miles I found out just how
under geared I was. I would be spinning fast in my 48 x 13 gear and yet
I’d still have a hard time keeping up. With a few miles to the control I
gave up and just rode at my own speed. Thanks for the lift, guys! This
was not the last time I would find myself maxing out my gearing on this
ride.
Nearing the control, I passed a number of identical huge signs with the
word “FRUIT”. I arrived at the control shortly after 11pm -- 225 miles
from the start. The control was huge but orderly. Some SIR folks had set
up an outdoor photo studio and I got my picture taken. I ate some
delicious lasagna and went to sleep with the goal of setting off real
early to beat the heat. I was so concerned about getting out in time
that I didn't even change my cloths this night.
Day 2
The first control of the day was half way up a mountain pass and I
enjoyed the peacefulness of the climb in the cool early morning air. As
it turned out, I was the forth rider in. I took a pass on the coffee,
used the bathroom, and headed off. My plan was to go 100 miles to the
second control before it got too hot. Then, I figured, I’d have most of
the day to bike the remaining 100 "easy" miles to the second overnight.
As I descended the mountain in the morning light I could now see that I
was in desert. The pine trees had been replaced with brush and a whole
lot of fruit trees. No shade to be found. With the shaved rolling hills
I felt like I was in a huge model train set complete with a few
miniature trees and plastic rivers. Thanks to the miracle of irrigation,
this whole region is home to apple & cherry trees, grapes, berries, and
a whole lot of wheat and barley. We don’t have the huge water troughs
and irrigation systems in New England that they have out west. Riding
the C1200 gave me a lot of time to think about environmental and
agricultural policy.
This is my first year riding with a GPS. Each day it helpfully bypass a
few turns and route me in such a way as to take me off the official
route. (I think this is related to my older mapsets and the fact I
didn’t program this route myself.) I always caught these errors in time
but then I’d be left to trying to figure where exactly to go. With 15
miles to the control discovered a GPS error and was on my own to figure
out which way to turn at a fork in the road. As luck would have it a
local cyclist was nearby waiting for someone else in his group. He
didn’t know which way I should go but pointed up a big hill and told me
four people just rode up that way. I thank him and started up this steep
hill cut diagonal into a mountain. By the time I reached the top I could
see the whole valley. I could also see four local cyclists fixing a flat
by the side of the road. Perhaps I wasn’t on the route after all. I
spent the next 20 minutes looking at my maps and cue sheets before
realizing I had taken the wrong turn at the bottom of the hill and would
need to ride back down the hill. Oh well. At least the view was nice.
Back at the fork I ran into Chris and a woman named Carol Bell. As it
turned out I would end up riding with these two for nearly the next 650
miles. Carol is an interesting woman originally from New Zealand who now
resides in the Baltimore. I’ve got to say I really enjoyed talking to
Chris and Carol and they rode a pace that was slightly faster then I
would go alone but not too fast that I couldn’t keep up. They had really
good, positive attitudes and were not ones to complain about their bikes
or the route or any other topics riders sometimes dwell on. (I think
Carol’s “No Whining” button on her saddlebag was a good indication of
her take on these rides.) I should say that while I’ve ridden with a lot
of people in club rides and on Brevets, very few have I been able to
enjoy riding with for as long as Carol and Chris. Thanks guys!
We pulled into the second control, a shopping center, a little before
noon. We spent a while snacking and filling up bottles and ice socks
before heading off down a bike path and back out into the desert. At
first our group was fairly large but soon it was just the three of us
and 50 miles of straight desert to get through. This stretch was one of
the low points of the ride. The temperature was above 110 degrees. The
air was humid with the thick, smelly irrigation. This might be the
desert but with non-stop irrigation the roads next to the fields were
indeed humid. There was neither a tree nor a cloud in sight. Just a long
hot rode under the unrelenting sun.
It took most of the afternoon but we finally got through this stretch.
Just leaving this miserable road picked up my spirits. We stopped at
another SIR impromptu water stop just outside of the famous Hanford
Nuclear Site. After a short break we left to climb the shortest and
steepest hill of the ride, just past the irradiated Columbia River.
Watching the ease at which Carol and Chris climbed with their triples
was making me rethink my double. I started bonking shortly after the
climb, but managed to catch up and we rode together into the last
control of the day – a gas station in a small town of mostly migrant
farm workers.
Each day the 30 miles from the last control to the overnight were
particularity enjoyable. Once the sun started to set it would cool off a
bit. We saw what looked like a storm in the distance. (It brought heavy
winds but no rain.) For the past several hours my knees had been
starting to hurt and it finally dawned on me that my seatpost had been
slipping. (As it turns out the excessive heat had caused several
previously tight joints to loosen. This isn’t something we think about
in Boston.) A low saddle is what caused most of my PBP pain – an error I
was not about to make again. Carol and Chris politely waited for me
while I fixed the problem. In retrospect I was foolish for not raising
the saddle the instant I started getting knee pain.
The last 10 miles to the control were not as fun as I started to bonk
and just wanted to be off the bike. (I separated with Carol and Chris
briefly when they stopped to knock on someone’s door and ask for water.)
We rolled into the overnight control at 10:32pm. I have to thank Carol
for my early arrival – she really pushed us through controls quickly.
Had I spent more time loafing and snacking I would have gotten much less
needed sleep.
Day 3
We awoke at 3am and were out the door a little after 4pm. The sun was
already rising as we rode through the town of Quincy where we stopped
for water and breakfast snacks. I ended up buying two mysterious white
bags marked “sausage”. These turned out to be some sort of
pork/egg/filler composite that was surprisingly delicious. I must have
been on a serious protein deficit by this point.
As we were leaving town we passed a drive-in theater as well as several
motels advertising “Theme Rooms”. I guess they like their themes around
these parts. (I wonder if the “theme” is a king sized bed and HBO….)
We then entered a cavern-rich region formed by waterfalls in the last
ice age. This relaxing 15 mile stretch was another highlight of the
ride. Instead of farms we passed impressive volcanic rock faces dotted
with caves. We rode by aquifer lakes with banks covered in white salt
deposits. In many ways this was even more spectacular then Death Valley.
We climbed a moderate hill where SIR had setup a secrete
control/breakfast in the parking lot of the nature center. We could see
the whole spectacular canyon from here.
After leaving the control we had a fairly long, hot climb before
reaching a long plateau with an elevation of around 2500ft. Although the
temperature was the same as previous days it didn’t feel nearly as bad
at this elevation. The irrigated fruit trees of the previous day were
replaced with gently rolling wheat and barley fields that stretched to
the horizon. We made good time on this stretch and it didn’t seem to
take long before we made it to the midpoint control at the Farmer
Community center. I noticed a message written on the outhouse wall –
“Wind Chill –10. Had to spend night here.” The date on this message was
February of 1993. Riding through 100-degree weather it’s hard to image
it getting so cold.
From Farmer we rode past vast uncultivated fields of brush before
finally leaving the plateau with a long descent into a hot valley. At
lower elevations, the heat was back in force. We rode though some very
poor towns before finally reaching the last manned control in Malott. We
were too early for soup and sandwiches and everyone was eager to attack
Loup Loup pass so we didn’t stick around long. From Malott we had a
short 10 mile ride to the “bonus” control that ensures the 1000k riders
complete a full 1000k before the sleep stop that evening.
Loup Loup pass might have been the most difficult mountain pass of the
ride – the first mile or two is fairly steep and we were climbing in the
peak of the afternoon heat. Chris and Carol were much quicker then me
and I was just as happy to climb alone at my own pace. My spirits
improved as I started seeing pines – soon I’d be back in the woods and
out of scorching desert. I climbed slow but steadily and eventually made
it to the summit. The number of pine trees scorched by lighting at the
top was pretty impressive.
From here I had a nice long 8 mile, 35mph decent into the valley
between the lush green mountains. I passed so many deer grazing by the
side of the road I might have well been in New Jersey. After a while I
made it to a resort town complete with yuppie tourists eating at the
many outdoor restaurants. It’s hard to miss the disparity between this
yuppie town and the impoverished, boarded up migrant villages just
twenty miles away over on the other side of the mountain.
I was tired and ready to be done with the ride but I still had 15 more
miles to ride. Nothing is worst then thinking you're closer to the
control then you really are. I put on my knock-off mp3 sunglasses,
turned to a Kropokins album, and rode off in the twilight. I would
occasionally look behind me to see some pretty impressive bolts of
lighting hitting the top of the surrounding hills. I felt bad for the
riders behind me on Loup Loup and was thankful that Carol was so
insistent that we not waste time at the controls. I later found this
stretch is gradually uphill which explains why I found myself struggling
to keep up a good pace. With less then a mile to go the lightning storm
caught up with me and suddenly bolts of lighting seemed to be hitting
ground everywhere around me. I was not about to struck by lightning with
one mile to go and without thinking I found myself sprinting to the end.
I arrived at the final control at the respectable time of 9:58pm. A
1000k in less then 64h – my best time ever!
The Mazama overnight was a cabin retreat nestled in the woods – no more
high school gyms. I seemed to have arrived minutes after the power had
gone out and everyone wandered around with their headlights. The power
came back on while I was in the middle of my shower and I was
momentarily startled when I looked down to see something wrapped around
my leg – Turns out I had forgotten to take off my reflective leg band in
the dark. We agreed to wake at 4:30am to be on the road before 6am. We
were done with our 1000k but we still had 260k to get back to Monroe.
Day 4
The last day was relaxed. With our “real” ride over, all that mattered
was that we made it back to Monroe in one piece. Technically we were on
a permanent but no one was too concerned about the time. The day started
with a fairly long, gradual climb over Washington Pass. This is the
quintessential west coast mountain pass – Pine trees, snow capped rocky
mountains, and twisty switchbacks carved into the side of the hill. This
is the sort of stuff I came out to Washington and thankfully I was felt
good enough to really enjoy it.
I was still riding with Chris and Carol and now a nice woman named
Isabelle Drake joined our group. Carol had been raving about Isabelle’s
ultra-quick control stops for days but with the 1000k over she was now
taking it easy with us. (Isabelle is another fc508 veteran making Carol
the only one of us who had not crewed or ridden that ride.) Isabelle had
some great stories and was fun to ride with.
The scenery got better and better as we rode past green mountain lakes,
lush summer foliage, and a bunch of power generating dams. This was yet
another high point of ride. The weather was perfect and the scenery was
great. I ride Bevets for mornings like this. Of course after a while we
found ourselves headed into a headwind strong enough to make us work
hard to pedal down what otherwise would be a easy decent. We went into
paceline formation (a rarity for me) and slowly pushed out the miles.
As we approached the final control, a mere 20 miles from the finish, my
companions started discussing the need to get through this control (a
McDonalds/Gas Station) as quick as humanly possible. I probably wouldn’t
have rushed had I been alone but I was happy to comply. In, out, and
away we went.
The last 20 miles reminded me of home with their twisty rolling and
sharp turns. I might have well been riding through the western suburbs
of Boston. We still had plenty of sunlight and the weather was cool. A
perfect way to end a ride. We arrived back at the hotel at 7:57pm for a
total time of 14h. Had we been riding the C1200 our times would have
been around 85h, which would include a whopping 10 hours of sleep. If
only PBP could have gone this well.
Closing
The four of us went out to dinner that night and Chris and I shared a
room back at the Best Western. It’s hard to believe that I found so many
friendly, strong cyclists to ride with for such a long time. When
planning for the ride I had expected to ride alone for most of the trip,
as I often do when Emily and I don’t ride together.
My bike Molly Stark preformed perfectly and I never found myself wishing
I had different geometry. I finished nearly pain-free and felt better
after 780 miles then I do after a local century. The SIR volunteers went
above and beyond what was expected and at times it felt more like an
expensive supported cycling tour then a brevet.
I have a hard time believing that this is the most challenging 1200 in
North America. BMB packs a bigger punch. I think the hardest parts of
the C1200 were still easier then any of the Boston Brevet Series rides.
Even if the total climbing is higher then others, there were few steep
climbs and the most challenging aspect was the extreme weather and
aggressive drivers. The scenery was indeed diverse and gorgeous but I’m
still partial to the views of New England.
One thing that marked this ride was how fast I went in comparison to
most of my previous rides. This is the first time I wasn’t towards the
back and I can now say with certainty that it’s easier to ride fast than
to ride slow. My thoughts went out to the strong riders further back who
would end up doing much more work and sleeping much less than myself.
I’ve also come to the conclusion that geared bikes really are faster for
longer rides. As much as I enjoy riding fixed, being able to ride fast
enough to stay in the company of people such as Carol and Chris is worth
the hassle of shifting and slower speeds up the hills.
I’d like to thank the ride organizers for putting on an excellent ride
and hope to be back again someday. I especially want to thank Bill
Dussler for his generous hospitality after the ride and Maile from
Maryland who I chatted with after the ride at Bill's house. As for now,
let the London-Edinburgh-London preparation begin!
Lesli
you moved through the Cascade course (dinner by 7 on Friday night!).
To my eye, the only evidence of your participation was a shot of your
drop bags from the Naches overnight control:
http://flickr.com/photos/archivalclothing/2650133184/in/set-72157605962753066/
Well done.
Lesli Larson
Eugene, OR
Tony Rentschler
seem so easy! Well, not too easy, but certainly fun. Good stuff.
I would like to know a bit more about your bicycle, especially the
gearing. You said you were using a double - what size chainrings and
what cassette did you choose?
Tony Rentschler
New York, NY
Jake Kassen
> To my eye, the only evidence of your participation was a shot of your
> drop bags from the Naches overnight control:
>
> http://flickr.com/photos/archivalclothing/2650133184/in/set-72157605962753066/
Thank you everyone who commented on the report!
Emily O'Brien and I shared drop bags on PBP. On the eve of that ride we
had visions of rummaging through hundreds of identical yellow bags so we
found some markers and decorated ours. That's the story behind these bags.
Since I was asked about the bike....
The gearing is a 38-48 front and a SRAM 12-26 cassette. This gives me a
range of 38" to 108". Nothing too low, nothing too high with small steps
in the middle. I'd consider swapping a 11t & 30t into the cassette. I'd
rather use my whole range frequently then have a bunch of combinations
that rarely get used. I'll add a 28t small ring if I could find the
right 165mm cranks.
The bike was custom made by me at Hottubes in Worcester, MA. It features
long horizontal drop outs so I can turn the bike into a fixed gear or
internal hub. The rear wheel is an XTR hub and soon I'll bolt a cog to
where the disk rotor would go so that I can flip the wheel mid-ride to
turn the bike into a fixed gear. I would have climbed the hills of this
ride much faster if I was fixed, though I would never be able to keep up
on the downhills and flats.
Here are photos of the frame:
http://www.jkassen.org/mollystark/
http://www.jkassen.org/C1200photos08/pages/P7010194.htm
I've also bolted two stems together to give me a post to hold my E3
light and cue sheet holder:
http://www.jkassen.org/C1200photos08/pages/P6300167.htm
http://www.jkassen.org/C1200photos08/pages/P6280049.htm
The saddle bag was made for me by Emily. There is a matching handlebar
bag but I found it isn't useful for me.
Finally, I should add that I got a new Olympus waterproof/shockproof
camera right before the ride. This camera doesn't take the best photos
but the fact it can be dunked in the water or dropped from the bike
makes it a welcome addition to my rig. It lives in my middle jersey pocket.
Jake
The Wolff Den
Gotta ask though, what is your reasoning on the "fixed is faster uphill" thing?
Thanks, MW
Jacksonville, Fla / Team Diurnal
PBP - 2007, 2003
Cascade - 2005
BMB - 2000, 2002
Jake Kassen
> Jake, enjoyed reading your report on the Cascade, thanks for sharing it!
>
> Gotta ask though, what is your reasoning on the "fixed is faster uphill" thing?
Good question. I'm not sure I know the answer, but here goes:
Cadence is not directly proportional to gearing. That is to say if I
went from a 70" gear to a 35" gear, I would not be able to spin twice as
fast. Therefor the higher the gear, the faster I'll climb -- up to a
point. For me I've found that a 69" fixed gear will lead to the fastest
speeds on a moderate incline (<%9). Most of the hills on the west coast
are within this sweet spot.
So why not use the same gear for the same hills on a geared bike? For me
it would not be nearly as comfortable and as a result I'll burn out and
slow down quicker. For one, a fixed gear requires your spin to be smooth
-- something that allow me to be in a higher gear. I don't spin nearly
as smoothly on my geared bike. In practice I'll continue to downshift on
hills until my cadence becomes uncomfortable. On a fixed gear my low
cadence and high output may not be ideal but not bad enough to make me
significantly slow down or walk.
What also helps maintain a higher gear is that the momentum of the bike
helps push the pedals over the dead zone where I am applying the least
amount of power. Perhaps if I had a pair of "rotor cranks" or Biopace
rings I'd be more comfortable in a higher gear and thus climb faster.
Still, I think a fixed drivetrain is the way to go.
My guess is that those who have poor form and are weaker would find the
greatest increase in speed when switching to fixed gear. The strongest
cyclists with perfect spin would find little to no speed increase.
Perhaps other fixed gear riders would like to add their experiences.
Jake
redcliffs
I think you're right on about the momentum of the bike making climbing
easier, I would only add that I don't think it matters (at least
within the mere mortal range of cyclists) how smooth or strong your
pedal stroke is, every rider would see a benefit in this regard when
riding a fixed gear.
I have also found that this bit of help has helped me learn to drive
through the 10:00 - 1:00 section of the stroke -- up and over the
backstroke -- in a way that is beneficial when climbing on both a
fixed and freewheel; likewise, the need to develop a smooth stroke
while descending on a fixed gear has improved my efficiency and power
on a freewheel as well.
Stephen
On Jul 25, 3:38 pm, Jake Kassen <li...@jkassen.org> wrote:
> The Wolff Den wrote:
> > Jake, enjoyed reading your report on the Cascade, thanks for sharing it!
>
> > Gotta ask though, what is your reasoning on the "fixed is faster uphill" thing?
>
> Good question. I'm not sure I know the answer, but here goes:
>