200k permanent on Homer

[Mike]

Well, the weather here in Portland has been spectacular the past
couple of days. In preparation for the upcoming Cascade 1200k I've
been trying to get in a few more longer rides than just a basic Super
Randonneur series (200k, 300k, 400k and 600k brevets). Today my friend
Ed and I headed out to do the Portland-Ripplebrook-Portland which goes
from Portland out to Ripplebrook Guard (Ranger?) Station in the Mt
Hood National Forest along the Clackamas River. The weather was
amazing and the route, by and larger really nice and most of the time
on quiet back roads. There is also a long stretch on the Springwater
Corridor bike path from Portland to Boring.

I had really been hoping to do this ride in 9 to 10hrs but that wasn't
to be. A couple of rather long stops and Ed's bout of vertigo slowed
us down quite a bit. In fact, this was my slowest 200k ever 12hrs,
15min. I did the Bingenfest faster in platform pedals a few years ago
and that has way more climbing.

The Cascade is in late June so I'm hoping to be ready for it. This has
been an odd year for me with randonneuring in that all of my times
have been slower than in years past. Also, I won't get to do the 400k
because I was unable to get coverage for work that weekend in spite of
requesting the time off back on Feb 10th (WTF?) Fortunately I will
make it up to WA for the SIR 600k on the Olympic peninsula the first
weekend in June. I've never been up there and am looking forward to
it. Hopefully things will come together and I'll have a strong ride
which I think will help put me in a better headspace for the Cascade.

My rando bike is bottom bracketless right now so Homer stepped up for
randonneuring duties. It performed quite well and I just really love
that bike.

Here's some pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335973@N00/sets/72157629674282972/

--mike

[Pondero]

It might have been slower than desired, and I understand you have other goals in mind, but the photos suggest that was a fantastic day out on the bike.  And one worth savoring.  Thanks for the ride report.

[Tim]

Mike, what is your normal rando bike and why do you usually ride it
over the Homer? Just curious because I rode some brevets last year,
200 and 300k, preparing for a supported tour, and did them on my
Homer, which I had just bought. I thought it performed well, although
I had nothing at all to compare it to because I had only done some
club/charity type centuries in the past on bikes that, although
decent, had zero thought put into them. It was my first foray into the
rando/touring world. Also, how much climbing was in your latest 200k?
Your Cascade ride sounds like it will have lots of vertical feet! Good
luck on it. I've not done any brevets this year, but want to try them
again. Last year gave me a real appreciation of the dedication and
perseverance it takes to do the Super Randonneur series. Way to go!

[Mike]

Hey Tim, if my friend hadn't offered to build me the rando bike at a
discount I'd still be riding the Hilsen for randonneuring. The Hilsen
really is a fine randonneuring bike in spite of it not be optimized
for a front bag. Still, I rode mine with a front bag for 2 complete
series and had no major issues.

My dedicated rando bike had had a VO 50.4 BCD crank on it and it was
just a bit finicky to set-up and didn't feel so great. I don't know
that I'm a fan of narrow tread cranks. I'm gonna put a Sugino crank on
the rando bike, either an XD triple or the compact double off my
Hilsen. With 46/34 rings I still don't feel I have the gears I want
when mated to an 8 spd 11--28 cassette. I may try 44/34 or convert the
triple into a 44/30 double or, and most likely, just run a triple
46/36/28. I'm gonna pick-up a bottom bracket today and experiment.

I checked the route and it's only like 3800' of climbing. There are no
extended climbs. From Estacada to Ripplebrook is like 25 miles of
river grade with the exception of one part where the road kicks up for
about 1/2 a mile. We had some serious headwinds. The main thing that
slowed us down was just some long breaks which are okay, it was just
my initial intention to ride straight through with only one extended
stop, at Ripplebrook to make coffee and eat sangwiches.

But yeah, the Hilsen is a more than adequete randonneuring bike. I
think between it and my LHT all my current cycling needs--rambling,
road riding, camping/touring, commuting, randonneuring--are covered.

It's another beautiful day here in Portland. I'm gonna take a little
ramble on the Hilsen through Forest Park and around town to run some
errands.

--mike

[jimD]

This demonstrates that my aphorism that '50 miles is about right for a bike ride' may be wrong.
-JimD

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[Mike]

No, I think you're right. 50 miles to a 100k is an ideal length. But
to get out to the roads I was on yesterday I have to ride 25 miles or
so out of town. I've done the ride out to Ripplebrook multiple times
over the years. There's some options for making it easier. The stretch
of road between Estacada and Ripplebrook and worth the extra miles.

I figured since I was planning on riding out there anyway, why not do
it as a perm and get some extra RUSA kilos.

--mike

[Michael_S]

From those of us in semi arid parts of the country (Carlsbad, Ca.) that ride is fantastically beautiful and I'm super jealous. I have the ocean nearby but I miss trees. And 12 hours out dedicated to cycling is pretty darn  nice too!

What size Supreme's are you running? I'm in the market for some 35-45mm tires for my new touring/all rounder and thinking seriously about those.

~mike

[Lynne Fitz]

I am thinking, that with a little creativity, from Beaverton it could
be made into a 300k. Must investigate.
:-)
Lynne

[Mike]

On May 11, 9:31 am, Michael_S <mikeybi...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> From those of us in semi arid parts of the country (Carlsbad, Ca.) that
> ride is fantastically beautiful and I'm super jealous. I have the ocean
> nearby but I miss trees. And 12 hours out dedicated to cycling is pretty
> darn  nice too!

Thanks Mike. Yeah, it's a great place out there but it's a bit of a
trek to get out there. When we stopped to make coffee I was so bummed
to have to leave. I'm really itching to go bike camping.

It's funny, I can take rides through beautiful lush forest but I find
that what I miss are the dryer forest like in Eastern OR.

> What size Supreme's are you running? I'm in the market for some 35-45mm
> tires for my new touring/all rounder and thinking seriously about those.

I used 35s. They're a great tire, dependable and smooth but they still
feel a bit sluggish comapred to 32mm Paselas or Jack Brown Greens.
Still, I find myself wanting to try out the 40mm Supremes and
Duremes.

--mike

[dougP]

I used the 35mm Supremes for quite a while, then went to 40s. Can't
tell much difference on pavement but the 40s are a bit better in soft
dirt. They are quite close in weight, maybe 50 grams difference.
They are on Mavic A719 rims on my Atlantis, so the whole set-up is
aimed at touring, not performance.

dougP