The Cascade 1200KIt's September and I'm finally getting around to writing about the 1200 since Jeff "Parrot" Bauer asked me if I had a ride report. (Thanks for getting me off my lazy ass Jeff!)
Let's see...
First of all, there are several excellent reports at
http://www.cascade1200.com/reports.html. Check 'em out.
This was my first 1200K. Going into the ride I still felt pretty fit even though I hadn't ridden much since RAO. After struggling to stay awake at times during RAO, I figured the 1200 would be a lot easier since I'd be sleeping a decent amount every night. In terms of feeling alert on the bike, that turned out to be true. But the course itself was every bit as hard if not harder. My gearing was 42x15 and I was carrying extra clothes, etc. in a couple of Arkel panniers.
On Saturday I seem to recall riding fairly hard for the first 100 miles, keeping stops short. By the end of the day, however, I was paying for it. I believe it was on the climb up Curly Creek Road where I got off and walked a few times. Fortunately, I was familiar with the area, since that was were I did one of my first long rides on a single speed about a year ago. It was late (11-ish?) when I rolled into Carson, where they had hot showers, food galore (I vividly remember two huge pieces of lasagna), cheery volunteers, and a nice dark gym to sleep in.
My wake up call was scheduled for 4 AM Sunday, but my eyes popped open sometime around 3 or 3:30. That was a little frustrating, but it guaranteed an early start. I was out the door at sunrise - around 5. But as I was riding along the Columbia, I started getting really sleepy and ended up taking a nap for about an hour on a picnic table at a rest stop. Sunday turned into a pretty tough day as we headed into eastern Washington and the temperature climbed into the 90's by my reckoning. I imagine some of the areas we rode through aren't unlike the environment I'm going to encounter at Furnace Creek. At one point - I forget exactly where it was - we entered the twilight zone. Roads that appeared to be flat were terribly difficult. Even though it was windy, you knew it had to be more than just the wind that was working against you. Then a while later, I was flying up what looked like a fairly steep hill. Around mile 380 we crossed the Columbia in winds that threatened to toss us off the bridge. Surviving that, a vertical wall called "Road L" on the route sheet awaited us. It was absolutely impossible for me to ride up it, so I walked the bike for about 1/2 a mile to the top of the gorge, trying not to step on too many of the locusts that were completely covering the road and feeding on each other. Once I was back on the bike, I really had to push it to catch up with the guys I had been riding with. It was worth it, though, because the head winds were pounding us, and it would have been much harder if I had to ride the rest of the way to the next rest stop alone. The last leg of the day wasn't too bad. It was getting late, though, and I was trying to stay with a group since my lights weren't very conducive to reading a map in the dark. At one point I stopped at the top of a hill to transfer some water from my camel back to a water bottle - or was it the other way around? Anyway, I ended up spilling a bunch of it as the group was passing me and I wasn't able to catch up with them again. So the rest of the ride wasn't much fun as I struggled to read my map and make sure I stayed on course. I finally got to the overnight stop around midnight along with my good friend from the
OR Randonneurs, Lap Lai.
We stayed at another school Sunday night. Again the accommodations weren't bad at all. I remember having to walk out side to get to the building where a bunch of us were sleeping. I believe I woke up a little later Monday, but I was still on the road before most people. For a few hours it felt like I was sitting on a rock, but the discomfort eventually passed. After loading up on food and water at an old school-house, I rode a few more miles and then stopped to take a nap on the side of the road. That felt good. By the end of the day, however, I was running out of day light and I still had to get over Loup Loup pass. I chatted for quite a while with Michael Rasmussen at the check point just before the climb until he finally encouraged me to get moving. There were some steep grades at the bottom, so I walked a little. As I got closer to the top, it started to rain, it got dark, and I started getting cold. Descending just made everything worse. I remember wondering if I should try to find a house with its lights on and see if someone would let me take a hot shower for $20. There really weren't many options. Certainly, quitting was not one of them.
Then, about 30 miles from the next overnight I found a small motel and paid something like $40 for a room. The hot shower felt soooooo good. I cranked the thermostat in the room up to about 90 degrees to keep the heater on, so I could dry out my clothes. The room had a little kitchen with a stove, so I boiled some water and made hot chocolate. I set up the coffee pot so I could have a hot cup of coffee when I woke up. However, I was only able to sleep for a couple of hours. It probably didn't help that the room was so hot. In fact, I even turned on the air conditioner to cool off a little. So around 2 or 3 AM I watched an episode of Hill Street Blues while I drank coffee and ate whatever food I had with me. Then I checked out and enjoyed a peaceful ride in the middle of the night.
I got to what was supposed to be my overnight stop around 5 in the morning, ate some more food, and then took a nap (sort of) for about an hour. When I woke up, I had my second breakfast, and finally got moving around 6:30. The climb up Washington Pass was great. I did most of it with Mike Bingle and Del Scharffenberg. I've seen Mike several times this year including at RAO. And Del (who's in his 50's I believe) has even won RAO a couple of times. Eventually I had to let Mike and Del go, but I was still climbing well and passing people. Then it started raining, and once again I was feeling pretty miserable as I summitted Rainy Pass - very appropriately named. That was the worst part of the day, however. Most of the remaining course, except for some rollers at the end, was quite flat. I was riding strong at the very end and even finished before dark for once.
What a blast!
