# Thursday, July 30, 2009
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Thursday 30 July 2009 - RAMROD
posted by: Martin Criminale
Hours Sleeping: 4
Pulse (waking):  
Pulse (rising):  
Difference:  
Weight:  
Body Fat:  
Time of Day: 5:50 AM
Distance: 155 miles
Time (total): 9:00
Time (moving): 7:32
Time (stopped):  
Speed (moving): 21 mph
max speed - 45 mph
Speed (overall):  
Total Ascent:  
Weather: low 90s, sunny, dry, light headwind at the finish
Workout Type: ride

Breakfast:  
Lunch:  
Dinner:  
Workout Food: everything the ride had to offer plus eight large bottles of nuun and half a sleeve of Fig Newtons

Course: A modified route due to problems in Stevens Canyon so we rode east via Packwood and then up Cayuse. The official route was to go up and down the Crystal Mountain road but we opted for Chinook Pass instead. Roughly the same vertical, six miles shorter and much more scenic. I think it was a good choice.
Results:  
Comments: "Fire Danger: High" is what the sign outside the park said and two friends actually did not even start because they were afraid of the heat.

The previous day Seattle had broken two records: the all time high (we hit 102) and the highest low (the mercury never dipped below 72 Wednesday evening) so this fear was not without precedent. But the day turned out great.

Right from the start you did not need ANY clothes. I rolled out of the parking lot at 5:50 AM with just a sleeveless jersey and nothing in my pockets except for my camera and some food.

What a f'n great day. The weather/temperature was perfect, I was feeling great and the group I was with was super. The last several times I have ridden RAMROD my training has not been anything close to ideal… Lately I just don't get out for as many of the long, epic rides that I used to do so I have had to rely on racing fitness to carry me through. Luckily it has worked out but this year was kinda extreme. Not only had I not done any long rides but I had not raced or hardly even ridden my bike in weeks. Sometimes family stuff just gets in the way and that is what happened to me.

I was hoping that 1) I'd have a super day and 2) that all the stops would help me recharge. Thank goodness I was right on both counts.

I was riding with my good friend John P who I used to race with and his friend Ben J. Turns out Ben is a crackup and we had a fantastic time.

Right from the 'gun' our speed was between 26-28 mph. We had hooked up with some ByrneInvent folks and so were roughly 10 strong and everyone seemed pretty close in terms of how fast they wanted to and could ride. We would ask each other stuff like, "How is it going…?" and Ben would answer, "Not bad for a 62 year old man with advanced syphilis." And so it went.

At the first food stop we lost a couple of wheels - no biggie. WE gained them back at the first pee stop just outside of town. :) At the next food stop just outside of Ashford we lost a couple more and then as the road tipped up climbing along Skate Creek we lost even more.

I have only ridden this stretch about three times and today was a blast except for the bees that swarmed us. I felt like I was in some B sci-fi movie to tell you the truth as we were swatting and waving our arms up the entire climb. On the descent they had done some construction and there were three spots where the asphalt was gone and we had to ride through gravel. Two were no big deal and one had pretty abrupt edges. :( I still bombed it. I love descending!

As we neared the park our group of 10 or so thinned until it was just John, Ben and myself by the time the real climb began. Ben looked really at ease and I felt awesome at first until my back started to tighten up. I had to stop two (three?) times just to stretch it but each time really helped and my legs felt darn good considering the miles I had been logging lately.

ASIDE - amazingly I was able to ride the majority of the climb in my 42x23! It was not until we had gone at least half way that I needed to shift to the 25.

As we neared Cayuse Pass we had separated ourselves from John and Ben started to tell me about how he and his friend Frank would sprint for summits… I knew it was coming but did not know where the finish line would be. Ben was nice enough to tell me after he was out of the saddle whipping his bake back and forth and had already opened up a 20 foot gap.

Don't worry Ben, I'll remember that… :)

We waited for John and then headed up to Chinook Pass together. This time I was ready. Chinook has this huge, amazing wooden arch over the road that is the obvious finish line. I just shut my mouth and sat behind Ben as we approached the top and as I could feel him start to get twitchy I shifted up, stood up and took off.

To his credit he challenged me but by then I was in the big ring and just gave it a little extra juice and was able to claim the KOM. Testosterone is a great thing.

We snapped some pictures and then dropped back down to Cayuse Pass and then down to the deli stop at the base of the Crystal Mountain road. Did I mention that I like to go downhill? Well this was a loooong hill for sure. And at the bottom I got the park entrance (or exit in our case) sprint for good measure.

Sandwiches and Cokes! Every year this deli stop is exactly what I want when I get there. Real food and really cold caffeinated soda tastes pretty damn good when the temperature is toping 90 and you have already ridden 100+ miles.

And by the way, the temperatures on the south side of the mountain were NOT bad at all. It must have been at least 10 degrees cooler than in Seattle. Very comfortable. All those people that stayed home? Too bad for them.

You always want a train when you leave the deli stop - the more the better. As the three of us rolled out and craned our necks looking around there was no one in sight. Oh well, what can you do but plod along. Into the headwind. And heat. And by now it was getting hot (low 90s?). Luckily I had hydrated very well and had one bottle of nuun and one or plain water to dump on myself at intervals.

I had worn a cotton cap with the theory that I could soak it and it would keep me cool. The reality was each time I soaked it the cap would dry out completely within about five minutes. Rats. I did appreciate the sun visor though. John had even worn a 100 percent cotton tank top in hopes that it would retain some sweat and thus cool him and he discovered the same thing I did. It did not last long at all.

Finally we caught one guy and he was even able to pull some. And then we caught about six more but not one of them would pull through! So John, Ben and I did all the work all the way to the bottom of the Mud Mountain road when suddenly John just refused to pull through and forced the bunch behind us to do a little bit of work. Way to go John. :)

At the finish there was a sprinkler and so off came the shoes, jersey, helmet and into the water went Martin. Nice. Then it was time for ice cream and potato chips and more water. Then it was time for a (cold!) shower, more water and when we got home a couple of beers.

Then I was useless for the rest of the day.

Thanks John and Ben for a fantastic ride! 2009 turned out to be a great year.
Equipment: Ti Cycles Hyak, Neuvation wheels, 42/53, 12-25
Clothing: shorts, sleeveless jersey, cap

Here are some pictures.

road ride
Thursday, July 30, 2009 8:21:00 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Related posts:
Thursday 29 July 2010 – RAMROD
Sunday 25 July 2010 – ride
Thursday 8 July 2010 – pushups | ride
Tuesday 6 July 2010 – pushups | core | ride
Monday 5 July 2010 – ride
Saturday 8 May 2010 – tandem ride

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