Sierra Cascades – 8/21/2013 – Hood River to Government Camp, OR

 

We’re already been in places with no breakfast, at least not early enough, we’ve stayed in places with no air conditioning and today will be another ride with no place for lunch – but tonight we’re staying in something called GOVERNMENT CAMP?  What? A WPA facility?

WIKIPEDIA, the source of all knowledge, tells me this is on the MOUNT HOOD SCENIC BYWAY. We’ll see if it’s worth the climb and if the accommodations are up to my standard.

Mount Hood was visible much of the day and by different angles as we passed by.

 

 

I started the morning with a flat rear tire.  We were already later than I wanted but this only added 10 minutes to our departure.  There was a piece of wire in the sidewall, obviously something I picked up the day before while riding on the shoulder of Interstate 84.

This was a DIFFICULT RIDE. I didn’t feel particularly good and my legs were toast.  I was the last rider in. Brenda beat me by an hour.

I considered getting in the van.  In my 40 years of cycling, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten in the van.  But I was tired.  So I was debating with myself what I’d do if Alison found me.  Fortunately by the time she off-loaded the luggage and came back I was within 3 miles of the peak and had calculated I could complete the ride by 3:45 or 4:00. I actually arrived at 3:44.  How will I feel tomorrow? It’s 69 miles and 3,900 feet of climbing.

Miles today = 46, Elevation gain = 5,524. Total miles = 298, Tot Elevation gain = 18,292

Sierra Cascades – 8/20/2103 – Rest day in Hood River

 

I need to tell you about one of my crazier cycling friends, Daniel Telep from New Hope, PA.  Dan is 80 something; last year he organized a team of like-aged gents who participated in the RACE ACROSS AMERICA, one of the best-known and longest annual endurance events in the world.  French TV picked up on this and produced a video.  To see it, copy and paste the following link in your browser. (Or maybe you can CTRL+Click on the link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pgqi_8U8qpE

  

Photo on the left above is “Bridge of the Gods”, the goal of Cheryl Strayed in the book Wild.  When we crossed over it we were in Oregon.

 

Photos above are of the Hood River taken from our balcony.

Two unusual events happened at dinner last night.

• I got a cramp in my left calf.  I haven’t had a cramp in probably 25 years so this shows how wiped out I was after the past two days rides.  And no, I’m not going to drink pickle juice.
• Craig found a gold tooth crown in his food.  There was plenty of jokes about whether the café should comp his meal and was this worth more or less than the gold crown.  This morning he discovered it was his crown which had come out. Good think he kept it.

‘Walked to downtown Hood River this morning, about a 5 mile walk.  I think cycling is easier; at least you have gears!

Not looking forward to tomorrow’s ride; it’s only 46 miles but has more climbing (5,370 feet) than the last two days.  The climb is about 34 miles with 125 feet per mile.  That’s not too bad for an average but there will surely be steep sections.  And it’s the steepness of a hill that is the most problem to cyclists.

Sierra Cascades – 8/19/2013 – Cougar, WA to Hood River, OR

 

Here is YESTERDAY'S RIDE and here is TODAY'S RIDE. Both are 80 mile days with over 4,700 feet of climbing and both took us 8:45 (including lunch and all breaks).  Today started with a 1,000 foot gain in the first 6 miles, not a good way to start a ride.  But it ended even worse; 16  miles along an interstate.  I’m beat.  Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day.

The picture on the left is for Alison; just to show that the .GPX files she sent do indeed give point-by-point directions.

I’ll write more tomorrow during our rest day.  It’s almost 6:00 pm and I need a drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miles today = 81, Elevation gain = 4,295. Total miles = 252, Tot Elevation gain = 12,768

Sierra Cascages – 8/18/2013 – Packwood to Cougar, Wa

With this blog you can (1) Click on a HYPERLINK for more information and/or (2) Click on a PHOTO for a larger image.

We spent almost 9 hours in the saddle today, so don’t expect much of a blog.  I’m beat. Besides there wasn’t much to see or photograph except for trees; we were in a National Forest the entire day.

We didn’t need the Garmin navigation system today.  The instructions were:

• Turn right out of the hotel
• At mile 16.1 turn left onto131
• At mile 80, turn right at the Lone Fir Resort.

Today’s 80 mile ride we did climb 4,800 feet according to my GPS (Brenda’s registered 5,135).  3,700 of this climbing was between miles 17 and 40. Note there is no route sheet; I’m having difficulty up-loading it.

We  did get another glimpse of Mt Rainier today.

So this is a good time to talk about a bike ride around the mountain, RAMROD.  Ride Around MT Rainier in One Day is a 150 mile bike ride with 10,000 feet of climbing.

Our Seattle friend Bud Hunt is the grand-daddy of RAMROD.  I’m not sure if is due to the number of times he ridden it – or maybe his age – but Bud get’s free admission and Bib #1 every year.

Today we began to see another famous Washington mountain, Mt Saint Helena.  The last eruption of this mountain was in 1980.  The east lateral searing blast came over the green ridge behind us and nearly to where we are standing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miles today = 80, Elevation gain = 4,800. Total miles = 171, Tot Elevation gain = 8,473

Sierra Cascades – 8/17/2013 – Eatonville to Packard, Wa

With this blog you can (1) Click on a HYPERLINK for more information and/or (2) Click on a PHOTO for a larger image.

Patrice took the following photos at the first night’s dinner, a great place on the shore with a spectacular sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo above of Mt Rainier was taken last night from out motel.

TODAY'S RIDE was wonderful.  Well I guess I need to explain that we had a choice of two rides today a 47 mile ride with 2,500 feet of climbing or a 76 mile ride with 5,100 feet of climbing.  We choose the easier ride.  After all, we have two 80 mile days each with 4,700 feet of climbing ahead of us.

On the first seven miles out of Eatonville we had lots of traffic and no shoulder.  But then we turned left on Highway 7 and found a wide shoulder.  Also at this junction was a beautiful Adler Lake created by La Grande Dam.

 

At mile 15 we stopped by “Recycled Spiritf of Iron”, an artists sculpture gallery.

 

After lunch we turned East on National Forest Road 52.  This is an deal cycling road. The road by-passes Mt Rainier National Park and thus it’s not heavily used by automobiles.  We felt we had the road to ourselves.  It’s heavily forested; in fact my GPS continually lost satellite contact. The climb to Bear Prairie Pass was gradual, except for a short and steep section.  There was no marker for the pass;  you just realized that you’re now going downhill so you must have crested the pass.

 

We thought Eatonville was small with one stop sign and 4 cafes.  Well Packwood only has one café.

Other sites today

     

Tomorrow is going to be a hard day, 80 miles and 4,700 feet of climbing.

Miles today = 47, Elevation gain = 2,508. Total miles = 91, Tot Elevation gain = 3,673

Sierra Cascades – 8/16/2013 – Kent to Eatonville, Wa.

 

Due to light rain we did not get in a test ride yesterday.  I just didn’t want to get the bike dirty before the tour started. So maybe I’ll have to make adjustments on the ride today.

 Alison originally did not want tandems on the ride; she was afraid of a breakdown and her inability to help anyone in need.  But Chuck assured her that the tandem riders could take care of themselves.   So it was somewhat embarrassing that one of the tandems broke down even before we got out of the parking lot.

The captain couldn’t solve the problem and a bike shop could not solve the problem; it took a machine shop. But the tandem team was back on the road by noon.

 

Today's ride (click for details) was really three rides

The first 23 miles were a delight.  Sunny, temperature in the mid 70’s, a light breeze, no hills and most of the route was on bike paths (e.g. no traffic).  We started in industrial areas but were soon in farm-land. Everyone was enjoying the ride and rode leisurely.  After all, only 44 miles today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch in Orting we had a tough climb, no bike path, no shoulders on the road, lots of traffic and it was hot in the sun.  After the mile climb, we had more big hills.  But this “second ride” only lasted about 5 miles.

The third part was again pleasant but quite different.  Rolling hills, slightly down and heavily forested, we frequently had a canopy of trees over our head.  There was another mile climb  into Eatonville but it was pretty easy.

 

Starting at about mile 20 we had different views of Mt Rainier. Mount Rainier is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 feet.  It is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world and is on the Decade Volcano list.  This is a list of 16 volcanoes worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to populated areas.  We see it bigger than life from our motel.  Should we be worried?  Well, maybe - yes – we should be worried - about the next three days rides.

WHERE ARE WE?

Eatonville  For centuries, Nisqually people roamed the rivers and streams of the Eatonville area. Leschi, one of the main leaders of Nisqually was born in this area in 1808.  Indian Henry, another Nisqually, was one of those who, in 1889, guided the town's founder, Thomas C. Van Eaton, from Mashell Prairie to the present site of Eatonville. It is said that upon arrival, Henry declared, "This good place. Not much snow."  Ok: Not much snow, but not much of anything else either.  A single stop sign and 4 cafes.  I saw a sign to an airport but don’t believe it.  As of the 2010 census, there were 2,758 people, 992 households, and 714 families residing in the town.  Number of dogs is unknown.

WHO’S RIDING?

I had not intended an introduction of the riders until later in the ride.  But today I have to talk about “Beany”; it’s her 74th birthday.  Beany’s personality is a colorful as her bike and helmet. When I first saw her yesterday, I went and hugged her. She reached around and grabbed my ass.  Women aren’t supposed to do this one day before they turn 74!  But Beany marches to a different drummer; she’s always cheerful and the life of any party.  And she sure can ride her bike.

 

Beany not only has a birthday cake, she also has her favorite drink, Gin and Tonic.  This is my 57th BAC tour and I’ve never before found hard liquor.  But hold on; I’ve seen bottles of pre-mixed Margaritas in the van.

I asked Beany to give me a 50-word summary of her 74-year life.  Here’s her response: “I was a born  nomadic and by age 15 was wandering the world.  ‘Enrolled in the Peace Corps in JFK’s time (1964-66) and spent 2 years in Africa.  I then married a Chicago boy in East Africa.  I’ve cycled in Asia, Africa, Europe and the US  (even Texas).  I’ve twice cycled over the Himalaya's.  My husband and I run an import business, handling primarily Ethnic art from Africa and Asia.” 

So Beany is 2 years older than me.  I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!  But first, I’ve got to climb Bear Prairie Pass tomorrow, a 31 mile climb.

Miles = 44, Elevation gain = 1,334.                                                        Total miles = 44, Tot Elevation gain = 1,334

Sierra Cascades – 8/15/2013 – The Prolog

 

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The ride we start tomorrow parallels part of the Pacific Crest Trail.  It is a beautiful and challenging route - a 30 day, 1310 mile journey starting near Seattle in the shadow of Mt. Rainier. We will wind our way through the dense forests, mountains, lakes, ranch land and national parks of Washington, Oregon and California ending in the always-awesome Yosemite National Park. This route includes the Volcanic Scenic Byway with views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, The Sisters, Crater Lake, Mt Shasta, Lassen National Park (to name a few), before entering the Sierra, Lake Tahoe and finally Yosemite.  It basically goes over the top of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges. 

It’s going to be a pretty difficult ride.   IT WAS BRENDA’S IDEA; NOT MINE!.  Actually I had suggested it in the epilog to my cross country blog four years ago but I had forgotten about it. And besides, I was younger then.  So I have more fear and doubts about this ride than probably any I’ve ever done. Most of my doubts are about the climbing; surely I can do the distances, although I haven’t done many long distance rides this year.

By the way, “Happy Birthday” to my daughter Pamela.

 

Like most of our tours, this one is organized by Bicycle Adventure Club. Our experienced and extremely competent volunteer leader is Alison Stone, known in the Bay Area cycling circles as “The Pink Lady”.

The current roster for this ride lists 19 members.  Due to injuries and other personal situations, this number is somewhat fluid and may change from day to day.  Of the 19 riders, 13 are females.  I’m fully prepared – well almost – to be humbled every day as all 13 females arrive at the top of the mountain before me.  Of course, they’re all younger than me.

Ignoring rest days, we’ll cycle 4 days in Washington, 8 in Oregon and 13 in California. In the map to the right you’ll see our basic route.  (Click on any picture for a larger image.)  Also note on the map the locations of San Francisco and San Diego – we cycled between these cities last year.  So it looks like we’ve got the West Coast covered. Anyone want to organize a ride down the East Coast?

 

We’re starting the ride from the Best Western Plaza on the Green in Kent, Wa.  Alison has arranged for us to all have balcony’s on the golf course.  Brenda and I have arrived two days early just to be sure our luggage, including bikes, has arrived and to be sure the bikes assemble and operate properly.  We assembled the bikes  yesterday and everything seems to work.  We’ll go on a test ride in the morning.  The ride distance from the test ride will be included tomorrow’s chart (below).