Jun 16-21 - Cascade 1200

It wasn't really 1200, 1290 in fact.  The time limits were calculated against the actual distance, not the notional 1200k distance.  Thank goodness.

It's over.  It was quite the experience.  Hamid and I were the Lanterne Rouge riders in the sense that anyone who might have finished after us were DNF's.  We only had one hour in the bank when we finished.  Of course leaving the prior night's Control an hour AFTER it closed might have been a factor ...

Susan Otcenas, the organizer, ran the clock for this ride on a flat rate basis.  Usually Control time limits are tighter in the first 600k than afterwards, this was evenly distributed.  That means that the time requirements in the second 600k were tighter than usual. 

The last day looked like it was going to be easy -- a climb to Washington and Rainy Passes and then downhill and then flat.  Well, it wasn't really downhill; it was rolling, and there was a fierce headwind so that the entire downhill section was slower and much more work than expected.  Hamid had figured it for a 9 hour max 200k ride against 13 hours that we had to finish, but stopped time soon used up 1.5 hours of that 13 and the wind made it no-way-in-9.  Sheeesh.

But how did we get here in the first place ?  I've never been the last rider, not even close.  With PBP last year I only had a couple of hours to spare, but I know where the time went on that ride.  I can count the instances where I was simply waiting a significant chunk of time when I could have been riding -- and it wasn't at the overnight stops.

Day 1 -- we rolled out at 10pm.  The rain had stopped shortly before, but that was just a teaser, giving us the satisfaction of rolling out mostly dry.  Basically it rained on and off for the next 10 hours and then more later.  A lot of that was at sea level, not very cold, but eventually I put on my rain pants. 

As usual on these things, I quickly became the Lanterne Rouge but as the hours wear on, overtake people and end the day somewhat middle-of-the-pack.  That happened here too.

Also as usual on these things, Hamid goes out much stronger than me on the first day.  I got to one Control and it was reported that he'd been looking for me, commenting "why is he riding so slowly; we need more sleep !"  I was riding my own ride.

The first day's route gets us to Packwood, the overnight stop, 100km before the end and then we do a loop back to Packwood.  The first time into Packwood the rain hit me at elevation after the Skate Creek climb, driving at me as I went through the long descent.  Completely enclosed in my rain gear, I wasn't doing too badly but with no work, I was gradually getting chilled.  I was happy when the descent ended and I rolled into the Control.

Inside, I found a crowd of riders.  Shivering around a fireplace, sitting on the couches and chairs, I could tell that many wouldn't continue.  Rather than completely unwrap, because they didn't want cleats on the hardwood floor, I stood at the entrance, had some coffee and a snack. 

Gary Baker's riding partner, Barry Chase, needed some more warming up time (later, he decided to DNF), so Gary and I headed out together.  He's a faster rider than me for the most part, but stuck with me for that 100k.  It featured steeper climbing than we'd hit so far on the ride; eventually we were back in Packwood but by then it was midnight.

Hot food was welcome, as was a shower and bed !

444 kms in the bag over 26 hours; I've done better and worse.  Hamid came in two hours earlier at 10pm -- a 24 hour ride for him.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/11940769

Day 2 - I planned a 4-hour stop after Day 1, set my alarm for 3:30 with a 4am departure.  Coincidentally, Hamid had also planned a 4am start; our alarms went off together.  For my part, three hours sleep is all I need on these things.  Hamid should have been good with 4+ hours but he got very sleepy on Day 2; my belief is that the wind beat us up.  He had also started the ride with a sleep deficit.  Day 1 was our only mostly windless day.  Days 2-4 featured a headwind.

Out of Packwood, we immediately start the climb to White Pass, a 19 mile climb.  The grade is manageable, after all the summit is only at 4500 ft; Packwood had been at elevation 1063. 

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13565117

I'd hoped that a 333 km day with a 4am start would have at least made for an evening finish, but that was not to be.  We took roughly 22 hours for that 333 kms.  The wind was a killer and we had a lot of stopped time, a lot.  Sometime mid-day I'd calculated that we had already accumulated 4 hours stopped time.

Still, surprisingly, we were middle of the pack ending Day 2.  However, we were one of the last ones to breakfast for Day 3, rolling out at 6:20.  That wasn't enough sleep for Hamid.

After the Day 2 experience, I was worried about Day 3.  I knew that Hamid would be further behind sleep-wise and knew that our next finish time was more likely 4am or later, as I expected another windy day in the desert.  I always prefer not to ride in the 2-4 a.m. timeframe, if I can help it.  My body clock wants to sleep.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13566499

Day 3 is the heaviest climbing day but the wind was the real factor.  The second named climb, to Loup Loup, was also expected to hit 32F for the descent, so we needed all of our clothes and then some. 

Again, by the time we started the climb to Loup Loup early evening, we were somewhat middle of the pack.  That changed as groups passed us.  Hamid was having a hard time staying awake, falling asleep standing and getting a power nap on a camp chair part way up the climb.  On the descent we had to stop numerous times but we could see a thunderstorm heading our way and eventually made a run for the little town after the descent. There's nothing worse than descending and being sleepy. 

We found a fire station / ambulance station joined at the roof with an alley between them and sat down on the concrete for another power nap.  That came quickly, as did the rain.  We'd arrived there about 3:15 a.m. and stayed almost until 4am.  The rain ended and we continued to Moses Lake, our "overnight". 

We pulled into Moses Lake about 6:35 a.m., saying "hello" to riders leaving.  They were about to have a good day ahead of them.  We needed some sleep !  I planned for a 9am departure which meant a one hour sleep.  That should have been ample time as the close / time limit was about 10:40 p.m.  We were about the last ones to leave Moses Lake that morning.

Day 4 starts out with the climb to Washington Pass, a short drop and then climb to Rainy Pass.  The rest of the profile looks ideal -- downhill for the next third and flat for the final third.  The climbs went well, we were fairly relaxed and made reasonable time.  We finished those faster than expected.  Now for a lot of downhill, right ?

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13566556

Yes we had downhill, but also some rolling, however we had HUGE headwind.  The road sign said it all -- "Strong Sideways Wind Next 27 miles".  I've never heard of sideways wind before, usually it's expressed as cross wind, but I got the idea.

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Another adventure is on the books.  That makes 20 for me.  I've completed quite a variety now in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.  I'd like to get to New Zealand, Australia, Japan ... so many places !  I'm very lucky to be able to do this, physically and mentally with an understanding spouse ... well, mostly understanding !  Sandy would have had a good time exploring the area while I was riding, but she opted for New York with a friend.  She had a fabulous time.

The Cascade was very well organized, good accommodations (motel / lodge style) and food and volunteers in strategic locations.  One of the Seattle club members has put together a Trackleaders equivalent and those of us with SPOTs were displayed on the route.  My SPOT didn't behave itself, I'm not sure why.  It was on my back rack, always completely exposed, but it still lost satellite communication.  Perhaps it's dying ?

The route is very pretty, a combination of forest, mountains and desert.  The organizers have varied the route from year to year; this is a new one.  It did have a lot of open desert riding; the wind conspired against us out in the open.  C'est la vie. 

There were 23 DNF's out of the planned 85 riders.  That's a high percentage reflecting the weather.  Most of those were Day 1, cold and wet. 

I carried a lot of gear on this one, prepared for almost anything.  Heavy coat, rain pants, three different weight pairs of gloves, long sleeve jersey (s), wool jersey for one day, leg warmers, head cover, arm warmers, obligatory helmet cover (motel shower cap) ... all of this needed a place to be stowed when it got hot, and it did get hot.  With large front and back bags stuffed, it's a lot of weight and wind resistance, but it paid off.  I also carried a lot of food -- a half pound of seed bars, cheese, dried fruit.  As usual I had my full complement of spares and tools, but I was lucky and had no mechanical issues.  Of course I used my fenders, necessary for Day 1 and extra wind resistance for the ensuing days.  The fenders don't pack in the drop bag ...

Cascade 1200 ... check !