John’s Ramblings

Just about this time last year, I saw the website for the Mt. Adams Country Bike Tour in Trout Lake, Washington.  It was too late to plan a trip there in naught-seven, so this was the year to go.

Several of the other Green River Riders also put this ride on their to-do list, and opted to camp/RV in White Salmon, Washington.  Terri was willing to do another 4 hour drive to one of my bike rides, but as compensation we would not rough it as far as accomodations go.  I’d call that a fair enough trade, with the bonus that I wouldn’t be camped on a small patch of grass nestled between Hwy 14 and the Burlington-Northern/Santa Fe Railroad.  We stayed across the Columbia in Hood River, Oregon.  I picked a Bed and Breakfast called Villa Columbia, solely from their website.  Great choice.  The house is beautiful, and the hosts are very nice.  After checking in to our room, we refueled at the Full Sail Brewery and Pub.  Hood River isn’t the cheapest city to eat and lodge in, but we loved the small-town feel with big-town amenities like 3 brewpubs, several wineries, and great dining options.  I would strongly consider a return trip to spend more time exploring the town, and the road cycling possibilities.

Saturday’s forecast for Trout Lake was for 98 degrees Farenheit, so I wanted to make an early start to the day.  Since we were staying 35 miles away, this meant leaving the B&B before 6:30 a.m.  Breakfast (the second “B” in “B&B”) isn’t until 8 a.m., Boba (the owner) made us a breakfast to go, and stashed it in the fridge for us.  We made it to Trout Lake shortly after 7.  We were told that the second of the two 50 mile loops, the “Forest Loop“, was closed due to heavy snow on the road.  You could still ride the route, but it would be 15 miles up, then back.  They were also recommending that riders do the “Valley Loop” first to avoid the heat at the lower elevations later in the day.  Not having heard from my Green River Rider compatriots, I opted to start the Valley Loop with Terri, thinking that they would eventually catch up to us.  Terri and I assumed that at some point we would split up due to our different pace and mileage goals, and that I would end the day riding with the faster group after a more leisurely pace in the morning.

The morning was beautiful, and we enjoyed our leisurely spin through farm and ranch land.  Temperature at the start was somewhere in the low 60’s and the sky was crystal-clear.  It was more than one occasion during this stretch where you would have a view of Mt. Adams on your left (like the one above), and a view of Mt. Hood on your right (like the one below).

After five miles or so, we turned left onto Hwy 141 for a long descent to BZ Corner. From there we turned left and began to pay for all that descent. The first climb was about 3 miles long, where it flattened out for a mile before kicking up again for 2 or so more miles. Terri completely bonked on the climb, and ended up walking to the rest stop at the top. Knowing that the situation would only get worse as the day heated up, we called her riding day complete. The problem was that the SAG support on the ride was practically non-existent. In order to get her from back to the start, I rode back down to BZ Corner, then back up that long descent to the car, for about 12 “bonus miles” for the day. I loaded my bike, drove to the rest stop, unloaded my bike, loaded Terri’s bike, and rejoined the route about 2 hours after I had left it.

The rest stop, by the way, had the following:

• 1 porta-pottie
• a plate of cookies
• mini bagels with peanut butter (smooth), no jam
• boiled potato hunks
• 2 thermos jugs of cold water

Hey John, didn’t your muscles tighten up during that whole driving the car thing? Why yes, they did.  And no, I didn’t stretch before or after my “rescue the damsel in distress” moment.  But John, wasn’t it getting pretty dang hot by now? Absolutely.  Hey genius, wouldn’t a rational person decide to just call it a day at this point, knowing it was going to get close to 100 degrees in a short period of time? Yes, a rational person would.  I was obviously already suffering from cloudy thinking at this point as I clicked back in to the pedals with just my two water bottles.  Didn’t you start the day with your bottles AND a Camelbak? Yes, but there would be plenty of water stops along the route, I thought, so I left the Camelbak in the car with Terri.  Bad move.  The next water stop was a mile or so after the top of the next climb, an unmanned stop.  As it turns out, the stop was not only unmanned, it was unwatered as well.

I consumed one entire bottle during that second climb, so I then had to make 1 bottle last for the next 16 or so miles until the next rest stop.  While the scenery was lovely, the temperature continued to climb past 100 degrees.  I saw some riders stopped alongside the road, sitting under a tree.  As it turns out, they were waiting for a SAG wagon to pick them up, which never arrived.  In fact, I only saw a SAG wagon (unmarked) once, and that was on the last hill of the day.  This couple ended up getting rescued by the personal support vehicle of my friends the Green River Riders!

The second staffed rest stop had water, cookies, bagels, and a hose which I used to spray my head and face with cold water.  They also had sample-sized Larabars which I no longer had the hand-strength to open, apparently.  Some old dude offered to help me by pulling a wire clipper out of his pocket and snipping the package.  As I put the morsel into my mouth, he announced that wire clippers were handy for everything, including clipping his fingernails.  Thanks for the additional info, and no, I don’t want to know what that crunchy-bit was that I just swallowed).

The last 10 miles were brutally hot.  The maximum air temp as measured by my Polar HRM was 107 degrees.  Due to the position of the sun vs. the direction of travel, “our” side of the rode had zero shade, but the opposite side had maybe 30% shade.  Most riders opted to ride on the wrong side of the road, only venturing to the proper side when you heard the occasional vehicle approach in the distance.  I knew that I was approaching my limits to deal with the heat and the hills, so I stopped at least once in the middle of each climb to stand in the shade and let my heart rate come down (which took longer and longer to come down with each hill).  Once again I made it to the finish line, but it was far from pretty.  I finished at 2:30 p.m., 66 miles and 3700′ of hot climbing later.

This is absolutely beautiful country, and the roads are in splendid condition.  There was only one stretch of a mile or so with chip-seal pavement.  If the weather had been a little less extreme, I would probably have come away from the ride with a more favorable view of the event.  I was disappointed that the organizers made no effort to at least post on their website that half the course would be closed due to snow, which sounded like it was going to be the most scenic half.  More disappointing was that the SAG and water support were inadequate.  They have no control over the weather, but they do have control over their communication, and the support that they provide (or not).  As we debriefed that evening over a beer, one of my astute colleagues made the observation that rides organized by bike clubs may have a distinct tactical advantage over bike rides organized by business groups (this ride is put on by the Trout Lake Business Owners Association), by virtue of having a better understanding of the needs of cyclists, especially under extreme conditions.

I’d love to ride this route again, but it would have to be with better support.

Tags: century, Cycling, hood_river_oregon, mt_adams_country_bike_tour, ride_report, trout_lake_washington

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.