John's Ramblings » sunrise-mount-rainier-cycling-hill-grunt-clydesdale

Rest Day

John — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:01:21 +0000

My legs are a little tight this morning after last night’s squat and lunge exertions, so today is a deload day. Work as usual, then maybe seek out a little carbohydrate goodness to start the weekend.

My nephew Kevin is joining me tomorrow for my third assault on Mt. Rainier. Not mountain climbing in the traditional sense, but riding our bicycles 14 miles up Sunrise Road. He’s only in town for the weekend, so we squeezed his schedule a bit so that he could see what a real climb is like. Weather is looking to be ab-fab for the day, so I am totally excited to ride. The views are always spectacular, and to ride it with Kevin will be a real treat. It will also be interesting to gauge the difficulty of the climb now that I’m 30+ pounds lighter than last year.

We’re leaving here around 7 a.m. I can’t remember the actual travel time to the Sunrise Gate of the park, but I assume that drive and prep time will put us in the saddle at around 9. Come join the grunt-fest if you like. Beer likely follows the ride.

Sunrise – Mt. Rainier V2.0

John — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:09:18 +0000

Today was my second dose of the Sunrise climb, the last being a year and two weeks ago. The weather was fabulous: a little cool at the start but definitely warming up toward the end. Unlike last year, I never had to pull out the arm warmers, jacket, or leg warmers for the descent. I’d refer you to last year’s account of all the gory details of how a clydesdale climbs up Mt. Rainier on a bike. Different this year was:

I am stronger, but not much lighter than last year. Consequently, the “grunt” factor was approximately the same. I’m still the Lanterne Rouge.
I no longer mind being the Lanterne Rouge. I ride how I ride. Sure, I can improve, but I’ll not be beating riders 10+ years younger and 3 stone lighter up a mountain anytime soon. So be it.
Given enough Advil and ice, I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be to do our ride to Montana.

I rode solo for just about the entire climb, except for this hawk who joined me for the next-to-last switchback leg:

If I have to climb 14 miles on a bicycle, I want to do it here. If we do end up moving, I shall not miss the rain, but I will miss having the opportunity to ride with a view like this:

Skipped the STP

John — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:04:49 +0000

Ridden it twice, and told myself last year that I wouldn’t do it again for a while. Probably a good decision, as we were up pretty late last night after attending a concert by Stevie Wonder. I would have been hard pressed to be up and rolling at the crack of dawn, given that we didn’t get to bed until 1:30 a.m. or so. Still, I had to run out this morning at 7 to get coffee (we were out), and dozens of riders were riding down West Valley Hwy. in waves while I got my bucket of black-lightning at the Bigfoot Espresso. I waxed nostalgic to do the ride for about 30 minutes, or the time it took to get home, kick off my clothes and park my coffee-sipping ass in front of the tv to watch Le Tour.

I’m on the hook for doing some smokey ribs for the neighbor’s party tonight, so I slipped out for a quick loop on the bike before I fire up the BBQ. The Green River Trail is compromised on the west by the levee repair, and the Interurban is cluttered with people and strollers because it’s Kent Conucopia Days. Go home, people, you are in my way!

I’ll try to get to bed at a decent hour tonight, and maybe head up to Sunrise on Mt. Rainier for a little solo torture. I’m still fighting a bit of upper respiratory congestion… nothing too malevolent, but I must hack and spit every 50 yards or so, an activity much better performed in solitude.