Crusty Cassette

The STP bike classic began Saturday July 12 under a cloudless star studded Seattle sky. I lined up with several hundred other riders to be in the first wave out of Husky stadium parking lot. We wound our way down side streets, across lake union and then south along Lake Washington blvd. Temperatures were near perfect for biking, just under 70 degrees and low humidity.

It was somewhat dicey for about the first 15 miles or so as riders who pictured themselves in their own Tour de France were dodging in and out of the main bulk of riders. I did pass several altercations but none of them appeared serious.

Did I mention that at the start I lined up next to a young gentleman who was doing the ride on a large wheel unicycle!! He had a set of aero bars complete with a cycle computer attached to the seat post. At 10 mph his legs were a blur, can't imagine doing that for 200 miles..

As the ride continued south toward Kent and Algona we could see Mount Rainer in the east. Its snow capped peak back lit by the rising sun and a wisp of single cloud trailing from the peak in the breeze. The only significant hill came at about mile 44. Compared to the rolling hills around here it was not much to take on. All those training rides I had done with the club paid off. Riders were moving in loosely organized groups and pace lines for the first 100 miles. Food and water stops were well organized, staffed, and stocked with fruit, bagels, veggie wraps, muffins, H2O and power aid. The free food stops were spaced about 40 miles apart with community sponsored stops in between.

The first 100 miles were good. I made the half way point just after 10 AM and decided to reward myself with a longer break than I had taken so far. As I pulled into the food stop at Centralia the wind started to pick up to more than the slight breeze we had up to this point. The weather forecast had predicted a low pressure front would move in from the coast on Saturday. It seemed the last half of the ride was going to be more work.

From Centralia to the bridge across the Columbia river at Longview was way more work. The wind was gusting and at times my speed was down to 12 mph. I think it would be fair to say the wind was similar to that which the club had on the Tour of the Palouse ride, which I missed by the way. By now the riders were spaced quite a ways apart. The terain is not as flat as people say it is. They have their own version of rolling hills, not like the palouse but not flat either. At times I was riding alone with no one in front or behind as far as I could see.

Across the river and in to Oregon. We turn south east and the wind is now at more of an oblique angle so not directly in our faces. By this time the cloud cover has become solid and I can feel a few drops of rain. It never did really rain which I was thankful for. The road is relatively flat for the last 30 miles. It was along highway 30 which does get a lot of traffic. My only mechanical problem was a flat at mile 170. No sooner had I pulled over to the side of the road to fix the flat when one of the Honda Goldwing riders pulled up to lend assistance. They were patrolling the entire length of the route to lend assistance to those in need. He all but changed the flat for me, he even had a portable compressor. Flat fixed and I continued on. I did catch up to a larger group of riders 20 miles out of Portland and continued the rest of the ride with them.

We passed under the bridge that the STP used in previous years to get to the finish. The bridge was being worked on so we had to continue an additional 10 miles to the new finish line. The ride organizers said that this years STP was the first time the ride was over 200 miles in length, 206 to be exact. We passed some residential housing on our way in to Portland and then through a business district. While waiting at one of the stop lights we watched the police pat down some individual outside the front door of a bank. Perhaps he forgot to pay his over draft fee???

The finish line was at Holladay park. I was glad to see the banner and the lines of people cheering us on. I was met by my wife LeeAnn who was glad to see that I could still walk after 12 hours in the saddle.

I really enjoyed the ride. I saw bib number 7645 so I know at least that many people had registered. It was well organized. We were well fed and had plenty of support on the road. I would recommend it to anyone.

Chris & I spent quite a bit of time on the plan this morning. We'd be delighted to have any TRC members or affiliates join us for a few days. Here's the plan:

14 Jul 60 miles to Powell, ID
15 July 67 miles to Lowell, ID
16 July 44 miles to Kamiah, ID
17 July 45 miles to Winchester
18 July 42 miles to Lewiston
19 July layover, Lewiston, ID
20 July 76 miles to Waitsburg, WA
21 Jul 76 miles to Umatila, OR
22 Jul 85 miles to Biggs Jct, OR
23 Jul 45 miles to Hood River, OR
24 Jul 66 miles to Portland, OR
25 Jul 56 miles to West Post, Or
26 Jul 26 miles to Astoria
back to Portland and return to Lewiston TBD

1 July 2003: Malta MT to Havre, MT; 92.0 miles; 6:52 riding time

Did I mention that Earl (his real name) is 76 and doing the Lewis-Clark Route? He made a good campground companion last night when Chris and David ducked into a motel to escape the storm that didn’t happen. Earl did break camp about 4:00 a.m., but we caught up with him between Dodson & Fork Belknap. He had no interest in joining our pack as we were riding in a paceline to reduce the headwind. Earl caught us again at Ft. Belknap where we had our peanut butter sandwiches. Earl was determined to reach Havre at 92 miles, and his age and determination helped incline David and Chris to that decision. Just outside of Ft. Belknap we me Dan, a 20 something who is with a group of 4 young men doing the Northern Tier. They’re mostly bike shop employees from a bike shop in Tucson that was recently bought out by a chain. We talked to Dan for 5 or 10 minutes and caught the rest of his group 20 miles to the west in an ice cream store in Chinook (about 40 miles separated the two parts!). They ride 60 to 120 miles daily, sometimes sleep at the side of the road, and don’t require daily showers! I asked them if they were on a budget, and the response from one was that he had worked 5 jobs to pay for the trip, and he was not pinching pennies. Their youthful enthusiasm combined with Earl’s aged determination probably pushed David and Chris to support riding all the way to Havre! This jumps us ahead one day and makes it possible for me to drill in Missoula as scheduled.

2 July 2003: Havre, MT to Fort Benton, MT; 28.5 miles; 7:22 riding time (avg 7.22 MPH)

Once we got to Havre, David decided he needed a rest day and would like to take another in Helena, and since he didn’t want to ride Lemhi Pass anyway, so he left a phone message that he was splitting for another week planning to meet us outside of Missoula after my July drill.

Leaving Havre we turned to go southwest, and of course, the wind switched to come from the southwest at 5 to 20 MPH by late afternoon. As the wind built we started taking 2 mile turns in front and 2 miles of drafting (drafting is less safe on loaded touring bikes but often done in headwinds anyway). By the time we got to Loma Chris was saying he was going to hitch hike on into Fort Benton. After a break, some ice cream and lemonade, he decided to crawl back on the bike but said he was too tired to safely draft, so we split up for the last 8 to 10 miles. Fort Benton is a neat little touristy town, the last stop on any river navigation up the Missouri in days of old though nothing comes up the river anymore except tourist boats. We’re back in the land of customer service, and the local ice cream store agrees to put chocolate in the “blizzard”. It also has not big mosquito problem! The worst of Montana is over although I’ll be several more days recovering from the mosquito attacks along the Milk River. No wonder Lewis & Clark complained to extensively about mosquitoes!

3 July 2003: Fort Benton, MT to Great Falls, MT; 45.8 miles 3:15 riding time

There were lots of hills over the prairie above the Missouri bluffs, but not wind today! We spent over an hour in a health club’s hot tub today soaking in the sauna and Jacuzzi after today’s short ride. We’re staying at the B&B Hostel, run by Todd who cycled the Southern Tier in 2000 and enjoys cyclist coming by. He gives us the care of a good B&B for $13 per night! He’s a great host who obviously likes things clean and nice! Were it not for my National Guard drill, we’d have taken a planned layover day here. Todd says he can hardly stand to see us mount up and ride off the next morning as it makes him want to join us.

4 July 2003: Great Falls, MT to 8 miles S. of Wolf Creek MT, 67.9 miles; 6:56 riding time We took a lengthy break in Ulm this morning as we breaked with a local rider in the convenience store and then were met by a woman driving sag for a group of 5 doing almost the same ride we’re doing but a day ahead of us. About Cascade we reached clean clear waters in the Missouri before it picks up its characteristic mud. Wolf Creek had no city park or camping, but there are many undeveloped sites along the creek above town, so owe had dinner there, bought supplies for breakfast, and rode up. We were warned about rattle snakes which combined with the undeveloped sites seems to have made Chris (an Easterner) very nervous especially combined with his yesterday’s decision to mail home his flashlight! He gets up several times each night and doesn’t want to discover rattlesnakes in the dark! He camps in a pile of rocks instead of the overgrown grass to make snakes more visible.

5 July 2003: 8 Miles S. of Wolf Creek MT to 3 Forks MT KOA Campground, 97.0 miles; 7:15 riding time Riding through Helena was unpleasant. Red-necked drivers seemed to have learned from their brethren in Excelsior Springs, MO. We were screamed at a few times to get off the road, and a jeep literally came within 2” of Chris which gave me a good scare. That anti-cycling attitude seemed to follow most of the way down to 3 Forks, and is only the 2nd time in the trip that monster has shown its ugly head. We had a late breakfast here as Chris threw out his bananas (as too bruised) and ate only cheap granola bars for breakfast- which isn’t the breakfast of champions! That 8 miles we rode up Wolf Creek gave us a head start, and with decent tails winds from Helena on we decided to extend the ride from Townsend to 3 Forks which basically puts us into Missoula a day early! This is a nice KOA with swimming pool and friendly guests, but it’s 4 miles out of town, and we got camp set up maybe an hour before sunset! A neighbor drove us into town, and the busboy at the restaurant drove us back out to camp during the last minutes of dusk.

6 July 2003: 3 Forks KOA to Twin Bridges, MT; 59.9 miles; 5:01 riding time We didn’t want to ride into town and back out, so we had peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. The restaurant in LaHood wasn’t opened and there was no restaurant in Cardwell (as listed on AC maps), so we got by on snacks until Whitehall. Winds were slight, but in our face today. For some reason Chris wanted a motel tonight, but I stayed in the country fairgrounds and enjoyed a swim with a couple families in the Beaverhead River, one of the forks of the Jefferson, which is also a fork of the Missouri.

7 July 2003: Twin Bridges MT to Grant, MT; 62.6 miles riding time 5:21 Another windless morning! Dillion was scheduled for some internet time, but their library is closed on Mondays as are half their cafes! We had to hang around the Dairy Queen for a few minutes before its 11:00 opening. Chris called up the AC number listed in Grant, and we leaned that business is closed on Mondays. However, she agreed to fry us hamburgers and allow us to camp there. It turns out there is a competing business across the road (Grant is nothing – almost like Gifford, ID). Noa, a Japanese man, is cycling the Divide, and was staying across the road at that business that was opened. Enjoyed hearing about his mountain-bike trip. He’s riding 75 to 100 miles daily on that route on a budge of $5 per day! I believe he had ramen noodles for dinner, and his camping spot and shower cost $3! We exchanged e-mail addresses, and I look forward to hearing more about his Canada to Mexico adventure when I get home. Grant is just a dusty spot on the desert, no river, no trees, just sand, sagebrush and these two small businesses.

8 July 2003: Grant, MT to Salmon, Idaho; 58.0 miles 6:17 riding time The woman in Grant didn’t go to work until 8:00, so with a late breakfast, we were off to a late start this morning at about 8:45. Headwinds were strong as we started out, and we were riding into the eye of a storm though in all other directions the sky was clear. Cold rain soon started hitting us. Chris pulled over in the desert, and I road on up to some shelter about ¼ mile away. About 10 minutes later Chris caught me; he was soaked. I was huddled dry but cold under a cattle loading shoot with even my bike out of the rain! It was smelly but dry! The storm didn’t last long, and we were soon cycling up the pass that we had most feared in this trip. The air was cold after the rain and the pavement soon ended. We had lunch as we reached the first trees. Some cowboys showed up to lassoo cattle. We watched them rope a couple and give them shots before taking off. The grade on the Montana side isn’t too steep; requiring my 26” gear only for a brief while, but I’m sure I would have wanted the 19.9” gear to get up the Idaho side! It was a steep descent! Chris has no mountain biking background, and really crawled down the mountain. Between the steepness, gravel, and washboards, it was a challenging ride down. Chris also had a flat about half way down the steep part which caused him to ride even slower afterward. I arrived in Tendoy with an average speed of 7.7 MPH! Tendoy, Idaho is green and clean and gave Chris a good first impression of Idaho. Getting back on pavement into Salmon for the ride along the Lemhi River was good, and I picked up the pace to 17 to 18.

9 July 2003: Salmon, ID to Victor, MT; 104.0 miles 8:33 riding time The schedule had us stopping in Darby, but Chris has a friend here in Victor, just outside Missoula, so we pushed hard. Down the Salmon to North Fork was easy and smooth, but then we started up and over the pass back to were the Bitteroots branch off the Rockies and into western Montana. We found nothing in Gibbonsville, where our maps had promised food. However, the woman who runs a group of cabins gave us the best peaches I’ve eaten in years, bananas which she was afraid would be wasted, and oranges, as well as a delightful pic-nic table under the ponderosas before we started up the mountain. In the hot summer weather winds are blowing up hill, so we had a tailwind up the mountain, but a headwind down into the Bitterroot Valley. We talked to an 18 year old Trans Am ride for 15 minutes. He was carrying 70 pounds on his bike; 20 pounds of which were on his bike! He’s preparing to join the Marines, so he says it’s good training! While talking to him, Ken, a day rider joined us. He’s a mountain biker on vacation. They’re in an SUV camping, and driving along each day until they find something interesting to ride. He was in a recent wreck, so he switched to a road bike while his 2 friends mountain bike daily. He did Odessey 2000- that around the world bike ride and made a very interesting companion for half a day. It was 9:00 MDT before we got to our destination, but our host fixed steaks and a great dinner. He has a hot tub, a great rural setting with a rapid creek flowing just below the deck. He has two computers with separate internet access. No reason to leave here!

It was a beautiful morning. Six riders showed up for the Tour de Belgium ride. Debbie, Nikki, Cliff, and Corrie groaned at the suggestion of a reverse Lewiston Loop ride after the previous days' pre-Tour de Lentil ride and late night fireworks. The group decided on riding towards Hell's Gate State Park and part way up Tammany Creek Rd. The ride had its' moments with stopping first at Pedal-n-Spokes where Nikki had her wheel spoke repaired by Scott (& Harley), sprinkler showers along the levee, and finally Lance getting beeped to go into work. Total distance approx. 21 miles. The riders met afterwards at Waffles-n-More for breakfast(brunch). Lance called in his order to Janet from work and arrived just as the meals were being served. Great timing! Don't forget the Bike-n-Brew ride starting at the Red Lion Inn parking lot at 6 p.m on Sunday.

Ukiah Century Sunday June27 Five of us headed off for Ukiah, Oregon after Bite the Bullet: Bruce, Pam, Debbie, Dave H. and myself (Wendy), hereafter to be known as "the group with the pharmacist" though Debbie preferred "Team Rx". We all ate in Pendleton, not wishing to repeat last year's pre-century dinner of Spagettios with dodgy parmesan cheese.

The camping spot by the school was shady and private, only Rx were camping out that night. No kareoke but we could hear the band playing at park, we requested "who let the dogs out" but it was not forthcoming!

Shane, the ride organizer, treated us to a big breakfast of eggs, biscuits, pancakes etc, Bruce was seen eating solid food!!

Even at 5:30 it was obvious that it was going to be a hot one although there was still a nip in the air. Pam set off first (I made good note of this as I didn't want another "where's Pam" incident!) Bruce hung back waiting for things to warm up so that he didn't have to carry his legwarmers etc, I really must get him a nifty rack like mine for his bike then he would not have to wait for the heat, eh Bruce?

The ride is flat for about one mile then it goes up, too much breakfast........ The first 10 miles was very slow, then we hit some downhill and rolling parts through a burned over forest and finally to the first rest stop as Pam was leaving, did I say that Bruce had flown past with a couple of lean looking dudes from La Grande? Wow just over 10 mph average for the first 25, this bodes well for a century!!!

Dave took off from the first stop with Bruce who had waited for us, Debbie and I meandered along through the woods waiting for the long downhill to begin. The patches of snow on the Elkhorn Mtns looked very inviting, it was starting to bake out there on the pavement. Weeeee downhill starts, from the woods all the way down to the headwaters of the Grande Ronde, did I say scenic?

Round the curves and into lunch, almost out of water at this stage, that is rare for me. Our deli sandwiches were waiting, we had ordered them the evening before, it was a bit like having a Subway in the woods. It was hard to leave the lunch spot in the shade especially knowing what was in store, Debbie had fond memories of the "after lunch hill".

We headed out and started climbing very soon after, Bruce and Dave had gone ahead, Pam was behind with Mr O'So Clean (unbeknown to us she was fixing a flat very soon after pulling out from lunch). Up, up, then flat with some gorgeous views, then the big up. Debbie muttered "see ya at the top". Oh boy was it hot. We were thinking about the folks up at Cd'A on the ironman course, atleast we were only riding a 100!

Up more, I come up on Dave and tried to chat , bad move, I got a mutter and a grunt. Being quick at these things I decided that it was not the time to discuss our personal finances or question his ideas on the new deck, in the name of marital bliss I kept on up the hill!! Once reaching the shade at the summit all was well in the world again!

Down, down to our last rest stop, thunder was rumbling and the sky had turned an unpleasant shade of grey, we got out of there fast. Still down, a few spots of rain then Bruce came back to check on us after a shower, power nap etc.

Yea! Ukiah, a BBQ awaited us, huge slabs of pork for the meat eating types, it was brutal in the sun once we got off the bikes. Pam came in a little later with her new found friend and rescuer, Mr O'So Clean, maybe we should see if we can get Kleeburg's company to sponsor us, could we be the Team Rx Porta Johns??? Maybe not!!!

Come to Ukiah with us next year, it is about 3 hours from the Valley, wonderful terrain to ride through and Shane takes great of care with the food etc.

You should have been there . . .

Lance, Jan, Bill, Joanne, Mike, Nikki, Debbie, Cliff, Chris, and Corrie (Linda, pleading lazy, only arrived for the beer) gathered after an evenings ride for an evening brew. BarleyHoppers at Lewiston's Red Lion provided the veranda and the brew. Sunset, courtesy of the same powers that provided the cool evening. We provided the conversation on our own with a little help from Quiz Master Cliff. Bill seemed to be the big winner on Hell's Canyon trivia. Deep subject, huh, Bill?

The scheduled ride took the group from the Red Lion along E. Main to Lindsay Creek Road, then past Mann's Lake to Macintosh then down Tammany and back along the bike path.

Chris wanted a few more miles and so perusaded me to meet him at 4. He had hoped Mark Schmidt would make it down at least for the 6pm start, but he had to settle for me. I started at home and so had 10 miles on him when we started at 4:05. I tried my best to present the Lapwaii loop option in a negative light. I think it is about 35 miles, Chris. I don't think I can do it fast enough to get us back here by 6, Chris. We'll probably meet the group half way up Lindsay Creek, Chris. It didn't seem to matter how I pled, once Chris knew he'd get to hammer up Web Ridge reversed, there was no turning back.

Chris is never very clear on his directions, so when I said we'd need to cut off the Arrow Bridge extension, I think he wasn't clear how we were doing the loop. This kept him content to settle back with me. Usually he disappears at the Casino and I find him waiting at Arrow Bridge. I did my best getting us across Spalding Bridge and Chris reported a 19mph average when we stopped at the convenience store in Lapwaii.

Just before the Casino, we were passed by fire trucks rushing to the cloud of smoke we'd seen crossing Memorial Bridge. The fire had started down near the frontage road we usually ride on the return trip and spread up the hillside. It looked to be pretty much under control as we passed, and I was pleased not to get a cloud of smoke in my lungs.

A 4:00 start is difficult on your diet. Do you eat a second lunch? I chose fritos, trail mix, and pop. Guess that wasn't too good an idea. By the time I put a bottle of Minute Maid Lemonade on top of it at Lapwaii I was feeling bloated. Chris, now knowing where he was at, lead off and quickly jumping the pace up to 22-24 mph. I kept up for a time, but finally had to back off. Chris backed off a bit and we enjoyed a leisurely approach to web ridge, but I knew my stomache wasn't going to let me do anything heroic. I had also hoped for more shade this late in the day--that was not the case. Web Ridge and Macintosh were not sterling cycling moments for me. "Whose idea was this?" I demanded of Chris at the top of Macintosh. We hammered on. By now it was 5:50.

By 6 we were racing down Lindsay Creek. "They're just putting on their wheels," I shouted as Chris flew by. I must not have been too far off. We made it to the lowest possible point--the intersection with E. Main before encountering the rest of the club. We turned around an rode right back up. Let's see, that makes Web Ridge, MacIntosh, Lindsay Creek all on the same ride. I was at 50 miles at the top of Lidnsay.

St. Joe's has a new monitoring system. It seems to require a great deal of monitoring by Lance. He seems to get a call whenever Lance gets on his bike. We left him explaining how to plug in a docking station and headed toward MacIntosh. At this point I must introduce you to our latest heroine-EWD, Early Warning, Debbie, aka: Dog-bait Debbie. Since Debbie was our self-appointed point, she encountered the dog first. She does seem to attract the canines. Could be those well muscled-legs. Could be the smell of fear. Any way, we clear dogs out by sending Debbie out ahead. This dog was persistent, making physical contact, though not able to thwart Debbie's superb cycling skills (paid advertising) and bring her down.

Mike hit 51 mph going down MacIntosh. Chris was in the high 40's though he tried to melt his rims breaking. We all waited expectantly to see what Bill and Joanne on the tandem would do. Bill kept the breaks on disappointing us all. Claimed he could have done 60 if he didn't have to stop at the bottom.

Lance, had given up on troubleshooting over the phone. He surrendered his keys one more time to Jan, and hammered off to do Barr road and Thain back to St. Joe. He did join us for brew later.

Cliff wasn't having any of Debbie's hammering down Tammany so he kicked the recumbent out of second gear and left us all behind. He's a tad slow up, but going down, he's a terror.

Chris began complaining of the lateness of the day and, running out of water, my thirst for brew made me lead out on the bike trail back to BarleyHoppers. Gorgeous evening with the sun setting dramatically with dancing lights across the Snake river. The wind was mild, the company good, and the beer, I thought, plentiful.

Sadly, while there was little custom, my beer and Chris's cold Pepsi came only after Cliff strode manfully to the bar and got his own order. Chris was sorely put out by the Pepsi in his ice, or lack thereof. He also didn't like it when Mike told him the beer was only a buck. That Pepsi cost him 1.06.

Once we had our beers we began to think of food. My stomache still didn't want much but Linda talked me into an order of Nachos for the table. The Wycoff's had offered a barbecue after this ride, but the timing was off. We'll take you up on that offer later. Perhaps in welcoming Steve and his tourist buddies to Lewiston. Looks like Cliff's going to put up Dave and Chris--says he has lots of floor space. Thanks Cliff. I'll send Steve an email today.

Cool evening, cool brew. You should have been there. . .