Crusty Cassette

Linda inspects a covered bridge near Cottage Grove.

Between Millpond Campground and the summit of Huckleberry Mt. lie 15 miles of climbing. It’s early. We left camp about 6:40 to beat the heat though this day’s ride would only be 53 miles.

The pitch is 6 or 7 percent here. I’m passing people. It’s not a race. No one cares. It’s the final day of seven and there’s no premium for being early. Not even a choice camping site to be claimed.

The pitch is 6 or 7 but my heart rate is falling. At 140 I’m comfortable, remembering to spin, to keep the bike in an easy gear, reach my knees to the handlebars and then dive my toes down and back. If I forget and push straight down, pedaling is harder. So I’m riding at recovery rate and passing people. How wonderful to be strong and fit on this final day.

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Where did all of riders go? I showed up at Dismores in Pullman ready for a cooler Palouse ride with Jim Kenyon, however I was the only person to show up for the ride. Jim showed up a few seconds after me. We headed out on the first loop toward Waiwai then turned to Albion and back to Pullman, first loop approx 25mi. Temps were in the 60's and I stopped by my rig for some arm warmers, Then off to Moscow were we stopped at the Breakfast Club for a bite to eat. If we had a larger group we probably would have changed to a different place as they were really busy. We then headed to Troy on the Latah trail, which I have never ridden, with a tailwind to Troy. We stopped at the convience store for drinks and headed off to Moscow and Pullman, now with a pretty stiff headwind. The temps had warmed to perfect riding weather. Jim and I had a good ride, Jim said I pushed him a little which is good. Total days milage 71.5 mi. I hope that more riders show for next Sundays ride again on the Palouse.

Next time I do a camping trip, I won't need to worry about what to pack. I'll just pack Jim.

McCracken does know how to camp right down to the Starbucks Coffee, individual cups brewed, and the commercial 'smores sticks.

Truth to tell, Jim'd rather live on his bike camping than at home. Claire thought she'd married a crazy man, she explained during campfire chat, when his plan to excavate a basement beneathe their small Orchards home to make room for their first born began to include a swimming pool.

I knew Jim was dangerous when her signed up for RAMROD 2007 before he'd even done a century. It hammered home when I teased him with Native Planet only to discover he'd signed up for that too. Yes, there was a time when McCracken was quite the cyclist, though this year he has been distinquished more by his absence than presence on our club rides.

Next year will be different. He'll have a goal--RAMROD 2009. To make sure he'd have company, he talked me into guaranteeing myself a ticket to ride by volunteering this year. Al Coons also got suckered in and both Linda and Claire also volunteered. Apparently Claire will go anywhere as long as she has her air mattress to sleep on. And, of course, Linda just wants to go anywhere.

So that's how I found myself making 800 deli sandwhiches on Thursday at the Crystal Mountain food stop. We were setting up at 9, saw our first rider at noon, and our last sometime after 6 pm.

The riders were 38 miles from the finish in Enumclaw and had done the worst of the climbs, Cayuse Pass, and were over a hundred miles into the ride. The volunteer ladies kept complaining that all the riders seemed young, male, slender, and rested. But by 2 pm the great belly of the snake of multi-colored cyclists had reached Crystal Mountain. We were ready. But even at 25 secs per sandwich, we couldn't keep ahead of the mass of hungry cyclists. The line snaked out nearly to the road from within the Snopark we had set up in.

And then we ran out of bread.

It could have been ugly but everyone was in a good mood and didn't complain about sandwiches on lettuce. We had plenty of fruit and cookies and several times took a tray of goodies up and down the line.

The weather was grand though cold at the start and hot for a couple of hours in the afternoon before it cooled off again. Riders complained of the head winds too, but don't they always?

Finally the ladies arrived and by the end of the day all the women of the volunteer crew had made a pact to use their lottery bypasses to ride RAMROD next year rather than give them away. They've all promised to start training like right now.

I've done many organized rides with support. It was nice to take my turn at providing some support. The riders really appreciated our work and wanted to know if we were all planning on riding in 2009. In the hat of the moment, everyone committed. I think, maybe even Claire. I told her now she's required to ride.

Jim had lured me into volunteering with the promise of a ride on Friday but the weather turned wet Thursday night and stayed socked in. Abotu 10:30 we decided to ride from White River camp ground to Sunrise at 6400 feet. Turns out to be about 12 miles of climbing. Wasn't much to see through the mist and fog so we drove up Saturday morning which was more clear though not perfectly so. Jim said the mountain was just shy this week.

The descent was blood curdling. The mist only made me colder and I didn't have long fingered gloves nor a balaclava like Jim. Once below the mist, though, I warmed up enough to want to ride more. Linda and Jim and I rode out to the park entrance and back for 30 miles. Al headed home.

I'll expect to see more of Jim and Al and Linda on long rides next season. You can start now guys.

For the Ride of it. Corrie

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