SIR 2001 400k

SIR 2001 400k Ride Report
After having completed the previous brevets and deciding that I could handle the next level, I went to the Best Western Park Center Hotel in Enumclaw the day before and got a room where the ride would start. This was a great idea, because driving down from PT to Enumclaw for a 5 a.m. start is not fun. I had the opportunity to relax, make any last minute checks, watch the Giro on TV and go to bed early. I also got to meet Peg I was up and ready by a bit after 4 a.m. and already it was warm and looked the the day could get hot. For this ride, in anticipation of needing more water and gear, I opted to use my Topeak backpack instead of my Carradice. Little did I know that this choice was going to cause a few unseen problems! For the amount of gear I had, I could ride in any condition for any number of days (I even brought extra socks and a shorts liner). I had two 28oz. bottles on the bike and a 70oz. bladder, which would provide enough fluids between controls. Water was still my liquid of choice and I had not yet caught on to the idea of drinking my energy needs. This route would test that notion! The start was quiet, with the sun just starting to rise and everyone there ready to go. I got the expected amount of flack from Kent P. and Mark T. about my purple leg warmers...but hey, they were free and they fit! I looked a bit out of place with the vetrans kitted out with much less gear then me, but as I had NO IDEA what the day(s) would bring, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I see Kent P. taking a left at SR-161 and I know if I keep him in sight I might not go off course too badly. I almost miss the secret control but I hear Ken C. call my name and thankfully I don't. We rode down toward Elbe and onto Hwy 7, I see someone ahead of me (maybe Tom B.) but he just keeps pulling away and soon he is out of sight. Outside of Ashford I take a right and start the gentle climb up Skate Creek (2,600 feet). I peeled off my leg warmers and long sleeve top and put on the sunglasses and big billed "Felix the Cat" hat to keep the sun off my nose. Mark rode by and asked in everything was OK --that is one of the great aspects of riding with SIR, people check on you no matter what their goals are, and it reminds me alot of the early days of mountain biking comaraderie. Packwood came quickly and then we rolled up to White Pass. At this time, I find myself about where I usually am, riding near Terry Z. and Ann Marie, Mark T. and Kent P. White Pass is a fairly gradual climb, but the temps are rising. It always amazes me how strong Terry Z. and Ann Marie are on the tandem, climbing seems fairly effortless for them and this time the pass me just before the top. We all get to the store at the summit (4,500 feet) for a break in the shade. I can tell I've pretty much drained every ounce of sodium from my body, so I look for some salty food which can help get it back. Ah, Wheat Thins. I share some with Mark and we gulp down more liquids and tank up, then head out. Kent and I follow the fast descenders to Silver Lake 'cause we just never have the momentum to keep up! Maybe heavier bikes would help...nah. It's about when we get to the 137 mile mark where we turn to go to Yakima that it begins to dawn on me that the heavy pack choice was not wise. I see Jim T. coming past and wave, still cruising on the fenderless ti bike and making good time. My hands and feet have more weight on them than usual and the aches start to mount. My feet are burning up. Kent passes me around Naches and all I can do is watch him motor off. Making it into the control I grab some beverages and pull off my shoes to move my cleats back to take some pressure off the balls of my feet, my hands are just this side of blistering and are quite tender. I rotate the bars a bit to change some positions. I know these might not be wise changes midway through a ride, but I've got to do something! Kent is nice enough to wait for me to get ready, but I tell him to go ahead. I don't want to slow anyone down because of my stupidity...	The ride to Cliffdell is the hardest of the day. There's a slight headwind and a gradual climb to the control. My average speed goes down considerably as I limp to the stop. Terry, Ann Marie, Mark and Kent are all there, lounging and just getting ready to head out. I meet chat with the very friendly Alex and try to eat some food, but my body doesn't seem to take in much. I put on my liner shorts and focus on getting back on the road. There are no other riders nearby so my climb up Chinook will be solo. It's at this point that I feel better, even though I am just crawling along. I love climbing in the mountains, and the pass has some long views of the valley and no traffic to speak of. Night is coming and I see a herd of elk to my right, their white rumps visible in the trees. Water is running down down from the snowmelt and everything is quiet. I add leg warmers as the temps go down as I go up. My hands still hurt but the colder air is welcome. I use my headlamp to see my speed drop and for every mile I slow down the time to the top increases. It's rather unnerving. I crest Chinook summit (5,430 feet) around 11 p.m. or so and stop to put on all my clothes for the descent. I eat a banana as a couple stop by in their van and start gushing on about the beauty of this place and where they've been and ask me a whole stack of questions...my brain is not in social mode and I try and keep up a conversation but I'm starting to shiver so I say goodbye and head down. The descent is glorious. My Schmidt hub and Lumotach Oval give me a grand path to follow and I just let it rip. The switchbacks are exciting and a few times I either get a bit too far into a lean or cross some rough pavement and momentarily lose it. I can never be too thankful for having 20 years of muntain biking skills. A sandy right turn and I'm over Cayuse and soon at the Crystal Mtn. control. Ken and Duane have one hellava nice camp set up in the trees. I'm feeling great but take full advantage of Duane's offer to make some soup for me. I eat a turkey sandwich too, just for good measure. I enjoy chatting with those two, but realize I could easily just dawdle away the night and I'd like to take the pack off and have a shower. It's about 12:30 p.m. as I start the last 30-some miles to Enumclaw. It's very dark now and I can keep a good pace as the road gradually slopes down to the valley. By 2 a.m. I arrive at the motel desk and get signed in. I make it in exactly at the time I'd planned, even though I was ahead of schedule for the first 150 miles. I roll my bike into my room and take a shower, then flip on the tube and watch some mountain bike racing for a few minutes before calling it a night and going to sleep around 3:30 a.m. I get up at 8 a.m. and visit the gang sleeping in Room 1011, Ken is there chatting with Bob and Ken K. about missing the secret control and Bill is dosing in bed. Everyone looks a little beat, but happy. I turn in my card and thank Ken for a great ride and head out to breakfast in Silverdale and meet dave from Silverdale Cyclery. He looks me over and says it sure dosen't look like I just rode 255 miles...back home I take a four hour nap and then take my single speed out for a little cruise. Another successful brevet is done! 254 miles (400k) in 21:00 hours (overall average speed 21.1 mph) SIR 400k Cue Sheet Back to Randonneuring Stories
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SIR 2001 400k Ride Report

After having completed the previous brevets and deciding that I could handle the next level, I went to the Best Western Park Center Hotel in Enumclaw the day before and got a room where the ride would start. This was a great idea, because driving down from PT to Enumclaw for a 5 a.m. start is not fun. I had the opportunity to relax, make any last minute checks, watch the Giro on TV and go to bed early. I also got to meet Peg

I was up and ready by a bit after 4 a.m. and already it was warm and looked the the day could get hot. For this ride, in anticipation of needing more water and gear, I opted to use my Topeak backpack instead of my Carradice. Little did I know that this choice was going to cause a few unseen problems!

For the amount of gear I had, I could ride in any condition for any number of days (I even brought extra socks and a shorts liner). I had two 28oz. bottles on the bike and a 70oz. bladder, which would provide enough fluids between controls. Water was still my liquid of choice and I had not yet caught on to the idea of drinking my energy needs. This route would test that notion!

The start was quiet, with the sun just starting to rise and everyone there ready to go. I got the expected amount of flack from Kent P. and Mark T. about my purple leg warmers...but hey, they were free and they fit! I looked a bit out of place with the vetrans kitted out with much less gear then me, but as I had NO IDEA what the day(s) would bring, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I see Kent P. taking a left at SR-161 and I know if I keep him in sight I might not go off course too badly. I almost miss the secret control but I hear Ken C. call my name and thankfully I don't.

We rode down toward Elbe and onto Hwy 7, I see someone ahead of me (maybe Tom B.) but he just keeps pulling away and soon he is out of sight. Outside of Ashford I take a right and start the gentle climb up Skate Creek (2,600 feet). I peeled off my leg warmers and long sleeve top and put on the sunglasses and big billed "Felix the Cat" hat to keep the sun off my nose. Mark rode by and asked in everything was OK --that is one of the great aspects of riding with SIR, people check on you no matter what their goals are, and it reminds me alot of the early days of mountain biking comaraderie. Packwood came quickly and then we rolled up to White Pass.

At this time, I find myself about where I usually am, riding near Terry Z. and Ann Marie, Mark T. and Kent P. White Pass is a fairly gradual climb, but the temps are rising. It always amazes me how strong Terry Z. and Ann Marie are on the tandem, climbing seems fairly effortless for them and this time the pass me just before the top. We all get to the store at the summit (4,500 feet) for a break in the shade. I can tell I've pretty much drained every ounce of sodium from my body, so I look for some salty food which can help get it back. Ah, Wheat Thins. I share some with Mark and we gulp down more liquids and tank up, then head out. Kent and I follow the fast descenders to Silver Lake 'cause we just never have the momentum to keep up! Maybe heavier bikes would help...nah.

It's about when we get to the 137 mile mark where we turn to go to Yakima that it begins to dawn on me that the heavy pack choice was not wise. I see Jim T. coming past and wave, still cruising on the fenderless ti bike and making good time. My hands and feet have more weight on them than usual and the aches start to mount. My feet are burning up. Kent passes me around Naches and all I can do is watch him motor off. Making it into the control I grab some beverages and pull off my shoes to move my cleats back to take some pressure off the balls of my feet, my hands are just this side of blistering and are quite tender. I rotate the bars a bit to change some positions. I know these might not be wise changes midway through a ride, but I've got to do something! Kent is nice enough to wait for me to get ready, but I tell him to go ahead. I don't want to slow anyone down because of my stupidity...

The ride to Cliffdell is the hardest of the day. There's a slight headwind and a gradual climb to the control. My average speed goes down considerably as I limp to the stop. Terry, Ann Marie, Mark and Kent are all there, lounging and just getting ready to head out. I meet chat with the very friendly Alex and try to eat some food, but my body doesn't seem to take in much. I put on my liner shorts and focus on getting back on the road. There are no other riders nearby so my climb up Chinook will be solo.

It's at this point that I feel better, even though I am just crawling along. I love climbing in the mountains, and the pass has some long views of the valley and no traffic to speak of. Night is coming and I see a herd of elk to my right, their white rumps visible in the trees. Water is running down down from the snowmelt and everything is quiet. I add leg warmers as the temps go down as I go up. My hands still hurt but the colder air is welcome. I use my headlamp to see my speed drop and for every mile I slow down the time to the top increases. It's rather unnerving. I crest Chinook summit (5,430 feet) around 11 p.m. or so and stop to put on all my clothes for the descent. I eat a banana as a couple stop by in their van and start gushing on about the beauty of this place and where they've been and ask me a whole stack of questions...my brain is not in social mode and I try and keep up a conversation but I'm starting to shiver so I say goodbye and head down.

The descent is glorious. My Schmidt hub and Lumotach Oval give me a grand path to follow and I just let it rip. The switchbacks are exciting and a few times I either get a bit too far into a lean or cross some rough pavement and momentarily lose it. I can never be too thankful for having 20 years of muntain biking skills. A sandy right turn and I'm over Cayuse and soon at the Crystal Mtn. control.

Ken and Duane have one hellava nice camp set up in the trees. I'm feeling great but take full advantage of Duane's offer to make some soup for me. I eat a turkey sandwich too, just for good measure. I enjoy chatting with those two, but realize I could easily just dawdle away the night and I'd like to take the pack off and have a shower. It's about 12:30 p.m. as I start the last 30-some miles to Enumclaw. It's very dark now and I can keep a good pace as the road gradually slopes down to the valley. By 2 a.m. I arrive at the motel desk and get signed in. I make it in exactly at the time I'd planned, even though I was ahead of schedule for the first 150 miles.

I roll my bike into my room and take a shower, then flip on the tube and watch some mountain bike racing for a few minutes before calling it a night and going to sleep around 3:30 a.m.

I get up at 8 a.m. and visit the gang sleeping in Room 1011, Ken is there chatting with Bob and Ken K. about missing the secret control and Bill is dosing in bed. Everyone looks a little beat, but happy. I turn in my card and thank Ken for a great ride and head out to breakfast in Silverdale and meet dave from Silverdale Cyclery. He looks me over and says it sure dosen't look like I just rode 255 miles...back home I take a four hour nap and then take my single speed out for a little cruise. Another successful brevet is done!

254 miles (400k) in 21:00 hours (overall average speed 21.1 mph)
SIR 400k Cue Sheet

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