Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.BigSean
06-18-07, 11:28 AM
What a beautiful ride. I had been having some knee problems earlier in the week, so I was a bit concerned about doing this ride. However the pain was gone, and the advertised climbing was only 2300ft.:rolleyes: So I met up with Tracy and Daniel about 7 am on a brisk but clear morning and we took off. Our first part of the ride was a beautiful out and back of about 12 miles. As we rode up the road I quickly realized that this ride was gonna be alot more climbing then they had claimed. :eek: Anyway, we rode at a nice warm up pace for the first few miles, then I started to feel a bit looser and wanted to test my knee. I took off from the group and climbed to the turn around area where I talked with other riders, took in the views of Mt Lassen, and waited for Daniel and Tracy. After a short break and a few pics we were off. This part was easy cause it was downhill for the most part. We rode together till we got to a short steep section where I accelerated to drop down the grade and carve the hard left hand turn. Oh-oh, Im sliding:eek: , there is gravel in the corner. I recover the initial slide and turn my head to warn Daniel and Tracy. At this point my rear wheel slides a few feet out to my right,:eek: I look up and see Im going off the road, so I counter steer into the slide and the bike comes back around. Thanks goodness for my mt biking back ground.
So we continue on at a nice easy pace when a tandem comes flying by, so being a testosterone factory I jump on their wheel and its off top the races. We topped out at 49.9mph and it was fun. These two could really ride. ;) We carried a fast pace for a few miles until the road turned up a bit and off I went around them with another guy following me. Wow that was fun. We reached the stop sign, crossed the street and regrouped. This was also the first rest stop. Eat a bit, fill the bottles, and off we go heading around the lake. Soon we are again climbing, but its really not too bad, maybe a mile at the most. Then we make a right and its up and down on the big rollers for about 4 miles. I see my parents drive by as they were driving sag for the event. It was nice seeing them along the route. My knee was still feeling pretty good.;) So we stopped to chat with my parents for a few minutes, got a kiss from the wife and off we went.
The ride around the lake was beautiful, and we were all doing well. Before we knew it we were at the next rest stop. Refill the bottles, eat some food, use the restroom and off we go. A nice long decent down into Indian Valley. Again the tandem passes me and I jump on again. I stay with em for a few miles, but eventually they slowly pulled away.:( When I got to the bottom of the hill I waited and we regrouped. The valley was very pretty. Lots of small rollers, and wind!:eek: Well actually the wind wasnt too bad at this point. But as we were got in about 60 miles I could tell Tracy was tiring a bit. Her spirits and determination remained high, she just said she didnt have the extra umph to ride faster. The lunch stop was at mile 72 so we didnt have far to go. Again we see my parents. I stopped and got a cold coke, a kiss, a picture, and a warning that the wind heading back up the valley was pretty strong.:eek: I said ahhh, no biggie. Well as we rode across the valley to the other side and turned into the wind it became a bigger deal, but not too bad. We ride and chat with other riders the rest of the way to lunch stop.
I wont bore you with lunch. We ate, refilled bottles, chatted and took off. Now we are heading into a pretty fierce wind. At this point there is only 36 miles to go. After a few minutes I turn to see Tracy and Daniel slipping further behind. I decided that I needed to ride my pace at this point. My body was starting to ache and I wanted to get back and see my family. So I kept my pace and fought the wind. At times riding 24 mph just to come around a corner and get hit with a wall of wind dropping me instantly down to 14mph. I could see a few riders ahead but couldnt pull em in. Soon we came to a pretty good climb. Here I was able to reel em in. I passed ther first rider and said hey, then continued on to catch his girlfriend. She was an extremely strong rider and did much better in the wind then I did. I took the lead for a bit, but she wanted to go faster so she pulled all the way to the rest stop. I tanked her for the pull. Filled my bottle with ice and water and headed off for the final climb. An 8 mile climb fully exposed to the sun, oh and now the wind was blocked by the canyon walls.:rolleyes: Yes it was hot, and the grade was littered with riders waiting for a sag wagon to give em a lift to the top.
I hooked on with another guy and I voluntered to pull. My legs felt like they were gonna cramp so I waved him by. He didnt leave me. He pulled for about 10 minutes, and I felt it was now my turn. My legs felt better and I got into a rythem climbing the grade at 92 cadence. I was feeling really good, well aside from my body feeling like I was over heating. I used the ice water to pour over my head and neck when I was getting too hot. At some point I turned around and realized that I had lost my friend. Well I continued on, not wanting to give up my cadence. The climb was over before I knew it, but my knee was feeling it at this point. Mostly just tired no real pain.
I reached the final rest stop. I was hungry so I really went to town and I drank alot also. Must of been too much cause my tummy wasnt feeling too good when I got back to riding. I hooked on with another rider that was really pulling a good pace of about 22 mph. It was all I could do to hold on. I didnt feel good cause I ate and drank too much. I eventually had to let him go. I was able t keep him in site and when we reached another short climb I was able to hook back up with him. We were now on the final 8 miles into town. He pulled all the way till we were inside of 4 miles. At this point he said he was cooked. So I take the lead and continue to keep his established pace of 24 to 26 mph into town. I was only able to keep it up cause I knew the end was near. We rolled into the finish and that was our ride.
I met up with my parents and ate some of the food and listened to the band, got a 20 minute massage and headed home.
So we continue on at a nice easy pace when a tandem comes flying by, so being a testosterone factory I jump on their wheel and its off top the races. We topped out at 49.9mph and it was fun. These two could really ride. ;) We carried a fast pace for a few miles until the road turned up a bit and off I went around them with another guy following me. Wow that was fun. We reached the stop sign, crossed the street and regrouped. This was also the first rest stop. Eat a bit, fill the bottles, and off we go heading around the lake. Soon we are again climbing, but its really not too bad, maybe a mile at the most. Then we make a right and its up and down on the big rollers for about 4 miles. I see my parents drive by as they were driving sag for the event. It was nice seeing them along the route. My knee was still feeling pretty good.;) So we stopped to chat with my parents for a few minutes, got a kiss from the wife and off we went.
The ride around the lake was beautiful, and we were all doing well. Before we knew it we were at the next rest stop. Refill the bottles, eat some food, use the restroom and off we go. A nice long decent down into Indian Valley. Again the tandem passes me and I jump on again. I stay with em for a few miles, but eventually they slowly pulled away.:( When I got to the bottom of the hill I waited and we regrouped. The valley was very pretty. Lots of small rollers, and wind!:eek: Well actually the wind wasnt too bad at this point. But as we were got in about 60 miles I could tell Tracy was tiring a bit. Her spirits and determination remained high, she just said she didnt have the extra umph to ride faster. The lunch stop was at mile 72 so we didnt have far to go. Again we see my parents. I stopped and got a cold coke, a kiss, a picture, and a warning that the wind heading back up the valley was pretty strong.:eek: I said ahhh, no biggie. Well as we rode across the valley to the other side and turned into the wind it became a bigger deal, but not too bad. We ride and chat with other riders the rest of the way to lunch stop.
I wont bore you with lunch. We ate, refilled bottles, chatted and took off. Now we are heading into a pretty fierce wind. At this point there is only 36 miles to go. After a few minutes I turn to see Tracy and Daniel slipping further behind. I decided that I needed to ride my pace at this point. My body was starting to ache and I wanted to get back and see my family. So I kept my pace and fought the wind. At times riding 24 mph just to come around a corner and get hit with a wall of wind dropping me instantly down to 14mph. I could see a few riders ahead but couldnt pull em in. Soon we came to a pretty good climb. Here I was able to reel em in. I passed ther first rider and said hey, then continued on to catch his girlfriend. She was an extremely strong rider and did much better in the wind then I did. I took the lead for a bit, but she wanted to go faster so she pulled all the way to the rest stop. I tanked her for the pull. Filled my bottle with ice and water and headed off for the final climb. An 8 mile climb fully exposed to the sun, oh and now the wind was blocked by the canyon walls.:rolleyes: Yes it was hot, and the grade was littered with riders waiting for a sag wagon to give em a lift to the top.
I hooked on with another guy and I voluntered to pull. My legs felt like they were gonna cramp so I waved him by. He didnt leave me. He pulled for about 10 minutes, and I felt it was now my turn. My legs felt better and I got into a rythem climbing the grade at 92 cadence. I was feeling really good, well aside from my body feeling like I was over heating. I used the ice water to pour over my head and neck when I was getting too hot. At some point I turned around and realized that I had lost my friend. Well I continued on, not wanting to give up my cadence. The climb was over before I knew it, but my knee was feeling it at this point. Mostly just tired no real pain.
I reached the final rest stop. I was hungry so I really went to town and I drank alot also. Must of been too much cause my tummy wasnt feeling too good when I got back to riding. I hooked on with another rider that was really pulling a good pace of about 22 mph. It was all I could do to hold on. I didnt feel good cause I ate and drank too much. I eventually had to let him go. I was able t keep him in site and when we reached another short climb I was able to hook back up with him. We were now on the final 8 miles into town. He pulled all the way till we were inside of 4 miles. At this point he said he was cooked. So I take the lead and continue to keep his established pace of 24 to 26 mph into town. I was only able to keep it up cause I knew the end was near. We rolled into the finish and that was our ride.
I met up with my parents and ate some of the food and listened to the band, got a 20 minute massage and headed home.