Here is some eye candy from RAMROD 2008, my first time:

http://home.comcast.net/~cheg01/ramrod1_800.jpg

Beautiful day, great support, painful climbs, screaming descents - what more could you want? Thanks to all who made it possible. :thumb:

Here's my Garmin GPS track:

http://home.comcast.net/~cheg01/google_earth_ramrod.jpg

I did some volunteer work Wed. night so I could earn a bypass for 2009. I was with the crew placing the "flagger ahead - be prepared to stop" signs.

Is it true the last 40 miles are all downhill? Also, assuming you have a Garmin Edge 305, I'm guessing you either rode very fast or brought backup power source. Mine dies pretty consistently after 10 hours.

I did some volunteer work Wed. night so I could earn a bypass for 2009. I was with the crew placing the "flagger ahead - be prepared to stop" signs.

Is it true the last 40 miles are all downhill? Also, assuming you have a Garmin Edge 305, I'm guessing you either rode very fast or brought backup power source. Mine dies pretty consistently after 10 hours.

Thanks a lot for volunteering, the support was awesome. I volunteered last year to get a lottery bypass and I plan to volunteer next year. The ride is amazing, you will enjoy it. One hint - on the climb to Cayuse Pass you look up and see a road way way up on a ridge above you. Don't despair, that is the road to Chinook Pass. You don't have to climb all the way up there on this ride.

The last 40 miles is almost all downhill but there was a strong headwind and I hear that is almost always true. It's definitely worth looking for people to paceline with after the last food stop.

I have a Garmin 705 and I get about 15 hours out of a charge. The battery is only a month old. I'm going to try extending it with this (http://ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/case.html) for even longer rides.

The ride took me 11:44 on the clock, 9:56 on the road. Descending at 40 mph offsets climbing at 6 mph.:rolleyes:

this sounds like an awesome event. I don't think I will be able to do it for a while but it is on my list.

[pasted from another ramrod thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=442154)]

it was a great ride!! thx to all the volunteers.

i rode to enumclaw, 38 miles away from seattle (had to start at 3:15 AM!). got on the course a little late, probably around 6:15 or 6:30. finished at 6:15 PM. didn't see a lot of other riders until the climb up to paradise, where i caught up with the "pack."

some pics:

the view of rainier from about 30 miles away from enumclaw (heading down hwy 169):
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3233/2722944398_964a15fb85.jpg?v=0

view of rainier with its lenticular cloud on top:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3074/2722962258_56fb9ca894.jpg?v=0

entering rainier natl park:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/2722962262_c72595ce3e.jpg?v=0

getting closer (taken from the paradise climb):
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2722981586_24ae2f81d6.jpg?v=0

awesome view from paradise:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/2723026778_49a40b341e.jpg?v=0

riders at the top:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2723026790_5d4129465d.jpg?v=0

the whip atop of cayuse pass:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2006/2723026814_c6feb80f67.jpg?v=0

it was an awesome ride, and afterwards i rode home (luckily mostly downhill!). unfortunately was hit with a decent amount of rain by the time i got to renton. those last 10 miles took forever, due to cold feet. got home at about 10 PM.

ride distance: 226 mi / 363 km
total time: 3:15 AM to 10 PM, roughly 19 hours overall.

btw the last 30 miles of ramrod are mostly downhill, but there always seems to be a big headwind heading west towards greenwater.

edit: gigantic post, for a gigantic ride on my blog (http://cyclinginseattle.blogspot.com/2008/08/ramrod-2008-starting-in-seattle.html).

Mattm,

Very nice blog entry, and much props for riding to the event. I live in north Auburn and figure it'd be sort of weak if I didn't ride the 19 miles each way. I ride around Black Diamond, Orting and Eatonville pretty regularly as it is.

Mattm,

Very nice blog entry, and much props for riding to the event. I live in north Auburn and figure it'd be sort of weak if I didn't ride the 19 miles each way. I ride around Black Diamond, Orting and Eatonville pretty regularly as it is.

thx! congrats to you as well for riding to the ride. i knew i wasn't the only one!

Was #429 on waiting list, so rode the course last Saturday. ~10:30 elapsed time, not my best. Haven't ridden it since '04, for a variety of reasons. Really a fun ride! Cold and clouds at Paradise that day, but then was clear and cool on Cayuse, very nice.