SR_biker

Hello,

I'm 15, and I've been planning a ride to Crater Lake National Park from Eugene, Oregon, since last summer. I have only a mountain bike, and last summer I worked myself up to around 50-60 mile rides a day at speeds around 24-26 KPH, in hilly terrain as well as some small mountains and rolling farmland. I could easily keep up the pace without tiring myself out too much by the end of the rides, and occassionally I could manage 32 KPH "sprints" for short periods of time.

I kept it up through the fall, but sometime in November I got sick and I had a pesky little cough that kept me foot-bound all the way through part of December, at which point I had a two-week vacation over the holidays (Christmas and New Years). I got back in early January and I caught a cold again, and I just kicked that in the pants. So, now I haven't been cycling at all for near on 2-1/2 months, and today I just went for my first ride again since last year - I had trouble keeping up 15 KPH! I'm totally and completely out of shape, which is understandable, but I was curious as towards some training programs that could help get me back on track for my upcoming ride sometime this late Spring, which I'm planning on accomplishing in a single day as a challenge - about 142 miles. Last year I was doing something like 20 pushups every morning and night, morning and evening sessions of yoga, my "real" ride (as mentioned earlier), and about an hour on the gym bike. This included various electrolight reconstituting drinks as well as protien drinks.

I also wanted to question about the ride from Eugene to Crater Lake. I say to my family and friends that it's do-able in a single day, but they completely disregard my confidence and say it's impossible. The route I'd be doing would take me SE across the Cascades and then S right up to the Southern side of the mountain to Crater Lake National Park - a ride about 142 miles long with some large inclines. Elevation above sea level will go from 430 ft at beginning of the ride to 6,178 ft at the end of the ride (Crater Lake montain).

Now, am I completely off here, or are my family/friends right?

Thanks in advance . . .

Sincerely,
Stefan

ollo_ollo

You're planning this ride in the Summer, right?

SR_biker

Yes, early summer/late spring.

Sincerely,
Stefan

TMT

Whats your route? Roads and numbers please. are you going to round trip it or one way to the camp ground or lodge and back the next day?
for training get out on your bike and ride; one of my favorite day rides around Eugene is out through crow to smith river road to reeds port and back. nice climb. nice road. As for any endurance type of sport carb and protean load within an hour after your ride. and a mineral supplement would not be a bad thing at your age manganese, calcium, potassium, and phos are going to run out on you in a climb (muscle cramps) A good multi min will help alot; also you are gonna burn way way over 2000 cal so the dose on that multi will have to be adjusted to your required dose. i think you can go have a talk with the sports med folks at the university.
Milage wise your ride is doable its the climbs that are gonna slow you down. Looks like the route i would take would be to cottage grove to culp creek to 138/steam boat to diamond lake to the turn off to the crater to the rim road. I think i would suggest you either carry a cell phone or have someone Sag for you if this is your first ride of this type. its not all that long but it is relitivly remote and bonking can happen to the best of us. the other route that looks like the one i would take would be 58 to oak ridge out the mid willamette to emigrant pass to lamolo lake to 138 to the turn to crater to the rim road; way less traveled and fewer towns but it looks like a great ride to the pass at 5600 feet and lamolo is always a great place.

SR_biker

Sorry for the late reply, I don't know about you, but the forums haven't been loading?

I'm planning to get there and camp for the night if possible, although I should be meeting up with some family there (they're driving ), so I might be lodging. As for which route I'm taking . . . I think the best way to go would to be to cut South East across the cascades on '58 (Willamette Hwy), then due South on '97 (Dalles-California Hwy), and finally West onto '138 (E Diamond Lake Hwy), whereupon I'll be right at the parks entrance. So it's basically what you were proposing.

Thanks for the training/nutrition info, that's basically what I'm up to now. I've got mineral supplements like you said. It's easy with that kind of stuff because my mom studies natural medicine. Since we have a place in Veneta, it's nice because I can go out for some nice rides to Lorane, and west into some of the mountain/hills on the coast.

Thanks!

Sincerely,
Stefan

Shifty

You want to ride out of Eugene on 99 (by Bring recycling), take 99 through Goshen then 5 miles past Goshen turn Left on Dale Kuni drive. Just past the golf course at the stop sign turn left on Cloverdale Rd, just past the river bridge turn right on Sears Road, this will take you to Cottage Grove. At the end of Sears road turn left on Row River Road, after five miles you'll see a bike path, turn left onto the bike path. Follow the bike path to the end, 17 miles, then get back on the Row River Road and into the village of Culp Creek. Turn right on Sharps Creek road, there are a couple of campgrounds, camp here, that's about 70 miles from Eugene.
Continue up Sharps Creek to the top of a long climb, there are several road forks at the top, look for signs to Steamboat, you've got to be careful here a wrong turn here will be a big problem. Follow the signs to Steamboat, here you will pick up highway 138, this will take you up to Diamond Lake, and then the north entrance to Crater Lake NP. Get a good map and if you'd like call me and I'll show you the route on the maps. At 50 -60 miles a day it will take you 3 days to get to the park from Eugene, plus it's remote country, very few services in spots.

ericgu

Stefan,

How sure are you about those speeds? 24-26 MPH is really fast to be doing on your own, especially on a mountain bike. Is it possible that you had your computer set to kilometers rather than miles? 26 KPH is about 16 MPH, which is a decent clip on a mountain bike. I know guys who are riding 250 miles per week and they can't keep up 24 MPH for an hour.

As for your ride, it is challenging but doable. There's a ride called RAMROD in washington state that is 142 miles and includes about 10,000 feet of climbing. It looks like the ride you're planning is about 6,000 feet of climbing, and some of it appears to be fairly steep.

To get there, you'll need some serious training. You need to have several centuries under your belt - enough so that riding 100 miles doesn't seem like a really big deal. Having done a double century would be a good idea. You also need somebody to go with you - ideally on a bike, in a support car if not. And you'd likely want a different bike - while many people ride centuries on mountain bikes, doing a ride with a ton of climbing would be a lot harder. At minimum, you'd want some slick tires.

I don't want discourage you - well, perhaps a little bit - but that sort of ride is something to work up to.

Have you talked with anybody at your local bike clubs? Somebody there would have more information, and you might find somebody to ride with you.

SR_biker

(Shifty) - thanks for the detailed directions! Very helpful.

(Eric) - (WHOA, yes, I definitely meant KPH, not Miles Per Hour . . . sorry! Hehe, if I could do 24-26 MPH on my mountain bicycle, then . . . wow.

That RAMROD event looked like it would have been interesting, do you know if they're planning on a RAMROD 2007? And yes, I'm rather anxious about the steep inclines . . .

As far as other riders/support, I will be having a support car along, which I'm very thankful for - I wouldn't do it otherwise, unless I was riding with someone else, but as that's not the case right now, I'm glad for the car. I have been looking for people/friends, however, who are interested in doing the ride. But I've also got to get parental permission regarding who I ride with, if you understand . . . So if you're interested . . . Also, I'm planning on purchasing a new bicycle come Spring, the Felt F-80 (what do you think?). I've ridden it a couple of times, and I find it to be a pretty nice make. It'll be my first road bicycle.

Sincerely,
Stefan

ericgu

RAMROD happens every year, but it's hard to get in. They are limited to a specific number of riders by an agreement with Mt. Rainier National Park, and it's small compared to how many riders want to ride it. They award tickets based on a lottery.

The felt looks like a nice bike for the price. Shimano 105 is pretty good, and you'll be amazed how much faster you are on a road bike.

SR_biker

Cool, I was just curious . . . the site you gave me still has everything from the 2006 challenge up. I saw that riders are selected via a lottery - have you ridden in RAMROD? Just curious.

Thanks. I'm looking forward to purchasing it. As far as speed goes, I can't wait!

Sincerely,
Stefan

ericgu

On the subject of RAMROD last year, I didn't get in on the lottery. I probably could have picked up a ticket right before the ride, but it ended up not fitting well into the schedule. I'll try again next year.

This year I had to settle for doing Seattle to Portland in one day (204.5 miles, 11:45 (but I was sick for the last 80 miles)), and a 70 miler with 5000 feet of climbing (half of ramrod, but with some 13-15% climbs and a finishing one approaching 20%). Bastards.

SR_biker

Wow, I'm sorry that you couldn't enjoy the Seattle/Portland ride, being sick for the last 80 stinks. Hope you can make it into the RAMROD this year.

- Stefan