Overnight @ Forks

Forks somewhat famous as the base for Stephenie Meyers Twilight series, will be your overnight on the "Watery" 600k. Perhaps by the time you have slogged 55k from Kalaloch you will have a taste for some blood too. Some may Flash by, do not forget to get your cards signed at the Control; The Forks Motel. Others after signing their cards may decide to push on to La Push before returning to sleep in Forks, this will cost a 5k Bonus (not really that much) if they really want to shorten Day 2.
Plan for the places you want to see in daylight, but I believe Day 2 is a little  more lumpy, something to bear in mind.
No doubt you will need Glycogenated muscles on leaving Forks no matter the plan. We Plan for Pasta and Rice. Meaty and Vegetarian Sauce, as well as the usual beverages for Dinner, a brew of  Tea, Hot Chocolate or Perhaps.... may make sleep come easier. For Breakfast, Oatmeal, Cereal, Fruit, Sausage and the B word Bacon. and certainly coffee.
Please do not hesitate to email me directly if there are any special circumstances.
vmuoneke at comcast dot net

Alplet Plus

Alplet Plus
Duwamish Curse
A human Test
Or a Masochist Quest
Eleven hills ensconced in marine mist and cloud
Like so many bosoms in a shroud

Today Hugh Kimball despite some northwest showers and a rear flat tire, fulfilled that quest single speed, now being the only rider to have completed the Alps, Alplet and Alplet plus and any combination of these 3 single speed. If a tree falls in the forest and no one observes it did it really fall?  I was there to observe these feats, just the Observer, the Knowing Body.
Congratulations Sir Hugh.
Hugh Baby!

Oly 300K pre-ride

Organizer Rick Blacker, Mark Thomas, Millison Fambles and I pre-rode the course for the Olympia 300K yesterday, to put final touches on the work done by previous riders who helped develop the course. It was a pleasure to ride with strong riders with an intimate knowledge of the local roads.
Someone must have ordered the weather, no fjording of rivers, and surprise! no gravel.
The parking situation at the start, at the Safeway on Cleveland street in Tumwater was of concern, we thought it best to park if you arrive by motorcar at the Motel 6 in Tumwater and ride 2 miles to the start at Safeway.
Leaving a little after our start time of 0700 we headed out eastward for the first control at the Town of Rainier, there are a few conveniences there, mostly gas stations, that early in the ride little else was needed, most likely there will be someone there to sign cards.We followed the bike trail and relatively quiet roads to Centralia where there will be all kinds of services available. Fill up and head for the Iconic Centralia Alpha road, there will be no more local services until Mossyrock.
Centralia-Alpha will present the first significant Climb and a series of deep rollers, great vistas on a pretty day. Do not miss the Info Control as you  continue East on the WA 508, a right turn at this point will take you to the Scenic Ike Kinswa State Park and quiet fishing on Mayfield Lake. A little climb from the park will take you across US 12 into Mossyrock.
I picked a Burger, Fries and Shake at one of several establishments, for quicker "on the fly" service there is a gas station right at the crossing of US 12 and there is a grocery store in town.
Refreshed we set out to hunt down our next Info control answer, climbing up to a ridge and then descending back into US 12.
On the Highway just a little climb due West out of the Cowlitz River Valley, then quite expeditiously we get off the highway and continue West on quieter local roads albeit a bit lumpy. Eventually we cross I-5 on an overpass and join WA 506 to the town of Vader, the Control is at the J&G Grocery, there is and associated restaurant that will let you use the bathrooms.
There will be two notable climbs and descents to bring you from Vader to Pe Ell, concentrate on the scenery and if you find, like we did some buzzards on this stretch they are not waiting for you.
Control and Rest stop at  PE-Ell, by now we were all eager now to decaffeinate the ride.
As Millison intuited a gentle push from the West by Mother Nature in the Chehalis gap produced the fastest segment of the course (in Paceline). After a quick control stop in Centralia, headed north to Finish at the Motel 6 in Tumwater.
This was a relaxing 300K I started off a little woody in the legs and drifting in the mind but got more and more into it. It took us well under 15hrs including a sit down meal and two moderate rest stops.
My VDO records 6500ft. cumulative ascent.
Have a great Ride out there and see you on the road.

Vinny

eek!

Each week, I seek

To get a slightly different peek

At what's weak

Blew up on Lavers peak

At the Zoo between a raptors beak

Tragedies somewhat Greek

Coasting with no paddle down shit's creek

Be meek, but don't freak

Words to myself I speak

Reach out for the inner geek

They say wool don't reek

Do not be afraid to tweak

Come ready to patch any leak

Loose all you need to be sleek

Grow hard as African Teak

The Great Southern Debacle

I heard somewhere that success has a thousand fathers and that failure is an orphan.

I accept this child, to whom I sing this rendition of the Andrew Lloyd Webber song performed so memorably by Yvonne Eliman.

I don't know how to take things?

I don't see why it so moves me?

It's a ride, just a ride.

And I've done so many rides before

In very many ways

It's just one more

Should I put it down? 

Should I scream and shout?

Should I speak of fear?

Let my feelings out?

I never thought I'd come to this

Whats it all about??????

Thanks Audax Australia

The Unsupported Ride

We tend to split hairs, randonneuring, bike touring, racing, for those fettered by chains to wheels in prolonged motion. They do this perhaps because it will make their lives better, and who knows how tough it has been so far. I think the ride would never end, if it did not depend on some contrived cut-off point. At SIR we tend to err on the side of support, especially for the spring brevets. This encourages speed, making things closer to an ultra-marathon event, never mind some really gifted riders that are not only fast but seem to need little support, perhaps the one comes from the other, there is some logic behind this, for instance faster riders catch services still open. This support level also encourages new recruits to the sport, what good is an awesome sport with no participants, the Feast of the Immortals.
Support also creates a buffer zone, recruiting a larger participation despite varying ability, fitness and experience.
Ever since traveling with Mark and Geoff from Troutdale to Whitefish I have been drawn to the unsupported ride, I believe they emphasize the cerebral (decision making) aspect of the ride, a special arrow to have in your quiver. Where do I find these rides; Permanents and Pre- Rides. The Pre-Rides also come with extra unpredictability. Adding another dimension to the equation is the Point to Point ride. Most brevets take the form of some kind of loop, invoking the law of averages, headwinds now, tail winds later, what goes up will come down. This is obviously a simplification, but on the Pre-Ride of the Crater Lake 1000K with Geoff, without study of the profile of the ride, I completed the hundred mile climb expecting to descend 8000ft to the finish. Klamath falls was still above 4000ft ASL, nice curve. Point is (no pun intended), with a point to point situation it is theoretically possible to climb, descend, fight headwinds or drift with tailwinds for the whole ride. I like this.
Joe Platzner intuited that we are drawn to an "Audacious" ride. Well there you have it.
The S2G or Seattle to Glacier is coming up August the 16th. It travels from Everett to Whitefish. It will be largely unsupported, yes! there will be drop bags and a Cheshire cat. Your Bike will support you. so come prepared to support it in return, you will also have your Buddies and the whole states of Washington, Idaho and Montana.

In Memory of Don Boothby

Touch Of Grey

The logging of the Pacific Northwest's ancient forests is infamous, yet I remain enchanted by the beauty and abundance of Oregon's forestland. Equally impressive is the network of forest roads, these roads are essential to the management and enjoyment of these forests, not to mention fire control. But it appears a good number of these roads were built when timber production was seen as the primary function of the forest. I guess "every silver lining's got a touch of grey".
In September of  2009 I had done the Barlow Trail 300k that started and ended in Sandy, the date of the ride had been postponed once because of the extreme heat in the Oregon desert.
No wonder I tuned into the Pre-Ride of the Tygh Valley Traveller 400K.
I could not ask for a better Travelling companion, Theo Roffe and I set off by 0500 on Saturday in a leisurely manner. Winding our way South from Portland's North Harbour avoiding city traffic by the use of bike trails. We munched on smoke salmon down In Estacada, filled our bottles and found the OR 224 E that took us all the way to Ripplebrook. After brevet  business and small talk we plunged into the featured attraction, the Mount hood National Forest by courtesy of the forest roads. NF57 to 58 and then 5810 which led us to the portage at the Anvil Creek Crossing. Most of the Portage zone was ride-able in my 28's yet nothing wrong with a little extra care. I did not hesitate to get my feet wet. Hooking up further down with the 57 we  came to the Pine Point Campground. Only found a camper with his son to sign our cards we filled up our bottles with the sour water and made a bee line for Maupin, loosing our beloved forests and its shade. Headwinds on the US 197 may have kept us cooler. We had ice cream at Maupin and decided to catch an open store in the Tygh Valley. We caught it with 1 and !/2 hours to spare and cashed in on our time in the bank cooling and refreshing. We left just before the store was closing and backtracked in the Tygh Valley on our way to find the forest roads, Barlow Pass and Mount Hood in your face. In the heat of the day, lots of climbing, our progress slowed. By Government Camp it was getting cold and I was definitely behind on my fluids. Spent close to 2 hours at the camp recovering at the Huckleberry Inn which is open 24hrs, with a sit down meal . I know the descent from the camp, but had heard rumors of the last 100K. Names like "Devils Backbone" and "Bull Run" rattled the imagination. In the end It was all good fun especially the descents. One Impressive descent took us down to Troutdale and a rather long pancake flat section finished of the ride
Looks like 16 thousand feet of climbing by my instruments, though both Bikeroutetoaster and ridewithGPS peg it at 19 thousand. Looks like the return from Maupin is a little more difficult than the trip out so I would consider that in planning.

Thanks Theo Lynn and Susan