Echo Red to Red Mountain Bike Race

Quick summary for the ADD among you, I am pretty solid pack fodder.  I finished basically dead center of my category (cat 3) and age group (45+).  Thirteenth out of 24 riders in that demographic is not too bad for my first cross country mountain bike race.

For anyone still reading here is my more detailed breakdown of my perception of the race:  My fitness level is pretty competitive for a Cat 3 mountain biker.  Legs and lungs were never the issue, most of my progress through the field was made on the climbs, the longer the better.  Descending is another matter altogether.  I know how to go downhill, I just  don’t do it well.  I foresee lots of rides down the bottom half of Hide and Seek at Sandy Ridge to get the muscle memory dialed in.

For months I have been hearing about what a great course Echo is, and now that I’ve experienced it myself, I have to agree.  Cat 2 and 3 road a 22 mile loop, 28 miles for the Cat 1, Pro, and single speed riders, almost all of it on private property owned by Sno Road Winery

(www.snoroadwinery.com) on dedicated mountain bike trails.  A one mile neutral roll out from downtown Echo, about a mile on gravel road, then pure single track until you hit the gravel road again to return to town and the finish line.  After spending the winter looking for single track that is dry enough to ride on the west side of the state, some sweet eastern Oregon dryness was heavenly.  No so heavenly was the eastern Oregon winds, which were out in force during the race.  The best thing I can say about the wind is that is sucked equally for everybody.  On some of the exposed faces, it was hard to stay on the track on strait, level ground just due to the crosswinds, and some of the down hills required hard pedaling in to the wind to maintain forward momentum.

As I was busy racing, photographer duties were turned over to my lovely wife.  Here is a sample of what she got- sorry, no race course shots, but some good stuff of Echo.

Registration happened at the historic Koontz building, which is also owned by Sno Road Winery, and is undergoing restoration.  There is some beautiful woodwork, sculpted tile ceilings, and prism glass tiles to go in the front.  I can't wait to get back and see this when it is nearer completion.

The population of Echo is just north of 600 people.  We added an extra 527 racers, pretty much filling up the streets.  The town seemed to welcome the racers, as they have done for four years now.

Coach Brian of Brihop Cycling rocking his Bike Central kit.  Brian is mostly a track guy, so this was the last we saw him smile for the day.

Yours Truly, waiting for both the start and the arrival of his team kit.

Rolling out of town behind the pace truck.  22 miles to go.

New Bike Announcement!

Better late than never, here it is, the New Bike Announcement!  Except I am slow enough at posting to this blog that it is about a month in my possession now.  The simple truth is, as much as I enjoy writing, riding my bike is even more fun, and Coach has me on the bike a lot as I ramp up for Tour Divide 2013.

Enough with the excuses, on to the Bike!   

There she is, the steed that will carry me through the 2745 miles of the Tour Divide, after we both survive many times that in training miles and shorter races.  2012 Redline D680, the top of the food chain for Redline’s mountain bikes.  I started my bike shopping with a list of features and components I wanted, rather than a particular brand.  I knew I wanted a 29er hardtail in either steel or alloy, with SRAM X9 or X0 drive train and a 100mm travel fork with a through axle, rather than a quick release. The one feature I had hoped for and did not get was either dropouts or a bottom bracket that would allow easy conversion to single speed.  I guess I will just need to build up a SS out of parts if I really need one.

I went to a lot of bike shops, surfed a lot of bike manufacturer’s websites, even talked to a couple of frame builders, and found a lot of good options, not only from the big names but a lot of lesser known brands as well, and of course a custom build could have gotten me anything I wanted, but at a budget somewhat outside my comfort level.  What finally made the decision was not anything specific to this bike, but the dealer.

Portland Bike Commuter is, as the name would suggest, primarily oriented toward commuter and practical riding.  I had been in the shop before, purchased some stuff there, but I can say that about a number of the Portland area bike shops.  What sealed the deal for me was the level of excitement when I told Eric, the owner, what I was going to do.  He is not only familiar with the race, but wants to ride it himself.  Since having a family and a business make that difficult, he is willing and eager to make sure it happens for me.  Other shops had seemed mildly intrigued by the notion, but no more than that.  Eric not only promised to help a bit on the purchase, he went to Redline on my behalf and convinced them to sweeten the deal a bit as well.  How could I not do business with Bike Commuter?

For the bike geeks:  2012 Redline D680, aluminum alloy frame, Fox 100mm fork, SRAM two by ten X9 drive train with an X0 rear derailleur and Ritchey cockpit.  I added Shimano XT pedals and swapped the stock tires out for WTB Nanos, because that is what most of the Tour Divide finishers ride on.

So far, I love it.  The 21” frame fits me perfectly, the geometry works well for my riding style, and some intangible quality of the bike makes me want to push harder and faster than anything else in my stable.  This is my first experience with the two by ten (two gears up front with a ten speed cassette in the rear) drive train and I am sold on it.  I haven’t had a climb yet that has forced me in to the lowest gears, and anywhere that I can push the tallest gear I am probably going to want to coast anyway.

Tomorrow (3/3/2012) is the Echo Red to Red mountain bike race, so we will see how the Redline and I do in a short 22 mile race.

finally, a new post

Okay, this is my official announcement to the world of my next venture into insanity.  After years of dreaming about it, reading about it and talking about it, the time has come to put up or shut up.  “It” in this case is the Tour Divide, a 2745 mile mountain bike race from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells, New Mexico along the Adventure Cycling Association’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.  Unlike most long bike races, this one is a single stage with no support vehicles, no authorized feeding stations, no cheering crowds, just the riders, their bikes, and the gear they need to survive the ride.

I am riding in the 2013 race, which is the year I will turn 50.  Seems like an appropriate way to celebrate surviving half a century in this crazy world.  This gives me 18 months, a short year and a half, to prepare myself physically and mentally.  I will be racing alone, but already a number of people have stepped up to help get me ready to roll up to the start line.

First of course is my wife, Shelley, for supporting me in whatever crazy notion I come up with, and this one especially. Planning, preparing for and executing a ride like this is not cheap in terms of money or time, and she is unstintingly allowing me what I need of both to make this a success.  My boss, Mike, and the management of Sunstone Circuits for allowing me to schedule a big chunk of vacation time out this far, and for being the sort of company that supports chasing a dream like this. Tank and Brian of Brihop Coaching are faced with the task of teaching a middle aged bike nut how to ride both hard enough and smart enough to make completion a reality.  Eric and Aaron, owner and mechanic at the Sellwood Bike Commuter belongs on the early thank you list as well.  When I stopped by his shop to ask about availibity of one of the bikes that were on my list of potential steeds for the race, Erik, more than anyone in any of the shops I visited, got excited about the idea and immediately wanted to get involved.  I will be riding a nicer bike than I thought I could afford thanks to his support and the added support he procured from Redline Bikes.

As the preparation progresses, there will be more people to thank, and I will be able to tell more about what they have done for me.  For now, here are a few links to more information on the race and my supporters.  You read, I’m going to go ride!

The race website:  http://tourdivide.org/

My bike shop sponsor:  http://www.pdxbikecommuter.com/

Brihop Coaching:   http://brihopcoaching.com/

Ochocos and beyond- more pictures from the ride

The last post I left off with some pictures of my camp from the third night out. Day four started out with more climbing.  If there is one thing I feel like I do fairly well on a bike, it is climb hills.  Not racer fast by any means, but for a tourist and recreational rider I hold my own when the road turns skyward. Some people collect stamps, others coins, spoons, plates, crystal doorknobs, shot glasses, whatever.  I started collecting summit signs. Now, the various state departments of transportation would get a bit miffed were I to actually take home the signs, so pictures have to do.  I'm sure I missed one on the Santiam pass, but here is the first one collected on this trip:

On the small side, but still a keeper.

From here it was an easy cruise down in to Mitchell.  Not much traffic, nice, but not spectacular scenery, and enough wildlife sightings to keep it interesting, but no truly unusual or noteworthy creatures.  One deer decided to cross the road in a manner that made me really glad for the very effective brakes my bike is equipped with, but basically uneventful. 

Since the point of this  trip is to see the area I am passing through, I took the business route through Mitchell.  Outside the first cafe I came across a couple of fresh out of high school guys I had met in Sisters who were riding to Missoula, Montana, along with Diana, who had just finished the veterinary medicine program at Oregon State and was headed to Georgia on her bike.  They were saying their farewells to yet another rider who had covered most of the contiguous states, and figured there was one more American continent still to explore.  He was headed west to the coast, then south, the rest of us east, so I went from a solo rider to one of a group of four.  A few hours later it started feeling like lunchtime, and when we found a shady wide spot along the road, it was occupied with this group:

Turned out to be Laurie, whom I had met on the climb up the Santiam pass two days prior, and the rest of her group.  Their plan was to overnight in Dayville, which seemed reasonable to the rest of us, so one who had become four was now ten.  Riding on tour with a group of ten is not at all like racing in peloton.  The only jockeying for position was just getting close enough when someone was telling a story you wanted to hear.

We continued on over another, even smaller pass,

past the Wheeler historical marker,

and continued on to Dayville.  If you have been to Dayville you are probably trying to determine what the appeal was.  There is not much more than a post office, two mini marts, a cafe that never seems to be open, and a few dozen homes.  It seems that at some point the good Presbyterian folks in Dayville realized that their town sat on a major cycling route, and that touring cyclists sometimes like to sleep indoors, maybe take a shower or wash some grimy bike shorts.  If I may continue to make some assumptions, I will guess that these good folks had read the parts in their Bibles that talk about doing unto others, and loving your neighbor, and decided to do something about it.  The doors of Dayville Presbyterian are never locked, and the sign inside welcomes cyclists to sleep, cook, shower and do laundry, just please refrain from smoking, drinking, or sleeping on the pew cushions.  If you can leave a donation, great.  If not, that is okay too.  Judging from the number of new looking appliances with the label "purchased with biker donations", I would guess that most are able to leave at least a few dollars.  Someone sent this to the church:

Notice the lower right corner.

We stayed, we washed and cooked and slept and donated, then the next morning went on our way, knowing that our group would shrink soon, as I turned south at John Day and the rest of them continued east.

Back Home- time for some pictures

I'm home again, the trip is done, real life is taking over again.  At least I have access to a proper computer and Internet connection, so now I can post some of the pictures.  I'll try not to put up too many in any one post, so those with a slower connection need not suffer too much.  Pictures not big enough for you? Just click on them, they grow.

Lets go back to the beginning.  The first couple of days were devoted to getting out of the Willamette Valley, so pictures are a little sparse, but I have a few.

From the very beginning, here is the beast, fully loaded:

.

And, just his bike:

I don't know the total weight, it was a conscious decision not to weigh it, I was sure I would be happier not knowing.  I saw a lot of rigs on the road that looked to be loaded up a lot heavier.

I was pretty focused on just getting miles on the first day, heading across highway 224 from Estacada to Detroit, but I am a sucker for a good wildflower shot:

Too bad the yellow is Scotch Broom, an invasive species that is spreading rapidly around here.  Still pretty to look at, as long as you don't think too much about it.

If you have been following this from the beginning of the trip, you may remember that day two, crossing the Santiam pass in to Sisters, was not the best day of the trip.  With better weather there are some great views on that route, but the rain was heavy enough that day that you couldn't see much, and I just wanted to get through the day.  By day three though, the skies had cleared, I was headed east, and the landscape was starting to remind me what this trip was about.  I like the high, sagebrush and juniper desert and a road that keeps rolling into the horizon.

I kept rolling, past Prineville and along the Ochoco Reservoir.  I think I mentioned my surprise at spotting these guys:

Yep, pelicans.  Lots of pelicans, a bird I had not realized inhabited Oregon, especially not this far inland.

After a couple of fairly hard ride days, I was ready to make day three a little easier, which meant camping in the Mitchell city park wasn't going to happen.  Time to head towards the national forest and find a nice spot off the road for my night's rest.

This looked like it held promise:

Just past the gravel pull out was a pile of rocks and logs blocking automotive access to a decommissioned forest road along a stream.  I followed it a couple of hundred yards past this:

and made camp here:

among these:

I told you I was a sucker for wildflower pictures.

That wraps up the first three days, and day four brought new and different adventures, I will pause here for now, and continue the journey in the next post.

Burns, again.

Since the last post, I made a two day trip to get to Frenchglen, via Crystal Crane Hot Springs and the Pete French round barn.

The hot springs were pretty developed, campground and cabins and such, but it was a place to pitch the tent with both the springs to soak in, and a shower.  I've actually done much better for finding showers than I expected, but they are always welcome.

Heading south from Burns the one big tell-tale that I was nearing the landscape I was seeking was the smell.  At one point, it was like hitting a wall of sagebrush aroma.  I was also getting in to the marshlands, with more birds than I could count or identify.  They have "enjoyed" the same wet spring here that we have on the western side of the state so things are greener and wetter than I have ever seen them over here.

The round barn is quite a sight.  The only remaining one of three such structures French had built on the land he controlled, it is 100' in diameter, with a 60' diameter inner structure of stables and living quarters, allowing a 20' wide exercise track within the barn to keep the horses in condition over the winter.  The roof is built like an umbrella, with a massive central post and rafters radiating out to the circumference of the barn.  Remember, this is high desert country, so all the timber had to be hauled in for the barn, before the time of log trucks and Lowe's home delivery.

My only disappointment with the barn was that the time I finally get to see it, the water level from the nearby lake had risen to the point that the barn was knee deep is rather unappealing mosquito breeding ground.

From there I took the northern portion of the diamond loop road, through the diamond craters.  Visually very impressive, it was definitely not something I would want to hike through.  Massive, buckled lava ridges broken up by deep fissures and the scattered crater.  I walked just far enough off the road to get some pictures of some of the more impressive features, but between the random cracks and holes, I was leery of stepping into some hidden opening and either breaking a leg or finding something dwelling in said hole that would take offense to my intrusion.

By this time I was hoping to see antelope and mustangs in addition to all the birds.  Instead, I was surprised to watch a mink dart across the road in front of the bike, carrying what looked like a salamander in his mouth.  Antelope sitings were not to come until much later, and I still haven't found the mustangs.

Friday afternoon brought me to Frenchglen, a full week ahead of when I needed to arrive.  John Ross, the state parks concessionaire who has operated the hotel for 20 years is a great host.  He does not allow camping on the hotel grounds to anyone arriving by car or motorcycle, but allows bicyclists to stay free.  Use of the hotel shower or his laundry facilities is a $5.00 charge, not bad considering most campgrounds charge $15 for a tent site.

Supper at the hotel is by reservation only, one family-style seating and you get what John is serving that night.  I was lucky enough to get a spot at the table Friday for Prime Rib, salad, roasted potatoes, vegetables au gratin and home made rolls, with chocolate cake a la mode for desert.  I was a little embarrassed when I realized how full I had heaped my plate, but there was plenty of food, nobody got shorted, and there was enough that I didn't feel too bad about taking seconds.

The family style seating encourages one to get to know the other guests, and arriving in the middle of nowhere on a bicycle made me a bit of a novelty, so there was no shortage of dinner table conversation.  I was seated with a retired couple who volunteer with BLM doing archaeological surveys, and spend August as the caretakers/hosts at the Riddle Brother's Ranch, one of the historical sites nearby.  Fascinating folks to listen to, they had plenty of local knowledge and suggestions of sites I could ride to.

So, now time for some exploration.  More stories to come, and eventually I will find a modern enough computer to upload some pictures!

The long and winding road....

Another library, another computer.  I didn't think there were any computers left without a USB port, but there are, and they are all in Burns.  I guess when I get home there will be a major picture fest, unless I have better luck later on.

My guess is this will be my last computer access, unless I can talk the hotel in Frenchglen in to letting me use one.

Since my last post in John Day I have seem some parted ways with the group I had fallen in with.  I had kind of gotten used to the company, but they did distract a bit from the journey.  I'm hoping for good roads for them as they continue east.

John Day and Canyon City have some interesting museums, Kam Wah Chung in John Day is an amazing peek into gold rush era Chinatowns, and the Grant county historical museum is a fascinating hodge-podge of antiques, mining and cattle equipment, tribute to leading citizens, and some truly hideous "sculpture" of local notables.

I had intended on another short day from John Day, intending to stop at Seneca, maybe Silvies, and not hit Burns until today sometime.  My stop at the Grant county museum set me on the road as the day was heating up, and I really should have taken a closer look at the topography of my route.  By the time I hit the roughly 5200' summit, I was getting a little concerned about my water supply.  I've used the filter already on this trip, but that only helps when there is something to filter from.  Summit to Seneca is nine miles, some downhill, mostly flat.  Seneca city park had the water turned off, so the next stop was the mini mart, virtually the only business in town.  At least the Gatorade was cold, and the hot food case burrito was fresh sometime this week.  Filled up the water bottles at the store, and since I wasn't getting any real welcoming vibes from the locals, I figured Silvies was the next spot on the map, about ten miles away.

Silvies is a sign, a defunct post office, and a ranch with lots of no trespassing signs on the fences.  You also start climbing again.  I was half way between John Day and Burns, really not in to a 70+ mile day with two major climbs, so I started watching for a campground.  I also watched a couple of nice sized buck deer bound along the road, parallelling me until they saw a truck coming, then they needed to cross the road.  The results of this were slightly better than anticipated, everyone lived, but I heard the ping of the second deer's hoof on the hood of the truck.  He missed a stride or two, got his feet back under him and kept going.  The driver stopped to check the damage, acknowledged that he and the deer both got lucky, and since we were the only two people for miles, I refrained from asking how he failed to see the deer in time to stop.  It is not like he had just come across a bend in the road, none of those for miles either way.  I did ask what was ahead for camping and water, and he assured me it was only a couple miles to Idlewild campground, and there was water there.

Eight or so miles later, still no campgrounds, and the gathering clouds I had been watching were starting to concern me a little.  A flash, an interval, then a boom, far enough off that I wasn't too concerned yet.  More flashes, more booms, shorter intervals, a few big fat drops of rain.  Okay, I'm ready to find that campground and get set up before it really hits.  Then, it really hit.  Hail instead of rain, and a headwind like I hope to never find again.  Stop, pull on the rain gear, turn on the lights so the other idiots on the road in this stuff might see the idiot on the bicycle.  Finally, the big brown sign announcing the campground, adorned with a blue sign stating simply "closed".

Too late to get set up dry even if I ignored the closed sign, and closed would mean the water was shut off, so I decided the 22 remaining miles to Burns was my best option.

Now, at 47 years old, I had been scared in a storm once, when I was living in Arkansas and the oak tree about twenty yards from the trailer I lived in was struck.  The count is now up to two.  When you simultaneously feel the reverberations of the thunder, and a pretty significant tingle, that is just way too close.  Fortunately, I had hit the final summit at about this time, so I was able to make a little better time downhill, at least once the rain and hail let up enough that I could see where I was going.  At this point, camping was no longer an option.  I was going to get to Burns and get a room.

Eventually, I hit Hwy 20, buy which time the storm had cleared, and the rain gear was now a very effective sauna.  I stripped off as much as I felt was appropriate, shifted into the highest gear I could still push, and cranked it on in to Burns, found the City Center Hotel, rooms starting at $36.99/night.  Score! The AC didn't work, most of the light bulbs were burned out, but it was the first real bed since I left home, and a shower that felt so good I took two.

Today is sunny and beautiful again, I've hit the laundromat, visit info center, and now the library to post this.  Harney county museum is next, then another short day south towards the Pete French round barn!

In spite of a couple of weather incidents, I am having a great time still.  If I get access to a computer, I will post again, if not I will update at home.  Gotta get some pictures up eventually!