RAMROD 2009
RAMROD was a success!! About 3 months ago when I sort of accidentally obtained an entry into this year's RAMROD event, I panicked a bit because I had not been cycling in several months and in fact was very focused on an early June marathon. RAMROD was scheduled for July 30th, so I knew I'd have a very small window of time in which to prepare for this epic ultra-marathon of cycling.
What is RAMROD, you ask? RAMROD stands for "Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day". It is described as a "challenging course" featuring ten thousand feet of climbing over 160 miles. The Redmond Cycling Club is the organization who designs and supports this annual event. Much of the ride occurs inside Mt. Rainier National Park and thus requires a fair amount of cooperation with the park service. One way the cooperation is achieved is by turning the ride into a fundraiser. This year, RAMROD raised over $16,000 for the Washington National Park Fund.
I prepared for RAMROD by consulting with my friend and triathlete coach Lesley. I asked her to put together a training plan for me which would leverage my relative aerobic fitness (having just completed several months of marathon training!) but also get my legs ready for a multi-hour, mega-climbing cycling event. She put together a superb plan which I followed almost 100%, and I have to say she did a great job! I felt very well prepared and I credit her coaching a great deal. Thanks Lesley! (If anyone is looking for a tri coach, marathon coach, cycling coach, etc. -- give her a call.)
My friend Robin and I arrived at the start line in Enumclaw about 5AM on the day of the ride. We departed at about 5:45 with two of his IronMan buddies (Tyler and Mike). The four of us managed to stay together throughout the day which is pretty amazing considering we covered 160 miles. It was great to have a good group of guys to ride with not only for the conversation and distraction, but also for the slipstream effect (which I optimized greatly, perhaps to their dismay!). Here's me drafting behind Tyler:
We rode south from Enumclaw on the west side of Rainier and encountered our first water stop 33 miles later in the little town of Eatonville. This map shows the entire circuit:
Our next stop was on the south side of Rainier near the town of Ashford, whence we began our first significant climb of the day (Skate Creek Road). This forest service road was in pretty bad shape and we had to navigate across several scary gravel patches and around many potholes. We were fortunate to make it through this section unscathed! Our next stop was at a gas station in Tatoosh, near Packwood, where were replenished our water and noted we were about halfway done with the day's mileage, though we hadn't done any of the difficult parts yet.
From Tatoosh/Packwood we started the day's longest climb. We stopped about 4 or 5 miles later to top off our water supplies and eat some salty potatoes, then launched into Cayuse Pass about mid-day. The air temperature was close to 100 degrees and Cayuse Pass was the most difficult section by far, with a sustained climb of about 17 miles and about a 6-8 percent grade. In all honesty the grade was not the difficult part; my training rides were far more difficult and I felt very well prepared for the climbing. What I was not prepared for was the excessive heat! I wilted pretty badly about a mile from the top of the pass and had to pull over into the shade and rest for about 5 minutes in order to cool down. I felt the beginning of heat stroke and decided to follow the last words of advice Lesley had given me: "Don't get heat stroke!".
The descent down the north side of Cayuse Pass was a real thrill! We coasted downhill for 10 miles at a speed of about 40 mph. I passed a van which was going the speed limit (35 mph). Very fun.
At the bottom of Cayuse we stopped at the base of Crystal Mountain Road and ate a deli sandwich. The organizing club had set up a water stop with volunteers making made-to-order sandwiches. My simple wheat bread + turkey + ham + swiss cheese + mustard sandwich tasted really, really good at that moment.
The final climb of the day was a short out-and-back up the Crystal Mountain Road. Again, the grade was not as much a factor as the heat was! I struggled up to the ski lodge and enjoyed the descent to the bottom. I found out later that only about half of the 800 riders actually rode this 12-mile section of the course. We are the true RAMRODers.
From this point we had about 40 miles to go, mostly flat or slightly downhill, but into a persistent late-afternoon headwind! Plus, we were very tired. I'd say that the last 20-30 miles of RAMROD was the most difficult part of the day.
At last the finish line appeared as we approached our original departure point at Enumclaw High School. I felt pretty damn good about having finished this RAMROD in 11 hours and 41 minutes.
The numbers, according to my Garmin GPS watch:
Distance: 159.79 miles
Time: 11:41:15
Avg Speed: 13.7 mph
Calories burned: 16,907
Climb: +5,472 ft / -5,258 ft
Avg HR: 151
Here's a graph of 3 datasets: elevation, heart rate, and speed. Click once to open, then click again to enlarge and you might be able to make out the scales
Needless to say, I slept pretty well that night and most of the next day. By Saturday, I was feeling restless so Renée and I decided to do RAMROD again! But this time on the back of my motorcycle. This time, we stopped frequently and soaked in the views, snapped some pictures, rested by the side of Skate Creek, and indulged our appetites. Here's Renée cooling off in the river:
And here's me enjoying a well-deserved beer at Crystal Mountain:
I sure hope I get into RAMROD in 2010, because I'd like to do this ride again! Kudos to the Redmond Cycling Club for putting on a well-supported and organized event, and thanks to all the volunteers who came out and kept us safe.
RAMROD was a success!! About 3 months ago when I sort of accidentally obtained an entry into this year's RAMROD event, I panicked a bit because I had not been cycling in several months and in fact was very focused on an early June marathon. RAMROD was scheduled for July 30th, so I knew I'd have a very small window of time in which to prepare for this epic ultra-marathon of cycling.
What is RAMROD, you ask? RAMROD stands for "Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day". It is described as a "challenging course" featuring ten thousand feet of climbing over 160 miles. The Redmond Cycling Club is the organization who designs and supports this annual event. Much of the ride occurs inside Mt. Rainier National Park and thus requires a fair amount of cooperation with the park service. One way the cooperation is achieved is by turning the ride into a fundraiser. This year, RAMROD raised over $16,000 for the Washington National Park Fund.
I prepared for RAMROD by consulting with my friend and triathlete coach Lesley. I asked her to put together a training plan for me which would leverage my relative aerobic fitness (having just completed several months of marathon training!) but also get my legs ready for a multi-hour, mega-climbing cycling event. She put together a superb plan which I followed almost 100%, and I have to say she did a great job! I felt very well prepared and I credit her coaching a great deal. Thanks Lesley! (If anyone is looking for a tri coach, marathon coach, cycling coach, etc. -- give her a call.)
My friend Robin and I arrived at the start line in Enumclaw about 5AM on the day of the ride. We departed at about 5:45 with two of his IronMan buddies (Tyler and Mike). The four of us managed to stay together throughout the day which is pretty amazing considering we covered 160 miles. It was great to have a good group of guys to ride with not only for the conversation and distraction, but also for the slipstream effect (which I optimized greatly, perhaps to their dismay!). Here's me drafting behind Tyler:
We rode south from Enumclaw on the west side of Rainier and encountered our first water stop 33 miles later in the little town of Eatonville. This map shows the entire circuit:
Our next stop was on the south side of Rainier near the town of Ashford, whence we began our first significant climb of the day (Skate Creek Road). This forest service road was in pretty bad shape and we had to navigate across several scary gravel patches and around many potholes. We were fortunate to make it through this section unscathed! Our next stop was at a gas station in Tatoosh, near Packwood, where were replenished our water and noted we were about halfway done with the day's mileage, though we hadn't done any of the difficult parts yet.
From Tatoosh/Packwood we started the day's longest climb. We stopped about 4 or 5 miles later to top off our water supplies and eat some salty potatoes, then launched into Cayuse Pass about mid-day. The air temperature was close to 100 degrees and Cayuse Pass was the most difficult section by far, with a sustained climb of about 17 miles and about a 6-8 percent grade. In all honesty the grade was not the difficult part; my training rides were far more difficult and I felt very well prepared for the climbing. What I was not prepared for was the excessive heat! I wilted pretty badly about a mile from the top of the pass and had to pull over into the shade and rest for about 5 minutes in order to cool down. I felt the beginning of heat stroke and decided to follow the last words of advice Lesley had given me: "Don't get heat stroke!".
The descent down the north side of Cayuse Pass was a real thrill! We coasted downhill for 10 miles at a speed of about 40 mph. I passed a van which was going the speed limit (35 mph). Very fun.
At the bottom of Cayuse we stopped at the base of Crystal Mountain Road and ate a deli sandwich. The organizing club had set up a water stop with volunteers making made-to-order sandwiches. My simple wheat bread + turkey + ham + swiss cheese + mustard sandwich tasted really, really good at that moment.
The final climb of the day was a short out-and-back up the Crystal Mountain Road. Again, the grade was not as much a factor as the heat was! I struggled up to the ski lodge and enjoyed the descent to the bottom. I found out later that only about half of the 800 riders actually rode this 12-mile section of the course. We are the true RAMRODers.
From this point we had about 40 miles to go, mostly flat or slightly downhill, but into a persistent late-afternoon headwind! Plus, we were very tired. I'd say that the last 20-30 miles of RAMROD was the most difficult part of the day.
At last the finish line appeared as we approached our original departure point at Enumclaw High School. I felt pretty damn good about having finished this RAMROD in 11 hours and 41 minutes.
The numbers, according to my Garmin GPS watch:
Distance: 159.79 miles
Time: 11:41:15
Avg Speed: 13.7 mph
Calories burned: 16,907
Climb: +5,472 ft / -5,258 ft
Avg HR: 151
Here's a graph of 3 datasets: elevation, heart rate, and speed. Click once to open, then click again to enlarge and you might be able to make out the scales
Needless to say, I slept pretty well that night and most of the next day. By Saturday, I was feeling restless so Renée and I decided to do RAMROD again! But this time on the back of my motorcycle. This time, we stopped frequently and soaked in the views, snapped some pictures, rested by the side of Skate Creek, and indulged our appetites. Here's Renée cooling off in the river:
And here's me enjoying a well-deserved beer at Crystal Mountain:
I sure hope I get into RAMROD in 2010, because I'd like to do this ride again! Kudos to the Redmond Cycling Club for putting on a well-supported and organized event, and thanks to all the volunteers who came out and kept us safe.
posted by Max at 9:53 AM
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