Author: Nick Iverson
RAMROD 2014 A.K.A. “CHIPROD”
Having ridden up to Paradise several times, a trip up 410
down Cayuse and back in April, riding the Triple Bypass and 5 century rides
plus the “STP” in one day (Sumner to Portland), and a ride up Forest Rd 26 at
Mt. St. Helens, I was looking forward to the RAMROD. I consider myself an addict of this ride, as
this was the 16th “Ride Around Mount Rainier One Day” this
year. The day before the ride was a
scramble, as I had a full day doctoring in the clinic, then dashed out to
Enumclaw to get my packet. There is
always SOMETHING that needs to be done in order to be able to get to the start
finish line around 5 AM. I went through
the list: bike in car, helmet in car,
gloves in car, bike bottles in car, riding glasses, Zone bars in jersey, bike
shoes, number and NSA electronic strip on helmet, number on bike, computer on
bike, video camera on bike, headlight on bike….
Check, check, check. Putting out
food for morning. Duh. Setting the alarm, check.
Morning of July 31, I woke up BEFORE the alarm on my Eye
Fone, however the time was set one hour late!
I slept in my bike shorts, so I was able to yank my awesome Cyclopath
jersey over my head, guzzle down a glass of chocolate milk and a Zone bar, race
to the car and head for Enumclaw. I
parked there in my secret parking place, and rode three blocks to the start
line and was off at 05:15.
The ride to Eatonville was rather uneventful except for the
CHIP SEAL coming into town on WA 161. I made a quick stop to buy some real food
at the Shell station and was gone. Up
and over the cutoff and CHIP SEAL DESCENT to Mtn. Highway. Rode well in a pace line with a bunch of
riders younger than my kids until I spotted #1.
I dropped back to talk to him, and he preferred to ride alone. I then chose to chase down the pace line. Mistake.
Red zone. I was dropped and at
9mph pulled into the store in Ashford. I
ate, felt much better, but at the RAMROD was told that I had to ride through
the check point or get pulled over. (I
assume by the NSA). I saw Mark
Delrosario, and told him he would catch me down the road, as I had stopped only
3 miles before this stop.
 |
| Skate Creek View: RAMROD 2014 |
On to Skating Creek Death Road…. There is perhaps one of the most scenic views
of Mt. Rainier (the Mountain that I wanted to see up close), so I stopped to
take a picture or two, took other riders pictures, found a secluded place over
the hill to get rid of the Coca Cola that I consumed in Ashford, then headed
toward Packwood on the road that I traveled alone on the Cyclopath Hypothermia
Ride. With bright sun, and my marginal
vision, the Death Descent was downright terrifying. I finally picked a “couple” of riders, who
passed me, but not at supersonic speed, and assumed the female rider would have
more sense than the guys, and followed them like a dog on a leash. When they were on the wrong side of the road,
I could see the sink holes, curb sized splits in the road and a bit of gravel
that they were avoiding. Eventually the
road becomes smooth and there are a few miles of relief coming into
Packwood. There was Mark D, wondering
how he passed me without seeing me, undoubtedly when I was offloading Coca
Cola.
Next is the thrill of riding with the semis, Winnebagos, and
giant pick up trucks pulling boats and trailers, with blasts of soot from their
diesel engines. After crossing Highway
12, I almost wished we were going to ride up White Pass, there is another check
point with flies and food, and narrow Blue boxes that substitute for the bushes
at the side of the road. Next is the Cayuse climb, and I was still not
100% from my earlier red zone, but Mark kept encouraging me on up the
hill. After a half bonked ride to 410,
there was the rapid descent to Crystal Mt Blvd.
That stretch of road was IT. A
down the middle of the road, ears pinned back, relaxing full speed ride with
NOBODY PASSING!!! However, just at the
entrance to the Park…. SOME MORE CHIP
SEAL!!! ARGGGHH.
The food stop was great, but the trip back to Enumclaw was
not fun. Mark and I were eventually able
to get our two person pace line organized, and took turns pulling. For some reason, my right arm kept getting
tight, and we made a short stop at Greenwater at Wapiti Woolies for a smoothie
for Mark, and Mocha for me.
Except for questions about my bike being crooked (it is now
in the hospital getting new handlebars), we checked it out, and descended Mud
Mt. Road. Mark was fantastic at helping
to get that last run down. Normally, I
ride on aerobars on the stretch from the Deli to Enumclaw, but I removed them
before the ride, as I did not think I would be comfortable with them on chip
seal. I doubt I would have used them. It was Mark whose motto “No Cyclopath left
behind” that got me back.
As far as the ride went
physically, I was not thrilled with my performance, but the biggest
disappointment was paying for an entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park, never
needing the ticket. My “addiction” to
the RAMROD is predicated on riding up the beautiful climb toward Paradise,
crossing by Reflection Lake, then plummeting down Stevens Canyon. That descent is thrilling at age 69, and is
one of the best views of cyclists several miles ahead down across the
canyon. After Box Canyon food stop,
there is the short Backbone Ridge climb, then THE MOST AWESOME DESCENT OF THE
RIDE!!! But this year there were not
great views of Rainier, no flowers, no
Reflection Lake, no Box Canyon, no Stevens Canyon, no Nisqually river, no old
growth forest early in the ride. The
RAMROD was just a ride. Period. I can do a similar ride up to Carbonado,
Greenwater, Orville Rd. or just drive to Greenwater, ride up and over Chinook
Pass, descend to Sunrise cutoff, STOP AT THE RANGER STATION….. then ride the climb to Sunrise, and the fun
descent down. Next year, the Park plans
to pave the upper portion of the road. I
think you may see me volunteering at a rest stop.
=======================================================================
Author: Mark Del
Rosario
My 2014 RAMROD Experience
The last month and a half leading up to Ramrod was not an
ideal training period (low miles, lack of climbing, incomplete club rides not
by choice mind you). So I forced myself to suffer a bit thru back to back
70+ mile Saturday and Sunday rides the weekend before. They were not intended for physical training
but more for mental toughness and confidence.
No amount of last minute riding would make a difference in my fitness
level. On the Skate Creek Loop Sunday
ride (2nd attempt this year), I felt no shame in not keeping up with five of
our strongest cyclists (Conor, David, Mike, Leon and Brent). At least I could enjoy the Paradise climb,
Backbone Ridge and the Steven's Canyon descent that were being omitted from
this year's route. The more I heard of
changes to the route and road conditions I started to wonder how enjoyable this
year's Ramrod would be.
It was a good thing I took Wednesday off. After doing an hour spin on the trainer, I
prepped my bike for the big ride only to find cracks on the rear wheel where
the rim, nipples and spokes meet. Two
options, ride my original heavy wheels, which I did use on my maiden Ramrod two
years ago, or see if anyone carries the Shimano wheels I have been eyeing. Luckily the Performance Bike in Tukwila
carried the Ultegra 6800 wheels. Three
hours later I invested in new wheels.
Many props to them for taking care of me. It is not ideal to ride with a new
configuration the day of an event but safety was the overriding factor. In the long run I can say they will be a good
value purchase.
Pre-sunrise Thursday morning Mario and I rolled thru the
starting gate under near perfect weather conditions. We maintained a steady pace and hitched on to
a larger group at South Prairie using the descent of Pioneer Way to bridge the
gap. I settled in amongst the front
riders and I could tell Mario was itching to go faster. He even went to the front before the left
turn to Orville road to drive up the pace.
Considering this area as home territory I was ashamed that the drivers
of a black Prius and the trailing truck failed to yield as we all signaled a
left turn. Possible car-cyclist disaster
avoided, the large group proceeded together uneventful from that point on to
the climb up to Eatonville. We were
cruising along with an 18+ mph average.
Mario might not be thankful that I insisted on holding back the pace in
the beginning but I am sure it helped him to finish strong. It was surprising when one cyclist thanked me
for ferrying the group to the rest stop.
If I had a choice I would cut back on the 30 mile slog of stretches in
the beginning and at the end of the route.
Out of the rest stop, I told Mario to go on and not to
wait. It took me a while to loosen up
and find a groove in the rolling terrain.
As I turned left from the Alder Lake cut off, a big group, Cycling
Tuesdays, merged into the side of the road where I was at. Next thing I know they were barking orders
that I need to take the lead or drop back.
Pardon me? What happened to a
courteous hello, nice day to ride or how are you doing? I happened to be on the road and your group
converged into my space. I don't know if
it is etiquette but I feel it is the faster group's responsibility to pass on
the left instead of commandeering the entire side of the road everyone has a
right to be on. I watched as they did
the same to other people. Be forewarned
wannabe race team Cycling Tuesdays the next time we cross paths you will have
to take my spot on the road because I won't be as willing to yield. I was not impressed with their group riding
because it was a mob hogging the road from cyclist and driver alike. Nor did they have a pace line rotation they
so claimed. It was painful following
with all the wasted energy of yo-yoing because they couldn't hold a steady
pace. A few miles out of Elbe I saw the
group envelope Mario. Having enough of
this madness I decided to ride the remaining miles solo to the Ashford rest
stop.
Apparently we passed Dr. Nick as he stopped at a store in Ashford. Saw him ride thru the rest stop. Mario took off ahead of me up Skate
Creek. That would be the last time I saw
him the rest of the ride. I started to
feel better on the ascent and it was nice to crest the climb and then go on the
long descent which became technical because of the road conditions. There were no bugs harassing me like the
Sunday before. Maybe I was going faster
this time. Somehow managed to pass Dr.
Nick without knowing it. I decided to
wait for him to refuel at the Packwood water stop. Two Cyclopaths set off together on Highway
12. I went on to pick off the riders
that had passed us. I waited at the next
rest stop at the Highway 12-State Route 123 intersection. Dr Nick did not spend much time at the rest
stop and he took off ahead of me up Cayuse Pass.
I took off solo, picked off groups of riders and then I
stopped at the 4 mile mark to suck down a gel(which is my last resort food and
because I don't like the taste. I wasn't
bonking or tiring but intervening in advance of
the steeper climbing ahead). I
re-passed the same riders and then found a group I could settle in for a
while. When they eventually tired and
the stronger cyclists began to pull away I resumed my own head hunting. Eventually I came across Dr. Nick. I adjusted my pace to ride with him. The longer we were on the ascent and in the
heat I felt stronger. It helped that I
wasn't trying to redline myself. Since I
am a Cyclopath I thought to myself I should feel at home in the mountains so this
is worth enjoying every moment.
Definitely have come a long way from my first Ramrod where I had to
break up the Cayuse climb into four segments so I can survive the hump over
it.
At the halfway water stop a lady gave me a high five over
the extra climbing from my erratic zig zaging and circling. As an outside observer I would have thought
this cyclist has gone mad wasting a lot of energy. Again Dr. Nick took off ahead from the stop
and the cycle from the earlier half repeated itself. One guy complimented me on our club's jersey
and asked if the cyclist behind was my grandpa or something. I said he was a teammate. He said he would have just waited at the top
but I said I'd stay in front of him like a carrot to a rabbit. I was more than happy to be in the mountains
with fellow cyclists (a teammate and other enthusiasts). For a change I was enjoying the freedom to go
at a pace I could set for myself and take the experience all in. Exhaustion usually determines the pace for me
but it wasn't having its way this time.
We finished off Cayuse glad to reach the high point of the ride. As my reward I passed whomever was in sight
during the fast descent. Boy I was
looking forward to the sandwich and a coke at the Crystal Mountain rest
stop. Real food is a nice break from our
usual sugary snacks.
We embarked on 410 not looking forward to the newly chip
sealed road. Why the state DOT wasted
money to ruin an already safe road leaves me puzzled. A patch here or there would have
sufficed. Turned out we did not need a
pace line because we worked together to put the power down. We gained back 1.5 mph on our average ride
speed on the fast return. A motorcyclist
going by cheered 'way to go Cyclopaths.'
I think it was Rick (Erik's friend).
We were making such great time we stopped at Greenwater for a smoothie
and an iced coffee. After Greenwater,
the slight bends in the terrain and headwind can wear on you but I thought back
to a happy time this spring when Leon, Andy and I rode out that way. I was determined to have a good close to the
ride. This is in contrast to my first
Ramrod which at this point my legs were hurting and my bum was sore riding the
remaining 30 miles solo from Crystal Mountain to the finish.
A group of three passed us on the descent of Mud
Mountain. Once at the base of the hill I
used a steady pull to bridge us back to them.
From there we hitched a ride for the last few miles to the finish line. Mario was there to greet us. I hoped he hadn't been waiting for an
extremely long time. He did great
averaging 16.8 mph on his maiden Ramrod.
He is a strong cyclist and enjoys riding with other cyclists in
challenging events like this. He was
complaining about not talking to the gal racer from Fisher Plumbing whom he
pulled from Forest Road 70 to the finish.
Now if he wasn't so concerned about driving his average speed up he
could have ridden with her as opposed pushing hard to the end. Don't worry I am working on making their
acquaintance.
I finished my first Ramrod in 2012 in survival mode. I was nervous over what to expect and how I
would fair on a ride that was 50 miles longer than my longest ride and an
additional 2,500 feet of climb higher than I had ever ascended. Plus it was only my second season
cycling. It is a boost in confidence
having ridden the same roads Cyclopaths traverse on during our training or club
rides. This Ramrod felt like having home
field advantage in a big playoff game. I
felt much better throughout the entire ride having never doubted finishing, never
felt in the red and never worried about my time or pace. In summation, my 2014 Ramrod experience was
about sharing the event with a friend, enjoying fellowship with cyclists and
riding the journey around our beautiful Mt. Rainier.
