I’m in the process of recovering from what is probably the most enjoyable course I’ve ridden in WA to date, the SIR “4 Passes” 600K brevet. It crossed over 4 mountain passes and had some magnificent scenery along the way.
We left Issaquah and worked our way through the Snoqualmie River valley and on to Sultan where we joined Highway 2. Then we headed over Stevens Pass , down to Leavenworth and turned south. The second major climb was over Blewett Pass. We then headed down to Ellensburg, and with the wind at our backs, took the Yakima River Canyon Rd. to Selah. From Selah, we rode Highway 12 past the town of Naches and on to the Silver Beach Resort at Rimrock Lake, where we had our overnight stop (at about the 400 km point).
After a rest, we climbed White Pass, and then descended down to highway 123 where we headed north and joined the RAMROD course, passing Ohanapecosh before climbing Cayuse Pass. We then descended down to Enumclaw. From Enumclaw, we made our way back to Issaquah using back roads.
Ride Report
This was my first 600k this year and I went to bed pretty early to try to ensure I was going into the ride with enough sleep. I got up at 3:15 to get over to Issaquah for the 5 am start from Brad Tilden’s house (one of the ride organizers). There was a great crowd of 50+ riders milling around outside the house in the misty dawn as we chatted before the start.
I’d gone to and forth between having a bag on my bike or not. In the end I decided that the weather forecast I’d seen meant that I’d probably be wearing all my gear for most of the ride and so could do without. Also with all the climbing ahead the less I had on the bike the better.
I was decked out in my full commuting rain gear, which was fine up until the top of Stevens but proved overkill for the rest of the ride once we were east of the cascades. I could use some simple straps for the bike in order to wrap up my rain gear when the weather improves.
Anyway on with the ride …
Issaquah to Skykomish (106km/66mi) – The ride got under way at 5 AM and I tried to get up closer to the front as that forces me to keep a decent pace for the initial part of the ride. Generally Bob Brudvik is a good marker to find, as not only is he a good indicator that I’m probably as far forward as I can survive but he’s generally with a fun group to ride with. He, Eric and Thai were all on their single speeds for this ride and seemed to be going at a good pace for me, indeed I ended up riding with them at different parts during the ride.
I ended up going a bit off course at one part when I was riding by myself waiting for some others who had stopped to put on rain gear to catch up. I missed a road that was marked differently than the cue sheet and turned around once it became apparent that something had gone wrong. I turned a corner to get back on track and saw a group of about 10 riders who had made the same mistake turning down a off course road to get back to the main route. They seemed to know what they were doing so I joined them and sure enough we were soon back en route with a couple bonus miles under our belts.
A little later as we got nearer to Skykomish the lead riders, Urs, Jan etc.. suddenly came flying by us from behind. They had gone even further off course at the same junction. So I actually got to see the lead riders during the ride this time, albeit fleetingly.
Stopped at Sykomish for a quick fuel up at the convenience store and then onto the frst major climb.
Stevens Pass – Not much to say about this climb, just a long slog. Eric on his single speed took off but Thai was going up at a similar pace to me so I ended up keeping him in sight most of the way. I generally climb at my own pace but it’s always great to see other riders on the road.
I put on my dry gloves at the top for the descent and headed down. The advantage of all my rain gear was that I didn’t get too cold on any of these descents like a lot of other riders seemed to. I’d done this climb in reverse in baking heat 3 weeks previously during the SIR 3 Passes 400k so enjoyed having the long downhill run into Leavenworth that I had slogged up in the other direction.
Passed a couple of Native Planet riders going in the other direction from their Saturday ride over Blewett.
Leavenworth – (188km/117mi) I had my usual meatball sub (despite hitting a long line of lunchtime eaters) and left Susan a quick message as to my progress. Then it was off to Highway 97 and the start of Blewett Pass , about a 20 mi climb.
Blewett Pass – Erik and Thai caught up with me as I headed up and I rode with them for most of the climb, just falling off the pace for the last mile to the summit. The climb seemed OK, I’d done it from this direction last year and it was just a case of keeping the head down and getting it done. We caught up with Vincent about 10 miles from the top and he rode with us as well until he got a flat just before the summit. Brad was minding a food stop just at the top which was much appreciated.
The descent was great, though a little windy. The others got ahead of me so I let them go and stopped to say hi to Jean-Philippe at the café were the Native Planet ride had started when I saw him in the car park. Then it was on to Ellensburg.
There was a nasty little climb once we got on Highway 97 towards Ellensburg which I hoped wasn’t going to be the start of a series of rollers all the way to town. It wasn’t! Instead there was a great tailwind. My knee had started to hurt a little so I was happy to just stop pedaling and let it push me along at 28 mph. That’s the kind of wind I could use more of on my rides.
Ellensburg (282 km/175 mi) – I got some food at Quiznos here, and did a quick turnaround as I was keen to maximize the daylight as my pace inevitably drops once it gets dark. Called Susan and said goodnight to the girls before heading off for one of the best stretches of the ride.
I rode through a canyon most of the way to Yakima , beside a lovely river with decent tailwinds for most of it. Every now and then the direction of the canyon would turn into the wind and I’d appreciate just how strong the wind really was as it ground my speed down. The sun was getting lower and the light off the canyon walls was lovely.
I rode through Yakima & Selah, at which point Eric and Thai caught up with me (I’d passed them at Ellensburg while they were eating). We stopped just before turning onto Highway 12 to put on night gear. This was a tough stretch, it was dark now and there was a really strong headwind. It would literally nearly stop you in your tracks. In addition to that this was a major road with heavy traffic and rumble strips taking up most of the shoulder. I tried to stick with the others but my knee was acting up more now so I decided I’d better ride at my own pace even though it meant forsaking some shelter from the wind.
There was a “secret control” once I finally turned off this 10 mile stretch which was great. My tire went flat just as I approached it and Brad Tilden (who had leapt frogged to this control from Blewett) was kind enough to take the tire and change it for me while I enjoyed a sandwich and some hot soup. Don and Mark were also manning the control and as always it made a huge difference to getting braced for the next part of the ride.
I hadn’t realized that we still had a fair bit of climbing up to the overnight control at Rimrock which was part-way up White Pass. It was about a 20 mile climb in the pitch dark, except for my lights and I settled in and spun my way up. One advantage of climbing at night is that it can seem to be going faster even though your pace may be pretty slow. I stopped a couple times to enjoy the great view of the stars overhead, which you just can’t get in the city.
Then finally I saw the SIR sign and blinking lights and knew I’d reached the overnight control.
Rimrock – “Overnight” Control (401km/270mi) – 1:15 A.M. Jeff Tilden was there to great me and thanks to all the great support I quickly got some hot food into me, had a shower and settled into a bed with a request for a 6am wakeup. I reckoned 4 hours sleep would be great to set me up for the next day. I was a bit wired and couldn’t really get into a deep sleep but roused when I heard some people getting a 4 am wake up call. Decided to rest for a bit more but at around 5am gave up and decided I might as well get up as it was now bright out.
There main area had volunteers crashed out around it, trying to catch up on there own rest. One of the things that really strikes me is the commitment of all the volunteers who have been up all day and night at various controls helping support the riders. They often look more exhausted than the riders by the end of it all. Once the C1200 is out of the way I hope to be able to help out on the rides in the second half of the season and repay some of the great assistance I’ve received.
I had a great breakfast of pancakes and sausages and then headed off at about 5:30am for the last part of White Pass. (Eight miles up, ~12 miles down)
White Pass was an interesting start to the morning. I was moving pretty slowly as I spun my legs back into action. It was nice to be able to actually see the forest, snow and lakes around the road in daylight. There was one great looking lake with a camp site that looked well worth revisiting later in the summer, Dog Lake. I reached the top finally and put on my warmer gloves for the descent.
My rain gear helped keep the wind chill bearable as it was a long, very cold descent. My feet got cold through my rain covers and I was starting to shake a bit towards the end. Still I think I had it pretty comfortable compared to some of the frozen people I saw stopped along the way down and at the bottom.
Paul Johnson had set up a control at the bottom with Hot Chocolate ready to warm up the shivering riders descending on him. Very welcome! I took a spell sitting in his truck as well just to raise my core temperature up a bit more and then set off for the next climb.
Cayuse Pass – I’d caught up with Peter and Bob who were riding together at the bottom of White Pass and set off with them. Peter had burnt himself out the day before chasing the lead group and was also suffering from a sore knee. This meant that I could actually keep up with him, as he’s normally a much stronger rider.
It was 16 miles up to the top and we rode together for a while chatting, then Peter fell back a bit and Bob took off off the front as we settled into our respective paces. It was a long climb with my sore knee and I was glad to finally reach the top. The final part was through cut back walls of snow as the pass had only recently been opened.
Bob was waiting at the top for Peter, along with some of the support team (Jeff Tilden and Allison Bailey) who had stopped at the top for a little to cheer on the riders before heading on to the finish.
I was getting a bit cold and stiffening up so headed off down the mountain to the next control at Greenwater.
This was a nice downhill stretch, hampered somewhat by the usual headwind on this road which I remembered from RAMROD last year.
Greenwater (497 km/309 mi) – Peter and Bob caught up with me shortly after I left Greenwater and so we rode together again. They were good company as always and certainly made the miles go by faster. We got buzzed by a motorist along this road and were delighted to find that a cop was driving close behind her and promptly pulled her over. We stopped and chatted with the cop for a bit about the perils of cycling and cars and then left him to talk with the driver. I just wish she’d get something more severe than a warning. If you swerved in an attempt to scare a pedestrian I’d assume the police would be more severe.
We rode along a stretch of rollers into Issaquah and my knee was really acting up at this stage so I eventually told Peter to go on (Bob was off the front by now) and I’d come in at my own pace. I missed the company but it was easier not to need to push to keep up on the uphills.
Finally it was just a “victory lap” around Lake Sammamish to make up the mileage and then into the finish back at Brad’s house, 36 hours 25 minutes later.
Finish – Brad’s House (600 km/477 mi) – Susan and the kids were waiting to meet me and we sat with a group at the finish for a while before heading home to bed.
Here’s a great video that one of the riders on the ride made. It gives a good taste of the various weather conditions and scenery that we encountered.
