Category: Cycling

The SIR season officially kicked off with the Spring Populaire, a 100k ride starting in Woodinville and looping around country roads through Carnation and then back via Redmond.

There was a great turnout of close to 100 riders and it was great to see so many familiar faces from previous years.

My meticulous planning the night before ran into some snags when I realized that my two water bottles were still at home in the fridge and my Garmin GPS had no battery charge (it must have not charged properly after Thursday’s ride which had drained the battery). So it was off with the heart rate monitor and I scrounged a temporary bottle of regular bottled water so at least I would have some water with me. I reckoned I’d just need to drink when I stopped rather than as I rode.

The peleton took off at 9am at a leisurely pace along the trail before we left it a couple miles along and started our  climb out of Woodinville. My legs were feeling good despite a 110 mile ride on Thursday so I moved up the pack as we ascended the hill and then hopped on the Ragsdale express as it swept by me with Bob, Mike and other fast riders in the group. (They can ride a lot faster than me but I can hang on drafting for a while on any given day). It was fun riding some of the same roads that I’d been on solo on Thursday at a much faster pace. I stuck with them until the first control but then my extra minute spent drinking my make shift water meant they had left ahead of me.

I took off chasing and got on another group. My chain had been shifting a bit strangely on Thursday and I was planning to drop the bike in for a service this week. While I thought I could get one more ride out of it my chain didn’t go along wiht the plan.

I was pushing uphill on one of the rollers when it snapped. This had never happened to me before and lacking a chain tool (which was also safely at home) I didn’t have many options. Thankfully there were other riders who stopped and walked me through the steps to take out a couple of links and attach the chain back together again with their tool. It was great to have gone through this on a sunny day so that I should be able to do it again if need be (particularly if I’m by myself at 3am on a mountain pass in the rain … ). That will be the last ride that I don’t have a chain tool along with me.

I also checked my maintenance logs and that chain had about 3000 miles on it which is really too much. I think the average life expectancy is around 2000 miles.

Once the chain was back together (now a couple of links shorter) I babied it in for the rest of the ride, staying out of the big chain ring and staying seated on all the climbs. It survived but it meant my time and pace was a bit slower than usual.

A good stop at Sandy’s for refueling and then a climb over the hills to Redmond and back up along the trail to Woodinville. Next up is the 200k in 2 weeks as the first of my 4 qualifying rides for PBP this year.

I’ve a couple of speed targets for the various brevets this year. These were created by the Cyclos Montagnards group as a series of speed awards for those who are motivated by trying to go faster on these longer rides, http://www.cyclosmontagnards.org/R80Rules.html.

The R80 award seems very doable and the R70 as a stretch goal (I have ridden both a 200k and 400k at R70 pace in the past). The main issue is the 600k as I don’t think I can have a sleep break and achieve the necessary times.

The R80 honor requires completion of a brevet series (200, 300, 400 and 600 km) with each brevet completed in 80% or less of the maximum allowed time limit. The R70 and R60 honors are for those who complete the brevets in 70% or 60% of the allowed time, respectively.

R80:
200 km: 10:48 hours
300 km: 16:00 hours
400 km: 21:36 hours
600 km: 32:00 hours

R70:
200 km: 9:27 hours
300 km: 14:00 hours
400 km: 18:54 hours
600 km: 28:00 hours

R60:
200 km: 8:06 hours
300 km: 12:00 hours
400 km: 16:12 hours
600 km: 24:00 hours

I’ll be riding the inaugural running of a new 1200k bike ride in Colorado in July this year.

Here are a few of the challenges that the organizer has shared about this ride. I think the altitude will be the most “interesting” one based on my experiences living at 6000 ft in Nairobi and 8000 ft in Thimphu and the debilitating impact it can have on you when you first reach that altitude. I need to work out how far in advance I should arrive before the event starts to acclimatize sufficiently.

That said the altitude training should make me that much stronger for PBP in August. At least that’s the theory…

Source: http://coloradohighcountry1200k.blogspot.com/

TOP CHALLENGES:

• Altitude
• Extended Climbs
• Wind
• Temperature Range
• Chilly Precipitation
• Hydration
• Wildlife

CHALLENGES RESERVED FOR OTHER EVENTS (what you won’t be facing!):

• Steep Grades
• Technical Turns
• Complex Routefinding
• Congested Areas
• Crowds of Riders
• Humidity
• Insects
• Poisonous Animals

I mention these topics – and others, such as cattle guards – on the Rider Info page, but here are a few more gratuitous thoughts:

• Altitude – You’ll top out above 10,000 ft. three times on the route, and sleep near 9,000 ft. the final night.  This verges on being “at altitude” as they say here, and does have its effect, even for folks who live here on the Plains (at 5,000 ft.).  What effect??  I’ll discuss this more in a separate post, since a number of you have asked.
• Wind – Canyons can channel wind.  The open high-country areas (“parks” in Colorado terminology) have few trees so wind can have its way there, too.  A good reason to practice those social skills and cultivate riding partners early on?
• Extended Climbs – Those “endless rollers” where you may come from may seem tough (and are!), but you at least get a break every mile or two.  The one, or two, or three-hour climbs on this ride can grind a rider down.  Take this into account.  Take a stretch break; hydration break; chat break; whatever, if you need it.
• Temperature Range – Although it’s a “dry cold” and “dry heat” here because of the low humidity, you may need to carry more layering – for chillier parts of the day –  than you might otherwise in a more humid climate.  Have a look at the statistical low and high temps on the Rider Info page.
• Chilly Precipitation – Summer showers in the mountains can be cold, not a tropical shower.  You should be fine if you have the right outerwear, are smart, and don your gear in a timely fashion.
• Hydration – An arid climate + wind = lots of potential moisture loss.  It’s the same old advice: you won’t know you’re dehydrated in a cool, dry climate until it’s become a big problem.  So keep ahead of the game.  I’ll have a post about hydration-challenging segments later on.
• Wildlife – Each region has wildlife considerations.  Much of the High Country route passes through sparsely-populated areas: National Forests and National Wildlife Areas, where wildlife flourish.  Be mindful of moose, which are large and can be aggressive, and general wildlife on the roads in the pre-dawn and post-dawn hours (coyotes, deer, etc.)

Ashley and I decided during the week to take part in the annual Chilly Hilly bike ride around Bainbridge Island this year. Last year saw over 6000 participants take part but a forecast of the coldest, wettest conditions in many years led to a lower turnout this year (~3500). The ride lived up to it’s name with many hills, strong winds, snow and rain to make for an epic ride.

We left the house at 8:30 am to catch the 9:35 ferry to the island. We’d planned out our layering strategy to stay warm the previous night and Ashley was well protected (though our protection of her extremities needed revision as the ride progressed .. more on that later).

Everyone was up to see us off though our farewell comittee quickly retreated back into the warmth of the house as we biked off.

A strong head wind was blowing in our face as we rode the 7 miles to the ferry and Ashley’s hands got pretty cold through her gloves so I gave her my wool ones as a second layer which did the trick for her but left me with chilly fingers later in the ride once it started snowing! I ended up taking her original pair later to give my fingers a bit of protection.

Once we got to the ferry we quickly registered and lined up for the 9:35 ferry.

Once we reached Bainbridge we rode off with our 1000 riding partners and started on the loop around the island. It was great for Ashley to see various other kids her age on tandems, tag alongs and even their own bikes. We saw one triple as well set up for two kids.

The ride was great with a nice tailwind initially and we powered up the hills (past all the people walking the steeper ones). A lot of friendly people cheered Ashley on as everyone was out for a fun day out. The conditions deteriorated a bit as we got to the first official rest stop at Mile 15 or so and it started to snow.

I drew on my Randonneuring experience and moved us out of the wind and snow into a heated toilet nearby for Ashley to warm up a bit with some hot chocolate 🙂

Then it was back out into the elements and onto the hot cider stop at Mile 20. Ashley’s feet were getting cold at this stage as they got wetter so we decided at the next stop to take the handy shortcut back to the finish and cut off about 10 miles. I used a couple sandwich bags over her socks to keep the wind chill down and that helped.

We got back to the finish and rushed down to catch the ferry which was just leaving. Then it was 7 miles back to the house and a nice hot bath to remove the chill. We had a great time! A fine introduction for Ashley to riding longer group rides in tough conditions.

All told we rode 35.5 miles (Ashley longest ride to date by about 30 miles…)

So 2010 is coming to an end and with it my biggest mileage year to date. A grand total of 5176 miles, just pipping 2007 which was my first year of active randonneuring.

2011 brings with it another PBP year and roughly 5000 miles of official SIR rando rides possible (that’s on top of commuting and any other club rides I choose to do). Suffice to say I won’t be doing all of those rides but it does present an nice selection of options in the year ahead.

Official Randonneuring Results for 2010

MCKEE, James | Seattle International Randonneurs | 947018

2010 ACP SR, annual total=3569 km

Km (Date)

100 (2010/02/28) Spring Populaire

200 (2010/03/20) Bellingham 200k

300 (2010/04/03) Bellingham 300k

200 (2010/04/25) Northwest Crank 200k

400 (2010/05/15) Bremerton 400k

600 (2010/06/05) 4 Passes 600k

1000 (2010/06/26) Cascade 1000k

261 (2010/06/29) Cascade 261k

100 (2010/07/10) Summer Populaire

300 (2010/08/07) 3 Volcanoes 300k

108 (2010/08/29) Mountain Populaire