Cascade Lakes Century

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	97.25 miles	3068 miles
Elevation Gain	5424 feet	32.69 miles
Average Moving Speed	14.92 mph	14.94 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

We rode a route very similar to the Cascade Lakes Road Race stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic. Starting spot was a little different, but otherwise road from Bend up toward Bachelor and turned left toward Sunriver. Ours included a 5-mile spur to Sunriver for water. Theirs went around Crane Prairie Reservoir but we cut that section out. They finished at Mt. Bachelor but we rode back to Bend.

Troutdale - Larch OB x2

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	93.13 miles	2910 miles
Elevation Gain	8185 feet	30.98 miles
Average Moving Speed	14.08 mph	14.94 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

Today was a training ride pure and simple. We are hoping to do the Mt. Shasta Summit Century in August, and it has over 10,000 feet of elevation gain. So we are trying to prepare our bodies to handle it.

We did this exact same route last weekend. It is such a good ride we decided to do it again, but double the fun.

Troutdale - Larch OB

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	46.39 miles	2730 miles
Elevation Gain	4270 feet	28.54 miles
Average Moving Speed	14.3 mph	15.0 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

We had originally planned to drive out to Trout Lake, Washington and ride around Mt. Adams. However, I wasn't feeling up to such a long day - a 2 hour drive on either end of a long bike ride. So instead we drove to Troutdale and rode up to Larch Mountain in order to get in some good climbing. Plus, in retrospect, it was so cloudy today I'm not sure we would have had the spectacular views of Mt. Adams that we wanted. So probably ended up for the best. We'll just have to hit Mt. Adams another day. Hopefully we can squeeze it in sometime this year. Gonna be tough though as the weekends are mostly booked. :(

Prior to this we have had two separate occasions where we rode up into the mountains and it was colder than we had expected. The Mountain Lakes Challenge in Ashland and then two weeks later our first attempt up Mt. St. Helens this year, the VBC Tour de Blast. In both cases we were blessed to have made the right call, and had ample clothing to keep warm (including extra gloves and shoe covers, or "toesties").

Johnston Ridge

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	83.66 miles	2667 miles
Elevation Gain	6513 feet	27.62 miles
Average Moving Speed	13.7 mph	15.0 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

This was the second attempt within a week of one of our favorite rides, the Tour de Blast, which was thwarted last weekend due to fog and rain.

VBC Tour de Blast

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	53.45 miles	2528 miles
Elevation Gain	4089 feet	25.69 miles
Average Moving Speed	15.0 mph	15.0 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

We did this ride last year and liked it so much we had to do it this year too.

Our average moving speed last year was 14 mph. But that included all the way to Johnston Ridge, which is another 15 miles out and back, with a hefty climb up to the Johnston Ridge endpoint and then the climb to get back up to Elk Rock on the return. This year we turned around and did not continue past Elk Rock as it was just too foggy and rainy to ride safely. We're glad we did because the descent was quite cold as it was.