Crater Lake Century

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	101.81 miles	3689 miles
Elevation Gain	6668 feet	40.88 miles
Average Moving Speed	14.79 mph	15.01 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

WEATHER
Our Saturday started out cold, which makes for comfy climbing. Once we got to the top though we were glad we kept our coats and arm/leg warmers. Cold wind on the rim. In fact gusts were a bit scary at times what with traffic and steep cliffs seemingly all around.

RIDE QUALITY (Roads, traffic, support, food, etc)
Road surfaces were pretty good, only a few bad areas.

Traffic was nonexistent for the first 30 miles down around Fort Klamath. Got kinda busy on the rim but drivers were polite. Definitely won't ride the rim independently. The safety was largely due to a big bicycle event (ie safety in numbers) with lots of signs about "caution bicycles on road". No shoulders.

Support was very good. They didn't have pop until the end so I tried blue gatorade and it actually wasn't bad. The meal at the end was excellent. BBQ beef, pork, and chicken along with coleslaw and beans. The blackberry cobbler with homemade ice cream was the proverbial cherry on top of a great day.

We averaged 18.1 mph until we started going up. It got to the low 13's, but once we started the last 15 miles back down to Fort Klamath the average speed climbed back up and ended at just under 15 mph.

On-the-bike time was about 6 hrs and 45 minutes, and the total time was about 7 hrs and 40 minutes. I will need to reduce my time-off-the-bike significantly for the 12-hour Ring of Fire.

MISC
One bald eagle. Several hawks. Maybe a harrier, not sure. A spike deer, dead on the side of the road. Not thin crust road pizza, more of a bulging road calzone with legs.

This ride is a must for road cyclists some time in your life. It is a long drive for us though so probably won't happen again.

To best enjoy this ride you really need to stop at numerous view points because it is not always so easy to enjoy the scenery while riding due to the afforementioned traffic and wind gusts. And of course Amy is loathe to stop, particularly when stopping means getting cold while standing around in the wind and having to warm up your muscles all over again when you start riding. We did stop some though, to get water and food and a photo here and there.

We are definitely glad we did this ride!

Maps showing all rides: 2010 Rides • 2009 Rides • All Rides