Cascade Lakes Super

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	140.35 miles	4137 miles
Elevation Gain	7574 feet	44.71 miles
Average Moving Speed	15.15 mph	15.07 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

We were planning on doing this ride yesterday, but having just completed a 110-mile ride a couple days prior our legs decided otherwise. So we waited another day to tackle this 140-mile ride. Plus we had in the back of our mind the option of simply turning around at Mt. Bachelor and making it a 90-mile day.

After our Rainy Adventure on Monday we looked very studiously at the forecast for today. The winds would pick up in the afternoon and there would even be a chance of thunderstorms later in the day. That and the Friday afternoon traffic (consisting of everyone starting off their Labor Day weekend) is what made us decide to start very early: we want to avoid as much wind and traffic as possible.

We don't have headlights on our bikes so the earliest we could safely (and legally) start is a half hour before sunrise, or about 6 a.m. So we did. There is something inspiring about riding your bike and watching the sun come up. Good stuff.

The morning seemed to go pretty well. We were making good time and arrived at the Mt. Bachelor lodge just before 10 a.m. They open at 10:30 a.m. We had planned to refill our water bottles but didn't want to wait 30 minutes. Amy still had most of her water left and I still had 2 full bottles out of my 4, so we decided to forge ahead to Sunriver. I was a little concerned about it what with the day starting to get warmer. I figured we'd arrive in Sunriver sometime after noon, as it was another 40 miles, but most of it was downhill or flat, with only one 400-foot climb, so we went for it.

Made it no problem, although I did run out of water just before we got to the store at approximately mile 88. I refilled all 4 of my insulated bottles with ICE and water, and had a 20-oz Pepsi while we were there. The water stayed cool for a while, and almost lasted the whole trip, but not quite. It definitely didn't stay cool the whole trip though. The last 9 miles between Tumalo and Eagle Crest I was drinking rather warm water. I hate warm water. On the other hand warm water is MUCH better that warm Cytomax or no water at all, so I can't complain.

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself though. On the last big climb after Sunriver, about 1300 feet elevation gain from about mile 95 to mile 102, it was hot. Very hot. The sun was directly behind us beating on our backs while we worked hard pushing up the hill.

There was sun. There was heat from the sun. There was climbing. Hard, steep climbing. There was a stomach full of Pepsi. There was very nearly an exploding cyclist.

Just mere inches from the summit (okay, more like probably a half mile or so) I had to stop and lay down. My stomach was killing me. I was ingesting cold water (it was still nice and icy cold at this point) but it didn't seem to help. I have to say it was fairly pathetic, as I'm sure Amy will attest, but it wasn't too long before I felt a little better and we started moving again.

The big downhill started shortly thereafter and by the end of that, as we rolled into Bend, my stomach issue was behind me. (Literally.) [Sorry, too much info, eh?]

It seemed like we had a headwind most of the day. In fact we did. The iBike data is my proof. The one spot we had the wind with us was on that last climb with my stomach troubles. If you are not a bike rider you need to understand that a minor tailwind on a hot climb can actually be a very bad thing: there is little to no breeze to cool you off when you are working extremely hard.

In spite of all this, we finished this ride, and did so a little faster than expected. Our moving time was 9 hrs and 16 minutes, and we had another 41 minutes of time-off-the-bike for a total of 9 hrs and 57 minutes. Without my little stomach escapade it would've been even better.

We arrived back at Eagle Crest just before 4 p.m. No thunderstorms. Traffic wasn't bad at all. We're glad we started as early as we did.

I think I'm ready for the Ring of Fire. No, I won't win it, but I should do considerably better than last year.

Oh, if and when we ever ride around Mt. Bachelor again, it will always, and I mean always, be in the counter-clockwise direction. Traffic on this portion of the ride was simply a non-issue because of this. The other direction has issues better described on a previous ride here.

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