| Quick Stats Ride Distance: 102 miles Elevation Gain: 7,420 feet Average Moving Speed: 14.29 mph |
There are 3 loops on the ride, all starting and finishing at the park in Chelan.
We actually started riding from our condo, which was 3 miles from the official ride start. The first loop had more climbing than we anticipated, but that was really an issue of our anticipation being out of whack since we knew there would be a lot of climbing on this ride, 8,606 feet according to their website.
We saw an ambulance while descending one of the hills on the first loop. We didn't know it at the time but apparently there were two loose dogs that were harassing riders. One of the dogs got hit by a cyclist and the cyclist tumbled over the guard rail, which the dogs were hiding behind, getting scraped up and dislocating her shoulder. She told us all about it that evening while we were in the hospital waiting room. But I am getting ahead of myself...
It was a long drive to get up here. Our ride map is continuing to expand. One might think with the long drive south to the Tour of the Unknown Coast in May and this drive up north that these might be the northernmost and southernmost rides we've ever done. But that one would be incorrect. If another one thought these two rides were the westernmost and easternmost rides we've ever done, that one would be correct. See for yourself at the first link in this paragraph.
The roads were great and the scenery was impressive. We've never been here before, but apparently a lot of Seattle-ites vacation here in central Washington, and particularly Lake Chelan. I can see why. It is beautiful country. The surrounding hills are big and steep and numerous. They would call them mountains in most other states in the union. Lake Chelan is huge: 55 miles long and an average of a mile wide. Deep too, though we were unable to confirm this on our bikes.
There were lots and lots of other cyclists, which if you've read this blog before you know isn't our favorite thing. But if you want to cover some new ground on your bike, an organized ride is a great way to go due to the nicely marked out route and the strategically placed and usually well-stocked support stops.
While riding through the town of Manson on the first loop Amy commented that it might be a nice place to retire.
The weather during the first loop was perfect: overcast and not yet hot. Once we started the second loop there were periods of sunshine and periods of cloud cover. Both were nice but the latter was especially nice while climbing. Speaking of climbing the second loop included the McNeil Canyon Climb, which is a "6 mile climb, 850ft to 3100ft, 12% grade" according to the dog tag handed out to triumphant riders at the top of the climb. It is not an average 12% grade for the whole climb, and I am truly thankful for that. But the last mile or so is pretty close to a constant 12% grade, and that in and of itself is pretty nasty, let alone the fact that this 12% brutality is immediately after 5 miles of climbing.
Amy was back to her usual tricks and rode away from me on this climb, in spite of my new light-as-a-feather bike and impressive June fitness level. To explain in a single word: heat. In a few more words: hot, sun, bake, and roast. On the other hand, I did make it to the top, and did not stop a single time on the entire climb, though there were several very low speed swerves. These were the type of swerves that are required in order to maintain bicycle uprightness. This sort of thing is a factor when your speed temporarily drops to 2 or 3 mph between very slow pedal strokes.
On the descent I was able to top 50 mph. My iBike reported that I reached 52.5 mph, though the computer is now saying only 51.1 mph. I don't think either one is quite a personal best but it was still fun.
On her descent Amy saw a bird fly into the wheel of the rider in front of her. Thankfully it didn’t get caught in a brake or spoke as the rider apparently didn’t even notice. It took longer than Amy expected but the bird finally fell out onto the pavement. No, sadly, it didn’t make it.
Of the three loops the first and third were the most scenic to this person's eye. The middle loop crossed over the Columbia River and turned out to be a hot climb into a dry clime. Sorry, had to go for it, puns are in my blood.
The final loop involved (wait for it...) more climbing. Actually three climbs, I think. But thankfully none of them all that big nor as nasty as the climbs already conquered, though by this time you are quite spent so any climb is basically nasty. At the end of the first of these final climbs Amy's good friend, who had ridden the first loop and was done riding, and whose husband was still ahead of us and in the process of doing the whole century, was waiting for us at the top of the climb with ice. This particular climb was not terribly big but it was the hottest of the day, with the sun on your back the whole way up. So I am still not certain that it wasn't an angelic intervention. Was this really happening? How is it possible to have ice at the top of a hot climb without there being an angel involved?
The whole ride, and I mean the entire ride, we had been anticipating the final climb, which you could see on the profile of our cue sheet. Something like 700 feet of climbing 3 miles from the end of the ride. However, since we started three miles from the start, it turns out the climb was located at (wait for it...) mile 102. Yes, it was located literally within only 20 yards of where we were planning to stop, our condo driveway. Was there any chance at all of me turning to go up Chelan Butte Road to do this climb? It is a rhetorical question, of course. There was no chance. However, when I saw what was painted on the pavement along side the arrow for this particular turn there was absolutely no chance. What did I see? I saw the word "optional". I rest my case.
You are probably now thinking that I have been stringing you along with the whole hospital reference and you were wondering how I would bring the subject back to said hospital without involving a long and ridiculously rambling sentence that goes on and on seemingly forever without much point except to provide the dramatic segue from a bike ride to the hospital emergency room.
Well, after the ride I was feeling pretty cruddy. I was quite hungry but tried a bite of spaghetti a couple different times and just couldn’t eat. Had to lay down on my back on the floor and just simply... recover. And drink liquid. Sprite was available, Sprite it was. After about an hour I started feeling well enough to stand up, and once I stood up I decided to take a shower. And came out completely refreshed. And hungry.
“Get to the hospital part John!” You don’t have to yell, I’m getting there. Hang in there.
That evening we were going to meet up with Amy’s friends (the ice angel and her husband) at a pizza joint to talk about the days events. Turns out he wasn’t feeling well either, so they had to cancel.
While we were eating at the restaurant Amy got a call from her friend that the ambulance was in the process of picking up her husband, whose condition had seriously worsened, involving, among other things, terrible seizures.
To make an already long story short, in time he will apparently be okay, but that was in question for quite a while. He has really been through the wringer. There were some complicating factors, like possible food poisoning the night before, but otherwise it was a case of hyponatremia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia), where your sodium level gets too low, and drinking more water (without more sodium) actually makes it worse, lowering your sodium level further due to the dilution effect.
However, recovering from hyponatremia will be the easy part. The hard part will be rehabilitating from the two broken shoulders which occurred while he was having seizures. The fractures were somehow caused by his muscle contractions and not from thrashing about. Or something. I don’t really understand it, but there it is nonetheless.
If you are going to exercise for a long time in the heat (or in any situation, really, but particularly in the heat) be sure to replenish your electrolytes, and sodium in particular, which is typically not in sufficient quantities in your standard variety sports drinks. Who wants a salty sport drink, after all? This is why I eat beef sticks (Slim Jims) and pretzels during rides. They have sodium AND they taste good. I only ate two beef sticks and a very few pretzels on this ride. Had I eaten at least 6 or 8 sticks (they’re not very big) and a handful of pretzels like I should have I probably would have felt better after the ride.
I’m also going to look into getting salt tablets. EDIT: Strike that. I just ordered some salt tablets.
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