Lewis County Historical Ride

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	99 miles	1,398 miles
Elevation Gain	3,551 feet	14.01 miles
Average Moving Speed	16.7 mph	14.7 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

Amy's spin instructor Mike came along with us today, and we had an absolutely great ride.

We did this ride last year too. What a difference a year makes! Here, let me show you:

Lewis County Historical Ride	Last Year	This Year
Total Time (including stops)	~8 hours	~6.5 hours
Moving Time (excluding stops)	6:37:32	5:54:25
Average Moving Speed	15.1 mph	16.7 mph

The dog incident from a few weeks back is still fresh in Amy's mind so I've been trying to put myself between her and any dogs we approach. With Mike's help it was more like a picket fence between Amy and any dogs. She said she felt like royalty. :)

The weather was absolutely perfect. There was a touch of wind at times, but just a touch. More than tolerable. It was sunny almost the whole time. The temperature ranged from 48 to probably someplace in the low to mid-70s. (My iBike says it peaked at 86, but it reads 10 to 15 degrees high in the sunshine as it is a black unit.)

The scenery on this ride is tough to compete with. You have numerous views of Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens, or when mountains aren't in sight you can just enjoy the rural landscape (forest, valleys, creeks, etc.). The thing you don't have to see too much are cars. Not that there isn't any traffic, just that it is very minimal on long stretches, particularly earlier in the morning.

The other thing we like about this ride is the relatively low number of cyclists. This isn't like Monster Cookie, Reach the Beach (3,000 riders), or STP (Seattle to Portland, 10,000 riders). Not sure how many there were, but we registered at about 7:45 and we were bib numbers 348-350.

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

There was a minor route improvement over last year. Instead of immediately crossing I-5, and dealing with the freeway ramp traffic, we went a bit south on Rice Road and crossed I-5 at the Rush Road exit, which seems like a lower traffic ramp.



The above photos both have mountains in the background, although tough to see unless you click on the photos for a larger view. Mt. St. Helens in the first, Mt. Rainier in the second.

I pushed it considerably harder than I normally do. My average heart rate on recent previous rides ranged from 135 to 137 beats per minute. So when I saw that I was averaging 144 on this ride I was a little concerned about it, but kept going, hoping I wouldn't totally bonk or cramp or experience any other debilitating physical issue due to overexerting myself. I did end up drafting a little bit later in the ride, but not really out of necessity. I also did my fair share of pulling. Amy doesn't draft, but Mike did, and we also pulled other random folks quite a ways from time to time. I actually quite enjoy doing that.

A steady intake of liquids (1 bottle has plain water and the other has a latte flavored Perpetuem mix, which has lots of carb calories), along with minor 'real' food at each of the 3 rest stops (half a banana or some watermelon), and my stomach issues of prior long-ish rides were avoided this time. When it gets hot I will probably need to intake something for electrolytes as well. I'm thinking Endurolyte capsules, but not sure.

Today was why we ride. It was awesome! This century ride is one of the best kept secrets in the Northwest. And here I go trying to mess that up by posting about it on the web... ;-)