June 16, 2002
Rider #357
“That’s a lucky number!” said the official as he handed me my rider packet. Ahh, it’s good to be back in Wenatchee?. Well in continuing this year with organized rides, I decided that I’d better do a century ride before I attempt the hallowed STP which is just a mere 6 weeks away. This was the first time I’d be attempting a century (you can read that as 100 miles), and it was going to be in sunny, hot Wenatchee Wa.
Perhaps first, my impressions. It was hot as hell. I’ve been on the west side of the Cascades for a bit over 10 years, and I’ve fully acclimated to the milder temperatures. I’m not above admitting that I can get my ass kicked, and I think I just about did.
The first weekend in June is becoming a rather large and organized bike-fest. The festivities start off with a pasta-feed (with bar and band) down at the Convention Center on Friday night, with open registration for the century ride going on in parallel. Saturday morning kicks off the actual biking with the century ride leaving around 8am. (I’m a little suspicious of an official start time as registration started at 6am, and I was seeing people coming back from the 50mile ride when I was about an hour into it. These are probably veterans who know what to do.). From what I heard from the guy who took our picture, there were supposed to be about 1,000 riders today. A nice turnout indeed. The other bike festivities include a criterium race Saturday night, and another race over in Leavenworth on Sunday.
So a group of us (about 15 riders) started off behind the convention center and rode our way up across the pedestrian bridge that puts you out onto the Apple Loop Trail. It was a beautiful morning. The river was as I remember it in the mornings, smooth and glass-like. It was great to be out. Sun out, high thin clouds, the smell of grass and sage, and the rush of the wind in your ears. This is what I like about Wenatchee.
After a few leisurly miles we came out of Confluence State Park, and up onto what I believe is Alt. Hwy 97. This is the road that takes you up to Lake Chelan on the Wenatchee side of the River. It was about a 10mile or so stretch until we turned off onto the Entiat Valley Rd, where I’d spend most of the rest of the day. Things to note about this road. It’s rough. I mean the actual road. I think they put some sticky tar down and then rolled crushed gravel over it. It’s a rather vibratious ride if that is such a word.
One thing that is just a fantastic experiment of science, is to join up with a paceline. Doing 100miles by yourself isn’t that fun, because you are working the whole way. Drafting. It’s cool. It’s fun. It works!. I only joined up a few times, mainly because I didn’t want to impose on anyone, and I’m still not sure on paceline-ettiqute. However a few times I tagged onto the end, and it is quite exhilerating. Using the same effort to go 17mph.. you are immediately catapulted to 22-25mph with the same effort. Another interesting conclusion I came up with is that the bigger the paceline, the easier it is to go faster with less effort. I think this makes sense, so I’ll stick with the conclusion.
Around 10 I showed up at the second pit stop (my first stop), which was also the turnaround point for the 50 mile riders, the Entiat National Fish Hatchery. It was well equipped with food and drink, but I had plenty of water, and decided to eat some of my own food that I had brought, mainly so I could start shedding some of that (insignificant) weight. I stayed here for about 15 or 20 minutes… and then decided to press on.
As you can tell from the route map below, the real interesting parts start happening between miles 25-50. Most notable is the 1,900 feet of elevation gain. This perhaps doesn’t sound bad, but it was. I think I ended up averaging about 8-9mph on that leg. The scenery really helped make up for it though. We are talking about some serious isolation out here. There’s a sign you pass which says something to the effect “Services stop here”. During this part you spend a fair amount of time next to the river, so it really is rather enjoyable (if you like the country thing). It is nice to see hills that are undeveloped. It’s surprising how much sky is out there when you leave the city.
There’s a cruel trick that the Sunrise Rotary plays on newbies. At the 50mile turn around there’s a big pitstop where there’s the usual food and drink, restrooms and such. So you come cruising up to the large crowd and think ‘Oh cool… I’ve finally made it.. no more damned hills to climb’. Haha, you are mistaken (well sort of). It turns out that the actual turnaround point is about another 1/2 mile or so up the road. Unfortunately I found this out about 15minutes into my break. I decided it would be best to finish up that bit after my break. An interesting thought process occured (which I think is directly related to the time/temperature). I started to say oh I can just sluff this off and just head back from here. In the end I did go to the turn around point. On my way back through the pit stop I noted that it was about 12:45. I was having doubts about the supposed ‘I’ll be back around 3:30′ statement I had made the previous night.
I suppose at this point I should bring up the merits of going uphill. The chief observation is that in the end you get to go down them. About five of us were all cruising down some of the bigger decents at the beginning just free-wheeling it the whole way, and going in the mid to upper 30’s. This part of the ride didn’t last nearly as long as I wanted it to, and in no time at all we were back to the main grind. Another notable mention which needs to be broached at this time was the temperature. I imagine it was perhaps 80-85 out, I don’t really know. It felt about 100. It’s the kind of heat that when you start going fast, the aforementioned pleasant wind in your face/ears is warm and dry. Not refreshing by any unit of measure. At this point in the game I’m perhaps coming up to about mile 70, and I’m feeling it. You start thinking that maybe the 50mile option is a better idea. That at this point you’d rather be doing something else than riding a bike. That and I think I was starting to develop the beginnings of heat-stroke. This is mainly a condition of dehydration and exertion. So I backed off, ate some dried fruit and pedaled into the 25/75mile (aka the 50mile ride turnaround) pit stop and sat in the shade.
The shade was a good thing. I spent about 30 minutes here trying to convince myself that I did want to eat something and cooling down by the river. In the end this was a really good idea, and helped make the rest of the ride rather pleasant. Around 2:45p I left the pit stop fully hydrated and feeling much better. The trip back to confluence park was alright, and we finished by doing the E. Wenatchee portion of the Apple Loop Trail. The finish was rather uneventful.. I passed a sign that said ‘Finish’. The criterium portion of the racing weekend looked to be starting, and most attention was on that. I almost felt like saying ‘Hey I just rode 100miles!!’. Course I’m not much of a glory hound, so I packed up the bike and went back to where we were staying. It was about 5:30p at this point.
So would I recommend this ride to anyone? Probably not. I didn’t see too many kids, but I did see a variety of fitness levels. I think personally I’d have nothing but goodness to say about the ride had I chose the 50mile option. I bet there are easier century rides out there, and definitely cooler ones if you aren’t used to the heat. I think next year I’ll probably opt for the 50, and do some other century on the other side of the mountains to help prepare for the STP.
Daily Log
# 6:25am - Shut off the alarm… and stay in bed..
# 6:50am - Wake up, prepare and eat some breakfast
# 8:05am - Arrive down at the Convention Center
# 10:30am - Arrive at the 25mile pitstop.
# 12:30pm - Arrive at the 50mile pitstop/turnaround.
# 2:00pm - Arrive back at the 25mile pitstop (which for me is the 75mile pitstop)
# 5:30pm - Cross finish
Stats:(by my cyclocomputer)
Distance: 100.89 miles
Max speed: 38.9 mph
Avg speed: 14.5 mph
Trip meter: 8hrs 20min
June 16, 2002
Rider #357
“That’s a lucky number!” said the official as he handed me my rider packet. Ahh, it’s good to be back in Wenatchee?. Well in continuing this year with organized rides, I decided that I’d better do a century ride before I attempt the hallowed STP which is just a mere 6 weeks away. This was the first time I’d be attempting a century (you can read that as 100 miles), and it was going to be in sunny, hot Wenatchee Wa.
Perhaps first, my impressions. It was hot as hell. I’ve been on the west side of the Cascades for a bit over 10 years, and I’ve fully acclimated to the milder temperatures. I’m not above admitting that I can get my ass kicked, and I think I just about did.
The first weekend in June is becoming a rather large and organized bike-fest. The festivities start off with a pasta-feed (with bar and band) down at the Convention Center on Friday night, with open registration for the century ride going on in parallel. Saturday morning kicks off the actual biking with the century ride leaving around 8am. (I’m a little suspicious of an official start time as registration started at 6am, and I was seeing people coming back from the 50mile ride when I was about an hour into it. These are probably veterans who know what to do.). From what I heard from the guy who took our picture, there were supposed to be about 1,000 riders today. A nice turnout indeed. The other bike festivities include a criterium race Saturday night, and another race over in Leavenworth on Sunday.
So a group of us (about 15 riders) started off behind the convention center and rode our way up across the pedestrian bridge that puts you out onto the Apple Loop Trail. It was a beautiful morning. The river was as I remember it in the mornings, smooth and glass-like. It was great to be out. Sun out, high thin clouds, the smell of grass and sage, and the rush of the wind in your ears. This is what I like about Wenatchee.
After a few leisurly miles we came out of Confluence State Park, and up onto what I believe is Alt. Hwy 97. This is the road that takes you up to Lake Chelan on the Wenatchee side of the River. It was about a 10mile or so stretch until we turned off onto the Entiat Valley Rd, where I’d spend most of the rest of the day. Things to note about this road. It’s rough. I mean the actual road. I think they put some sticky tar down and then rolled crushed gravel over it. It’s a rather vibratious ride if that is such a word.
One thing that is just a fantastic experiment of science, is to join up with a paceline. Doing 100miles by yourself isn’t that fun, because you are working the whole way. Drafting. It’s cool. It’s fun. It works!. I only joined up a few times, mainly because I didn’t want to impose on anyone, and I’m still not sure on paceline-ettiqute. However a few times I tagged onto the end, and it is quite exhilerating. Using the same effort to go 17mph.. you are immediately catapulted to 22-25mph with the same effort. Another interesting conclusion I came up with is that the bigger the paceline, the easier it is to go faster with less effort. I think this makes sense, so I’ll stick with the conclusion.
Around 10 I showed up at the second pit stop (my first stop), which was also the turnaround point for the 50 mile riders, the Entiat National Fish Hatchery. It was well equipped with food and drink, but I had plenty of water, and decided to eat some of my own food that I had brought, mainly so I could start shedding some of that (insignificant) weight. I stayed here for about 15 or 20 minutes… and then decided to press on.
As you can tell from the route map below, the real interesting parts start happening between miles 25-50. Most notable is the 1,900 feet of elevation gain. This perhaps doesn’t sound bad, but it was. I think I ended up averaging about 8-9mph on that leg. The scenery really helped make up for it though. We are talking about some serious isolation out here. There’s a sign you pass which says something to the effect “Services stop here”. During this part you spend a fair amount of time next to the river, so it really is rather enjoyable (if you like the country thing). It is nice to see hills that are undeveloped. It’s surprising how much sky is out there when you leave the city.
There’s a cruel trick that the Sunrise Rotary plays on newbies. At the 50mile turn around there’s a big pitstop where there’s the usual food and drink, restrooms and such. So you come cruising up to the large crowd and think ‘Oh cool… I’ve finally made it.. no more damned hills to climb’. Haha, you are mistaken (well sort of). It turns out that the actual turnaround point is about another 1/2 mile or so up the road. Unfortunately I found this out about 15minutes into my break. I decided it would be best to finish up that bit after my break. An interesting thought process occured (which I think is directly related to the time/temperature). I started to say oh I can just sluff this off and just head back from here. In the end I did go to the turn around point. On my way back through the pit stop I noted that it was about 12:45. I was having doubts about the supposed ‘I’ll be back around 3:30′ statement I had made the previous night.
I suppose at this point I should bring up the merits of going uphill. The chief observation is that in the end you get to go down them. About five of us were all cruising down some of the bigger decents at the beginning just free-wheeling it the whole way, and going in the mid to upper 30’s. This part of the ride didn’t last nearly as long as I wanted it to, and in no time at all we were back to the main grind. Another notable mention which needs to be broached at this time was the temperature. I imagine it was perhaps 80-85 out, I don’t really know. It felt about 100. It’s the kind of heat that when you start going fast, the aforementioned pleasant wind in your face/ears is warm and dry. Not refreshing by any unit of measure. At this point in the game I’m perhaps coming up to about mile 70, and I’m feeling it. You start thinking that maybe the 50mile option is a better idea. That at this point you’d rather be doing something else than riding a bike. That and I think I was starting to develop the beginnings of heat-stroke. This is mainly a condition of dehydration and exertion. So I backed off, ate some dried fruit and pedaled into the 25/75mile (aka the 50mile ride turnaround) pit stop and sat in the shade.
The shade was a good thing. I spent about 30 minutes here trying to convince myself that I did want to eat something and cooling down by the river. In the end this was a really good idea, and helped make the rest of the ride rather pleasant. Around 2:45p I left the pit stop fully hydrated and feeling much better. The trip back to confluence park was alright, and we finished by doing the E. Wenatchee portion of the Apple Loop Trail. The finish was rather uneventful.. I passed a sign that said ‘Finish’. The criterium portion of the racing weekend looked to be starting, and most attention was on that. I almost felt like saying ‘Hey I just rode 100miles!!’. Course I’m not much of a glory hound, so I packed up the bike and went back to where we were staying. It was about 5:30p at this point.
So would I recommend this ride to anyone? Probably not. I didn’t see too many kids, but I did see a variety of fitness levels. I think personally I’d have nothing but goodness to say about the ride had I chose the 50mile option. I bet there are easier century rides out there, and definitely cooler ones if you aren’t used to the heat. I think next year I’ll probably opt for the 50, and do some other century on the other side of the mountains to help prepare for the STP.
Daily Log
# 6:25am - Shut off the alarm… and stay in bed..
# 6:50am - Wake up, prepare and eat some breakfast
# 8:05am - Arrive down at the Convention Center
# 10:30am - Arrive at the 25mile pitstop.
# 12:30pm - Arrive at the 50mile pitstop/turnaround.
# 2:00pm - Arrive back at the 25mile pitstop (which for me is the 75mile pitstop)
# 5:30pm - Cross finish
Stats:(by my cyclocomputer)
Distance: 100.89 miles
Max speed: 38.9 mph
Avg speed: 14.5 mph
Trip meter: 8hrs 20min