gugie 

Bob!

It took me a sec, but I know where your handle came from.

You need at least 10 posts before you can add pix, but send me a link and I can post for you.

Wildwood 

Nice expedition guys.
Congrats to each.

may we have a description and a few more pics of the Randle to Trout Lake NF23.
steady climb? or steep pitches? Is this disc brake country?
and did Neal mention soft sand and wanting wider than 38?
would my 32mm with knobs be adequate?
would prefer to use 30mm Schwalbe at 75psi.

nlerner

Stuart, here's the ridewithgps link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29248716

The climb up to Baby Shoe Pass is fairly endless and all gravel. There are soft spots along the shoulders, but you can avoid those unless cars are coming by. The descent is gravel for the first couple of miles or so, somewhat harrowing for me, but then very smooth paved road and very fast.

Wildwood 

thx

Spaghetti Legs 

Stuart, I rode Challenge Strada Bianca tires 33 that measure to 35, smooth tread. That’s the biggest tire I’ve ever ridden on a road bike and they were fine but maybe I don’t know any better. I stood up on some of the steeper pitches and had a couple of minor tire slips but no spin outs. The pic I posted earlier is the nice paved section before the gravel. Unfortunately no pics from the gravel parts. I guess I didn’t want to stop and risk my legs seizing up on me.

gugie 

As Hugh mentioned, it's hard to stop and take pictures when your heart rate is in the red zone! In reality, the Iron Horse trail getting past Hyak may be more treacherous, since you're going slightly downhill and you feel like you can get up a head of steam. A couple of us did some short sideway riding (Hugh!) when hitting some soft stuff. Knobs do absolutely zero to help out on any of the gravel roads around you. They catch and spit out gravel. You need knobs in soft soil-not the hard stuff you find on Baby Shoe Pass and most other NF roads in Washington and Oregon. 75psi is overkill with 30mmm tires, I'd lower it down to just above the point that you're worried about pinch flats. I rode 42's at around 30-35psi on the gravel parts. @SquireBlack was our lightest rider, sporting 26 x 40+ tires, I'd guess he was riding them right around 25psi?

The climb up to Baby Shoe Pass has several natural rest stops to be taken advantage of.

gugie 

Just got back from a weekend at a resort at Sisters with my wife. It was good for a few reasons: I'd been away from Juliana for a week, she got away from the house and kids, and we got a chance to spend some quality 1:1 time together. After a few years of doing a now annual spring day trip bike ride up McKenzie Pass, she finally got a chance to see what it was all about, albeit by car. So I'm finally home, last chance to type something up before the work week gets in the way of life again.

So, my afterthoughts:

1. If you haven't done anything like his, it helps to be a bit audacious. This was surely the case in the Last Winter Tour of the Willamette Valley back in early March. It helps to include some wily veterans like @nlerner, @crampy and @SquireBlack in the mix to show beginners the ropes. There's an old adage about distance, if you can do 40 miles, you can do 60, if you can do 60, you can do 100, if you can ride back to back 50 mile days, you're ready for a credit card tour at the distance and pace we did. I tend to be in decent shape for a tour, but use the tour as training. As a result, I'm almost always questioning my ability to finish after day 2, but then I get the "3rd day miracle" and start to feel human again.
2. With a larger group like this, it's good to have an even number of riders. It makes hotel accomodations a lot easier, and there's a natural pairing off.
3. Having several days with extra local riders was good for the soul. Knowing nearby BF members was absolutely critical to smoothing over the potentially disasterous situation of a broken pedal. @Dfrost was texted while we were en route via train from Portland to Seattle and personally delivered, by bicycle a good pair of Crank Brother pedals, all while @Spaghetti Legs was 8 miles high on an airplane. @Andy_K was a savior on both ends of the ride, getting Spaghetti Legs bike from PDX to Seattle, arranging for the DFrost to bring pedals, then riding with us through the Columbia River Gorge, sagging @crampy when his knee was getting balky to the finish line, delivering 2 gallons of cold water on a hot Portland day on the outskirts of town, and finally getting @SquireBlack to his house in time to clean up and attend a concert with his wife. The multiple harbor pilots (@ryansu, @Drillium Dude, @RiddleOfSteel, @scozim, @Wildwood, @Marziac, @SurferRosa, @droppedandlost...so many that I must be missing someone!)
4. If you go through Northbend, Washington, and have never seen Bob Freeman's collection, and you're into C&V...have you ever seen a Cirque du Soleil perforamance and walked out thinking, naw, I didn't really see that? Well, that's the feeling after seeing Bob's immaculate collection of bikes. You know you're deep into it when you see a row of 6 Schwinn Paramounts of various vintage lined up on hooks, all perfectly restored, and not think much about it after everything else you've seen. Where have all the vintage Silca pumps gone? Bob has several Homer buckets full of them stashed about. Five of his bikes have wood rims, and he still has a wholesale account with Ghisallo from his 31 years co-owning Elliot Bay with Bill Davidson. Yeah, several Davidson's sprinkled about, including a couple Ti models.
5. Six guys who didn't all know each other, we rotated "roomates" every night, and we all got along. We're bike people. We love to ride and work on bikes. We were all "men of a certain age", or older. By Day 3 we were often riding in a crisp paceline with full trust of each other. Dinners were swapping stories of the day's ride, planning for the next, deciding on our eating schedule for the next day...a shared, intense experience creates deep bonds.
6. The PNW contains miles and miles of fantastic, beautiful roads, both paved and unpaved. If you haven't yet, try them sometime! The summer weather isn't sweltering, humid hot like much of the US. A shower now and then won't melt you.
7. Life is short. If you'd like to do something like this, plan it, do it. At some point I won't be able to do this anymore, I'd like to take advantage of what I've got now while I can.

rccardr 

Geez.
Drops mike.

Drillium Dude 

I must repeat this like a mantra in my head; if I can make myself (and my tush) believe it, I'd be up for joining you guys next roadeo...

It was a pleasure to have served with you guys on Day 1

DD

gugie 

Hey, you’re on my radar for Tour de Sumpin 2020...

merziac

@Marziac ?

gugie 

Well, that’s the way it was spelled when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.

merziac

That's what I thought.

Lascauxcaveman 

See, Jeff? This is why I keep telling you to get/build a touring bike of some kind. I know you love your skinny tires and 42/24 'bailout' gear, but that don't cut it for the long haul, with climbing

Come September-October when I'm (probably) unemployed, we should plan a 2-3 day tour on Vancouver Island or the San Juans or something. After Cino.

nlerner

A key element that @gugie left out is the extensive advance planning that such a tour requires. Major kudos to him for taking care of all of the details, which meant our decisions mainly centered around what to order from the restaurant menu and whether or not to eat dessert. He even woke up the motel proprietor in North Bend, which was no easy task!

gugie 

@Spaghetti Legs was in the same boat, found a perfectly suited bike on CL in Portland for a very reasonable price. It's a good thing to have in your quiver. In addition, it gives you something to ride on crappy days when the weather's not cooperating. Get something with fenders on it and ride in the rain, you won't melt!

The pleasure was all mine! Almost all of the planning was done during Skype meetings at work - those one hour yada-yada-yada slogs that you only have to listen for your name, then give a vague, general answer, and get back to looking at hotels.

The North Bend hotel was a funny story. We got there, I went in the office and rang the bell. After a few minutes I rang it again. This was one of those hotels where the manager's office is part of the house/apartment they get as part of their compensation. After maybe 15 minutes of this, @Spaghetti Legs motioned to me and pointed around the corner. There was an open window with a woman fast asleep in a rocking chair snoring. It took awhile to wake her up, and unfortunately, neither of us took a picture, so you'll just have to believe me.

ryansu

It was fun to hang out with you all and ride (a very short) distance on day one, its got me thinking about a credit card overnight this fall, got to start somewhere, so I can say I have actually toured on the Cresta CT. Always fun to meet C&Vers.

Chapeau on your tour!

crampy

Hi Wildwood. I'm not sure how performance-oriented you are, but here is a quote from a text I sent the rest of the group when they quickly climbed out of my sight on the way to Babyshoe pass: "Boys. I am in total tourist mode - twiddling up the hills and stopping to take pictures. It's a glorious ride for me but don't worry and don't wait for me longer than you want to" I did get some great pics of the amazing wildflowers and rivers on the way up, and the gang did not complain (to me) when I wandered in to their lunch stop later. As the oldest and slowest climber this was my best day of the tour measured not by my speed but by my enjoyment of the simply delicious natural surroundings. I'll send some pictures I took to gugie so he can post them - as a newbie I have to actually post a few times before I can post pictures myself.

As for tires I had my bike built around 42s and love it. It is a natural cruiser in the flat gravel and a ferocious gravel descender - the old man's revenge - largely because of the tires - Compass Babyshoe ultralights (!) When gugie told me that's where we were going I had to sign up. Gravel descending typically for me tops out at 25 mph or so, and the center pull brakes work fine under those conditions - good modulation to prevent lock up, and plenty of reliable slowing power.

Wildwood 

Those forest service roads, if in decent shape, are just about my favorite roads to ride, slowly. Because most were/are logging roads the pitches are generally moderate. I take too many pictures and stop too often (for a variety of reasons). I plan to ride each of NF23 & 25 this summer - to their picturesque peaks, then return to Randle. I missed some early season Mt. Rainier rides which need to be compensated with rides near to St Helens and Adams.

Unfortunately, most of my bikes were built around 23/25s so 30-32mm is a squeeze. But not all.
I currently leave touring to the more adventurous of spirit. Just let me feel the joy of flying; I embrace cheap thrills.

gugie 

NF23 is great for the gravel, but NF25 has some great views of Mt. St. Helens from the back side. Great for you to plan on doing both! NF25 can easily be ridden with narrow tires. I'd definitely go wider on the gravel. Randle is definitely the jump off point for both.

Wildwood 

I have done them both twice, but only to a low, snow-closure level. No fat or e-fat for me yet.

The population density in the area (pre-summer tourist season) is a draw for me.

If ya know what I mean.
these from May last year.


i sign



true PNW wilderness. know where you're going!

Drillium Dude 

It's not really my legs, but my back (on occasion) and most recently, my body-to-saddle interface that's been responsible for limiting the scope of my rides.

DD

gugie 

@Drillium Dude

Back issues can be dealt with by raising your handlebars - ie, you don't tour on the slammed stem Itie bikes you typically ride. Lower gearing and higher RPM's help as well. Stopping frequently gets you out of a riding position - it's a tour, not a race.

The body-to-saddle interface can be dealt with in various ways. My go to method is this:

gugie 

It's nice to go back sometimes to these threads to relive the memories. For every tour, there's a money shot.

This one's ours (courtesy of @SquireBlack)



Trout Lake, Mt. Adams in the background