knobster

I'm registered, but after looking at the weather and reports from others that did it with weather this iffy, I'm backing out.

If you are, bring a lot of warm clothing to change into at the top. The decent is going to be nasty.

50% chance of rain and probably will be pretty cold at the top.

Man the weather here sucks.

jazzyrider

Yea I registered so no backing out for me. I guess I should pull out my rain bike just in case. I'm still optimistic since the weather can be really nice which I remember back when I last did it in 2006. Oh well...still a fun and challenging ride!

knobster

I live in Portland and that's a long way for me to drive to put myself through that. Especially if you can't see anything but the road. Next time I think I'll register the day of...

BGrayvy

Me and a few friends will be out there. I circled this one back in January and have been working toward it since. Sucks that the weather doesn't look cooperative, but I've spent the past nine months riding in piss, so why should this weekend be any different?

Issaquatch

I did the entire ride today. It was cold and very wet and the visibility was horrible. I was told only about 20% of the riders went past Elk Rock; I think the actual number was probably less though.

Here is the Garmin profile of the ride for those who are interested (ignore Garmin's calculation of the elevation gain -- it is way off; everything else is accurate):

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/37461105

For those who did the ride, how'd it go for you?

abarth

It was cold and wet for me. Cool so I was one of the 20%, I feel special now. I even rode back down the hill. Seriously though, with the bad weather and poor visibility, this ride was very boring. BTW, your Garmin page didn't work.

BGrayvy

We turned back at Elk Rock. Felt good but the visibility was down to about 20 yards with the temps diving. Going on just seemed stupid. As cold as I've ever been going back down. Will be going back in August when the weather is more cooperative.

Issaquatch

I agree that the descents were really cold -- especially the descents to Coldwater Lake.

I've fixed the privacy setting on my Garmin page.

jazzyrider

Ride was epic and fun for me! Made it to the top. When we turned to Johnston Ridge, it actually was warm and humid. Coming down was fun as I hooked on to a tandem and we hit speeds between 45-50! Love rides like this no matter what the weather! Granted it was cold and wet early on but it actually got better on the way back. I also noticed a lot of flats.

Here's my Garmin ride => https://connect.garmin.com/activity/37465185

PdxGecko

I decided to turn back at Elk Creek also. I started to cramp just before the rest stop, too much work not enough miles! I was the guy on the IF Cherry Single Speed. Only saw one other at the start. The decent reminded me of a cold weather swim in the Columbia years ago! I was well dressed in an Assos 851 Jacket tights with Ibex warmer! This combo worked out perfectly.

century0fakers

this was my first tour de blast and i made it up to the top, but it was a struggle. riding back down to elk rock i hung out by the fire with some of the guys. evidently my lips were blue and one of the volunteers put a jacket over my shoulders. so i warmed up and dried off a bit, fought the cold and was doing ok. the last 5 miles before toutle it started to rain (again) so, i ended up wet at the finish line. great ride! i'm a very slow rider, and very hard core... hahahahaha.