NJgreyhead

I guess it is my turn to start this thread.

Vineland 200k pre-ride

In the gloaming...


My birth year.



Wanting to do this distance at least once this year, I started out in the early Saturday drizzle with Mac V and Gary P. I wasn't really dressed for a chilly rain (no wool layer), so I was hoping to ride myself warm, and luckily was able to do so. After a while the skies dried up, and by 11am I started seeing my shadow.

Having the urge (unlike the younger guys), I pulled over a couple times to stealth-pee, and after the second time, I couldn't catch back up. I kept them in sight for a long time, but my left knee started giving me some grief and I could not accelerate. I couldn't even keep up a double-digit speed in any headwinds or on any inclines (of which there were thankfully few). I accepted that they were long gone on ahead, and was surprised when they came up behind - they had stopped at a McDonald's! After that I cut short a control food stop, so we played a bit of leap frog, ultimately winding up together at the pizza control at mile 99. They departed before me and continued on their 300k quest, while I was only 26 miles from my goal. With a decent tailwind, I made it back to the start/finish without any drama (thank heaven for ibuprofen). And there I was surprise-greeted by Rick L, the event organizer, who handed me homemade brownies and a cold Stewart's Root Beer. Now that guy knows how to make a rider feel appreciated!

Saw my first wisteria, buttercups, dandelion puffs and tent caterpillars. Saw some swans on Mannington Meadows, and some ospreys swooping in to improve their pole-top nests by Dividing Creek. Heard a rooster crowing along Hoffman Mill Road.

On this ride I used the new-to-me eBrevet app for control check-ins, and it worked well. Should make for less need for volunteers.
The actual NJ Randonneurs 200k/300k brevet will be held Saturday May 4, 2024.
Here is a link to the route:
PRELIM Vineland 200K 2024 · Ride with GPS

On the Spesh Roubaix.

NJgreyhead

downtube42

At 2011 PBP, I was riding with a Belgian guy on the last stretch into Paris and realized, to my shock, he was on a fixie. Insane. Absolutely ludicrous.

Fast forward to 2023, I built up a fixie and started riding populaires. Eventually a tailwind-aided 200k from Olympia to Portland.

So 2024 is the year of the fixed gear SR series attempt.

April 6th, Oregon Randonneurs held their spring 200k, "Birkie", a pure out-and-back to just past the now-defunct Berkenfield general store and restaurant. It's a very fixie-friendly 2800 feet of climbing, with just one short steep bit each way. 11 riders started, 3 who'd make the trek down from Seattle. My gearing dictated my pace on rolling hills the first 9 miles, and I found myself toward the front, as the others appeared to be in early season mode. It started drizzling; no surprise for April in the PNW. I deployed my rainlegs, zipped up my jacket, and donned my rain mitts, all on the move.

At mile 9 we entered the Banks-Vernonia trail, which is a 21 mile paved rail-trail. Numerous root eruptions mean you have to pay attention, and some of the wooden bridges have abrupt edges. Everyone else stopped to regroup at the trailhead, and I found myself out front. It's a gradual climb, railroad grade, to about the halfway point where there's a sharp 30m downhill and climb. I'm sure there was once a trestle. Here I had to dismount and walk for a minute, which provided a welcome respite from the saddle. By Vernonia the front group had pretty much come together, and we stopped at a coffee shop to refuel for the next 60 miles. From Vernonia, about five of us rolled out together as the route followed the Nehelam highway, running along the Nehalam river. Aside from one state park with a spigot, there are no resources and no cell signal for the 30 miles out to a desolate turnaround, and 30 miles back to Vernonia.

Nehalam highway is no place to bike on a weekday, with logging trucks dominating. Weekends, it's quiet with the occasional local who may or may not be friendly. The amount of tree bark debris on the shoulder is a testament to ongoing logging activity. It's generally serene, with some stunning PNW sights. The front group stayed just ahead; I wasn't able to match their pace on descents, but closed the gap on climbs and flats. It was one of those days when the rain would stop, sun pop out, rain come back, sometimes even rain with sun. At the turnaround, an unexpected volunteer was parked with water and snacks. Everyone else what chatting, and two of us rolled out ahead.

The return was uneventful other than precipitation, which slowly transitioned from drizzle to light steady rain. I rode a lot with my buddy Graham, and some with Sarah. Three others eventually rolled past, as everyone found their pace. Back in Vernonia, we were all in the same convenience store at the same time, when the light rain turned into a heavy rain. Graham and I decided to hang out at the convenience store table whilst the others headed out into the weather. Ten minutes later, the rain stopped, and we rolled out feeling quite proud of our collective 130 years of wisdom. My rear tire went soft after a particularly nasty bump, and I had to stop and pump it twice before it fully sealed. While I pumped, the sun came out; between the sun and pumping my tire, I warmed up nicely.

During the last 30 miles, on the trail to Banks then rolling roads back to Forest Grove, we caught everyone. Full disclosure, two guys were slow rolling because of a cracked carbon rim. We caught up to the last two with just a mile to go, and four of us finished with the same time of 8:55. I was glad to have dry clothes in the car, and also happy to finish in daylight.

One down, three to go. Or rather, 200k down, 1300k to go.

downtube42

300k fixed done. 8k feet of climbing, most of that in 5 climbs interspersed with mostly flat sections. Tough. Elapsed time 15:28.

After reviewing past rides, that's the climbiest 300k I have on record. The fixed-gear SR plan was to ride the flattest SR series I could put together between Seattle, Oregon, and Eugene. Who knew they'd pick this year for climby rides. SMH.

This weekend is the 400k. 10k feet. Yikes.

downtube42

400k fixed done; tough as expected.

Only five started the Oregon Randonneurs Covered Bridges 400k; three of us from Oregon Randonneurs, one from Seattle, and one from Idaho. It was cool but not cold at the 6am start, with a forecast of blistering (for May in the PNW) 90+ and sunny for the high. The route could be divided into three segments: the first 70 miles somewhat lumpy with a few notable climbs, the next 160 miles mostly flat, and the last 25 had 2k feet of climbing dominated by one 5 mile 700' climb. From SW Portland, the route goes south, skirting east of Salem. It then turns west before Eugene, then returns north keeping west of Salem. Bigger cities are avoided, as it goes through towns of Canby, Silverton, Stayton, Lebanon, Harrisburg, Albany, Independence, Dallas, Dayton, and Lafayette, before hitting the Portland suburbs.

At mine 0.5, I bailed for a bio break, intentionally dropping myself from the group to avoid burning matches trying to keep up on the early climbs. I expected to be alone the rest of the day, between walking long/steep climbs and being gear-limited on descents.

When people realize I'm riding distance fixed, they often comment on knees. To me, that's not an issue. If cadence drops too low, I simply get off and walk. On descents, I brake to keep the cadence under control. Finally, running 44x17 means I'm not grinding on the flats. What does hurt is my butt, as standing up for the occasional coast isn't an option. This is a secondary benefit of the occasional walk, or short out of saddle effort on a small climb. The long flats - like this ride between mile 75 and 230 - are where the butt suffers.

Surprisingly, I passed another rider in the first hour or two, who was stopped in a small town consulting his map. Around mile 40, whilst walking up a sharp climb, I heard riders coming up from behind. Two of my compatriots had evidently stopped for food whereas I'd ridden through. For the next few hours we came in and out of contact, as they'd leave me in the rollers and I'd catch up on the flats. Well ahead of us was the SIR rider, a super fast dude who would be on Amtrak towards home before we even thought of finishing. Behind was the one ORR I'd passed early. Once past mile 75 I was rolling well in the sunshine, enjoying a light tailwind. One benefit of not having gears is, you can't upshift when conditions are favorable; it's a benefit because it makes for ezpz cruising, a life-is-good experience. Being a pale PNW'er, I had sunsleeves on my arms and SPF50 on my legs, neck, and face. An occasional squirt of water on the sunsleeves felt great, and I never felt stressed from the heat. The southernmost part of the route is just north of Eugene, where the route turns west. On this furthermost point from the start, I came upon my two fellow randos stopped roadside with some sort of issue. A drafting collision had occurred, resulting in no falls but a broken front skewer. Turns out the 2nd rider had a light mount extension on his skewer nut, and when he collided with the 1st rider it snapped the skewer. That's a ride ending mechanical, considering none of us carried a spare front skewer. I offered him my skewer (it's the rando thing to do), but he politely declined. We stayed long enough to ensure he made phone contact with home, and left him to his devices in no-man's land north of Eugene and east of Harrisburg. Had that been me, considering I had the family car parked at the start/finish, I'd have walked the 2 miles to Harrisburg and figured out transportation from there. I wonder what Uber to Eugene would have set me back. From there, it would have been Amtrak to Portland then transit to my car. This occupied my mind for a while. My bud, however, merely had to wait a few hours beside an orchard, for his spousal rescue.

The surviving two of us rolled into Harrisburg and stopped at one of the more pitiful convenience stores I've ever seen. Shelves had two maybe three of each item, the hot foot section was empty, and pastries were sparse and uninspiring. I bought some canned fruit, Pringles, water, apple juice, and I think some kind of fruit pie. Topped up, we rolled out and turned northbound into a slight headwind. After a shallow mile-long climb into the wind, I looked back and realized I was alone. That's the way it stayed for the rest of the day - except for a chance late night encounter with some interlopers. As afternoon turned to evening, the temperature dropped comfortably and the wind seemed to die down. I was suffering some hotfoot in my left foot and normal saddle discomfort, but otherwise feeling good and strong. Around mile 200, maybe 10pm, I saw two lights approaching from behind. Puzzled, I really didn't expect the two guys behind to hook up and catch me, at least not on the flats. They rolled up; I saw a PBP vest, then realized they were different guys. Turns out, they were a couple other Oregon Randos pre-riding the next brevet. Amazing. After a bit of chatting, they dropped back and I continued to Dayton, mile 215. The Dayton convenience store is open to midnight, which is great, but has no tables, which means eating while sitting on a curb. Always a humbling experience. It was the Northern Lights weekend, and I kept an eye on the horizon when it presented itself between trees. Nada. I guess you needed the iPhone night filter to actually "see" anything.

My GPS kept showing 3k feet of climbing remaining, which grew more and more concerning as the flat miles ticked away and remaining miles counted down. Eek. With 35 to go the small rollers started, softening my legs up for the finish. At this point I felt like traffic was heavier than it aught to be out in the country late on Saturday night, when it occurred to me I might not be the only one looking for the Northern Lights. Ugh. At mile 229 the climb started, and at mile 229.1 I started walking. The road was narrow, no shoulder, and ditch that dropped sharply. It should have been dead quiet being midnight, but I had a car passing every minute. Zigzagging up the switchbacks, up and up, walking walking, back getting sore from pushing the stupid bike, occasionally whacking a shin on a pedal. When traffic was coming from both directions I'd step down into the ditch, dragging the bike with me and questioning the sanity of these people out at midnight - not missing the irony of my own decision. This was unpleasant. According to Strava, I covered that 5 miles ~700 feet in about an hour. Not bad! Surprisingly, no other randos caught me on my stroll. Next was a sharp twisty descent, followed by short sharp rollers that had me walking again and again. Finally finished just after 3am, for an elapsed time of 21:06. Aside from the killer last 25 miles, a enjoyable 400k. I may just have walked that climb even with a geared bike. That was ridiculous.

600k June 1st.

downtube42

600k, and with it a fixed gear SR series, done. Like many things rando, it seemed crazy impossibly hard, then I did it. Hard, but not impossible. Key takeaways: it's all about the saddle, and the fixed/fixed flip flop hub was a winner. Due to the forecasted atmospheric river on Sunday, three of the five 600k riders opted for the 300k route, which the RBA graciously allowed. Not a bad call for them, in retrospect. I need this 600 as a qualifier, so I was committed. Perhaps need to be committed. Saturday was a gorgeous day and the route was stunningly beautiful. Showcasing Oregon's natural beauty with woods and sea, mostly on lightly traveled roads. The other 600k rider went off the front, as I dropped off the back of the 300k group. My bike is, as one rider said, antisocial. Meaning, fixed gear and geared don't climb and descend harmoniously. Eventually I caught up, and rode on when they stopped for a nature break. Turning left onto 101 at Florence, I encountered the only real traffic of the day. Even so, traffic was relatively light, probably due to cool weather, plus I've heard clamming is shut down due to toxins. In Reedsport, I stopped at Subway for an extended sit down. With that I want sure if the group was ahead or behind. Heading inland from Reedsport, mile 100, traffic disappeared and I had the woods mostly to myself. A small cash-only market/tavern/camp supply store was the only thing between Reedsport and a staffed control at the top of the summit, mile 150. From basically sea level at mile 100, the route rises to 1100 ft at mile 150, with over half that accent in the last 9 miles. So at mile 140 I flipped my rear when over, effectively downshifting from 44x17 to 44x19. With that, I managed to summit without walking. The RBA was there with hot food, chairs, and snacks. I learned the other 600k rider was about an hour ahead, and planning to ride straight through. Riding through was tempting at that point, given the coming weather. I decided to keep my options open. After a twisty descent down to 600ft, the route climbed back up to 1200ft for the high point of the weekend. After switching back to the 17t to descend the first summit, I hoofed it for about a half mile off the second climb. Honestly, walking isn't that much slower and a lot less painful than grunting up a step climb. Seems like there were some more punchy climbs along the net descent down to Eugene. Thoughts of riding through evaporated, as my butt needed a break and I wanted sleep. I rolled in to my hotel around 9pm, mile 116, for a quick shower, meal, and bed. I'd stocked the fridge the evening before, so no need to seek out food. Up at 3am, fed and on the road by 4, no rain yet. The forecast said rain "mostly after 11", with a south wind gusting to 21mph. Northbound from Eugene, winding through the woods, I didn't feel much of a tailwind. Life is sometimes unfair. More short punchy climbs had me walking, and the short 5 punchy descents had me riding the brakes, as I max out around 130rpm/24mph. I don't do much leg braking, instead relying on a front disc. It's a TRP HY/RD cable actuated hydraulic disc; not as smooth and effortless as full hydraulic, but pretty good. I do carry spare pads in my kit, in case that braking wears then down. Somewhere, Crawfordsville perhaps,I had a short nap outside a convenience store, as the sleepies were getting to me. Fortunately the store opened as I napped, and coffee was available. A tactic I use to ease saddle discomfort is to climb out of saddle at any rise in the road, often just 4 or 8 turns off the crank provides relief. The rain started on time I guess, while I was still northbound, maybe mile 80 or so of 160. I donned all my rain gear - helmet cover, shake dry jacket, waterproof mitts, and Rain Legs. I'd started the day with shoe covers already on, as they're a pain. The town of Independence was the northernmost point of the ride; from there is was going to be 67 miles of tough headwind and rain. Anticipating slow going, I switched to the 19t cog. That segment is mostly exposed, flat farmland with occasional tree breaks and rolling hills. Brutal to do solo. My flat speed on the exposed sections was 11mph, with me on the aero bars. The bars are more for hand comfort, and I have them set super high, but they are my most aero position. At 60 to go, I started counting down by tens, celebrating each ten with a quick stop, shot of the water, and bite of rice crispy treat. Those miles turned over so slowly, I started celebrating each five. In an evil twist, the segments with tree cover were often combined with a small climb, keeping the speed in check. By this time, my butt was completely over the ride, and I was doing everything I could think of for relief. Applying more chamois cream - on the open because there was frickin nothing and nobody - riding sitting bolt upright with hands on elbow pads, riding oos as much as possible, rotating provide back, everything I could. The last the last 30 miles before Eugene were shoulder riding on a 55 mph stare highest, riding either just left of the white line, or between the white line and the debris field. Traffic was sparse, but frequent enough to warrant constant attention. This was not a pleasant experience. I'll have to check but I imagine that 67 miles headwind stretch took 6 hours. The bike was flawless, but I need to address the saddle situation if I'm going to ride more distance fixed. Completing an SR series fixed was my goal, so I'm not sure what's next. I really do enjoy riding 100ks fixed, so I'm sure I'll keep that up. But 1000k or 1200? We'll see about that.

downtube42

downtube42

Recent logging

Mooo

Thanks for posting these!