Cascade Cream Puff Race Report

Race Day was on Sunday July 11th.  We arrived in Oakridge the Friday preceding and drove around trying to find a camp-site that would be quiet and give us a place to unwind for the evening.  We found a campsite by Salmon Falls - the actual established campsites were full but we were able to find a primitive site just down the road.

The idea was to camp out on Friday night and then make our way over to the school in Westfir where race headquarters were.  They allowed people to camp out at the school so we set up our new camp at the school.  We did not have a lot of privacy as people started to take all available lawn areas and converted them to make-shift camp-site.  It was a great way to meet your neighbors and get to meet new people.  I was originally concerned about the dogs meandering into neighbor's sites but they were so exhausted from the prior week's activities that they did not stray far and more or less just wanted to hang around our site.

I checked in for the race on Saturday and sat in for the obligatory race mtg...nothing earth shattering during the rider mtg.

I had geared up on the single-speed to a ratio of 33:19, thinking that it would give me a little extra wiggle room as I had been riding 33:18 all season.

Riders started to line up around the starting area at about 4:50 in preparation for the neutral start.  The race got off promptly at 5:05 a.m. on Sunday.  It was a mellow pace for the first couple of miles and then the neutral lead-out started to pick up which left many of the single-speeders spinning and bouncing down the road.

We hit the first forest service road which is when the race really started.  Once we hit the road the race was on like Donkey Kong!  The road signalled a long 10 mile climb with about 4,000ft of elevation gain.  The first 4 miles were steep and sustained and then it let off.  All those gearies that took off at the start were now getting reeled in for us single-speeders.  The legs felt great and I kept a comfortable pace where I could still hold a conversation while climbing.  I mention this because I ended up riding with a couple of other single-speeders on the climb and we got to find out a little about each other.  After 8 miles of forest road climbing we found the first aid station (which is actually aide station 2).  I left my drop bag at this station because we would end passing it 4 times during the day.   The climb to the aid station was long and sustained and I knew it was going to be a HOT day so I had made sure to start hydrating from the start.  It was a humid morning and the body got lathered up quickly with sweat......I quickly swapped out water bottles at the aid station and kept moving on. 

It was another couple miles of climbing and then some ridge riding until we hit the next aid station.  We were now close to about 5,000 ft  (having started at 1,000ft).  When we got views, they really opened up and you felt like you could a long way.  We hit aid station 3, I swapped out water bottles again and then it was into the single-track.  At this point we were still somewhat bunched up and we got a little bottle-necked in the singletrack.  Fortunately people were thoughtful and let you pass if you mentioned something.  The singletrack was tight so the only way to get around people was if they pulled over and let you by. 

We quickly got spit out into more forest service road and it was time to do more climbing up to saddleback mtn trail that we would loop 3 times over the duration of the race.
We did a small 7 mile loop and back to aide station 3 where it was time to swap out water bottles again.  I squeezed another bottle in my shirt pocket and then started on the larger 14 mile loop (which would loop back into aid station 3 again).  At this point my stomach started to tell me it was not very happy or settled so I quit drinking the Hammer Perpetuem and decided I would try to use what was at the aid stations - I would battle this feeling over the next few hours until the rest of the body ached enough to make me forget about the minor inconvenience of an upset stomach.

The 14 mile loop was more of a grinder as we would descend trail all the way back down to 3,000 ft and then have to climb back up to the race peak of 5,000 ft.  I passed a few people on the descent and then hit the forest service road where there was more descent...once the grade let up, the geared bikes started to pass again and I would play this yo-yo game with a small crew for most of the day. 

We grinded the 2,000 ft back up to the top of saddleback mountain and then back down to aid station 3 where it was time to re-stock on water and then hit my favorite trail of the day: Alpine trail!!!!!  Alpine trail had a couple of grinder climbs on it but then treated you to a few miles of fun, fast, swoopy downhill......MMMM MMMM GOODNESS!!!  When I was able to peel the eyes off the trail for a brief moments to take it all in, I was amazed by what I saw....imagine riding through old growth rain forest where trees are on average 8-10 ft in diameter with tight singletrack to boot!  It ranks up there with some of the best trail I have ever been on.  What a treat!!!  When it was not in lush rain forest, the trail took you through high meadows where the single track was 12 inches wide at its widest point and ferns and grasses constantly grew over some of the trail. 

Once you peaked at 5,000 ft it was time to point the bike downhill and descent 4,000 ft back down to the race finish area...the only problem was that Alpine Trail still had a little climbing in store before the long downhill.  At the end of Alpine trail, the race took us back to Aid Station 2 where I loaded up on water again and pointed the bike downhill for about another 9 miles of steep descent via north fork trail...still had about 3,000ft of downhill to enjoy.

I got down to the bottom and the lower in elevation I got the hotter and hotter it was getting.  When you got to the bottom of the trail at the next Aid Station it was scorching and the only thing I could think of was that long 10 mile climb back up on forest service road (same one we had started on) to the high trails....I stocked back up at the Aid Station and was in for a RUDE awakening when I realized all the liquids were warm!  DOH...all I was jonesing for at the time was something (anything) cold - no dice.  I quickly got over it and got moving.  The sooner I started moving, the sooner the I would get the long climb out of the way.

At this point I was 6 1/2 hours into the race and it was somewhere between 85 and 90 degrees.  This was brutal as I had been used to training in the 60's. 

The second time up the 10 mile grinder really put the hurt on me.  It was hot and I knew the first few miles were steep and sustained.  It was the heat of the day and we were in direct sun-light for big chunks of the climb.  This is when the mind games start to come into play!  I would pick visual goals of riding point A, B, C , etc....I would move over to the side of the road that was somewhat shaded.  Anytime I hit the direct sun my body would just start to heat up so I would dismount and walk the bike for a bit...this game continued and miles2-3 on that climb tested my will and I had to dig deeeeeep.  At this point my goal was getting back up to Aid Station 2 where I could re-load and get a little recovery before the next mental obstacle.  Now it was time for the geared guys to pass me as they could get into the light gears and keep spinning.  People would pass and ask if I was OK, etc...all in all people were very friendly and courteous.

Like a mirage, I hit mile 4 along the climb and saw a mini-aid station there!!!Woohoo!  It was so hot that the organizers had put in a mini-station 1/2 way up the first part of the climb to make sure people had enough fluids, etc.  I re-loaded up on water, poured a cup of really cold water on my head and it had an immediate impact on cooling me off.  I mounted back on the torture machine and motivated myself by reminding the body that the next 4 miles were not as steep or sustained as what we had just persevered through. 

Aide Station 2 came into view and surprise surprise I saw Erin there with the 2 pups.  I was BEAT BEAT BEAT at that point and took some time to load up at aid station 2 and swallow a few endurolytes tablets and stock up on more of those in my pouch for the next few hours. 

It has take me a full hour longer to get up that climb than it did the first time through - talk about suffering.

More grinding back up to Aid Station 3 and then onto the long loop to saddleback mountain...the major mental obstacle now the long, steep 2,000 ft climb back to the top of saddleback...more of the same dance of gearies passing me (same ones I had passed on the descent)...the yo yo dance continues until the top of saddleback at which point I knew I would be able to finish the race.  We got kicked back out to Aid Station 3 and then back on to my favorite trail Alpine...sorta' staggered through it and got through those 2 pesky grinder climbs and now it was time to have fun and enjoy the downhill!!!

In looking at my split times I got downhill 10 minutes faster the second time around.  My hands were so tired of braking that I would just let 'er rip downhill.  It was awesome to reel in the full suspension geared guys on my hard tail single-speed - just letting gravity to its work! 

I ended up crossing the finish line and was very satisfied to get through the day - it took 13 hour 39 minutes but was worth every moment.  Big Thanks to Erin for all the support - she had her hands full with 2 dogs all day!

I rode my singlespeed with the fork locked out all day so I was essentially riding a rigid bike (but carrying the extra 2 lbs in weight of the sus fork).  In hindsight I learned that I could probably afford to gear up to a 33:20 ratio on the bike as the only place I felt spun out was the beginning of the race and that would be more than off-set all the climbing. 

The race profile said there was about 17,000 ft of elevation gain over the 100 miles.  My Garmin ran out of batteries at about mile 70 but the data points say we had done about 16,000 ft of climbing to that point and as per my calcs there was at least another 5,000ft of climbing after that so either my Garmin was way off (known to happen in the past) or the race profile was a little off.  Regardless, it was a lot of climbing and a long day in the saddle that always provides a perverse sense of accomplishment for being able to suffer...and we pay for this to boot!

My bike and I are not currently not on speaking terms but I hope to kiss and make up by the end of the week....what to sign up for next??