Summertime...and the Living is Easy: The SIR Summer 200k Brevet

"Summertime...and the living is easy."

I saw the rope hanging from the tree over this crick, and Gershwin's tune came to mind in the heat of the day. This was a summertime brevet, and the fish were jumpin' and the crops (if not cotton) were high. I've always been struck by the irony of the high cotton. Easier to pick, but still picking the master's cotton. According to Wiki, it can also mean that the price is higher. This 200k Brevet (7/24/10) sponsored by the Seattle International Randonneurs was indeed a hot one.

These two sisters had just left Seattle headed for California. It's great to come across touring cyclists. First, it changes my perspective from "I'm really on a long ride, probably longer than that cyclist." to "Wow, imagine what they are doing!". Second, it feeds my dreams.

Hay, in ordered bails in neat fields.

A hay disorder.

Fox, or young Coyote? Tough summer for some. Another rider said Fox after I suggested Coyote. Looking again now, I think her Fox guess is right.

Old Growth Forest Wayside Mini-Park. A cooling oasis.

A mini-nap by my companion-for-a-while, Chris. Unfortunately, Chris didn't finish.

Chris told me he'd been working 90-hour weeks for a while prior to this brevet. This confirms my Physical Therapist's theory that our ability to perform depends much more on the amount of rest we get in the weeks leading up to an athletic event than a little sleep loss the night before. I use this to comfort me as I toss and turn with excitement the night before. I am happy to report that Chris came bgack the next weekend and slew this DNF demon by completing the same route as a Permanent, then finished the challenging Three Volcanoes 300k the following week, and to top it off completed RSVP the week after that!! Something tells me I caught the only time Chris was on his back in four consecutive weekends!!

A young Great Blue Heron also didn't make it across the road. I came upon this beautiful bird shortly after it was hit. Unlike a Great Snowy Owl I came across one cold winter night in Oregon that felt remarkably "light as a feather" for its size, this Heron felt about as heavy as I imagined by looking at it.

Oregon Trail era cabin.

Yep, that's coon gut stretched out there. For tennis fans, have you played with rackets strung with "Catgut"? Wiki tells us catgut isn't made from cats' guts. Any guesses whose guts do make fine racket strings?

My new tree-hugging Pereira.

I ended up hooking up with another posse, and together we formed a group lanterne rouge.

At the finish, we were greeted by Brevet Organizer Josh. Last time you saw him here he was helping to fix my sunglasses on an early season permanent. Thanks for your brevet organizing, Josh! It was a great ride!!

Keep it heavy with summertime heat,

CurioRando

Dreaming of My First 1000k

Photo courtesy of Geoff Swarts and his Green Hornet Randoing blog.

I am itching to do a 1000k. And the wacky thing is I haven't even done a 600k yet! How crazy is that?

Well, I am working toward the Seattle International Randonneurs Sept 24 Crater Lake 1000k, and Geoff and Vincent Muoneke just pre-rode it. To see their pre-ride report, check out Geoff's website.

Thanks, guys for putting all the details together, and for whetting the appetite. I am both terrified and excited. Perfect!

I may end up having a work conflict, but otherwise, I plan to be there!!

Keep it deeply blue,

CurioRando

Is This You, Seattle Rando, Flying Down Mt. Rainier?

Unknown Seattle Rando bedecked in new SIR lightweight jersey.

UPDATE: I'm told this is Elaine Jameson.

DartreDame and I took a run at Mt. Rainier last Saturday, but not as particpants in the Seattle International Randonneurs  #0243 Sunrise Climb Group Permanent. After tea and the newspapers in bed, we had breakfast. After breakfast and fiddling around, I packed our gear in the truck. After that I looked at the clock and realized...whoa, we had better hurry!

It was almost 11am, and we had to drive to Mt. Rainier, ride to the summit, descend, and return home for what we discovered was to be a fabulous wine-paired meal prepared by our now very good friends. Included in the dinner was a raucus Tour de France analysis about the battle between Contador and Schleck as it turned out that Steve (his wife Tanmeet and he prepared the fabulous meal!) was an avid Tour watcher. I could go on and on so wonderful were the food, wine and companionship of that evening, but we've got to get DartreDame, my wife Pramila, up Mt. Rainier right now.

Another pair of unidentified flying Seattle Randos.

So after the clock-checking, we had to "hustle our bustles" as my 8th grade English teacher Ms. Seneff used to say. I had wanted the day to be the antithesis of a time-bound brevet so Dartre and I could relax together, but my poor planning doomed us to hustling.

In fact, as we were about to leave the parking lot at the base of Rainier, Jansen, one of the readers of this blog, stopped to say a friendly hello after he recognized my new Pereira bicycle I've been bragging about here. Poor Jansen, I was so harried by my poor planning that he understandably assumed we were on a time-bound brevet. Not so. Jansen: I thought later I should have taken a photo of YOU for this post, but I spaced it. Next time, and thanks so much for reading this blog. I can't overstate how rewarding it is to be recognized simply by my bicycle and jersey by a reader of this blog. It is an honor to know folks read this. Thanks, Jansen!

Does anyone know this Seattle Rando? I know it isn't Dylan because I didn't whip out my camera in time for a shot of him.

And as for riding with us Seattle Randos, Jansen: don't wait. You've prepared enough. Even if you're not sure whether you're fully prepared, you'll learn more by trying than by waiting. Give it a go! I think that sometimes folks both inside and outside the Rando tent build up this randoing a little too much. It sure is tough at the longer distances, but a 200k to get started is well within most riders' grasp. Come join us!!

See the cue sheet? Yet another Seattle Rando. But who?

Sorry for the poor photo quality but I took these as we were riding up and getting the timing right to capture the descenders was tricky.

Here's Dartre on the early part of the ascent.

Getting closer.

Approaching Sunrise Point.

Made it to the first elevation sign!

Tired, but still willin'.

Climbing isn't easy.

The final approach.

Me, back in the lower elevations.

Mt. Rainier starting to dominate the skyline.

Hard to capture just how the mountain presses upon you near the summit. Really a full presence.

Dartre summits at 6400 feet. I think we started at 3500 feet.

I'm proud of Dartre. She toughed it out despite my poor planning. It wasn't relaxing at all like we wanted, but she reached down and did it, and did it in the hottest time of the day. The things she puts up with, me and my cycling obsession. The descent, however, was sweet. Another milestone for Dartre!

For an account of my solo summit as part of my Sunrise Climb Permanent, complete with elevation chart and map, go to this previous post.

Keep it well-planned,

CurioRando

Tadpoles in Our Waters: SIR Permanent #0320, Mountain Loop 200k

Streamside!

When I realized I hadn't prepared enough for this past weekend's Oregon Randonneurs' Oregon Coast 600k, I ventured off to try the Seattle Randonneurs' Mountain Loop 200k. Featuring 14 miles of dirt road, it was a real departure from what I've ridden to date. It would have been better descending those 14 wet dirty miles on my soon-to-be 650B bicycle, but my old Fuji and her 32mm tires did OK.

Our National Forests do have many uses: Cycling, Camping, Hiking, Sunday Driving, fishing, Hunting...

 

Even Tadpoling!

See the long, skinny dark shapes? Those are some pretty long (nearly as long as my little finger) tadpoles I spotted on a pee break. Just as I spied them the Sun started to peek through what had been a dismal, rainy morning. My spirits picked up, and so I rode for a while serenading those tadpoles hoping that they'll soon be serenading me on a future brevet. Based on their size, I'm guessing they are more of the croaking serenaders, rather than the cheepers or ribbeters.

 

Oh, and Ice Spelunking too.

A local person on her break at the convenience store in Arlington told me it is illegal to actually enter the caves, but somebody gets killed nearly every year nonetheless.

Reminds me a little of the bowl on the flanks of Mt. Joseph.

I did this route counterclockwise, though you can do either. Depends on whether you want the dirt on the ascent or the descent.

Along the dirt road. Can you imagine building a 60 mile long road of planks?

At the Summit.

Counterclockwise elevation chart.

Waterfall (background) draining the snowcapped peak and feeding the stream (foreground).

Barn, fields, mountains, mist and clouds.

Bruce Ferguson stands in front of the period-authentic railroad depot he built from scratch in Snohomish. He rents it out for conferences and parties and such. It lies along the Centennial Trail--the final 11 kilometers of my ride--as I came into the town of Snohomish.

Enlarge for the detail of the crow with the berry in its beak!

KEEP YOUR WATERS CLEAN

Our Waters. Some would have us shrink the Ourness in our land. I'm for collectivizing. Better we hold it in trust than to trust individuals or corporations. How many children would ever marvel a tadpole were it not for our land and our water?

Keep it Ours,

CurioRando