On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Dave Masino wrote:
> > squeeze as hard as you can).  Bring the wheel up to maximum tension,
> > which can be detected because when you stress relieve the wheel will
> > start to taco.
> I've always wondered about this: how much will the wheel start to taco if the
> spokes are too tight after stress relieving. Is it very obvious when this
> happens or do you have to look closely?

I've only made it to this point with one wheelset (Mavic 238 (maybe
138?) 26" rims, Shimano Ultegra hubs, 32 DT 14/15 butted spokes).
It was very obvious, all of a sudden the entire wheels goes 1-2mm
out of true.  Back off a bit on every spoke and stress relieve
again and it comes back into true.

The first time it happens (front wheel of this wheelset in my case)
your jaw drops and you wonder if you ruined the wheel.  The second
time it happens it isn't as shocking.

If you are working on a wheel for which you have a known-wheel
built identical wheel then you can judge it by spoke tension alone
(by listening to the tone of the spoke when plucked).  None of my
wheelsets match other wheelsets that I've built, so I've never been
this lucky.

On most of my wheelsets (more spokes, beefier rims) I gave up when
the nipples started stripping.  I probably just need a better spoke
wrench.  I use the Park ones, but I've read that the Spokey ones
(which I can't find locally) are much better because they grip all
four corners on the nipple.  DT wrenches are supposed to be even
better, but they cost $50 (vs $5), and that is out of my price
range.

alex

For those of us IN the novice persuasion:  Can you offer suggestions?  I
am getting a little bored with SVT, and am not sure what the next best
challenge for me should be...

(And thanks for saving me the $15 chair lift fee!)

B>
-----Original Message-----
From:  BbtcRIDES@... [mailto:BbtcRIDES@...]
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2000 4:48 PM
To: scratchy17@...; gloxy@...; bbtcmembers@egroups.com
Subject: Re: Summit at Snoqualmie question

The place sucks and is only good for the fully armored groups. XC is
either
down and tricky or incredibly boring. Not the place for anyone of the
novice
persuasion.

Would not even recommend it to those few folks I don't care for.

Spare the gas money and go to one of the several closer in/better
places.

Bob
P.S. Sorry, Greg. It's worthless as an XC place.

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The place sucks and is only good for the fully armored groups. XC is either
down and tricky or incredibly boring. Not the place for anyone of the novice
persuasion.

Would not even recommend it to those few folks I don't care for.

Spare the gas money and go to one of the several closer in/better places.

Bob
P.S. Sorry, Greg. It's worthless as an XC place.

> squeeze as hard as you can).  Bring the wheel up to maximum tension,
> which can be detected because when you stress relieve the wheel will
> start to taco.
I've always wondered about this: how much will the wheel start to taco if the
spokes are too tight after stress relieving. Is it very obvious when this
happens or do you have to look closely?

Thanks
Dave

From: "Nicolas Pottier" <nicp@...>
> Probably wouldn't hurt, but even hand built wheels need to be
> retensioned after a couple weeks of use don't they, so you might as
well
> wait until then.

Handbuilt wheels shouldn't need to be retensioned after they have gone
into service.  None of the wheelsets that I'm using now have been
touched by a spoke wrench after first being used, and I'm not
necessarily nice to my wheels.  This goes for tandem wheels too.

When I've bought mail order wheels I've:
* loosened all spokes
* treated the wheel as just having been laced up, and retensioned and
trued the wheel from there.

"The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt is the best source of instructions
on the second step.  The goal is even spoke tension (tell by pinging the
spoke), no twisted spokes (overtighten and back off 1/4 turn at final
truing) and do a good job of stress relieving (grab parallel spokes and
squeeze as hard as you can).  Bring the wheel up to maximum tension,
which can be detected because when you stress relieve the wheel will
start to taco.  At that point back off 1 turn on each spoke and
re-stress relieve them.

Most machine built wheels that I've seen that were purchased via
mailorder were never hand trued and aren't very true out of the box.

alex

Probably wouldn't hurt, but even hand built wheels need to be
retensioned after a couple weeks of use don't they, so you might as well
wait until then.

I've had amazingly good luck with mail order wheels (well, apart from
the recent taco of my front, that I take full responsibility for), I
still have a set of XTR/Mavic 217 wheels that I've used for 3 years and
are still going. (though admitedly just barely)

-Nic

PetePartel@... wrote:
>
> recently purchased a set of MTB wheels mail order ... XT hubs, Mavic 238
> rims, 32 hole 3 cross ... for about $140
> These are probably machine built ( anybody ever seen that machine ?  must be
> a monster )
> Anyways, would it be of any benifit to adjust spoke tensions by hand befor
> putting the wheels into service ?  Anybody ever done this ?
> Peter / Seattle

Nicolas Pottier - Communities                            (206) 266 1516

    "Molded results vary depending on child's age and level of skill."
                                -disclaimer on box of Play-Doh

recently purchased a set of MTB wheels mail order ... XT hubs, Mavic 238
rims, 32 hole 3 cross ... for about $140
These are probably machine built ( anybody ever seen that machine ?  must be
a monster )
Anyways, would it be of any benifit to adjust spoke tensions by hand befor
putting the wheels into service ?  Anybody ever done this ?
Peter / Seattle

From: <arttuftee@...>
> Some time ago we did a regular weeknight training ride to the top of
Tiger.
> It's a bit over 7 miles, takes around an hour, and really got us into
shape.
>
> Does anyone have interest in doing that again? Any suggestions for a
good
> hard climb that's close to town other than Tiger? Best night of the
week,
> Tue, Wed, Thur?

I know it isn't a BBTC ride, but the Wen night Zip Zip rides lead by
Eric and Julie Salathe are great training rides, especially for hills.
They meet 6:30 at Gasworks, are brisk pace, and tend to hunt down hills.

Long climbs are hard to Seattle because there aren't any really high
hills.  A good loop with lots of climbs is to ride from Gasworks to
Golden Gardens, up to Blue Ridge, then take roads of your choice back
around to Gasworks.

http://www.cascade.org/hills.html has hill information with grades.

I rode up Gennesse and Avalon (think that was it) in West Seattle by
accident yesterday (took a wrong turn).  It was very steep, but not
long.  Still a good thing to do a few times in your life.  It was steep
enough that my recumbent road bike (normally front wheel heavy) was
doing wheelies.

alex

Some time ago we did a regular weeknight training ride to the top of Tiger.
It's a bit over 7 miles, takes around an hour, and really got us into shape.

Does anyone have interest in doing that again? Any suggestions for a good
hard climb that's close to town other than Tiger? Best night of the week,
Tue, Wed, Thur?

Art

So I'm wondering when they are going to be running that lift this summer.
Or is it already running?
I'm feeling the need for that downhill speed!!!!!!
Dan


>From: "Sue " <gloxy@...>
>To: bbtcmembers@egroups.com
>Subject: Summit at Snoqualmie question
>Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:19:15 -0000
>
>I've heard that there's great mountain biking up there.  My question
>is this...is it for expert riders only?  Or do they also have trails
>for beginner and intermediate people, like myself?  I would
>appreciate
>any feed back and information on the trails up there from those of
>you
>who've biked on them!
>
>Thanks a bunch,
>Sue
>

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The summit has TONS of trails for all kind of usage.  There is Downhill
and XC goodies out there.  New for this year also, they have opened upo the
high speed quad chair at Summit Central so those chair rides to the top
won't be so boring like last year! I think you can get a map of the trails
in the area from the bike shop.  I think it's still at Summit East (the old
Hyak)



<G>

>From: "Sue " <gloxy@...>
>To: bbtcmembers@egroups.com
>Subject: Summit at Snoqualmie question
>Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:19:15 -0000
>
>I've heard that there's great mountain biking up there.  My question
>is this...is it for expert riders only?  Or do they also have trails
>for beginner and intermediate people, like myself?  I would
>appreciate
>any feed back and information on the trails up there from those of
>you
>who've biked on them!
>
>Thanks a bunch,
>Sue
>

________________________________________________________________________
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Valerie,

I'm a 12 year committed,(should be committed?), bike commuter and commute 30
mi/day round trip from Ballard to Lynnwood.  Here's my 2 cents.

>Wear the loudest clothes you can find.  Forget fashion and go for those colors
that road crew flagers wear.  Make sure your jacket, pack, panniers etc have
reflective strips on them.  You don't want to ever hear anyone say they
couldn't see you.  My motto is "If they hit me they meant to because they
certainly couldn't miss seeing me".  In 12 years of commuting I've never had
a "close encounter" of the automotive kind.

>If you're riding a mt bike use slick tires instead of your knobbies.  You'll
roll faster and have much better road traction on wet pavement.

>Obey the rules of the road.  It creates BAD KARMA for all cyclists.  Don't be
one of those turkeys that routinely runs stoplights.  I can't tell you how
many times I've heard, "You guys don't obey the rules anyway" as an excuse
for some drivers endangering my life.

>Let go of the anger.  I've had some really scary confrontations w/some drivers
that could have been avoided if I had been willing to just drop it and ride
on instead of confronting the driver.

>If you're commuting in the dark or even at twilight get a bike headlight and
taillight.  Don't go cheap...get something powerful with a long life
rechargeable battery.  I've used NiteRider lights for years and love them
but they aint cheap.

>Don't cycle in the clothes you're going to work in unless you've only got a
short commute.  You'll feel like Ms. Sticky all day.  I leave work clothes
and shoes at work and rotate my supply every few days.  The less you have to
carry the more pleasant your ride.

>Yes, you can do it all year if you really want to.  You just have to dress
appropriately for warmth and dryness and be visible.  In the grimmest,
darkest, wettest part of the winter, assuming it isn't snowing, I"m on my
bike before 6:00a.m. and usually have a good ride.  Overall I wouldn't have
it any other way.

Good Luck,
--
Jim Scarlett-Lyon
redcatfam@...

> From: "Valerie Sargent" <sargentvl@...>
> Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 23:39:03 PDT
> To: bbtcmembers@egroups.com
> Subject: bike commuting
>
> Hi all...I am about to embark on the exciting adventure of daily bike
> commuting...Does anyone have any words of wisdom? or caution?
> Thanks...any input appreciated...
>
> Valerie Sargent
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
>

> On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Sue  wrote:
>
> > I've heard that there's great mountain biking up there.  My question
> > is this...is it for expert riders only?  Or do they also have trails
> > for beginner and intermediate people, like myself?  I would
> > appreciate
> > any feed back and information on the trails up there from those of
> > you
> > who've biked on them!
>
> It's a rather unimpressive setup, even for a beginner.  They run a chairlift
> on the Hyak side of Ski Acres.  It goes up the hill at a glacial pace, so if
> you're doing the downhill course, you have a *long* wait between runs.  The
> downhill track is ok, but most of the people on it are wearing armor - good
> advice.  There is a network of fire/service roads along the ridge at the top,
> but they are rather dull to ride on and don't really go anywhere good.
>
> My advice would be to turn off the freeway at Hwy18 and ride Tiger Mtn.
>
>
> -dave t.
>

I've heard that there's great mountain biking up there.  My question
is this...is it for expert riders only?  Or do they also have trails
for beginner and intermediate people, like myself?  I would
appreciate
any feed back and information on the trails up there from those of
you
who've biked on them!

Thanks a bunch,
Sue

--- Valerie Sargent <sargentvl@...> wrote:
> Hi all...I am about to embark on the exciting adventure of daily bike
> commuting...Does anyone have any words of wisdom? or caution?
> Thanks...any input appreciated...

In addition to Alex's excellent tips, you might consider purchasing some baby
wipes for cleaning up at your destination.  Of course the best thing is to have
a place to shower after riding in but not all work places have that.  Its a
necessity to the bike commuter but a luxury to the boss. :o)

Kevin Axt
Richland, WA
(has to change clothes in the bathroom stalls)

__________________________________________________
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From: "Valerie Sargent" <sargentvl@...>
> Hi all...I am about to embark on the exciting adventure of daily bike
> commuting...Does anyone have any words of wisdom? or caution?
> Thanks...any input appreciated...

I bike commute most days.

Wisdom: Get a copy of "Effective Cycling" and read the sections on
riding in traffic.  There are a lot of non-obvious tricks in there which
are very helpful.  A boiled down version aimed at Washington State
cyclists can be found at http://www.olywa.net/leveen/commute.pdf, and
this also contains other useful commuting tips.

Route: I think it is useful to explore a lot on routes when starting to
bike commute.  Having multiple routes makes the riding a little more
interesting, and sometimes you find routes which have much less traffic
but don't seem obvious at first.  One of the nicest parts of my commute
is coming through the dirt road in Ravenna/Cowen parks at night, and I
didn't even find this without exploring some.  I now regularily
incorporate it into group rides (Seattle Bike Club, not BBTC) that I
lead.  Similarily there are often residential roads which are safer and
less busy than bike paths or bike lanes.  I have about 6 or 7 different
routes that I regularily use on my commute.

Gear: Full fenders are essential if you do this in the winter.  They
keep you clean, but more importantly they keep your bike and it's
drivetrain clean.  This reduces maintance.  Nothing worse than not
having time to relube your bikes drivetrain and needing to ride it
everyday.  http://www.phred.org/~alex/bikes/fendermudflap.html is a
webpage that I wrote on building mudflaps for your fenders.

Gear 2: A rear rack and panniers is really a much nicer way to carry
gear than using a courier bag or backpack.  No hot bag sitting on your
back, and it is a lot more comfortable for long rides.

Gear 3: If you start to commute a lot than it is useful to have two
commuter-quality bikes.  This way if you get a flat at night and don't
have time to fix it then you can take the other one out the next day.

commute-logistics@... (http://www.topica.com should have signup
instructions) is a mailing list just on the topic of commuting.

Commuting is a lot of fun and feels good.  Enjoy!

alex "car free in seattle" wetmore

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

I suffered greatly at my own ego's expense along with Robert Copeland, Shawn
Terjeson, Preston Peterson, Scott _____, and saint/wife, Jenny. On Saturday
we got in 38 miles and on Sunday slacked off to 16 "exploratory" miles.

In the painful process I did manage to bag a couple of peaks and saw some
incredible views from rock perches and from the "cockpit" especially when I
could see Robert and Preston showing me "how to ride your bicycle."

I'll sneak up the "beauty pix" as the week progresses. Don't expect much in
the way of ride pix because it was too fun to stop and whip out a camera
after all that suffering. Those are my memories and they're top 10 lifetime.
Maybe 1 and 2.

The pix will beg the question: Wouldn't you really rather ride in
wilderness?

Len
P.S. The hikers are doing Thorp Mountain on Checkerboard Outings Day. Anyone
that can ride tiny ledges (read cliffs) wanna see the lookout I posted in
the ad on the site? (photo by Len)

P.S.S. Man to Woman approaching us as we stood on the trail today, "...they
allow horses on the trail, why not bikes?"

Hi all...I am about to embark on the exciting adventure of daily bike
commuting...Does anyone have any words of wisdom? or caution?
Thanks...any input appreciated...

Valerie Sargent
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Going back to Teanaway this coming weekend for some fun in the sun. I will do
an "Inside passage" ride to the slab and back on Saturday (going for an early
start at 9:00 because of the heat) and Peter Partel has a ride scheduled for
Sunday on the West Fork of the Teanaway. This is a more difficult ride for
those who want some adventure. I will be leading a logging road/ doubletrack
ride  with Dante towing behind on Sunday for those of a lesser strenuous
persuasion. I will be over there at the campground about 3:30 or so looking
for a good spot in the shade by the river. Anyone else get there earlier grab
any good spot but mark yourself as the BBTC site holder.

More info gladly given per request.

No, we will not be doing the sandy downhill. :)

Bob
Should we Saturday night potluck it again? The last one went well!
Mexican food?

this is a test of the new list serve,  to see if this message gets sent out.



ken


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dave,
I rode the Dalles Ridge Loop today.  Art and Lisa are planning to stay (I
believe) and Dan Lopes and Nic Pottier are there.  Last night Art and Lisa
were camped at the Buck Creek road, Nic was camped at Dalles campground.

I believe the plan is to start the ride at the Buck Creek end of Skookum,
ride Skookum to the Sun Top road and start the climb.  I bet if you were at
the Buck Creek parking lot by 0900 you'd be okay.

It'll be warm tomorrow.  Lots of water.

- Jim


>From: "Dave Masino" <dmasino@...>
>To: <arttuftee@...>, <bbtcmembers@egroups.com>
>Subject: RE: Skookum flats
>Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 10:58:24 -0700
>
><snip>
>



>From: "Dave Masino" <dmasino@...>
>To: <arttuftee@...>, <bbtcmembers@egroups.com>
>Subject: RE: Skookum flats
>Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 10:58:24 -0700
>
><snip>
>
> >Anyway, gotta get down there. No idea about Sunday, probably Suntop.
> >Art
>
>If anyone's got the info on when and where people are meeting up for
>Sunday's ride, please drop me a line. Thanks much.
>
>Dave
>
>

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

<snip>

>Anyway, gotta get down there. No idea about Sunday, probably Suntop.
>Art

If anyone's got the info on when and where people are meeting up for
Sunday's ride, please drop me a line. Thanks much.

Dave

It's the center of the MTB Universe.  The sun is shining. It's going to be
bone dry. E-mail back quickly if you are down with it.
________________________________________________________________________
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Nothing is very defined on this. Kelly is camping at Dalles campground and
I'm not sure what their ride plans are. Lisa P. and I are going downt to camp
at Buck Creek tonight and do the big Dalles Ridge/Pallisades loop tomorrow
grouping up at 9:30 at the upper Skookum trail head (Buck Creek Rd). I'll put
the talk about on at that time with the standard BBTC channel 10-10. This is
25 hard miles with some technical descents.

Will try to make contact with Kelly but I don't know if I've met him, anyone
else might want to stop in at the Dalles campground in the morning to check
in with them and see what ride they are thinking of, might be the same but I
don't know.

Anyway, gotta get down there. No idea about Sunday, probably Suntop.
Art

What is the plan for Sunday in the Skookum area?  I'm hoping to be up
for a ride on Sunday but I don't want to do a real long one.

Lisa

I'm planning on heading down to Skookum Flats tomorrow morning and
joining these guys if anybody wants to carpool.  I'll be staying the
night, hopefully doing a ride early Sunday and plan on getting back in
Seattle by 7:00 at the latest as I have some volunteer work at 8:00 PM.

Give me a call if you want to arrange to get out there bright and early
tomorrow (7:00 AM start from Seattle?)..

-Nic

Work till '5: (206) 266 1516
Home (I'll probably be returning your call after 10): (206) 709 7933

Kelly Thomas Wood wrote:
>
> Hi Jason and Art,
>
> Camping at Dalles was my plan.  I was down there last weekend and it
> looked pretty peaceful.  We're (my wife and I) planning on leaving after
> lunch tomorrow and heading down which hopefully will give us enough time
> to make camp and get a ride in before dark.
>
> I'm all for combining trails, especially as I haven't ridden a lot in that
> area yet.
>
> Hope to see you down there,
> Kelly

Due to popular demand we moved the list from bbtc@... to
bbtcmembers@egroups.com.  All posts to the old address will now be
bounced, although the archive is still available for your surfing
pleasure.

Those of you that formerly received the daily archive of the list now
received each message individually.  I apologize for this
inconvenience.  If you would like to receive the daily archive again,
then please go to the eGroups web site
(http://www.egroups.com/mygroups) and select individual emails, daily
digests, or no mail/web only.

As an added feature, BBTC now has a chat room on our eGroups site
(http://www.egroups.com/chat/bbtcmembers).  Enjoy!

To add - Chris's dismount was a graceful leap/swan dive into the trees.
Highly impressive!   And thanks Chris, it's great to be back riding again.
Julie
-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Alef <trailspin@...>
To: bbtcmembers@egroups.com <bbtcmembers@egroups.com>
Date: Thursday, July 13, 2000 11:48 PM
Subject: 7/14/00 - Worm


>Peter, Nick V., Nic P., Beth, Julie, Valerie, and I got to a slightly
>late start on Thursday. It seems that Nick V. was hopping curbs (or
>trying to hop curbs in this case) and got his first ever pinch flat.
>There is a first time for everything.
>
>After clearing up that situation, we were on our way. It didn't take
>long for us all to figure out that our recent stretch of sunny
>weather has really done the Worm a little worse for wear. Dry
>conditions have contributed to some serious dust, and the erosion
>ruts are much more pronounced. As Peter said, "I hate to say this,
>but we really could use a little rain."
>
>The overgrowth was getting a little out of hand too. After a short
>trip into Crop Circles, Nic P. and I decided that we might not find
>our way out if we proceeded any further. The blackberry bushes were
>getting possessive with our skin. On our way to the Worm from Crop
>Circles, Nick V. had yet another mishap of the unexplained variety,
>wiping out in a big dustball and his momentum carrying him into the
>shrubbery. Fortunately he was uninjured, although I think he really
>could use some headset wrenches for Christmas.
>
>Once in the Worm Nic P. suffered a flat but fixed it and caught up
>quickly. There were no major injuries to report, so we decided to
>press our luck and venture into Parasite. It was Beth's first trip
>into Parasite, with many "oohs" and "aaahs" coming from her
>direction. Peter showed us how to ride the wheelie gap between the
>tight trees, but none of us cleared all of the logs on the first try.
>
>A few of us tried Nessie, all with success, although Nic P. suffered
>a bit of pain when he didn't quite make it through on his first
>attempt. His knees will be sore for a while. On our way out of
>Parasite Nic P. and Peter did a little trail maintenance while Beth
>and I supervised and picked ripe blackberries and salmonberries.
>
>We finished the ride with a trip to the Structures. Nic V., although
>shaken from his Nessie incident, showed us the ramp down and how the
>big wheelie drop off the rock should be done. Peter showed us how to
>chicken out of the ramp three times, while Beth showed us how to bail
>off of a teeter totter with style and grace. Continuing with the
>educational theme of our ride, I demonstrated how to fall off a
>structure properly, saving oneself a broken back and thousands of
>hours of physical therapy, by leaping out for an overhead tree. We
>should add this lesson to any Advanced Bootcamp, although we'll need
>to find somebody else to demostrate this maneuver.
>
>We finished the evening with some good Mexican food in town. Who
>would have thought? Decent food in the land of the Worm!
>
>It is good to see Julie feeling better and on her bike again. Welcome
>back!
>
>Chris
>
>
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>

Peter, Nick V., Nic P., Beth, Julie, Valerie, and I got to a slightly
late start on Thursday. It seems that Nick V. was hopping curbs (or
trying to hop curbs in this case) and got his first ever pinch flat.
There is a first time for everything.

After clearing up that situation, we were on our way. It didn't take
long for us all to figure out that our recent stretch of sunny
weather has really done the Worm a little worse for wear. Dry
conditions have contributed to some serious dust, and the erosion
ruts are much more pronounced. As Peter said, "I hate to say this,
but we really could use a little rain."

The overgrowth was getting a little out of hand too. After a short
trip into Crop Circles, Nic P. and I decided that we might not find
our way out if we proceeded any further. The blackberry bushes were
getting possessive with our skin. On our way to the Worm from Crop
Circles, Nick V. had yet another mishap of the unexplained variety,
wiping out in a big dustball and his momentum carrying him into the
shrubbery. Fortunately he was uninjured, although I think he really
could use some headset wrenches for Christmas.

Once in the Worm Nic P. suffered a flat but fixed it and caught up
quickly. There were no major injuries to report, so we decided to
press our luck and venture into Parasite. It was Beth's first trip
into Parasite, with many "oohs" and "aaahs" coming from her
direction. Peter showed us how to ride the wheelie gap between the
tight trees, but none of us cleared all of the logs on the first try.

A few of us tried Nessie, all with success, although Nic P. suffered
a bit of pain when he didn't quite make it through on his first
attempt. His knees will be sore for a while. On our way out of
Parasite Nic P. and Peter did a little trail maintenance while Beth
and I supervised and picked ripe blackberries and salmonberries.

We finished the ride with a trip to the Structures. Nic V., although
shaken from his Nessie incident, showed us the ramp down and how the
big wheelie drop off the rock should be done. Peter showed us how to
chicken out of the ramp three times, while Beth showed us how to bail
off of a teeter totter with style and grace. Continuing with the
educational theme of our ride, I demonstrated how to fall off a
structure properly, saving oneself a broken back and thousands of
hours of physical therapy, by leaping out for an overhead tree. We
should add this lesson to any Advanced Bootcamp, although we'll need
to find somebody else to demostrate this maneuver.

We finished the evening with some good Mexican food in town. Who
would have thought? Decent food in the land of the Worm!

It is good to see Julie feeling better and on her bike again. Welcome
back!

Chris

Round Mt. Rainier in Six Days


Well I’m back, I survived, and I had an awesome time.  This is the I’m
really tired so I might get kind of long winded and spacey version of my
trip.

I did the Seattle to Portland ride with my co-workers and friends—
Sylvia, Ed, John, Roger, and Jason.  John, Jason, and I started at the
UW in Seattle and met Ed, Sylvia, and Roger in Kent.  Roger and Sylvia
had climbed Mt. Rainier two days before so we cut them some slack.  Ed
drove us to the UW and dropped us off so we wouldn’t have to leave a car
there.

We had a great time touring the flat farm country of western
Washington.  The first day was pretty windy and we had a constant head
wind the whole day which slowed us down a bit and tired us out.  Jason,
one of our rookie medics joined us at the last minute and hadn’t spent
much time on the bike.  He did great and persevered through a sore butt
and knee strain.

We stayed at a Chehalis families house on our first day and they fed us
a feast for dinner and breakfast.  The second day we were well rested,
well fed and ready to ride.  We rode from Chehalis to Portland.  It was
a great day of riding, long breaks to socialize and I ran into a few old
friends and riding partners.

I ran into Andy Spier an Edmonds Firefighter and biking Guru.  He gave
me his expert advise on touring, (can’t send him this e-mail because he
is retro to the point of not having e-mail.) He checked out my bike.
Told me once I had ridden a true road bike I would never go back.  I
said "Ya, probably but the thing I like about my Trek cross was that if
a truck ran me off the road it was no problem because I could do the off
road on it.  Andy has biked across the US 4 times and has done numerous
other tours.  A biking animal.

Anyway, we finished up our day in Portland at the park with live music.
We made a reluctant cab driver fit my bike into his trunk for the ride
to our hotel.  He, of course, took the long way and then charged us
extra for the bike.  Then we headed off to our hotel for a swim and then
east Indian food and lots of good wine.  I of course went to bed early
so I’d be ready for the 300 mile trek home on my bike via the Columbia
Gorge, highway 97, and highway 410 over Chinook Pass.  The next morning
I had breakfast with my friends and then I packed my saddle bags and
headed off into the horizon for an epic adventure.  I immediately got
lost leaving the hotel but a stop at REI for a side mirror for my bike
and some directions from the local bike expert put me on the right
track.  I headed out Marine Drive along the Columbia and immediately had
some jerk try to run me off the road but I just yelled at him and kept
on cruising.  Luckily I ran into a bike trail that literally took me all
the way out to Troutdale and kept me off the road for most of the way.
As I traveled down the bike path my cell phone rang. Up until a couple
of weeks before the ride I had never had a cell phone so it kind of
surprised me when it rang as I was riding down the trail. I stopped and
dug it out of my chest harness bag and answered it.  Hello, nothing.
Finally one of my co-workers—Heiko answered back.  Hey Lisa its Heiko.
I was just calling you to tell you that I won’t be heading to the gorge
games so I can’t meet you at Brooks Memorial camp ground.  How is it
going?

I told him great. I was just heading out of Portland on a bike trail.
He once again told me that if I needed anything to call him.  He would
be happy to come get me if I found myself in a bind.  I thanked him,
glad for the distant commraderie on my long journey home.  At Troutdale
I headed up to the main town area and caught the Columbia Gorge Old
Scenic Highway.  From there it was just beautiful scenery and
adventure.  I climbed 2000 ft up to Crown Point, an overlook with a
building that looks like a crown.  From its second story you can look
east and west up the Columbia Gorge for miles.  Its so amazing to see
this huge river that travels hundreds of miles.  From the overlook you
can literally see the hills change from the deep green of the west side
to the brown sculpted hills of the eastside. I felt humbled by the
distance that I would be traveling in the next few days but I also felt
dizzy with adventure.  There was so much to see.

From the overlook I headed east down the scenic highway that fell back
towards the gorge in a narrow winding ribbon past beautiful green
forests and waterfalls.  I stopped quite a bit to enjoy the waterfalls
and different sights.  I had given myself enough time to stop for sights
if I wanted to.  After the scenic highway ran out I traveled down a
frontage road for a few miles and then the worst section of the whole
trip was the 3 or 4 miles I traveled on I-84.  It was loud.  Tons of
trucks blew by me at 70+ miles per hour.  I couldn’t wait to get off the
freeway.  I was feeling a bit rattled when I hit the off ramp at full
speed.  I had Portland riders tell me that I was a better route than the
Washington Columbia Gorge.  From my experience that just isn’t the
case.  The Washington side has less traffic and is more scenic.  After I
got off of the freeway I caught a section of the Old Scenic Highway that
had been turned into a paved bike trail.  It wound up and down along the
gorge through forested areas and at times parallelled the highway.  It
was much nicer than riding on the road and took me through some nice
areas along the gorge.  It ended at the “Bridge of the Gods”.

I had driven over the “Bridge of the Gods” two weekends before when I
pre-drove my route home.  What I had failed to notice was the fact that
you could see through the grating to the river below.  I also didn’t
notice the wind traveling by truck.  I came up to the toll booth and
asked the attendant if people rode or walked their bikes across the
bridge.  The grating looked pretty slippery for bike tires.  She said
that they ride across and not to worry because the speed limit was only
15 mph.  So.......I started riding across the bridge.  Just about then a
train came by and was traveling right below the bridge.  The wind was
blowing at about 30 mph.  I was gripping the handle bars on my bike
trying to navigate the slippery bridge and gusts of wind were buffeting
me this way and that.  The sound of the train was pounding in my ears.
So I just took the lane of traffic and slowly made my way across the
bridge, hoping that I wouldn’t be swept across the slippery grating into
the river hundreds of feet below me.  That is the only part of my ride
other than the section on I-84 that I hated.  I took a break at the end
of the bridge, collected myself and then headed east to Carson Hot
Springs for a massage.

Carson Hot Springs Resort is probably more known by word of mouth.  It
is a small old Washington Resort on the edge of the Columbia.  Its
nestled back in the hills next to the small town of Carson.  It has the
therapeutic hot spring waters.  You can go there and get a cabin,
massage, bath in the therapeutic waters for about $100.  I was looking
forward to a massage after three days on the saddle.  The location is
really relaxing as well.  Its nestled in the trees and its very quiet.
I could see going there to work on writing a book or to relax and read a
good novel. I arrived at about 4pm.  I didn’t schedule my massage until
6:30 so I relaxed on the porch outside my cabin and read Sherman Alexi’s
new book “The Toughest Indian in the World” Sherman Alexi is a Coure De'
lane Indian who has written several books portraying aspects of modern
Coure De' lane Native American life.  I had spent the first half of my
life on the east side of the mountains and had also learned about the
Coure De' lane’s tribes work to regain ownership of Lake Coure De' lane
to try to clean up the years of heavy metal poisoning caused by boom and
bust mining.  I enjoyed his writing.

It was nice to be out of the heat of the day and in the cool confines of
the resort.  I read for awhile and then headed off to get some dinner
before my massage.  Bedtime was later than I had wanted.  I planned on
getting up at 4am every morning to beat the heat of the eastside of the
mountains.

The next day I packed my saddle bags and headed off into the pre-morning
with my headlamp and flashing tail light.  I lucked out and caught a
morning upriver tail wind and made good time down the gorge highway.
There was hardly any traffic on the road that early.  I watched as the
sun rose along the Columbia Gorge.  It was incredible to be on the road
that early and watch the day begin as I coursed along the highway.  It
was a beautiful sunny morning that began with a violet night sky turning
to the soft yellow glow of sunrise.  The road followed the gorge and
went up short stretches and then  down.  There were about 5 tunnels that
I had to go through.  Each had a button to push that would turn on a
blinking light to alert traffic that a bicycle was coming through the
tunnel.  I rode 30+ miles along the gorge with a tail wind and many
small climbs and descents until I reached the Klickitat Highway that
would take me to Goldendale the back way.

I was looking forward to this section of the trip.  The highway was
narrow and didn’t have much traffic.  The river meandered through the
valley with the road and there was lots of wildlife and wild buff
colored hills along each side.  The valley was steep enough that I was
in the shade for most of the morning.  Every once in a while I would
pass a farm on the east side of the road.  In the early morning the
river was a deep jade blue/green and the hills a shadowed buff color
with deep green pines and juniper.

  The Klickitat Highway meanders through a valley to the town of
Klickitat an old post-timber town.  I passed through the town at about
730am and everything was closed and only a few people were up and about
on the streets— an old man walking in the early morn, a few commuters
taking off for work.  I headed out from Klickitat and had a few more
miles along the river and then the road narrowed and climbed steeply up
to the Goldendale plateau.  I had been worried about this section of
road because it was so narrow and steep.  The climb in the cool of the
early morning was actually pleasant.  I found a good cadence and climbed
upward watching as the valley floor receded and the distant hill tops
came into view.  I only met one logging truck on the road and luckily it
was at the bottom where the road was still pretty wide and I had a place
to dive off the road.  Towards the top the road was hemmed in on both
sides by cliffs and there was nowhere to go.  The climb was only about 4
miles long and 2000 feet of elevation to the plateau that took me out of
the Columbia Gorge and onto the flat plain of grasslands and farm
fields.  The road zig zagged along farm property lines and it inched its
way to the town of Goldendale.  I only had one farm dog encounter which
ended peacefully when I got off my bike and took a step toward him.  He
immediately high tailed it in the opposite direction barking furiously.

I arrived in Goldendale at about 1030am.  It was still pretty cool out
so I decided to take a break at a local restaurant and drink a cool
glass of water and eat some ice cream.  It definitely wasn’t Baskin and
Robbins.  They had run out of chocolate ice cream the day before and
only had strawberry and vanilla so I settled for a strawberry ice cream
cone.  After my break I headed out again to highway 97 and my long climb
to Satus Pass with an elevation of 3100 feet.  Out on the sidewalk I ran
into a local before I left and he told me that the pass was a series of
3 climbs and descents so the elevation gain was actually more than what
was on the map.  Great, I thought, as I realized that the temperature
was rising toward an eastside norm of 90 degrees which each passing
moment.

Highway 97 was actually better than I had anticipated.  The shoulder was
about 4-5 feet wide and the traffic in my direction was pretty light.
The climb was steady and fairly steep.  I went up one long section and
then down into another valley.  Then I climbed up a longer section and
then descended.  About this time the sun was baking my brains and I was
sweating like crazy and drinking lots of water from my camel back.  I
was hoping that I would get to the campground fairly soon.  I started up
the next section and climbed for awhile and finally came to Brooks
Memorial Campground which was my camping spot for the night.  I told
myself that I would take a break, bag the pass, and then coast back down
to spend the evening.  I of course didn’t make the pass that day.
Instead I relaxed, got a chicken burger at the local restaurant next to
the campground and read my book.  I had ridden 78 miles and did a lot of
climbing and I was done for the day.  As a westsider, 90 degrees was
just too hot to travel in.

The next morning I took off from the campground at 5am.  I figured the
highway was busier so I decided to wait until it was lighter to start
riding.  I rode the 4 more miles up to the top of Satus Pass and then (
I shouldn’t even tell you) I started a downhill cruise for 20 beautiful
miles as the sun moved upward in the sky.  I passed a large creek and
wetlands.  Watched as a Heron fished in the wetland, cruised down the
shoulder at 35 mph as the trees gave way to the barren grasslands.  As
the sun exposed the landscape I reached the Toppenish ridge which was a
moderate 3 mile climb to the Toppenish Plateau.  From there I rode down
another short descent to the plateau and farmlands.  There was hardly
any traffic.  I had one trucker honk and wave as I was cruising down.  I
peddled along the flats by the Toppenish Nature Preserve, by a stray
black dog rooting something out of the brush along the road, by fields
of corn interlaced with large sunflowers.

Morning is where soft edges start to grow sharper.  Where the haunts of
the night are taking cover and the daily grind is gearing up to full
throttle.  I road by all these aspects of morning to the intersection of
97 and the day.  Traffic commuting to work started to jam along the
mainways.  The kindness of unpopulated roads gave way to the bustle of
people starting to get “somewhere”.  I watched an emaciated dalmatian
cross the highway along the busy 97 thoroughfare between Toppenish and
Yakima and thought “No I’m not going to bring another dog home” as I
watched him slink off into the opposite ditch.

I rolled into Yakima 63 miles later at 9am and found the Yakima
“Greenways Trail” which is a rail trail that follows the Yakima river
for about 12 miles.  I stopped briefly to call a friend of a friend in
Yakima named “Froggie” who had offered to rescue me if I found myself in
trouble and also bring parts if my bike needed repairs.  He wasn’t in so
I left a message on his voice mail.  “ Just made it to Yakima on my way
to Naches.  Great ride so far. Beautiful scenery.  I’ll e-mail you when
I get home.” As I started to ride down the trail I thought about Cece
Voyt who is on the Washington Trails Coalition who is one of the driving
forces behind the rail trails movement and lives in Yakima.  I’d have to
send her an e-mail about how much I enjoyed riding down the Yakima rail
trail.

I had reservations about rail trails.  On one hand I would certainly
liked to have done this route on a rail trail rather than on roads but
being a mt. Biker I ultimately would like to see more trails paved in
dirt rather than concrete.  So I traveled this section of trail with
both appreciation and concern that the rail trail movement would take
money and attention away from single track dirt trails.  I must admit it
was a beautiful trail.  It wound along the river and large wetland
buffers.  Through heavily treed areas that were cool against the rising
temperature.  Small wet drops of dew kept hitting me as I rode under the
weeping willow and I wondered if that wasn’t the real reason they were
called weeping willows.  The trail was a nice break.  I took my time and
enjoyed the views and saying hi to the other trail users.  I watched as
a woman jogged with her Siberian and another dog and missed my dogs.

At the end of the trail I joined the morning rush along highway 12 which
is now more of a freeway than a highway.  I rode out pass Selah to
Naches.  In Naches I stopped for lunch before heading out into the 90
degree heat to head 30 more miles up to Whiskey Jack’s Resort.  The
highway eventually split between Highway 12 up to White Pass and 410
which went to Chinook Pass.  The road became 2 lanes and the traffic
lessened.  I had a near miss accident as a apple truck pulled out in
front of a van and all the traffic behind skidded to a stop.  I
immediately bailed off the road onto the dirt and gravel on my cross
bike to avoid joining the melee.  After that I watched the traffic
closely and started my long climb up 410.  The lower part is fairly low
grade climbing.  The kind of climbing that you only notice because you
aren’t quite going as fast as you would on the straight aways.  I hit a
moderate head wind which actually helped shed off some of the heat that
was beating down on me from above.  30 miles later I cruised into the
Whisky Jacks.  I had ridden a 110 miles from sunrise into the heat of
the day and was ready to hang for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Relax, jump in the river, take a shower, eat good food, drink some wine,
and then crash and be ready for the next day.

After doing all those things I awoke the next morning at 4am and packed
up my gear and realized that I had left my bike helmet in the hotel
office when I checked in.  I searched the hotel for any sign of
employees at 430am.  None, the lights were off.  There wasn’t any
employee housing in sight.  I had just about given up hope when I
noticed that the grocery store light was now on.  I went over and opened
the door that had a sign that said the store opened at 5am.  The clerk
immediately went to check the office for me and returned with my bike
helmet.  I thanked her and managed to get on the road at 530am.

I headed up the road in the cold morning.   This was my last day of
riding and my legs were stiff.  The cold wasn’t helping at all and so I
rode 20 miles up 410 with stiff legs and a less than enthusiastic
outlook.  I counted the miles to the pass and dragged my body up the
roadway.  It wasn’t until I actually started the long steep steady climb
that I warmed up and felt like riding.  It was beautiful out on the
eastside.  Bright, sunny.  To the west I could see clouds butting up
against the distant peaks and wondered if it was raining on the west
side.  The traffic was light.  Mostly just road crew workers heading up
to the job sight near the pass.  I watched as a fox ran across the road
right in front of me and into the trees on the other side.  It hardly
gave notice of me on my silent bike.  The climb was steady and
unrelenting near the top so I just peddled away and took the time to
watch to my left as the large snow covered peaks started to loom over
the deep valley where the American River flowed.  I was leaving deep
pine forests for the exposed ridge tops of rock and precariously perched
wildflowers—Indian Paint brush, common St. Johns Wort, Red Clover,
Shooting Stars, and Baby Blue eyes.  Small waterfalls cascaded down the
exposed rock along the road.  Rocky snow covered peaks rested against
the back drop of blue sky on one side and misty clouds on the other.

As I came up the home stretch to the pass I had to pass a construction
crew doing road work. Then it was a straight shot to the pass and the
visitors turnout lined in stone along a cliff face that overlooked the
4000ft of vertical mountains that framed the American River Valley.  I
set my friends camera up for auto and pushed the button and then jumped
back to the stone wall for the Chinook Pass photo.  I waited, nothing
happened.  I realized that I had missed a step and tried again.  This
time the red light blinked quicker and quicker and the camera took my
photo with the bike, the stone wall, and the distant valley.  After the
photo I dug through my saddle bags and grabbed long johns, my fleece
jacket, rain pants and jacket, fleece gloves and donned them for the
fast trek down the otherside of Chinook Pass.  I met another
construction crew just through the entrance to Mt. Rainier National
Park.  There was a 20 minute delay on both sides of the roadway.  I had
to wait about 10 minutes and then they let us proceed.  3 gravel trucks
and cars preceeded me.  I asked the women if they were going to let any
more cars down after me and she said not for another 20 minutes.  So I
had the roadway to myself.  I cruised down the middle of the lane as the
road switchbacked down the ridge to the valley below.  On my second
switchback I watched as the wind blew strands of cloud across the road
way against the adjacent rock face obscuring the road .  It was an eerie
sight as I descended and felt the wind buffeting me and the bike.  I
stayed warm as I cut a track down the road, slicing through cloud back
into the sunlight.  Mt. Rainier to the southwest of the road stayed
shrouded in clouds.  The White River Valley spread beneath clear skies
as the narrow road became Mather Memorial Parkway once more and
descended toward Greenwater.  By this time I was anxious to put miles
behind me and be home but I still took time to enjoy the scenery—
waterfall, creek, tree, deer flashed by me.  Then I realized I was going
to have to fight a head wind down the parkway.  The wind was pretty
strong and heralded a change in the weather.  I pushed on cursing my
change in luck as I fought my way down the road peddling every leg of
what should have been an easy cruise to Enumclaw.  I stopped in at
Wapato Woollies for a break and a cup of Expresso.  Caffeine for a tired
mind.  I ran into a woman in the store who looked at me and said “ Your
the woman who was riding the bike” (by this time I was back in bike
pants and a bike jacket.  I said” You must have passed me coming down
the parkway.” She said she was working up at the road construction sight
and then she passed me on the parkway.  She and the woman who owned
Wapato Woollies asked my about the ride.  I told them I had done the STP
with some friends and then soloed home around Mt. Rainier.

I drank my expresso and then headed out again and spent the last 20 or
so miles fighting the head wind until finally I arrived in Enumclaw.  I
decided to ride through down town just to feel like I was home (and to
avoid the 400th hill I’d have to climb going the backway) From town it
was an easy cruise down highway 169 to my front door where my four furry
dogs howled a greeting to me as I rode up the driveway.  I could read
the meaning of their howls “Where have you been?  We haven’t been mt.
Biking in a week.” Hmm, I said.  I think I’ll be taking a break from
biking for a couple of days or so but how about a hike?

Epilogue:

Great ride.  Its amazing how much more the places you are bicycling
through impact you than when you are cruising through them in a car at
30-60 mph.  Riding a bike is definitely the way to tour an area.

I loved all the support I got from friends and family.  My friend Pete
sent me an e-mail just before I left saying that he would be there in
spirit, a sort of spiritual sag wagon.  Also an acquaintance from the
IMBA conference and the 24 hour race in Spokane, Kevin Axt, of the
Hawaii 5 Oops Single Speed team e-mailed all his Yakima contacts to see
about getting me some company or at least a number to call if I got into
trouble. Froggie, one of the Yakima contacts offered up his home and
cell number incase I needed help. My co-worker Heiko offered to drive
from Buckley if I needed to bail. Then there was Andy Spier with his
advice on how to pack for the trip, what to carry, where, and how much
as well as his knowledge of the route I was taking.  He said to me as I
described the route I would take when I rode home. “So you probably
could do the RamRod when you are done”.  Boy, coming from him I started
to wonder if I didn’t bite of more than I could chew.  I think I told
someone.  Ya, I get an idea.  Then I figure out if I can do it.  Then I
think maybe this is a crazy idea so I do it anyway. You only live once!