RAMROD 2008

Today was the 2008 edition of RAMROD: Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day. This is my third time riding RAMROD, having also ridden it in 2003 and 2005.

I wasn't sure how RAMROD would feel this year. I've gotten in plenty of miles by completing my now standard spring and early summer long rides (Inland Empire Century, 7 Hills of Kirkland, Flying Wheels, Tour de Blast and of course STP) plus a pretty good smattering of club rides. One thing I didn't do this year, however, was any special hill training. RAMROD has two huge climbs of 18 miles and 10 miles that supply the majority of the 10,000' of climbing along the entire 154-mile route. I had no idea how those climbs were going to feel, but I was expecting them to be a struggle.

We left Enumclaw at 6:33 AM with a group of 10. Most were Eastgate Cycling Club riders plus a few friends. The Eastgate riders were among the strongest climbers in the club. We had a very nice paceline going for the first 32 miles to Eatonville. I rode ahead since there is a small climb out of Eatonville and I knew I'd get dropped. That plan worked well since the group caught me exactly at the top of the climb. We then got together again for the ride into Elbe and on toward Ashford just before entering Mt. Rainier National Park.

The section between Elbe and the park entrance is 14 miles long and slightly uphill the entire way. We were doing a hell of a pace, with the stronger riders pulling at 21-22mph. I was starting to have trouble hanging on even in the draft, and the section ends at the base of the biggest climb of the ride. I had no interest in arriving at the base of the climb exhausted, so about 6 miles from the end I said goodbye to the group and left the paceline. I knew all along I'd get dropped like a rock when we got to the big climbs, so my goal was to stay with the group until the park entrance. I essentially made it to that goal.

A couple of miles before the food stop at the park entrance I came across club member Gary, who had come to the same “too fast” conclusion a few miles later than I had.

We got to the food stop at mile 59 right as the rest of our group was leaving. The stop wasn't very well organized this year and had a huge line. The main gang decided to skip it. Not me. I was hungry and couldn't afford to bypass a main feeding stop, especially with a 2-hour climb about to begin.

Once fed Gary and I took off together for the park. Now was the true test. It's pretty easy for the first few miles to Longmire. Then it starts to kick up. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good. The slope is not too steep, about 5 or 6%. I was able to get into a very steady rhythm and climbed at 9-11mph for the entire climb. Gary was locked in right next to me, and we had a great conversation which made the climb go faster. Before we knew it the two hours had passed and we were at the top. The climb was a little shorter this year than normal because of construction at Paradise – the route turned off a few miles below Paradise on the Ohanapecosh Road.

Ah, now the first big descent, about 10 miles of sweet downhill with some nice sweeping corners. It can also be dangerous because areas of sun and shade can hide obstacles like rocks that have fallen off the roadside cliffs. But we didn't encounter any of those this year and were soon at the next food stop at mile 88.

After a 4-mile climb up Backbone Ridge there's another big descent down Stevens Canyon to the Ohanapecosh park gate. Then a left turn onto Highway 123 and the dreaded 10-mile climb to Cayuse Pass. It's dreaded because you've already ridden 100 miles by the time you get to the base of it. Also you get there in mid-afternoon so it can be bloody hot, and the climb is the steepest of the route at 8% or so. It feels endless. And monotonous. At least this year the monotony was broken up by sections of gravel roadway. The road washed out in a huge storm in 2006 that did major damage to the park. The highway was closed for months afterward and they are still repairing it. But like the Paradise climb, Cayuse felt a lot easier then the previous times I've ridden RAMROD. Slower though because of the steeper grade – we did about 7-8mph most of the way.

From the summit of Cayuse Pass at 4694' it's a fun 8-mile descent. The road used to be poor, but it has been repaved since last time I rode it and was fantastic today. 36-38 mph all the way down. And at the bottom is the turnoff to the last food stop at mile 118. The hardest work was over! At the food stop we caught up with Brian, another Eastgate rider and decided to team up for the remainder of the ride.

Even though the climbing was all done, there were still 35 miles to go before we were done. And the legendary headwind was present the whole way. We were all tired and we were stiff after the food stop. I thought we might go fairly slowly. But Brian immediately cranked it up to 23mph. It's slightly downhill the whole way back to Enumclaw, but with the headwind it can still be work. But the three of us had a wonderful paceline going and we made pretty quick work of the 35 miles. Only 1.5 hours. Toward the end the route goes down a sweet technical descent through a forest for a couple of miles and then spills out into farmland for the last 4 miles or so. We were all pretty done, but we managed to hook onto a tandem and drafted them the rest of the way to the finish.

Even this morning I wasn't sure if I would complete the ride. But it turned out I felt far more comfortable on the whole ride than I have before. This is the first time I've done RAMROD since I started bike commuting to work regularly (in December 2005). It's also the first time since discovering the benefit of lots of early-season miles. And I also did some serious carbo loading both Tuesday and Wednesday nights with huge plates of spaghetti. One or more of those factors contributed to a much easier ride. I still can't say I “enjoyed” RAMROD, but I survived it so much better than before that I'm quite satisfied. And like after STP, I feel pretty normal tonight other than leg fatigue when I walk down stairs.

IN 2003 with a motley crew and a lot of waiting, we had 13:30 elapsed time and roughly 9:30 rolling time.

In 2005 I rode it (solo) in 12:45 elapsed time and 9:45 riding time for a 15.8mph average speed.

This year I had an elapsed time of 10:30, riding time of 8:45 and average riding speed of 17.02mph.

13:30, 12:45, 10:30. There's a trend! If I keep riding RAMROD eventually it won't take me any time at all!

By the way: those faster riders in my club? They did the Paradise climb at 12-14mph and finished the whole ride with an elapsed time of 9:00. I'm very glad I didn't try to keep up with that.