Chiricahau Challenge

Just finished riding in AZ  with PAC Tours - 580 miles, 25+K gain, including Mt. Lemmon prior to starting the organized ride and up in the Chiricahau Monument. Next up, Carmel, Malibu, Mt. Baldy in May.

Art and me at the top of Chiricahua

Winter Solstice and we are still here

We're still around today, although the world is supposed to end at 11:11 UTC, (3:11 am, PST) according to the Mayan calender.  I kinda forgot about that.  I think we are 'counting up' now.

We are still riding, weather permitting, although last Saturday I chose to run.  Good thing.  VA reported 30 degree temps with snow flurries on the 40 mile Velo ride.

This is how we dress for winter riding.  Night lights are necessary at 4 pm!
Shari (MAC coach), Craig and Mark at the top of Sylvan

End of summer ride post

Yes, we have been riding but due to several little interruptions in life, no time to post.  Had to move my Mom to foster care, then fly to LA to help finish up our daughter's move to Westwood.  Now she is only 10 minutes from her work at Ogilvy.

Labor Day we took a day off from the bikes and rafted the White Salmon.

Husum Falls

Some Portland Velo rides stuck in-between.

A couple of MAC rides with new coach Craig Schommer.

We rode the Bridges to Breakers century ride from Portland to Gearhart, a fundraiser for the Harrington Foundation.  Joey was supposed to be there, but works at Fox Sports on the weekends, so was unable to make the finish in time.  Great ride, great route.

Craig rode in the Blind Date Cyclocross a couple of Wednesday's ago.  One good fall, some bruised ribs and we're reminded how fun cyclocross is!

Also discovered great hikes in and around the Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge area.

Dog Mountain Sept. 30

Lookout Mountain Oct. 7
We started on Highway 35 between milepost 68-69
5 miles up, 2960 feet of gain

Now, if this crazy summer weather holds, we hope to hike Paradise from Zigzag and get in a couple of rides over the weekend.

Highrocks Invitational ride

This is the second year we have done this ride.  Starting at the Timberlake Job Corps entrance out of Estacada, the ride is 70.7 miles with 5561 feet of gain.  The ride follows forest service roads with hardly a car except our support vehicles; FR 57 and 58, lunch at mile 36.6 at the ranger station, then the very fun Disneyland Downhill on FR42.  This takes you back to Hwy 224 and the Clackamas River.  Our paceline was like a well oiled machine, led by two PV race team members, and, VA!  Craig's Garmin picked up the stats.  See post 8/29/11 for cue sheet.

Aufderheide Highway Ride

Summer is going fast.  We have been riding quite a bit, although after Italy, I have had to scale back due to some tendinitis issues.  A couple of weekends ago we rode one of my favorite rides, Jackson's Ride the Gorge (see 7/29/11 post for detailed description).

This past Saturday, KRhea took a group to ride the 118ish mile out and back of the Aufderheide Drive, actually NF 19.  A good description with mileage can be found on Gorp.  We over-nighted in Springfield on Friday and drove to the starting point along the main fork of the McKenzie River.  We rode to the top of Box Canyon and then I turned around and went back to get my car  - an abbreviated version and compromise so as to give my knees a rest and also provide some support to the group.  Rode down all by myself in old growth forest, the south fork of the upper McKenzie river roaring to my right side, then quieting on the left after crossing a bridge close to French Pete campground (gotta love that name).  There were only a couple of deer standing in the road to slow me down.  25 miles down in a little over an hour with a few stops for pictures; now that is what I call a fun descent!  I drove back up and found the others on the backside, only about 10 miles from West Fir, where they had stopped to have lunch.   Cowboy (Jeff) got rid of his 15+ pound pack filled with his nice camera, etc.,  while others dropped some additional gear.  I went on, stopping every 10 or so miles to provide any support they might need.  All in all a good day for me; some riding and some alone time in the forest.

VA and Mary

The top of the climb where you can access Grasshopper Trailhead, offers access to Chucksney Roadless area.

Box Canyon Guard Station. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corp. and the Forest Service during the 1930's (Depression Era).  This is a replica.  

Cougar Reservoir parking lot across from
Terwilliger Hot Springs (clothes optional) $6

South Fork of the McKenzie after French Pete Campground

10 miles from the top, backside.  Loading up on water and snacks before the last climb.
VA, KRhea and Jeff (Cowboy)

Box Canyon, back at the top, waiting for riders. 

VA - first woman to the top!

The end
Phil, Jeff, me, Cowboy Jeff, VA, Gary, KRhea, Mary and Jim

Cycling Tips has a small blurb about the Giro di Lombardia.  The "famous ramp", Wall of Sormano has been put on the route!  Sept. 29th.

Mt. Adams Bike Tour

Saturday rode up at Mt. Adams.  105 miles, some 5000 feet or more of climb.  I thought I'd be stronger after 7 days in the Alps.  On the contrary, VA had to pull me in on her wheel most the way!  She was the most 'superior' rider in our group.  A little joke here - the first hill on the second loop, Mitch came by and yelled, "superior riders on your left".  Fuel to the fire....we passed them and then VA continued up to KOM that hill!

Craig, Davis, VA, Mitch, Steve and me after the ride

Speaking of superior riders and strong women, Jennifer Cree and Heidi Swift from Portland (you can follow their trek on Peloton Magazine and Oregon Live), along with 4 other women are riding the TDF one day ahead of the men.  They are the first of few women to do this and are featured in a Cannondale Women ad that is shown everyday on the coverage for TDF! So cool!

Trans Lombardy Challenge is done!

Hi Bob!

Got home last Thursday night after getting done with our bike trip last Sunday the 24th,  then spent several days in Florence, Italy.  429 miles, 51,300 feet of climbing.  I knew the trip would be hard - more climbing than miles everyday.

We arrived in Milan the 15th and did a little sightseeing.

The Duomo Cathedral in Milan

Inside the Duomo

Share bikes in Milan

The canal district of Milan

On Sunday, the Thomson Tour vans took us to Ponte di Legno, about 2 hours away from Milan.  Built our bikes up and then did the warm up ride up Passo Tonale. Fairly easy, only abut 15 miles with 2150 feet of gain.

Day two; Passo Gavia and Mortirolo.  10,101 feet of climbing in a little over 70 miles.  We met Eric from Hong Kong, and later found out he is in the Java Rapha video that was put out out a couple of months ago.  We were at dinner, discussing the day's climb, how steep the climbs were plus how hot it was.  We mentioned the Java video and those steep climbs in hot, humid conditions.  He said, "I'm in it!"  We pulled out the laptop and had a lot of laughs watching it again, seeing our new friend riding those crazy roads.  He can be seen in the video wearing a white/yellow band Rapha jersey.  There's an especially cute shot of him talking to some local kids.

Eric in his black/pink Rapha jersey

Grace, from New York and Craig

starting the Mortirolo

Rest break at the van.  It was HOT!

water break along the way

Marco Pantani memorial on the classic Mazzo di Valtellia ascent of Mortirolo

The top!! Getting ready to descend

Day 3 we rode to Borno via the Passo Vivone.  A little easier day, 53 miles, 5750 feet of climb.

No caption needed

Day 4; Borno to Sale Marasino via Passo Croce Domini, Maniva and Tre Termini.  I did have a ride plan and this day blew it apart.  Day 4 was supposed to be my rest day and there was a "wee bump" at the end that Peter forgot about.  I had to remember, this is an 'inagural VIP ride' -  there may be some surprises.  We ended the day with over 80 miles and 9600 feet of climb.

I was able to take some moving shots

The descent down Croce Domini

The view out our room at Hotel Villa Kinzica, overlooking Lake Iseo.
Jumped off the docks across the street into the lake after the ride.
The drink?  Aperol Spritz, the drink of Italy!  Had  a lot of those.  

Getting ready to leave for the day.  Too comfortable to move!

Day 5, we are getting there....we rode to San Pellegrino via Colle di San Fermo, Colle del Gallo, Passo di Ganda and Dossena.  Another day of 4 climbs, 65 miles, 8400 feet of climb.  San Pellegrino Terme used to be a 'spa' town and the Grand Hotel is huge and dark, sitting abandoned across the river Brembo.  Our hotel, the Centrale, across from the Grand, was a version of a Spanish disco which kept going until 2 am.

Me and Grace

Museum Madonna dei Ciclisti.  This old Bianchi had leather toe clips and huge gearing.
Hard to imagine these guys riding the Giro on those bikes.  The church has stained glass windows of bikes.

I need to mention that at the tops of the climbs we had to put on wind jackets before the descents only to have to stop 1/2 way down to take them off.  Italy was having record temps and the valleys were sometimes registering 95-100 degees F.  Day 6 was no exception.  We rode to Varenna via Passo San Marco and Premana to catch a ferry to Como.  77  miles (we cut off the last climb due to time) and about 9000 feet of climb.

My favorite climb and descent!

We found out that the direct ferry to Como would not take bikes even though there looked to be ample room.  We ended up taking a ferry to Bellagio, then rode the rest of the way to Como in the very hot vans!

The very nice hotel Villa Flori on Lake Como

Finally, we are at Day 7, riding a classic part of the Giro di Lombardia, which happens in the fall.  We rode up Civiglio to Passo Ghisallo and the Madonna del Ghisallo Chruch and museum where we met a bunch of Italian riders from 'Brember Valley Cycling Club'.  That day we saw more riders than cars!  We even saw a team drafting behind a motorcycle.

Getting ready to leave for the last ride.  Craig has his Portland Velo jersey on.  

Madonna del Ghisallo church

Cyclists from Brember Valley.  We got in trouble for talking too loud during the Mass being held.  

On to the wall of Muri di Sormano.  I have to post the profile again:

This is a crazy 2 kilometer climb and averages about 16%, some stretches 24%.  My new friend Phil, a doctor at NIH from DC decided we should do it.  Craig started up and then I heard him yell, "I'm not doing it!!"  The first part is rideable until you hit a gate.  The good riders ahead of us could ride around it; we had to stop and get off our bikes.  On that steep a grade it is almost impossible to clip back in.  Our ride leader, Dominic helped Phil back on at the gate and gave him a good shove.  It took me a couple of attempts to get clipped in again, only to go about 1/2 km and have to get off my bike.  I walked a bit, rode a bit, and caught up to Phil who was walking in his bike shoes, having a hard time.  We both took our shoes off and walked almost to the top in our socks!  There is a small portion at meter 1060 where one can get back on, only because the grade is about 8.7%.  The elevation gain in the 2 km climb is 1124 meters.  It's a stupid climb, every meter of elevation is marked, along with some interesting stencils on the pavement of local flora, leaves, trees, names, and other Italian stuff I don't get. There's a lot of information and videos on the web for anyone wanting more info.  Me, I don't ever need to do it again.

the start

Phil at the gate trying to get started again

Looking up, doesn't look that steep in pictures, but this portion was about 18%.

The end where we ate a good meal of pasta pomodoro

All in all, a very good trip.  No accidents except a few minor falls and scrapes (not me this time!).  Like childbirth, one forgets the pain and I want to go again next year - different route though!

Looking over Lake Como from our room balcony.  Overcast and cooler as we depart for Milan by van.