After waiting for the boys to get up from their naps and to get the car packed up we finally got in the car around 6 or so and headed down to Portland for the ride. Of course, due to the fact that we have two kids the time it took for us to get down there was much more than we thought was humanly possible. We stopped in Parkland for burgers then stopped in Lakewood for coffee and so Milo could eat then got in stop & go traffic down Hwy 99 because we thought it would be faster than the freeway which was also very slow.

We pulled in around 9:30 or so, Oskar never went to sleep and only fell asleep when we all went to bed around 10 something. We also had to all get up early since Rose was the only one who could drive me up without me just going by myself. We left the Vandehey’s house at 5:15 and stopped for coffee outside of Gresham. We got to Welches and the start line just before 6:30 and after I got my packet and got my bike all ready, put on my new leg and arm warmers I got on the highway and started climbing.

This is what I was facing. I was a little nervous since I hadn’t really worked on hill climbing and the first 20 miles of this were pretty much all uphill. For this first 12 miles on the way up to Government Camp I averaged about 9-10 mph and used up both my water bottle and Gatorade bottle which usually last me around 20-30 miles. The morning started off somewhat gray and misty but as I went up the mountain it began to clear up and by Government Camp I had taken off my arm and leg warmers.

As I left the stop I went down for about two miles averaging about 35 mph and then started climbing again. Government Camp had a sign that said it was at 3,995 feet elevation and I don’t know how far I went down but we then climbed up Barlow Pass to just over 4,000 feet, then down for about 1/2 mile then up Bennett Pass to around 4,600 feet. The view of the mountain was great on this section of the ride; it was amazing to see the profile change as I went around it.

At the top of Barlow is Mt. Hood Meadows ski area and another stop. Here there were cookies, Gatorade and water in coolers (!) and other goodies. I also picked up a lei just for fun since I knew, or thought, the rest of the ride was all down hill, all 35 miles or so. After leaving the stop the next 5 miles went by pretty quickly at around 35-38 mph and then it began to flatten out a bit and I kept the speed around 22-25 mph. This section of the ride was more populated as more families and smaller kids had opted to begin the ride at the top of the mountain. There were fewer people like me who climbed up the whole thing, the first 20 miles it felt like there were only 100 or so other riders along the way but I only saw 20 or so. It felt pretty empty but of course, I did just come from STP so that would give me a different experience.

The ride down the mountain was fun and easy, dodging slower people and kids whose parents wouldn’t let them go fast. As you can see from the image above there is a small section that goes back up a hill just before Odell. It wasn’t too bad since I had recovered from the first major 3,000 foot climb earlier but at that point the road surface got really really bad. I’ve ridden on bad road before and it was similar to a section of road outside the lake cabin near Yelm. The road was really bumpy and any time you tried to go fast on it it felt like your teeth were rattling. The other frustrating thing was that it was only like this on this incline. After we reached the summit the road got smooth like butter and it was smooth sailing all the way down.

I didn’t see many other riders on this section and passed by the last stop since I was fine on water and food and had used the potty at the last stop. I called Rose at 6 miles to go and when I saw the Columbia river I noticed lots of windsurfers and kitesurfers and actually got blown around on my bike a bit when a strong gust came up the hill.

Rose and the boys just missed me finish, they had just pulled into the parking lot, but there were lots of volunteers there clapping and waving and hooting so it still felt good coming in. I met up with the fam at the car and then went in to get my beer on and my cheezburger on. Annie met up with us there with Zoe and after she got her food we went out towards the marina and found a place to sit under a tree to enjoy the weather and have fun with the kids. It was a great finish, delicious food and wonderful weather. Of course, since Oskar had been up since 5:00 in the morning, went to sleep the night before at 10 and didn’t have a nap, he fell asleep almost immediately after getting in the car at 3:45 and didn’t wake up until 6 AM the next day.