RAMROD 2008

Team Unattacked attacked the big one, Mount Rainier, on Thursday as Johnny "America's Little Buttercup" Clark, Scott "Pink Boy" Young, and Mike "Cayuse Pass's Whipping Boy" McQuaide, took part in the 25th annual RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day).
At 151 miles with 9,750-feet of elevation gain, it was killer strenuous but truly spectacular. The best ride Scott and John had ever been on, they said. Above, we're about to start our journey at 5:15 a.m. under cover of semi-darkness. Below, check out the cool lenticular cloud hovering like a halo about the summit of 14,410-foot Mount Rainier. The thing grew and expanded throughout the day and at one point looked almost like the rings around Saturn.

Put on by the Redmond Cycling Club (http://www.redmondcyclingclub.org/), RAMROD is certainly one of the best events I've ever participated in. The food is good, the organization and volunteers are tops, and the course can't be beat. There're two big climbs--10 miles up to Inspiration Point and 11 miles to Cayuse Pass, both which top out at roughly 4,700 feet. In between, there's a smaller one to Backbone Ridge, which is fairly harmless.

Below, please note musicians who were up and playing for the pre-ride breakfast at 4:30 a.m. That's a tough gig. (I said to Scott, "Can you imagine having to play music at 4:30 in the morning?" To which some guy who overheard me, said: "Can you imagine having to listen to music at 4:30 in the morning?")

The first climb doesn't start 'til about 60 miles in so there's lots of time to eat, drink, try to warm up (it must've been in the high 40s at the start), as well as find lots of other wheels to tuck in behind. I did RAMROD four years ago and then we road all the way to Paradise, this time they had us top out Inspiration Point, about 600 feet lower. Which I was kind of glad about; for whatever reason, I wasn't feeling super stellar. (More on that in a moment.) The following descent was ridiculously fun, fast, and most important, felt relatively safe, wrote this author who's usually a pretty conservative (not politically, er anything) descender. Smooth roads, not a whole lot of turns, zero to very few cars, and long, long straightaways where you could see far ahead of you.

"There's no amusement park ride that's as fun as that," Scott said. (All the descents were like that in fact: screamin' meamie fun.)
After Backbone Ridge came the 11-mile, 2,500-foot climb to Cayuse Pass where I partook in an involuntary reenactment of Floyd Landis's famous crack on La Toussuire during Stage 16 of the 2006 Tour de France. (That's the one that spurred his epic beer-, testosterone-, whatever the hell else-fueled comeback the following day.) At the bottom of the hill, which starts at about mile 100, I didn't feel good. A mile into it, I felt less good and a mile later, blurted out an inadvertent "Oh fudge!" (or something that sounded like "Oh fudge!") and told the guys, Sorry, but I'm cooked, cracked, knackered, and no good to nobody nowhere. I was like a balloon with the air let out; I had no power at all.

John and Scott were great, super patient and just hung with me as we conquered the hill at a blistering 7 miles per hour! Oh well, as Tony Soprano would say, What'ya'gonna do? Below, see photo of a completely spent McQ after having finally made it to the top.

After the descent, we were treated to sandwiches of our choice and the best tasting icy cold can of Coke I've had in my entire life. From there, it was about 30 miles of downhill and flat during which the indefatigable John and Scott pulled about eight of us into the finish at Enumclaw. Below, that's us at the finish. Our stats: 151 miles with 9,750 feet elevation gain. Eight hours 57 minutes of riding time, about 10 hours and 15 minutes total time. (We finished at about 3:30 p.m.)
Coming up in the next few days: the harrowing story of lost motel reservations, our new digs next door to a casino and airport, and Mike wrestles with a roll-out bed. Here's a photo to whet your appetite:

YET MORE ARTIST POINT

We tried riding Bellingham to Baker and Back (BBB) back in Juneuary and were rained-, chilled-, and winded-out just past Maple Falls. (Not to mention that John didn't have fenders so every time I rode behind him I'd get a faceful of water; great for a moisturizing my skin but otherwise quite unpleasant.) Recently though, we've had nothing but glorious weather for about three weeks straight, so last Wednesday we got 'er done. An added bonus: we were able to ride all the way to Artist Point. Total ride stats: 120 miles with 7,600-plus feet elevation gain. Photo below is of Artist Point with Mount Shuksan in the background. (Not sure what to make of my somewhat defiant-seeming posture and expression. ) Above, a short vid of John on the final three-mile stretch.

Had another one of those funny (albeit a tad uncomfortable) happenins at Graham's in Glacier where, for whatever reason, they seem to hate cyclists. (Or just us; I'm not quite sure.) On our way up the mountain, John handed the clerk a five dollar bill to which she said, "Y'know, nobody wants your sweaty money. A plastic bag would be nice." She then made a great show of placing the bill in her till as if she were disposing of a dead mouse.

It's not the first time we've earned their ire. And believe me, we wouldn't spend our money there if it weren't the only game in town. (And perhaps some of the folks there wouldn't be so surly if they had a little competition.) But Glacier's got Graham's and Milano's--a great Italian restaurant--and that's it. As it was, we had to stop there on the way back and reload. (I was seein' spots and needed to eat.) Luckily, the dude working there this time was fine.

Finally, my Tour de France prediction made on Monday, the final rest day: Menchov first, Evans second, Van deVelde third.

We're off to New Jersey for family function to say good-bye to me da who passed away in May. (Take it easy, PJ!)

JUNEUARY NO MORE

Summer came to Bellingham this weekend and this time it seems like it's here to stay. John Clark, America's Sweetheart, and I took advantage and headed up the Mount Baker Highway as far as it's plowed, just past the upper ski lodge. (See video above.) It was John's first time up with his compact crank, which I ask him about, and as I pull ahead I make some unintelligable comment about how he better get used to this view.

Here, the boy Baker flies high at the Burlington Skatepark, about 25 minutes south of B'ham. Nice blue sky, huh? We've had it for a few days now and I think we've got two more coming. Last week, the McQuaides welcomed a new addition to the family: a Specialized Tarmac Pro delivered via craigslist. That's me (the proud papa) below trying to nudge John out of the photo opp. Up at the ski area, we went around the gate and kept riding for as far as we could. As you can see the snow banks are still pretty high. Great day. Great ride. About 45 miles with 4,400 feet climbing. Felt pretty darn hot, actually, which isn't too common out these parts. We saw many riders just heading up as we were finishing and we didn't envy them at all.

It won't be our last time up. We've got RAMROD in about a month so we've got to get some big mountain mileage in our legs.

PITCHERS 'N' STUFF

Random photos and a video from recent weeks. Above, the Mount Baker Highway on the way to the Mount Baker Ski Area and Artist Point taken a couple weeks ago. (One of the most scenic stretches of the Mount Baker Hill Climb.) It was the week before Scott, John and I rode it. Below, John Clark ridin' Buck Mountain, out Winthrop way.
Below, Bake finishes up Jr. Ski to Sea--that's him in the black shirt and gunny sack hopping to ring the bell. (Teammate Peter has his hand extended for a semi-hi five.) Flowers--arrowleaf balsamroot--along the Buck Mountain trail. Here, John test rides a Kona 29er hardtail. He doesn't seem to like to too much, does he? Post Ski to Sea, Bake makes his PowerAde bottle float in mid-air.
Then lies down, exhausted.

WEEKEND HEAT

Rode from the D.O.T. shed up to the upper Mount Baker ski lodge today with the venerable Scott Young and sassy John Clark, also known as "America's Sweetheart." Did it twice and Mr. Young, as is his wont, put the hammer down on the second run and it was all we could do to hang onto Mr. High-Cadence himself during the 8-mile, 2,200 foot climb.

It was a hot weekend (for Bellingham in May), a temperature record-breaker and glacial melt was turning rivers such as the Nooksack into veritable ragers. (As the above photo doesn't show at all.) Melting snow and rocks were breaking off on some of the steeper roadsides as the day wore on and Johnny boy almost got clocked by one falling rock.

Below, me (left) John and Scott pose in front of Mount Shuksan, the state's second (or third?) highest non-volcanic peak.
Below, please take note of our Team Unattacked mascot, a creepy green-haired pierrot clown-like thing that gives us inspiration when things get tough.
That was Sunday. Saturday was Jr. Ski to Sea. Check out the boy Baker sprinting away at the start of the obstacle course.

SUNDAY RIDE

Great ride on Sunday. Out to Sumas and back. For fun we threw in North Pass Road hill and Reese Hill Road (Reese Hell Road), both of which are tilted rather steep, but are not super long. Both hills were enjoyed by those who rode last year's Nooksack Omnium road race.

Above, birthday boy Scott Young, Steve Vanderstaay, and John Clark enjoy froofy espresso drinks while mesmerized by John's bike leaning against the espresso stand. Below, Steve appears to be reprimanding his bike for one reason or another.
We got in 70 miles or so with some fast rotating paceline stretches and team-time-trial wannabe behavior. I felt a little off at times. Not sure why. I had one extended pull where I couldn't really feel anything, not quite bonkish, but close. Had to look down at my computer to make sure I was riding a good speed because it was like I couldn't feel anything. Kinda odd.

Scott was manimal (part man, part animal) on the hills. But only because it was his birthday and we let him. (Yeah, right.)

SAMISH ISLAND SATURDAY

Got out on the first ride of the year with Johnny (4:30) Clark and Scott (4:35) Young. Sixty miles down to Samish Island and back. Hooked up with Mark Rhode for about 25 miles of it. Kinda funny that a road cyclist should have the last name of Rhode (pronounced "roadie"); sim. to the hard-core B'ham swimmer named Bob Fish. I digress. During one stretch down in the Skagit Flats, I rode alongside everybody thinking I was snapping off a bunch of photos. But my camera was in video mode so I was really shooting a bunch of really short videos. (See above.)


Luckily, I did get some shots. Scott, with his manly pink T-Mobile hat which matched his manly pink T-Mobile shirt. (He revealed that later.) Scott proved to be very annoying because he was exceedingly strong, damn him. All in all, a super great ride.

Rhode, Scott (you can kinda see his pink shirt) and John:

Here's John, his expression saying: "Oh great, Mike's got his camera out again; I love when he breaks out his camera."

Meanwhile, while we were out riding, the amazing Fabian Cancellara was at it again winning Milan-San Remo. Launched a solo attack with about 3K to go in the roughly 180-mile race. (Like the way I mixed kilometers and miles? So European of me.) He da' man. Total ride time was more than seven hours.
At home, we're in the throes of a bathroom remodel. He's an in-progress shot of the bathroom sans tub, toilet, and before the new floor goes in.