2012 CHELAN CENTURY CHALLENGE PHOTOS

All week, the Chelan forecast called for 70-percent chance of rain as well as thunderstorms, but luckily they held off. (Or actually, got it out of its system the night before.) The closest we got during this 107-mile, 8,600-foot climb- and pedalfest were the dark clouds seen in the above photo during Loop 1. (That's the lovely Manson orchard-vineyard-canyon loop.) Things got downright sunny later in the day as seen in some of the below phots.

Following the Titanium Cowboys back into Chelan along the stunning lake of the same name.

The Ivan Morse Road climb that snuck its way in between the Boyd Road and Upper Joe Creek climbs. Somehow a bunch of us--I mean, A BUNCH--ended up climbing this minor(ish) hillock though it wasn't on the course.

The Titanium Cowboys (Mike McQuaide, John Clark, Scott Young) after the 5-mile, 2,200-foot pointy-stick-in-the-eye called McNeil Canyon. Which comes at mile 58. This is the fourth time I've climbed it and I still can't get over how relentlessly tough it is. I love it.

Johnny Boy Clark on one of Loop 1's many fun descents.

Cary Westerbeck, a real nice guy, whom I chatted with during the Manson Loop. He told me he recently bought my book, "75 Classic Rides: Washington," which I thought rocked groovily! (I met and/or remet a lot of folks yesterday but given my hypoxic state for much of the day, I retained few to no names. Cary contacted me, reminding me of his name.)

Miss Lake Chelan and her two runner-ups. Lovely gals, all.

Johnny Boy getting extreme at the skatepark.

Our cozy lodgings at the Riverwalk Inn.

John and Seattle's Mark Clausen, with whom I rode part of last August's Shasta Summit Century, at the last aid station, about mile 90. By then, it was sunny and close to hot.

One of the many bounteous aid stations staffed by super friendly and supportive volunteers.

Titanium Cancellara using one of Chelan's unique pedestrian traffic-stopping flags whilst he crosses the street.

Some fast dude on one Loop 1's descents.

Ti Cowboys at the start. This is my second year doing the Chelan Century Challenge and I'd have to say it's without a doubt my favorite ride in the state. The terrain and scenery are incredible and the road surfaces are for the most part excellent. Traffic, especially during Loop 1, and most of Loop 2 for that matter, is pretty minimal really.

The community really supports it too. Lester Cooper and the Chelan Rotary do an excellent job. Thanks, folks, for putting on this ride!

CHELAN CENTURY CHALLENGE 2012

B'ham and most of Western Washington are stuck in a hellatious period of snow and ice and frigid temps and so of course I'm looking ahead to next summer already. And just a couple days after the soltice I know how I'll be welcoming in the summer: by schlepping the Tarmac Pro up the 8,600-plus feet of climbing that is the Chelan Century Challenge. One of my favorite rides ever! I just signed up for the 2012 event a couple days ago. Looks likely to be a Titanium Cowboy team assault too so I'm very much looking forward to it!

Click here for my report on last year's amazing ride.

CHELAN CENTURY CHALLENGE

All spur-of-the-moment like, the McQuaide family decided to hightail it out of B'ham and head over to Chelan for tomorrow's crazy-tuff Chelan Century Challenge: 103 miles with 8,600 feet of elevation gain including dread McNeil Canyon.



As I wrote about last year (go here), this beast climbs 2,200 feet in 5 miles, but it's probably the descent that gives me more spots of bother than the ascent. I've a bit of anxiety when my Tarmac insists on going 40-plus m.p.h. whether I want it to or not.
Obviously, with 8,600 feet of climbing, McNeil Canyon isn't the only hill. Looks like the Manson loop on the north side of Lake Chelan has some upward tilters, as does the final loop toward Navarre Coulee. Check out the course here.

Spur-of-the-moment means dealing with the challenge of all rooms in Chelan, Wenatchee and Leavenworth being sold out. But there's always Pateros. So instead of Highway 2 and over, we're approaching from the north--Highway 20 through Winthrop and Twisp,  and then 153 along the Methow River to our room at the Pateros Motor Lodge. Or something like that. Hope it's safe. (Actually, it's only 20 miles from Chelan; lots closer than L'worth or W'chee.)
Lookin' forward to it; I'm the only Titanium Cowboy heading over but several other B'ham folks will be there as well as a bunch of High Performance Cycling folks. I'll let you know how it goes! 

RIDIN', RACIN' PLANS FOR 2011

Crummy January weather has me looking ahead to when it'll one day be warm and sunny. Or at least not so cold 'n' wet 'n' windy. First up, I've gotta finish my Classic Road Rides of Washington book, however the weather hasn't exactly been cooperative of late. Oh well, nothing I can do about that.

So I'll look forward to mountain bike races and road rides. I've already mentioned ad nauseum Oregon's High Cascades 100 and Olympia's Capitol Forest 50, both of which are beginning to fill and making me a little nervous that I won't get in. ('Course if I made a decision on which I want to do, that'd probably solve everything, wouldn't it? ) Another one that's caught my eye is the Test of Endurance 100-miler (and 50-miler), also a Mudslinger event in Oregon.

Certainly want to do a couple of the Indie Series races. Had a great time two years ago but missed all of last season with a broken collarbone. (2011 schedule doesn't seem to be out yet.) BuDu Racing also has their series which runs February through April so I may jump into one or two of those races. Last year I single-speeded (izzat a word?) Cookin' in the Kettles, on a great course through Whidbey Island's Fort Ebey State Park.

Probably do some local(ish) road events too--Skagit Spring Classic in May, the Tour de Whatcom in July. I've done Wenatchee's Apple Century a couple times, which usually heads north along the Columbia River to Chelan. I notice this year's course, however, heads inland toward Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee. That could be kind of cool, especially if there's a tailwind from L-town east. One that intrigues me (and one that will definitely hurt) is the Chelan Century Challenge which heads up McNeil Canyon. The overall ride climbs 9,000 feet with 2,200 of it up the 5-mile McNeil Canyon Road. Not sure how they do it, but apparently you can ride McNeil Canyon as a timed hill climb. (See here for my McNeil Canyon write-up.)   

Speaking of hill climbs, after a couple years off, I think I'd like to give the Mount Baker Hill Climb (Ride 542) another shot. (Click here for my write-up on the last time I raced it.) Which means of course I'll be starving myself throughout July and August to somehow get my weight below 160. My best time was 2008: 1:38:10. This year I'll be in a new age group (as opposed to say, a New Age group), 50-59. Damn, that sounds frickin' ancient!