Oregon Eden's Gate (Covered Bridges) 400K Brevet

More photos HERE. Route map HERE.

Fifteen riders, including myself, left the LaQuinta Inn parking lot in Wilsonville, OR in the pre-dawn darkness on a quest to complete a 400k brevet. After a short stretch on I-5 to get across the Willamette River, the route gave way to the smooth quiet country roads of the Willamette Valley. There was no traffic to speak of so I could play "guess what crop that is" as we passed field after field (they grow a huge variety of stuff in this part of the country!)

Through most of the first 200k I felt absolutely great-actually holding myself back so as not to blow up on the last half of the route. I don't know what it was-the 800 miles I did in July, the pleasant temperatures, the smooth almost traffic-less roads, or the low elevation (most of the route was less than 500 feet above sea level)-likely a combination of all of these had me in a great mood. I even relished the sharp but short climbs on Cole School Road near Scio-the steepest of which, pitches up to near 20% for a short ways. Since I'm a bigger rider I climb hills while seated hard on the saddle while pulling up on the handle bars-unlike the small guys who stand and "dance on the pedals". Due to that steepness, my climbing method caused the front wheel of my bike to come off the ground with each pedal stroke-an odd and disconcerting sensation.

I rode the early part of the route with Alan Woods-who saved me from a bad navigation error in Silverton. We were briefly joined by Greg Olson at the Gallon House Covered Bridge (photo below). Greg disappeared over the hills on the Cascade Highway after Silverton. He ended up finishing about 2 hours ahead of me.

The first 200k finished up with a miles long steady climb to the Lane County border and a "nuclear free zone"-so we had that going for us-then a descent into the Mohawk Valley. The descent was marred by a new chip seal surface that severely scrubbed speed-which was a bummer. The new black surface also radiated quite a bit of heat. Other than that the day was very pleasant-it sure could have been a lot hotter. With the exception of a few miles of chip seal here and there, the roads throughout this route were nice and smooth. I wish we had more roads like that in Montana.


Our last covered bridge on the route, the Earnest Covered Bridge shown below, came just before an extended stop at the Mohawk General Store-a nice little place seemingly off the beaten path, but plenty busy. A patron told me the store was just days away from being 100 years old. The clerk at the store was very friendly and said they appreciated all the business we bikers sent their way (there was us randonneurs-Ted Lundin, Alex Kohan, and myself- plus bikers of the motor variety relaxing on the store's front porch).

After Mohawk we were half-way done, but facing a strong and steadily increasing headwind-that the locals tell me always happens. Too bad-the last half of the route trends flat to slightly downhill-with no wind we could have really made time. I fought the wind on my own all the way to the next stop in Harrisburg, where I was once again joined by Ted and Alex at the Dari Mart for another extended stop (the photo below shows Ted on the left and Alex on the right). Alex and Ted were with me at every control-and without exception while Alex was in the store someone would come up and talk to Ted and me about his recumbent-it really got to be pretty funny-our boring diamond frame bikes didn't elicit a single glimpse next to Alex's machine. Another nice patron at the Dari Mart told us he had a friend at work who rode bike all the time-rides of 50 miles...and maybe even farther! We humbly stated we were on a 249 mile ride. I'm not sure the poor guy could even get his head wrapped around that (I'm not sure I could either). But lets face it-we randonneurs do get a charge off people's reactions to what we're doing-it's a big part of the"fun".

After Harrisburg Ted and I started working together-sharing pulls into that nasty headwind. Much of the route is in open country and the wind was relentless. We would get a bit of a respite from an intermittent grove of trees now and then, but the road always seemed to meander back into the open where we were exposed to the full effects. Working with Ted saved a bit of energy for both of us and we made better progress together than we could have alone. After a little while we came across Alex on the side of the road on his cell phone-he quickly rode up and drafted in our slipstream the rest of the way into Albany. I didn't know at the time, but Alex wasn't feeling well and had been discussing abandoning.

After an egg salad sandwich, chips, and a quart of chocolate milk in Harrisburg, I wasn't in need of anything other than water in Albany, but Ted and Alex were ready for another store break-and I sure wasn't going to argue. We sought out an A&W/C-Store a short distance off the route. After downing a root beer float, Alex spectacularly ralphed it all back up in front of the wide eyed customers going in and out of the the A&W. All the while Ted and I were calmly tending to our bikes-both no doubt thinking "there but for the grace of God go I". Actually, I have yet to puke on a bike ride-maybe that means I have an iron stomach or maybe I'm not trying hard enough? In any case, the store clerk was really cool about it-bringing out a bucket of water to wash the 'stuff" away with the calm reassurance of "no worries". Alex was quite the trooper-saying he actually felt a bit better after puking-climbing back aboard and heading out with us toward the next control in Independence.

The wind relented as the sun started to set, but it was still there as we cruised along on more quiet country roads. The store clerk in Independence reported that Greg had been through a long time ago while enthusiastically signing our brevet cards. He said it made him feel like he was part of the ride! I agreed that he was indeed a very important part of it.

Now dark-Alex's distress paid big dividends for me. Under normal circumstances I'm quite sure he would have been much too fast. But with his stomach acting up he stayed with Ted and me-guiding us on somewhat sketchy roads going into his hometown of Salem. It also helped to have an extra headlight as it was very dark and the roads were pitch black with no fog line in some sections.

Before the ride I had set a tentative goal of finishing in under 20 hours. I don't know why-I guess 19 hours and some minutes sounds better than 20 hours? Doing the math in my head, I saw that my goal was still intact despite the headwinds and extended rest stops. Dosing my effort early in the ride also paid off, as my legs still felt pretty good considering they had over 200 miles in them at this point. So I pulled Ted and Alex out of Salem at a brisk pace-throwing caution into the diminishing but ever present headwind. After 10 miles of pulling on the slightly busy River Road we turned off on the dark and deserted Keene Road where I finally sat up and spun easy. Ted and Alex were doing fine, but they knew of my sub 20 hour goal and bid me to go on ahead. I decided to go for it-hoping I wouldn't get lost. Fortunately, the cue sheet was accurate and my lights were good enough to read the road signs. Before long I was on the home stretch-I-5, across the Willamette, into Wilsonville, and back to the La Quinta where Keith Kohan (Alex's Dad) checked me in and where Greg was still hanging out. Ted and Alex came in not long after I did and only one minute past 20 hours, and Alan-who I ridden with early on-made it in as I was about to head back to my daughter Stephanie's apartment in Beaverton.

I leave this ride feeling better about my cycling. After a slow spring and early summer where I struggled on longer rides, I completed this one with no obvious low points. Perhaps I'm finally finding some fitness? Note to self: don't get so out of shape over the winter! I spent about 16 hours and 33 minutes on the bike-so that means about 3 hours off-not very efficient, but the rest stops were quite welcome.

Many thanks to John Henry Maurice, Keith Kohan, and the other Oregon Randonneurs who put this ride on. It has to be one of the iconic randonneuring routes in the USA. I really enjoyed it.

Tobacco Root Mountains 300K Brevet-a ride with a little of everything!

My second and final brevet of the season as RBA took place on July 10, 2010 and was a challenging success! The challenges started before the ride with the complete destruction of a significant portion of the frontage road between Belgrade and Manhattan due to bridge construction. The day before the ride I had to scramble to build a new cue sheet to accommodate a detour on Dry Creek Road.

Previously, I also had to write in a detour due to the I-90 overpass construction in Three Forks-a detour that put us on I-90 for 4 miles outbound, and 5 miles inbound. Long story short...I got the updated cue sheet done and the riders made it through the detours with no major problems.

I was once again honored to have Jim Moores of Boise, and Ken Billingsley of Molt, MT on the ride. We left my house at 5:00 am in the early morning darkness with our lights on. As we passed through Manhattan, Brenda called to let me know that Ronaele Foss from Colorado Springs was just getting underway. Ronaele had emailed me to let me know she would be riding, but unfortunately, a misunderstanding about the start time put her almost an hour behind. I felt bad about the mishap, but I knew from seeing Ronaele's results on the RUSA website that she was an experienced randonneur and would be just fine.

The morning temps were in the 50's-and quite comfortable. We made great time to the first control at Sappington Bridge, stopping only at the Three Forks overpass construction site to take advantage of the worker's port-a-john (the only good thing about road construction is there's usually a port-a-john nearby). My Mom and Jackson were set up at the bridge over the Jefferson River to sign our cards and restock our supplies. They would be our guardian angels all day-in the event any of us had trouble.

The day warmed up considerably-the bank sign in Sheridan said it was 86 degrees. Much warmer than I've been used to so far this year. However, after Sheridan dark clouds started building across the hills of the Jefferson Valley. The forecast called for 20 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms, but it looked like there was a 100 percent chance of us getting nailed!

Ken and Jim were riding stronger than me on the last half of the route and I had to let them go. Ken was super strong all day and Jim kept his steady pace all the way through.

After getting myself rehydrated (I wasn't drinking enough early in the ride) I started to rally a bit before Whitehall. Mom and Jackson rolled into the Whitehall control right behind me and reported that Ronaele had left Sheridan and was getting along fine. Unfortunately, the weather over that part of the route looked quite ominous.

The 30 miles between Whitehall and Three Forks blessed all 4 of us with a wonderful tailwind. I didn't even mind the rain drops that were falling on me as I blew through the Jefferson Canyon.

Ronaele finished a while after dark-equipped with bright headlights to announce her impending arrival from several miles away. She had indeed encountered some of those thunderstorms-accompanied by some scary strong cross-winds. But despite the hardships she was in fine spirits.

All four of us had good days on the bike and all four of us felt like we accomplished something at the end. It was definitely a tough ride. Special thanks to my Mom, son Jackson, and wife Brenda for all the work they put in to make this ride such a great success. With the sudden route changes and all I would have been a basket-case without their help.

Being an RBA is fun, but now I can breath easier the rest of this season (sort of). I don't have any more club or randonneuring events to lead-I can just show up and ride like everybody else. There is work to do however. A full brevet series for next season is in the works as my Paris-Brest-Paris 2011 preparation continues.

The ride results and a link to more photos is HERE.

Jason Karp, Jim Moores, and Ken Billingsly all reflectered up and ready to go!

Ronaele Foss got a late start and had to deal with some serious weather, but still finished with plenty of time to spare

Tobacco Roots 300k Brevet preview

With the best of intentions I planned to ride the entire 300k on the 4th July. However, I encountered a little problem-the Ennis 4th of July parade and rodeo-one of the biggest such events in the state. As I got close to Norris I noticed the traffic was picking up, but at the junction of MT 84 and US 287, the line of cars coming from Bozeman and heading to Ennis was miles long and unbroken. Riding over Norris Hill with a steady stream of (possibly not-so-sober) rodeo fans was not my idea of a good time. Even if they were sober, by the time I started the bigger climb to Virginia City plenty of their counterparts would be pretty lubed up. Thus I decided to turn around and live to fight another day.

Despite my shorted ride (200k instead of 300k), I did preview the most critical parts of the route. A bridge over the railroad tracks just east of Manhattan (8 miles into the ride) is being replaced. As of now, the old bridge and pavement is still in place, but a sign warns motorcycles of loose gravel and to choose another route. That tells me they're getting ready to tear things up. If that's the case we might have to do a little cyclo-cross, but the distance should be short. Worst case-there is a detour on Dry Creek road available, but it would add 5 miles to the route (each way).

The biggest obstacle is just outside of Three Forks at mile 19. The I-90 overpass bridge is being replaced. There is a business loop detour available, but it's about a mile of hard packed gravel. It's a viable option if it's dry. If it's raining or has just rained-it's a muddy mess. However, another alternative is to take I-90 for 4 miles from Three Forks to the junction with US 287 (exit 274). On the return trip, the same gravel detour is available, or we can take I-90 to Logan (five miles). Other than a 100 feet of bridge over the Madison River, the shoulder is nice and wide. Montana does not restrict cyclists from riding on interstate highways. It's noisy and not so tranquil, but with a big shoulder and rumble strip it's safer than a lot of secondary roads. I'll review the situation Friday night and we'll talk about it before departure on Saturday morning.

History Made-Shields Valley 200K Brevet

On June 19, 2010 I hosted my first brevet as a Regional Brevet Administrator. This is a ride I’ve been looking forward to since last fall when I put it on the schedule.

The ride was scheduled to leave at 6:00 a.m. from the Walmart parking lot in Bozeman. An ominous sign-a raw blustery east wind was blowing under a gloomy overcast sky as I was setting out my clip boards with the requisite forms and cue sheets. It’s almost always calm in the mornings in Bozeman-even if it gets windy later. Knowing that the ride goes through one of Montana’s windiest places in Livingston, I was afraid we could be in trouble.

The turnout for the ride exceeded my expectations. I was joined by fellow Montanans Ken Billingsley from Molt and Karel Stroethoff from Missoula along with Jim Moores from Boise who is in the Bozeman area often with his bike. Ken, Karel, and Jim had ridden some of my permanents last summer. I was very glad to meet Brian and Rob Kennedy, randonneurs from Florida, who were in the Jackson, Wyoming area on vacation and came all the way to Bozeman for the ride.

My wife Brenda showed up at the start a little before departure to handle the paperwork for me so I could get geared up. Much appreciation to Brenda for waking up awfully early on a Saturday morning to do that. It was a huge help.

After the obligatory group photo, we were off on time and working hard into a headwind on the rolling hills going into Bridger Canyon. The temperatures, which were somewhere in the 40’s weren’t warming up very fast as we climbed up the canyon, but the wind did die down considerably. I think this is the first time I can remember a ride where the wind speed actually declined. Much more frequently it’s just the opposite.

The six of us were fairly compatible riders, keeping more or less together as we ascended the challenging Battle Ridge Pass climb, descended into the Shields River Valley, and arrived in Livingston. The sun finally overcame the clouds as we headed out of Livingston into the Paradise Valley on the tranquil East River Road. The air was crystal clear and the surrounding mountains really stood out against the tree lined river bottoms, emerald green hills, and big blue sky. We were lucky to get a nice sunny afternoon during this abnormally rainy spring.

I was delayed a few minutes by a flat tire, the result of a piece of glass no doubt picked up on the debris laden shoulders of Park Street/US 89 out of Livingston-apparently a place where street sweepers fear to tread. Karel waited for me to change the tube while pealing off a cool weather layer. We got into the Paradise Valley checkpoint, manned by my Mom and Dad, as the other guys were finishing up a snack. Jim left the control first, understandably concerned about some building clouds to the west, followed shortly by Rob, Brian, and Ken. Karel and I stayed a little longer to restock and rest up. Karel let me use his superior frame pump to get a few more psi into my repaired rear tire. Many thanks to Mom and Dad for waiting for us at the checkpoint, signing our brevet cards, and setting out all the goodies. I owe them big time!

Karel and I made brief stop at a Livingston gas station on the way back to top off our bottles and prepare for the Bozeman Hill and Jackson Creek climbs. Despite a juicy tailwind, I suddenly ran out of energy sometime after mile 100 and had to let Karel go. I had felt good all day, but a severe lack of training this spring, along with some early nutritional miscalculations conspired to put me in the little chain ring. As I was slogging up Jackson Creek Road, riders from some of the local race teams came cruising by-looking fresh as daisies on their own 100 mile training ride. I'm sure I was quite the pathetic site spinning alone in my tiny gears. But alas, I'm a randonneur not a racer. I embrace my slowness! I rallied a little after the final climb was over and finished strong.

Brenda was at the finish with our son Jackson and dog Ernie to check everybody in and collect our brevet cards. Once again-much appreciation.

The day went incredibly well. The sun came out, the winds helped more than hurt, and the thunderstorms stayed away. Many thanks to the riders-all who came from a considerable distance. It was a tremendous honor having them ride this brevet. Also, thanks to my family for being such loyal and capable volunteers. Results and links to some photos here.

I am one happy lantern rouge!

Shields Valley 200k Brevet Preview

One week before the main event I pre-rode the Shields Valley 200k course-first and foremost for my own fitness, but also to make sure route was rideable. With all the road construction going on, and very few alternate routes, that's always a concern.

The route is in good shape. There's some construction on Park Street/US 89 near the Livingston I-90 interchange, but a side path takes us right around it. The only other construction I encountered was some shoulder work on the Battle Ridge Pass descent, but that didn't impact the traveled way.

The weather was cool and breezy. I got sprinkled on in the lower Bridger Canyon and again just outside of Livingston. Northeast winds gave me a tailwind for much of the route. The forecasts for next weekend show it will be much warmer, breezes out of the west (which may hurt a little on the final climbs), and some possible thunderstorms in the afternoon (which is pretty common this time of year). All in all-it should be a great day to be out on the bike.

Here's photos I snapped along the way:

The view of the Bridger Ridge in Bridger Canyon is beautiful in the morning light. I hope we don't have so many clouds in the way on June 19.
Our first checkpoint is Nordies Grocery in Wilsall.

Not unique to Montana, but more common here than most. The cows will go around you-just be calm-then dodge cow pies for the next several miles.

A view of the Yellowstone River from Old Clyde Park Road

Construction in Livingston. Get on the path adjacent to Park Street to get around it. On the way back get on this same path after riding under I-90.

2010 Brevets getting closer!

My first brevet as a RBA, the Sheilds Valley 200k, on June 19 is pretty much ready to go. I have all the pertinent info on my brevet website. It should be an amazing ride. Please contact me with any questions.

My other brevet, the Tobacco Roots 300k, will be on July 10. There's a couple of bridges under construction between Belgrade and Three Forks that may cause some minor detours that could make the ride a little bit longer (but no less spectacular). I'll keep an eye on it-and hopefully we'll be able to get through the construction without any issues.

I hope to get both routes (or significant portions thereof) pre-ridden before the ride dates-that is if spring ever comes to southwestern Montana. It's been a little slow in coming. Until then-here's a couple of preview photos:

One of the many scenic views on the Sheilds Valley 200k

Looking back towards Ennis on the Tobacco Roots 300k

Season 2010...It's on.

The bison in the photo below looks more nimble than I feel on the bike. I've had a serious case of winter blahs this year. I've done some riding here and there, but nothing sustained. Whenever the weather cooperated I had some excuse not to go out.

The season finally got underway for me with yesterday's Yellowstone Park Ride with the Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club.

My nephew Brian and I set off for West Yellowstone on Saturday morning. There was nary a cloud in the bright blue sky as the sun was coming up, but it was chilly. Others reported temps of around 7 degrees on the drive down through Gallatin Canyon. When our group set off at about 10:15 a.m. temps were in the 20's, but on the rise. By the end of the ride in the early afternoon it was nice and toasty in the low 40's (that's toasty for West Yellowstone in April).

The April ride in Yellowstone has become a nice tradition for our bike club over the years. The Park is still closed to motor vehicle traffic, but the roads have been plowed and are nice and dry. Other than a rare car of a park employee, cyclists have the Park all to themselves (at least the portion they let us ride in). It's a rare treat to have such nice roads virtually car-free-along with the incredible scenery and occasional wildlife. Anyone who knows anything about Yellowstone knows that riding a bike after it has opened to cars isn't quite so much fun.

Due to some road construction by Gibbon Falls, our ride was cut a few miles short, but we still got a nice easy spin of 37 miles done. I wish the Park staff would let us go towards Old Faithful, instead of Norris Junction, but apparently that way is a "bear management" area (whatever that means).

I rode very easy-staying with several other riders, most of whom are also just waking up their legs after the long winter. I felt great-just warmed up really-at the end. I considered turning around and riding the route again-but Brian, who is just getting in cycling, had had enough. He rode very well-it probably won't be long and he'll be dropping me.


Riding in the Park without the cars is a great thing and a rare treat. If I was King of the World-I'd close the Park to motor vehicles for about two weeks in the middle of the summer and turn it over to bicycles and other human powered vehicles. Seriously, I think they should do it-people would come from all over the world to ride! It'll never happen-but I can dream. At least we get the opportunity for a little taste in April.