Missoula-Frenchtown-Hamilton 200K, Hitting the Weather Window Perfectly

Ken Baker, Lane Coddington, Karel Stroethoff, Sam Collins, Jason Karp, Ken Billingsley
photo by Karen Ruckey

More photos here    Results here

As Ken Billingsley and I were driving to Missoula Friday night we encountered rain, wind, and fairly heavy snow over Homestake Pass. All week the weather forecast called for rain at some point during our 200K brevet on April, 25.

But one last check of the weather forecast on Friday night showed conditions improving and we awoke to a beautiful, chilly, blue sky morning.  Ken and Karel Stroethoff were there as usual, and we were joined by experienced randonneurs, Ken Baker from Bozeman and Sam Collins from Jackson, Wyoming who were riding a brevet in Montana for the first time.  We were also joined by Lane Coddington from Missoula who would be attempting his first randonneuring event of any kind.

Karel showed up on a fixed gear bike and was super strong right from the beginning dropping the rest of us as we headed out of Missoula. A little confusion with a missing sign at our first info control brought him back temporarily and we were all together at the first checkpoint in Frenchtown.  After Frenchtown Karel was gone, though Lane and Sam saw him again briefly in Hamilton. Karel ended up finishing an hour and 10 minutes ahead of the rest of us. He's had a great start to the season which certainly bodes well for PBP in August.

Later on in the ride we came across Rick Dendinger who was doing some riding on the Bitterroot Bicycle Trail.  Rick had ridden a 100K and 200K with us last season, but is nursing a knee injury so he didn't want to risk riding a whole 200K. Rick stuck with us to Hamilton and back to Missoula and we were glad to have his company along with dozens of other cyclists as the nice day was bringing them out of the woodwork.

On the Bitterroot Bicycle Trail to Hamilton

We got split up some on the path to Hamilton. Ken, Ken, Rick, and I made the Subway our checkpoint. Karel and Lane stopped at McDonalds, and Sam ended up getting the deepest into Hamilton thanks to my cue sheet which recommended the Safeway in the middle of town. US 93 in Hamilton is basically one long strip mall so with so many choices to get a receipt it was probably inevitable that we'd end up at different places.

The ride back to Missoula on the path was pretty easy with a slight downhill grade along the Bitterroot River, though the wind did change to be in our faces most of the way in both directions, it was always light and not much of a concern. A few rain clouds over the mountains to the west looked like they might find us, but they never did.

An extended stop at the Town Pump in Florence allowed Lane and Sam to catch back up and we were all back together for the last 22 miles except for Karel who was just killing it on the day. We talked and chatted the miles away and then put the hammer down as the path gave way to the US 93 shoulder for the last few miles into Missoula. Traffic was busy as usual, but not threatening and despite lots of debris-no flats for anybody!

We cruised across the pedestrian bridge by the University of Montana on to Broadway and the Motel 6 where Sam's wife Karen was deputized to sign our cards. Even with generous stops, this fun flat route allowed us to finish in under 10 hours. Not a bad day's work.

Ken, Ken and Lane on the Pedestrian Bridge-almost done!

Although the weather stayed cool throughout the day, it was also dry and breezes were light. We really couldn't have asked for better riding in Montana in April. It was the perfect day on the perfect route and a great time.

Post ride was at the Iron Horse Pub in Missoula where lots of randonneuring stories were shared. It was pouring rain on Sunday morning when we left the motel and most of the drive back to Belgrade was in a wet sloppy snow storm. It was a good day to not be on the bike.

Congrats to Ken Baker for finishing his first brevet in many years, and to Lane for finishing his first brevet ever. It was also nice to meet Sam and Karen who had recently relocated from New York to Jackson. It's nice to get another experience randonneur in our part of the world.  It was a great start to my PBP 2015 qualifying campaign. The next one, the Fishtail 300K out of Laurel and going to Columbus, Red Lodge, and Bridger is coming up fast on May 9. That one will be a little more challenging and even more scenic. Hopefully the weather keeps cooperating.

Addicted to Flèche

Last year when doing some randonneuring in Oregon, I casually mentioned to Lynne Fitzsimmons that if she was leading a fleche team in 2015 and needed another member that I might be interested. So I was delighted when the invite came a couple of months ago to be a part of Team Type 2 Fun.

The fleche is a unique team event in the sport of randonneuring.  It has a bunch of quirky rules that only randonneurs would understand or appreciate, but basically you have to cover the distance of the route in about 24 hours and you can't stop at any one location for more than 2 hours. So whether you're fast or slow, you're out there for one complete lap of the clock.  For a more complete definition of what a fleche is, scroll down to the bottom of this post for Randonneurs USA's official definition.

Lynne designed a route that was exactly the minimum required distance of 360 km and what appeared to be a relatively flat profile. Perfect for me because I'm definitely still in the base miles phase of my training for the season after a long winter.

Team Type 2 Fun: Jason Karp, Fatima Aviquivil, Keith Moore, Steve Bredthauer, and Lynne Fitzsimmons

Our team gathered at Jim and Patty's Coffee in Beaverton, Oregon and got acquainted with each other. I've found in cycling, that you can start a ride with total strangers, and by the end you're life-long friends. I met Fatima and Steve for the first time, and each person on the team was meeting someone else on the team for the first time.

We set off at the incredibly sane hour of 10AM-a change from the typical brevet which usually starts at stupid early o'clock in the morning.  Since the ride is 24 hours-it doesn't matter when you start, so why not start after a good, long night's sleep and a leisurely morning? In the first few miles through the streets of Beaverton and Hillsboro it was explained to me that there is type 1 fun, which we all know and love, and type 2 fun involves a lot of pain and suffering-which really is the essence of randonneuring.

Somewhere between Gaston and Wilsonville. Still nice and flat.

The first part of the route was just a big loop through the Willamette Valley from Beaverton to Forest Grove, Newberg, Wilsonville, and back to Beaverton. The loop was mostly uneventful and we put some time in the bank.  The only major excitement for me were the two crossings of the Willamette River. The first on a too narrow bridge with a school bus and the second on the infamous I-5 bridge by Wilsonville. We made it back to Beaverton and Lynne's house where we were treated to all the pea soup and corn bread we could eat-much better than the typical gas station cuisine randonneurs thrive on. Many thanks to Lynne and her husband Bob who were incredibly gracious hosts.

With 83 miles under our belts and full bellies we made preparations to head north to Olympia. The graying sky and dropping temperatures were proof that the weather forecasters weren't going to be wrong. We were going to get wet...but when?  A few sprinkles began to fall as we started climbing immediately out of Lynne and Bob's driveway.  We slogged our way to the top of Skyline Drive and got plenty warmed up again. We were all together at the Skyline Tavern where Keith Moore demonstrated a wonderful technique for obtaining a card signature without buying anything.  He slapped down a $5 bill on the bar and asked the bar tender to sign. Signatures were happily given and we were on our way down the twisty-turny Germantown descent just as darkness, and the rain, fell.  My disc brakes, which perform wonderfully well on scary descents, also squawked and screamed like a rusty old tractor all the way down. Disc brakes work just fine when wet, but they can be noisy-a problem I had to apologize to my teammates for over and over again. But at least they knew I wasn't going to sneak up on them.

The next segment of the route, crossing over the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, and the I-5 Bridge crossing the Columbia River and connecting Oregon to Washington was urban and very cool. Unlike down in Wilsonville, this I-5 bridge has a separate pedestrian/bike path.  After the bridges we dropped into Vancouver and our next control at a little taco stand where a willing patron signed our cards and marveled at what we were trying to do. I requested an additional stop at a c-store in Vancouver as I was dangerously low on food and tacos are hard to carry. It was 46 miles to our next control.  So another stop was made and the required junk food was acquired, including a 6 pack of little donuts, two snickers bars, peanut m&m's, and a little savory from a combo cheese and pepper stick. Yummy!

Off we went, leaving the bright lights of Portland and Vancouver behind as we followed quiet back roads that wandered over the hills that the adjacent I-5 cut through. This is where the anticipated easy route became quite hard as these punchy little hills wore us out.  No climb was very long, but on many occasions my front tire was lifting of the pavement, meaning the grades were quite steep.  This segment was also punctuated by some navigation confusion in Woodland and a 4 mile stretch on I-5 in a down pour. The I-5 riding was easy in that it was flat, and the trucks must have gotten word to our presence via CB because almost all moved way over, but it was absolutely pouring buckets on us and bicycle tires are extremely flat prone on freeway shoulders from all the tire debris, broken glass, and other sharpe objects.  So it was with great relief when the exit for Todd Road finally came into view.

By this point everyone was suffering.  And thanks to my added stop in Vancouver, those endless little hills, constant rain, route navigation issues in Woodland, and just the need to warm up in some random gas station, we were falling way behind. Things started to come apart a bit when Keith and Lynne rolled into Shari's diner in Kelso on flat front tires, and we were about an hour and half behind schedule, but in desperate need of food and coffee...and more coffee.  Lynne was battling stomach and fatigue issues, along with the flat, and implored us to leave her behind and press on. Of course, the rest of the team tried to encourage her to continue, but Lynne's mind was made up and the train station was only a mile and a half away. We got her tire changed and reluctantly set off into the wet night without her, but not until after the delicious Shari's breakfast sampler and a couple gallons of coffee were consumed.

Ride with GPS promised that the remaining 70 or so miles only had about 200 feet of climbing. Lies! We started going uphill and then uphill some more.  We had about 7 hours until the clock struck 10 AM and we needed to be averaging about 12 miles per hour, but every glance at my computer showed that we were traveling at less than 10. What I couldn't understand is that Olympia was down at sea level, and yet we were still climbing.  Only in Washington is this possible-I was convinced through this and my Cascade 1200 experience that the state only goes uphill.

Thick fog made me miss the town of Vader all together, though Keith assured me that we did pass through it. Too bad-I was all poised to make some sort of smart ass Star Wars joke.  Opportunity missed!

Day broke to find us still climbing.  Cloudy fatigued minds were trying to work out the complicated math of we have so many miles to go in so many hours and at such and such rate of speed.  In all of that we missed a turn and added about a mile to the route.  Thank goodness Keith was paying enough attention to the cue sheet to catch the error, I had completely ignored the cue sheet since Portland so I was absolutely no help at all.  Despite that, we looked to be in okay shape when suddenly Keith's back tire went down. With the help of a few extra hands, Keith had the tube replaced in record time and we were back underway, but more time was lost.  That's when we were introduced to Barry Road.  A nasty steep little bugger of a road where my front tire was again coming off the ground with each pedal stroke. At 5 mph we weren't getting anywhere.

Then something amazing happened.  For the first time in all my riding in Washington it seemed, the road actually began to tilt downhill.  We picked up speed and soon found ourselves in Centralia and on our way to our planned 22 hour control in Grand Mound. More math.  We weren't going to make Grand Mound with 2 hours to go as planned, but we were sufficiently close enough to think we still had a chance. We marked the spot at 2 hours to go and pressed on.  We got to the McDonalds at Grand Mound about 15 minutes later. No time to sit down, reflect on the ride, and then leisurely cruise to the finish line.  No, we had just enough time to get our cards signed and that's about it. When the girl behind the counter promised that the sausage biscuits were ready to go, Fatima and I took advantage. But there was only one sausage biscuit made and I had to wait. But I needed some food.  I was in pre-bonk mode and without food I probably wouldn't have the energy for the last 20 miles to Olympia. The girl behind the counter sensed my desperation and implored people in the back to get a move on and finally the sausage biscuit was provided sans wrapper to be applied directly to my face.  It was gone before I was out the door-and boy did it make me feel better.

We screamed along the flat roads to Olympia with a light tailwind at the blistering speed of 15 or 16 miles per hour.  When we got to a point about 10 miles away we still had 50 minutes. It would be doable if there were no hills and the stop lights were few and green.

The route did stay flat, the clock became less oppressive, and as we cruised through Tumwater we slowly realized we were actually going to make it. Go through a few lights, cross a bridge, and we're in Olympia. We even joked we could stop and get an ice cream. The Governor's Hotel came into view and we rolled up to the front door. I got a little emotional-it was a great save. Our cards were signed at 9:53 AM-seven whole minutes to spare!

At the finish. I don't look it, but I'm very, very happy to be here.

Then the real fun began. As we sat in the lobby, sending texts and Facebook posts, other teams started to arrive, all tired and happy and excited to be done.  All with great war stories of their own to tell. After a quick shower, food and restorative beverages were obtained at a downtown Olympia brew pub with more stories. My mood had changed from being miserable to having a ball. After a 3 hour nap, and a chance to see more arriving teams, the lobby of the Governor's Hotel was the happiest place in all of Olympia.

The next morning, the Seattle Randonneurs hosted a buffet brunch for all the teams and their families and each team got to stand up front and tell the story of their ride. The adventures were hilarious, inspiring, and awesome.

A huge thank you to Lynne for taking of all the logistics of route finding, mapping, preparing the long and complicated cue sheet, feeding us, and doing all the little and unseen things a team captain has to do.  And many thanks for inviting me to the team.  Congrats and thanks to my other teammates Fatima, Steve, and Keith for working so hard to get to the finish line on time. It was a memorable ride and the celebration at the end was fantastic. It was definitely one of the neater randonneuring experiences I've ever had.

From the Randonneurs USA website:

flèche vélocio(flesh veh low chi o) - A team ride of 24-hours' duration, usually held over the Easter weekend. Very well attended in France, they are becoming increasingly popular among American randonneurs. A team may consist of three to five machines (a tandem counts as a single machine) and at least three machines must finish together to receive official credit. Each team must choose its own route and may not ride with any other cyclists. A minimum of 360 kilometers must be covered inside 24 hours, with no less than 25 kilometers to be ridden in the final two hours. Flèche routes are point-to-point or a large circuit since any particular stretch of road may be used only once during the event by the team. In French, flèche means "arrow", so the traditional method is to ride from one point to another, like an arrow flying into the bullseye. In France a multitude of flèche teams, having left from various cities and villages, will converge 24 hours later on the bullseye, which is the traditional Easter cycling rally in Provence. (Note there are other events in France with this name as well, eg. the Flèches de France, which are not the same sort of event.

Glacier-Yellowstone-Big Sky 1000K Permanent

John Pearch of the Seattle International Randonneurs approached me about the idea of submitting a permanent linking Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park.  John did all the work in designing and organizing, but I will "own" the route as it passes through my region. The route is designed so riders can tack on another 1000K after the riding the Portland-Glacier 1000K or the Seattle-Glacier 1000K brevets that are run from time-to-time.  The Portland-Glacier 1000K is scheduled for June 26-29, 2015. If you're interested in riding with John, let me know and I will put you in touch with him.

This 1000K permanent is a point-to-point route that starts in Whitefish, Montana and finishes in Big Sky, Montana. In between the route takes the Going-to-the-Sun Highway through Glacier National Park, then heads south through Great Falls, on to Livingston and then through the Paradise Valley to Gardiner.  After Gardiner the route enters Yellowstone National Park at the north entrance, crosses into Wyoming, and goes over Dunraven Pass before passing by the Park's main attractions, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Lake Yellowstone, and Old Faithful before reentering Montana and leaving the Park at West Yellowstone. The final leg follows the Gallatin River to Big Sky, Montana.  From there, riders can shuttle to Bozeman/Belgrade and connect to the airlines at Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport or pack their bike and ship it home and catch the Jefferson Lines Bus at Belgrade which connects to the Greyhound system.  I will happily help out on logistics for any randonneur who attempts this permanent, but be warned-this ride will be unsupported with long distances between services in some areas and high traffic in and around the national parks, so you must be well trained, stocked, and equipped.

John Pearch's details about the route

Cue Sheet

Registration and Waiver form

2015 Schedule

I still owe this blog ride reports for this season's Beartooth 600K and Yellowstone National Park 200K.  I'll eventually get those done.  In the meantime we have to get next season's schedule posted. 2015 is a Paris-Brest-Paris year so we must get our brevet series done by the end of June.  Here's what we've come up with:

April 25-200K (Missoula-Frenchtown-Hamilton)
May 9-300K (Laurel-Columbus-Fishtail-Red Lodge)
June 6-400K (Belgrade-Bozeman-Whitehall)
June 20-600K (Helena-Great Falls-Double Divide)
July 4-100K (Bozeman-Bert Karp Memorial Populaire)
July 18-200K (Bozeman or Belgrade)*
August 1-300K (Beartooth Pass)*

*I moved the ride over Beartooth Pass from the 200K to the 300K due to a conflict with the Beartooth motorcycle rally.  We don't want to ride the pass with 10,000 Harleys.

For a look at what other nearby regions are doing, checkout Norm Carr's spreadsheet showing the combined schedules for the Oregon Randonneurs, Seattle International Randonneurs, Desert River Randonneurs (Tri-Cities, Washington), and our Montana schedule. There's lots of opportunities to get the brevet series done and qualify for PBP!

Yellowstone Park Brevet Change in Plans

Coming up next is our 600K on Labor Day weekend out of Columbus, MT.  That ride will go over the Beartooth Highway on the first day, and takes a ride over the high plains north of Billings to Broadview on the second day.  For more information check out our website.

Our final brevet of the season is scheduled for September 13, 2014.  The plan was to ride the south loop in Yellowstone National Park. But we have to change our plans because they are closing a portion of the road between Old Faithful and West Thumb for bridge replacement.

So instead, we are going to ride the Yellowstone National Park North Loop.  We'll start from West Yellowstone at 8AM on the 13th of September, go to Mammoth, then over Dunraven Pass to Canyon, with a stop along north rim drive next to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Then we'll head back to West Yellowstone via Norris and Madison Junctions.  It just so happens that this loop is also 200K so it works out well for us.

A Smokey Roe River 400K

Pre-dawn pre-ride photo by Brenda

More Photos Here    Results Here   This is the route we rode

As we drove to Helena Friday night the winds kicked up and smoke poured into Western Montana from wildfires in Canada, Washington, and Oregon.  Montana had a nice wet spring, we were hoping for a smokeless summer for a change.  But when big areas to the west and north are in a drought we’re going to get it anyway.  Forest fire smoke is a fact of life in the summer in Montana.

By early Saturday (July 19, 2014) morning the winds had calmed a bit, but the smoke was hanging around as thick as ever.  Air quality was poor.  We knew we would all probably end up with smokers cough by the end of the ride.

But despite the ugly conditions, 5 randonneurs were at the start in Helena including myself, Ken Billingsley, Karel Stroethoff, Joshua Loveland, and Mark Liebig-who drove all the way over from Bismarck, ND.  Mark rode our 300K early in the season and this was to be his first attempt at a 400K.

The story of the day would be wind. Primarily a southwest wind. The same wind that was blowing in all the smoke and kicked up to 20+MPH would blow us most of the way to Great Falls and fight us on the return to Helena.  It was a great blessing most of the time, but also a curse whenever the route happened to turn south.

I started the ride off with a bang! Riding strong over the big hill out of Helena with Mark I felt my back tire going down. I couldn't hardly believe it. I was riding my bomb proof Gatorskins. I shouldn't be getting a flat. Mark graciously stopped and helped me get the tube changed as the other three riders came along and we all had a little impromptu gathering. The cause of the flat was simply an old multi-patched tube. The leak was right at one of my patches. My cheapness got me on that one, but that patched tube did make it through most of the summer and my Cascade 1200 attempt.  I actually forgot I was using it.  Mark quietly rolled up the tube and stuffed it in his bag saying he’d toss it at the first garbage can. It was a delicate intervention-no doubt-to keep me from attempting to patch the tube again. Much appreciation to Mark for the help in fixing the flat and saving me from myself.

The first half of the route is very lumpy with big, big rollers between Wolf Creek and Augusta.  This would have been an incredible stretch except the heavy smoke ruined the vast wide open scenic vistas we were anticipating.  But it was staying cool and the wind, which was sometimes an annoying cross-wind was helping more than hurting.

We got the full positive effect of the wind on the 20 mile legs from Augusta to Fairfield and Simms to Vaughn.  On these stretches we spent most of the time well over 20 mph.  It was incredible.

Mark, Ken and I rode the whole way together.  They’re both a little faster than me-or at least, they slow down less than me when we got tired.  So I had to dig deep at times to keep up.  But it was really good for me.

Joshua was riding his first brevet of the season.  A 400K is not the way to ease into a brevet series.  But we were riding out of his hometown-so he decided to give it a go. We met Joshua coming into the controls at Augusta and Simms as we were leaving, so he was only maybe 20-30 minutes behind at that point and looking very good. Unfortunately, he had to break off the ride at Great Falls and drive back to Helena for non-bike riding reasons. But he got in a good solid 150 miles on the hilliest part of the route-so that was a good days work for sure.

Karel just got back from a teaching trip in China.  He hasn’t hardly turned a pedal since our 400K in early June except for a couple of permanents.  So he was understandably going to ride this 400K at his own pace. I didn't see Karel again after my flat tire, but our dutiful volunteers, Brenda, Jackson, and mother-in-law Mindy drove out to check on him.  He was doing fine a couple of hours back if not just a bit sleepy.

One of the more interesting features of the route is the Riverfront Trail in Great Falls.  It’s a little tricky to navigate, but it gave us a needed respite from vehicle traffic and offered some wonderful views of the Missouri River, including the BlackEagle dam and falls.

After the obligatory stop at Giant Springs State Park in Great Falls, to see what was once known as the shortest river in the world, the Roe River, we turned south and headed to Helena, knowing full well that headwinds were inevitable. 

Giant Springs dumping into the Roe River (Missouri in the background)

Getting out of Great Falls is no fun. There’s high traffic roads, debris strewn shoulders, and about 1 mile of I-15-all going steeply uphill and into that headwind.  By the time we got to the Town Pump by the Great Falls Airport we were pretty cooked and took a long break.  Town Pump is the biggest c-store chain in Montana by far. The newest Town Pumps, like the one we used in Great Falls, were seemingly designed for randonneurs.  They even carry hard boiled eggs and pb&j sandwiches-along with all the other delicious gas station goodies randonneurs have come to depend on.

The wind calmed down and the smoke seemed to thin out on the way through Ulm and when we got to Cascade conditions were calm and quite pleasant.  That didn't last though.  As the route squeezed into the Missouri River Canyon after Cascade the wind hit us hard off and on.  Along with bugs…lots of bugs.  Fortunately they weren't the biting kind, just the annoying kind-unless you’re an angler or a trout.

There was lots of wildlife in the canyon besides the bugs including a huge herd of mule deer, eagles, osprey, antelope and a rattlesnake coiled up on the shoulder that an unsuspecting Mark almost rolled over (that was the only live rattlesnake I saw, but there were plenty of dead ones).

Brenda and the rest of the volunteer crew met us in Wolf Creek. They had cold cokes and other goodies. It was a real morale booster for me as we rested up for the final big hump between us and our beds in Helena.  It was a clear starry night sky.  The smoke was all gone and temperatures were quite pleasant.  If I wasn't so tired I would have been having the time of my life.

The last climb which is on I-15 turned out to be easier than expect-despite my fatigue and increasing soreness. The wind miraculously calmed and what there was actually helped push us along. Over the crest of the big hill, the lights of Helena appeared-a truly beautiful site.  The descent was even better as there was no traffic I just rode in the travel lane of the freeway and let it go.

Ken, Mark, and I were done at 1:58 AM (that’s right-2 minutes under 21 hours!  I made sure to record that). I was starting to feel nauseous like I did at the Cascade 1200, but kept it all in this time.  But it’s a good thing I didn't have to ride at all on Sunday. I was totally cooked.

Karel took a couple of sleep breaks along the way and waited to finish in daylight as it’s easier to stay awake when the sun is up. He texted that he got done at 6:46.  Another gutsy performance by one of the toughest randonneurs I’ve ever known.

Many thanks to Ken and Mark for staying with me.  We had a lot of fun and interesting conversations along the way.  And Mark managed to get to see some scenery after the smoke started to clear and before it got dark.  Congrats to Mark for his first 400K-the first of many, many more I’m sure.

Photo courtesy of Mark Liebig.  Great scenery after the smoke cleared

And again many thanks to family for all the support.  We couldn’t do this without them!

The 600K is next on Labor Day weekend.  Only one more brevet for a full series.  It’s just the longest and steepest ride of the year-no problem!

Bert Karp Memorial Populaire-2014

Our little peloton leaving Bozeman

Select Photos Here      All of Clay's, Darren's, and Derek's photos on Facebook

Results

My family and I pulled off the 3^rd BKMP on the 4^th of July.  We had 15 riders, some new, and several who have ridden in either both or one of our previous populaires.  What we lacked in the quantity of riders, we more than made up for in quality!

We had a perfect weather day.  Pleasantly warm temperatures, no precipitation, and very little wind. We also had a new course this year, 6 miles shorter for a true 100 kilometers (62 miles), with a little less climbing and a lot less traffic-thanks primarily to Gallatin County paving more and more back roads.  I had nothing but positive feedback on the route, so we’ll probably stick to it for next year.

As for volunteer help-we who rode really hit the jackpot. All our stops, even the information checkpoints, had volunteers, dutifully and happily waiting for us with cool drinks and lots of munchies.  If a rider went hungry or thirsty-and I don’t think anyone did-it was their own fault!  Many, many thanks to my wife Brenda who coordinated the whole thing (on her birthday!)-with lots of help from my sister-in-law Deborah who came all the way from Georgia to help.  Thanks goes out to all our ride volunteers led by my son Jackson, nephews Austin and Jameson, Billy and Mindy Horne, LaVerna Schmidt, Deb Korrison, and Danielle and Shannon Karp. All these people got up earlier than they needed to on a holiday and drove all over the valley from checkpoint to checkpoint to look after us. Also thanks to sister Jody and many other family members for shopping for all the goodies, and for brother Travis and his son Austin for marking all the turns-a service rarely available for randonneuring rides.

Springhill Church rest stop

My brother Clay and his boys Darren and Derek, who rode last year, traded in their bikes for their cameras for this one and took hundreds of photos.  They were with the riders every step of the way, snapping pictures and cheering us on-along with Danielle with her cow bell.

Personally, I got in a group of six guys-all of whom were happy to ride about the same speed-and take a generous amount of time at each of the rest stops. So I absolutely had a ball. I seldom get into such a well suited group for that long. It was just a lot of fun.

The MVP performance of the day has to go to my sister Jody Schmidt who took on this ride despite a very limited amount of training miles. Jody suffered plenty through the last 15 miles or so, but gutted it out and got done with plenty of time to spare. A truly great accomplishment and a really inspiring moment.

Thanks to all who came out to ride, volunteer, or just watch and wish us well. I know mom was looking down with great pride and joy.

What a fun event!