Eureka 1000k – A self-supported ride on Vancouver Island, British Columbia (June 14-16, 2014)

There comes a time when you want to find solitude in your life and get out and explore a new place and new experience.  After completed four 1200k’s  (Cascade, PBP, Rocky Mtn and Endless Mtns), I am always eager in learning more how to ride more independently.  And the 1000k distance is always a perfect opportunity to get broken into upcoming 1200k’s.  After registering for the Colorado High Country 1200k and Natchez Trace 1500k, I had the urge to find a 1000k that would give me additional experience of riding long remote stretches and riding as unsupported.  I wanted to ride the Vancouver Island 1200k in July, but was already registered for Colorado High Country. So I thought it would be great to try a 1000k on Van Isle.  The BC Randonneurs take pride in their unsupported 1000k’s and considers them to be “randonneur cycling's ugly duckling... the black sheep of the brevet family... neither fish nor fowl.”  So, upon looking at the BC Randonneurs Vancouver Island region 2014 schedule’s website, I encountered the Eureka 1000k, which route is listed as “Victoria, Gold River, Port Alberni and Lake Cowichan” and a start time of “rider choice”.  I got in touch with Mike Croy, the organizer for the Vancouver Island region, and Mike was very helpful in providing me helpful insight in my preparation for the Eureka 1000k. I also got a lot of advice from Dave Campbell, who is a good friend of mine.  Dave and Holland also allowed me to stay at their house in Victoria, and was only 5k from the start, and about 10k from the finish.  Dave and I are also planning to ride the Colorado High Country 1200k, so it was good to hang out and plan the 1200k ride.  Vancouver Island is full of excellent roads, beaches, mountains and scenic views that I had never experienced before.  The same reason that Ken Bonner named this course Eureka, is about the same reasoning on riding this particular ride…I’ve got an idea…EUREKA!

I started this ride with Ken but we got separated only about 5k into the ride and was on my own the rest of the ride.  Ken had to DNF at some point on the 1st day but he still went on to finish the Cascade 1200k the following weekend.  I am very thankful Ken was there at the start of the ride who give me some very helpful tips and encouragement.

I also found a 1000k on Vancouver Island to be very attractive since I figured I could easily take the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria with my bike without needing to drive into Canada.  

I had never been to Vancouver Island, but knew that terrain would be the biggest challenging element of the Eureka along with cooler wet weather is also quite common in the interior mountains of the island. Ken Bonner created the Eureka 1000k as one of 3 most “climby” 1000k’s on Vancouver Island, which the Eureka as the 2^nd most climbing (32,000 ft of climbing).  I didn’t realize this factor until Ken told me at the start of the ride.  Since I would be carrying my own gear for each day (without any drop bag support), I just figured I wouldn’t be setting any PR’s on this 1000k. But my main goal would be to finish each day at 18-20 kph average speed (including stops during each day), in order to get to my hotels…hopefully not more than 2 hours after dark.

Another big part of preparing for such unsupported ride is to get appropriate bags on the bike in order to carry essential clothing, food and tools, since I knew it was most likely I would be riding this 1000k solo and carrying most all my gear. I rode the Seattle to Glacier 1000k last year with Vinny Muoneke and Doug Migdon as an unsupported preride, but we sent all of our clothing to our overnight hotels.  Where this Eureka 1000k, I planned to carry all my gear.  Mark Thomas gave me good reviews on the new Revelate Design products, which I already had purchased the frame bag for last year. But I also got the Pika seat bag which, holds as much as 12 L. This was a perfect bag for this unsupported ride, where I could easily hold 2 extra days of clothing, rain gear and extra long sleeve wool jersey and gloves. Although, with all the clothing in the bag, it was almost maxed out, and was like having a long tail wagging behind meJ  

As any unsupported ride, it is essential to plot the course onto a computer generated mapping program, regardless if you are using a GPS unit during the ride.  I typically use Ride with GPS.  This allowed me to prepare myself on what the terrain was like on each segment of the Eureka route and also understand distances between each control for each day.  But, even though I had the course plotted on my Garmin, I always have paper cue sheet on hand always checking to make sure I am on course.  Since this was completely unsupported ride, it was up to me to choose my overnight cities and reserve my own hotels.  So I plotted the Eureka 1000k into Ride with GPS and figured out, the best place to overnight would be Gold River the 1^st night (396k first day) and Parksville the 2^nd night (322k second day) and third day 290k to finish in Victoria.  

I booked a hotel at the Gold River Chalet, in Gold River which the BC Randonneurs have used in previous Brevets, including the Van Isle 1200k.  The Gold River Chalet has been used in several previous brevets before and so the hotel attendant was very familiar with the Randonneurs and very helpful to me in providing me with the best service I could ever ask for. I had figured out since it would take me possibly over 20 hours to get to Gold River, I needed to look into how I was going to get food once I got there.  The first day has a considerable amount of elevation gain, about 10,000 ft in 396k and so, so by leaving at 3am from Victoria, this would get me there sometime around 11pm to midnight. I called the Chalet again and asked if I could possibly preorder food from any local restaurant and they gladly took my credit card and I had precooked Lasagna waiting in the my hotel fridge to be heated in the microwave once I arrived.  Now that’s called service!! The Gold River Chalet was a perfect place to sleep as it was right after a cool wet descent down from Strathcona Lodge.

I had also had already booked a hotel in Parksville at the Arbutus Grove Motel (at the 718k overall mark or 322k on my own designed day 2), which was conveniently located just off the course, just before the long 30k plus stretch on the BC 19 freeway.  Parksville was also located about 30k after the 2^nd double summit of the Port Alberni out and back (mostly on Hwy 4, which is full of rumple strips and narrow sections). Port Alberni summit is at 1400 ft (411 meters) above sea level and was even steeper after turning around in the city of Port Alberni. I also realized later in my preparation that the Eureka route goes right by the Arbutus Grove Motel on the first day, which allowed me to plan on dropping off my 3^rd day clothing and some food for the 2^nd night there at the hotel.  And this hotel was very gracious and allowed me to hold my stuff until I got there the 2^nd night. 

The first day had about 10,000 ft of climbing in just under 400k, with the 1,000 ft climb up the Malahat just outside of Victoria, some steeper 300-400 ft climbs in a few places along the coast and the 1200 ft climb up to Strathcona Lodge and 500 ft climb further south out of upper Campbell River and 1200 ft descent to Gold River.  

 Even though I made it to the Strathcona Lodge just before sunset (about 9:00pm), the final 44k to Gold River was in the dark and was cool and wet on the descent. So having the extra rain gear was essential.  The view at the Strathcona Lodge and all along the upper Campbell River was the most beautiful part of the entire ride and my favorite too! 

The second day had about 9,300 ft of climbing in 322k, with the 1200 ft climb right out of Gold River and the 2^nd 500 ft pitch out of the upper Campbell River, so it was important to plan to leave before the closing time. 

  Riding up the long climb back up to the Strathcona Lodge could be tough to make up time.  I left about 30 minutes before the cutoff (about 4:50am) but felt good on this climb and made up over an hour and a half in the bank by the time I got to Strathcona Lodge.  Upon leaving, I realized it was Father’s Day and so, I went back into my hotel room to hook back into my wifi and post a quick note on my Dad’s facebook.  Just taking the extra couple minutes was worth it to me as I knew I probably wouldn’t have a chance to send a note to my Dad later on.  The lodge had a buffet that started at 7:30, but since I got there a little earlier I decided to just have a warm scone and get breakfast once I got to the Campbell River control.  I also realized that even after climbing the 500 ft climb out of the upper Campbell River reservoir basin, there were still a lot of small climbs that slowed my pace down significantly while descending back down to town of Campbell River.

The long flat stretch along the beaches on the 19A (also on Day 1) is also something to consider in planning to stop only where necessary at the controls or sometimes taking up the info question option and not stopping to eat every time there’s an info or store control.  This was evident where there was an info control in Comox and Cumberland but a lot more food options in Courtney.  I wasn’t sure what store were in the smaller town of Cumberland and it was starting to rain hard once I got to Courtney.  I am glad I got some extra calories at Courtney since the climb up to Cumberland was bigger than I had expected (about 500 feet climb).

But this climb was no match for the upcoming Port Alberni double climb.  The northern climb up to Port Alberni is well over 1600 ft in 33k starting at the turn at Qualicum Beach, and much steeper in the final 3k to the summit. Where climbing from the city Port Alberni to the summit, climbed 1400 ft in only 11k.  So planning to also have wool and rain gear for the rain in the forecast was also important.  Ken Bonner also gave me a tip to leave gear that I might not need at the Coop gas station store, just before climbing the final pitch up the first climb over to Port Alberni.  And sure enough, the manager at the Coop Gas station was so generous and let me keep my stuff there. But at the time of the ride, it was raining and quite cool at the Coop station (base of the Port Alberni climb) and so I only left a small bag of clothing and wore most everything else I had.  This made the bike much lighter when I went over the Port Alberni climb!  The descent into Port Alberni was the most unpleasant part of this 1000k where it rained hard and visibility was very limited with water sheeting over the road and a lot of rocks to try and avoid on a steep descent.  I was glad I had my new Specialized TriCross with disc brakes especially during this stretch. But once I arrived into Port Alberni, the rain stopped and it was quite warm back at sea level. 

  I ate a quick bite to eat in town and then started climbing back up the Port Alberni summit. This time, the rain shower had passed and there was a stellar view of Mount Arrowsmith, all the way up the south side of the Port Alberni pass summit.  

After descending back down the north side of Port Alberni, and arriving back to the Coop gas station store (just before dark), I went to purchase a hot chocolate and the gas station manager saw how cold I looked and spared me a free hot choco!  I also got my extra clothes I left behind and then headed the final 20k to my hotel back to the Arbutus Grove Motel in Parksville. Although, I must say…if I were to ride this again, I would probably avoid the 5k Highway 19 stretch, just west of the 19A/19 interchange, which had a very narrow shoulder and the bridge over the Englishman River was extremely narrow.  And at night, this was kind of sketchy.  Next time, I would probably get a hotel in the center of Parksville along the 19A where there is more food options too and avoid the Highway 19.  I was glad I had left some cup noodle and other non-perishable food with my clothing with the hotel host on the first day.  Eating salty noodles and broth in my hotel was all my stomach wanted and was glad I didn’t try and spend time waiting and eating at a restaurant…and also could just roll over in my bed and fall right a sleep!

The third day had about 9,900 ft of climbing in 290k from Parksville back to Victoria.  Since Parksville was not a control, it was imperative to leave with plenty of time in the bank, in order to make the next control in the morning on the south side of Nanaimo. Even though Nanaimo was at the 765k mark, with sleep time at the overnight, and with steep terrain on the route that avoided the main city streets of Nanaimo, it was important to leave by 6am, giving three and half hours to go 47k.  As I mentioned before, the route would go on Highway 19 for 30k, instead of going through the heart of Nanaimo. Although, this stretch of highway 19 had a wide shoulder, but I was still desperate to get it done. 

Once I got to the control on the south side of Nanaimo, I had still had over an hour before the closing time and saw I had until 4pm to get to Lake Cowichan (about 76k further).  Since I had passed the 600k mark, I gained about 5 additional hours in the bank, instead needing to keep the 15kph in the first 600k. After Nanaimo control, the route passed by familiar territory I rode on the 1^st day.  

But once I arrived in Somenos, the route climbs up to Cowichan Lake on the older Cowichan Lake Road, which was nice the route took us off the main highway.  After getting to the Cowichan the route descended back the same way to Somenos.  Then headed north to Crofton, which I had been on the first day.  However, it was interesting how there wasn’t a control in Crofton, since the route continued further south of Semonos, but the course went to Crofton that added on 20k with some steep hilly terrain.  But I was still honest and it was great to make it to Crofton and take a photo by the Crofton sign, as my own personal “secret” control.  It was rather warm at this point so ice cream was greatly appreciated.

The route continued south on more familiar territory from the first day, all the way down to Cowichan Bay.   Climbing out of the steep Cowichan Bay and once I got back on Hwy 1, the route deviated from the first day and climbed up to Shawnigan Lake, where the next control was since Cowichan.  I was starting to feel all the extra gear I had picked up from my overnight in Parksville, and my pace definitely showed it.  I stopped and had a quick bite to eat at the local pizza place.  The route continues up the Shawnigan Lake road all the way to the south side of the Malahat climb. 

  

Once I arrived to the summit at the Shawnigan Lake Road/ Hwy 1 intersection, it was a nice descent all the way down to Goldstream turnoff of Hwy 1.  When planning for this ride, I had looked at the cue sheet and upon plotting into Ride with GPS, it was avoiding crossing Hwy 1 on Spencer Road.  I looked at this intersection in Google streetview when planning and noticed a traffic light and so programmed my GPS route to cross Hwy 1.  However, once I arrived at this intersection on the ride, I was forced onto Hwy 1 and there was no traffic light and barriers up, which didn’t allow me to cross Hwy 1.  So I just got onto Hwy 1 and took the next exit and eventually found the control in Millstream (a suburb of Victoria), with not much trouble.

The route then goes north to Sydney on Millstream Road and Ross Durance Road and other back roads.  This section was the most enjoyable roads on the entire 1000k, with smooth asphalt (about 1.5 lane) and steep rolling terrain in a dense forest.  It was about an hour before sunset and so it was good lighting and glad I hit this stretch before dark.  It was a Monday evening so only a couple cars and bicycles passed me.  The Ross Durance Road is a very popular route for riding and glad it was a part of the Eureka 1000k, even though it was 960k into the ride!  Once I descended into Sydney, it cooled off significantly.  The sun had just set but I just had 20k to go back to Victoria on relatively flat terrain.  It was cold enough that I put on my jacket and leg warmers and kept them on all the way back to the finish.  It was great to finish back in Victoria (north Saanich) not long after dark at 22:09 (67 hours 9 minutes for the entire 1000k). My results and splits can be found here on Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/154849556

The Eureka 1000k was the best ride ever! I learned a lot more about riding independently on this self-supported type ride.  It definitely paid off to plan all the details on my own, which made things a lot simpler and go much smoother on the ride.  Learning the course and planning my own hotels and meals and bringing the appropriate gear made this 1000k ride a fun journey on Vancouver Island. I am very excited to go back and ride more on Vancouver Island.  Thanks again to Mike Croy and Ken Bonner for organizing a great ride.  And also to Dave and Holland for all the great hospitality in Victoria! It was so great of Dave, Holland and Mike (and his son) to help me celebrate my finish over awesome homemade pizza and good beer after I finished the next day.  Thanks for all the great times!  A grand adventure and well worth trip, which makes me feel ready for the upcoming 1200k’s. 

Happy New Year everyone! 
Another big year of success! Thanks to everyone for all their support and encouragement! Especially all the excellent coaching from Michelle Grainger, all the wonderful volunteers support on all the Brevets, huge encouragement from Heidi Perry and my parents Bill Pearch and of course all my fellow Randonneurs and followers for keeping me going through the tireless hours in the saddle! The 10,000k (K-Hound) was my ultimate goal, but also achieved other goals, such as: RUSA Cup(all the RUSA distances +5000k), 4-year in a row of 200k or more/mo (R48), P12 (12 consecutive months of 100k), and completion of the Super Randonnuer Series. With Endless Mtns 1240k as my target 1200k, training on endless climbing courses also helped keep my climbing average up...notice a lot of 200k rides exceeded 10,000 ft! Attached is a chart I created from data I obtained from my Garmin Edge 705 (with a few adjustments in elevation from other websites or others blogs).

Help me fight Parkinson's and Leukemia

As a part of racing in this years Furnace Creek 508 across the Mohave Desert this October 6, I have selected 2 charities as a fundraiser which include The Northwest Parkinson's Foundation and the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Please help donate to either organization by clicking on the links below...they are great organizations that help my friends and family that are close to my heart.

The Northwest Parkinson's Foundation for Brian



Leukemia Lymphoma Society for Judy and Sean!

Thank you for all your support!

John Pearch

Hammer into shape at the Death Valley Double!

If you have any desire in riding 100 or 200 miles and you just don't want to wait until the summer time, sign up for one of AdventureCORPS many organized rides in Death Valley. AdventureCORPS (Chris Kostman and all the volunteers) did a great job in supporting the ride at various locations throughout the 200 mile ride. AdventureCORPS are the organizers for the
Furnace Creek 508 bike race and Badwater 135 mile Ultramarathon. I plan to apply for Furnace Creek 508 and thought riding the Death Valley Double Century would be a great time to see the Valley of Death during a more pleasant time of year. Because, if I am lucky and get into the 508, the time you pass through Death Valley is in the middle of the night where you can't see all the amazing views as you can in the Double Century!

AdventureCORPS also do a great job in supporting everyone at the aid stations with plenty of food, water and Hammer products. They provide more Hammer products than most races do and so it's a great opportunity to try out Hammer's

Perpetuem, Heed and Endurolytes. Thanks to Hammer for all their wonderful products! Hammer is also my sponsor and give me the essential fueling I need to successfully finish my races or events. If you are interested and are a first time purchaser of Hammer, click on the website and save 15%:

https://capitolpeakultras.com/HammerBeyond.html

The Death Valley Double Century was an excellent training ride for me and several Olympia riding friends. Josh Morse and I both rode the Double Century. Where Sean Sexton, Brent Warner and Jim Szumila rode the 105 mile distance. Both rides started at the same location in Furnace Creek Ranch with different starting waves, based on your predicted speed. I started with Josh in the 3rd wave at 6:30am. We were fully equipped as though it was another randonnuering brevet. We were asked many times by other riders, why the fenders or handlebar bag? But why not get some early training on mountain passes with the bike and gear that I'll be riding with in this years Rocky Mountain 1200k in British Columbia later in July.

Both 100 mile and 200 mile rides start south from Furnace Creek and passes by Badwater, the lowest point in North America (-282 feet elevation) and rises over many alluvial fans and the eastern mountain range of Death Valley.

The 100 mile turnaround is at Jubilee Pass (elevation 1293 feet above sea level). The 200 mile continues up over Salsberry Pass (elevation 3315 ft above sea level), then descends to the town of Shoshone, where it then turns around at about mile 74.

The descent into Shohone was a little windy on flatter stretches, but was not as bad as in previous years for this event. We heard from other riders that last year there was major headwinds for most of the ride and only 10 finished the Double Century. So we were very lucky this year.

Shoeshone is where it felt the hottest all day and was where I stopped the longest, refueling before climbing back up over Salsberry Pass. The climb back up over Salsberry Pass was not as bad, since there was a good tailwind. The descent down the west side of Salberry was also rewarding, with the bonus 15% grade climb up the east side of Jubilee. Once you come back into Death Valley, it was in the mid 80's and there was then a nice tailwind (with some cross

winds) most of the way back up to Furnace Creek. Once we got to Badwater the 2nd time (at about 133 miles) there were Subway sandwiches and cold sodas waiting for us.

I pushed on without waiting around for anyone else since it appeared most of the people I was riding with were stopping at the 150 mile (at Furnace Creek). So I knew it would be best to get onward and focus on getting to Stovepipe Wells. Since I just had eaten at Badwater, I didn't have to stop long when passing

through Furnace Creek. After leaving Furnace Creek, towards Stovepipe Wells, it was dark and so lights were required. This was another reason for taking my rando bike so I had a good light powered with my generator hub. Riding in Death Valley at night was amazing, seeing more stars than you ever get to see in March in the Pacific NW. There are only a few alluvial fans to climb over on the way to Stovepipe Wells. Once I turned around at Stovepipe Wells, I was glad I had a couple people to ride the final 25 miles back to Furnace Creek to the finish.

I finished at about 21:20, with a time of 14:50 (20 minutes after my official start wave - giving me an actual time of 15:11). Josh also rode great finishing about 30 minutes ahead of me. It was great to ride with Josh in the early parts of the ride. My friend Sean, Brent and Jim all rode a great ride in the 105 mile. Jim rode a great time for his first Century ride in 20 years. And Brent and Sean also rode strong under the finish cutoff time.
Here are results and more stories about the 2012 Death Valley 100, 150 and 200 miles:
http://www.adventurecorps.com/deathvalley/2012/2012dvspring.html

Jim and I had drove down over snowy passes to get to this ride. Sean and Brent also joined us along the way. But on the way home Jim and I took our time and had a good time traveling through the north end of Death Valley, viewing Ubehebe Crater and taking the tour of Scotty's Castle.

Great to explore Death Valley for an incredible well organized bike ride! I'm looking forward to returning to Death Valley in July to crew Heidi at Badwater!

Thanks AdventureCORP, Hammer and all the volunteers for all the support in making this a fun and successful event!

John Pearch

February 2012 Brings on many new adventures!

I recently just received sponsorship with Hammer. See my website to get a 15% discount (if it's your first order with Hammer): https://www.capitolpeakultras.com/HammerBeyond.html

This next weekend is the first big organazed ride of the year...the Death Valley Double Century: http://www.adventurecorps.com/dvspring/index.html
This will be a great way to see what I'm in for, if I am accepted into the Furnace Creek 508 (application period starts March 5!): http://www.the508.com/

The last 3 weeks have had great training rides permanents
Sunday Feb 5: Lacey-Shelton-Gig Harbor 200K: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/151543708

Saturday Feb 11: Olympia Spider 100k:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/151543694

Sunday Feb 12: Olympia Six Fingers 200k:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/151543678

Sunday Feb 20: Olympia Vader 300k:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/151543647

Other things John has been up to:
Being there for Heidi (not really crewing or supporting) at Arrowhead Ultra in MN








Celebrating with Heidi for getting into Badwater Ultra in Death Valley this July 16!

Also all registered for the Rocky Mountain 1200k in British Columbia, CA this July 22!: http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/rockymountain1200/

My photo albums of PBP and France!

Here are photos from a 90 hr free starter's perspective. No crowds at the start or finish but a great time overall! Thanks Hugh Kimball, Susan Otcenas, Gary Prince, Andy Speier, Chris Heg, Rick Blacker, Mark Roberts, Mark Thomas, Joe Llona, Joe Platzner and many others for keeping me going! And great to start off and come into Brest together as "Free PBPers" Also, thanks to Barbara Blacker and many others for all the great food at the gite near Uzel.
90hr Free Starter perspective:
https://picasaweb.google.com/johnpearch/PBP201102?authkey=Gv1sRgCNGJht-XnIH-Ig

I also have photos of prePBP, postPBP and Heidi, Elena and my camping trip at the following links...

PBP registration and some 80 hr start:
https://picasaweb.google.com/johnpearch/PBPRegAnd80hrStart2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCNmU8Pe0hpHg4QE

80 hr PBP start:
https://picasaweb.google.com/johnpearch/PBPRegAnd80hrStart201102?authkey=Gv1sRgCLiayLmLs8LZCQ

Pre PBP in Paris:
https://picasaweb.google.com/johnpearch/ParisFrance2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ7SwZ7X2cHMbg

Post PBP in Paris: https://picasaweb.google.com/johnpearch/ParisPostPBP?authkey=Gv1sRgCO7b5I6f8oSMtAE

Our camping trip to Frejus, Castellines, Canyon du Verdon, Alp d'Heuz, Chamonix/Mt Blanc: https://picasaweb.google.com/johnpearch/FranceCampingTrip2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKusgJeVl_iTuAE

Great to see all SIR and ORR out there supporting each other on a great PBP!

I hope to have a more detailed report soon!

à bientôt!

John

Bonjour de France!

This is one of the best trips ever! Heidi, Elena and I are learning french language and culture and are seeing very fascinating landscapes and scenery in the Riviera, Provence and Rhone-Alps! Here is a few of photos of our journey so far! PBP starts this Sunday, so I might not get a chance to post until after...so see the blog link below for more about my PBP standings....
And use this new link for photos from now on...

Au revoir!

https://picasaweb.google.com/johnpearch/FrancePhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCNX4_cXdlvGvJw

France nous voilà!

Photo courtesy of Jon Carignan photos from his France biking trip in May, 2011


Here is a link to the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200k that I will start riding on August 21, 2011 9:00PM(Paris time)...at 12:00PM PST.

http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/pbp2011/index2.php?lang=en&cat=accueil&page=edito

You can track my progress at this website...my frame number (aka bib number: 6932)
http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/pbp2011/index2.php?lang=en&cat=randonnee&page=suivi_participants

I will also be posting some photos of our camping trip around France here as well prior to the ride here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/johnpearch/France2011Photos?authkey=Gv1sRgCLz3mv2l-uCutAE#

Á bientôt

Crater Lake 400k+600k=VeryTough1000k My first 600k finish, not for the faint of heart!

It's been a while since I posted something here. This summer flew by so fast that I didn't have much time to sit down and write. Last January, I set out for new challenges in the biking world, more than I really knew what I was getting into. The main goal for the year was to finish my first 1200k brevet, which was Cascade 1240k the last week in June. As a result of training for Cascade and the drama that occurred during Cascade, I became very intrigued with more and more rando events as the summer progressed. Last January, Geoff and Vincent told me about this 1000k they were organizing to Crater Lake that is the last weekend of September. I thought at first, if I am alive by then after Cascade, than maybe I'll keep in mind. After 2 years of really intense Achilles pain from racing Race Across Oregon, I completely took the remaining summer and fall off from any serious long riding (in 2008 and 2009). I thought I would just keep the Crater Lake 1000k on the back burner and see how I survive Cascade first.

This year, I found out more how riding long multi-day rando events are not like ultracycling race events, (e.g. not trying to ride all night for 48 hrs straight until you fall over and not competitive). But instead more reasonable cutoff times that allows you to sleep some hours at the overnight controls or wherever else that you might end up in the early morning. I really appreciate this transition to Randonneuring from ultracyling (and my earlier days of ultrarunning and running races).

Riding the pre-ride of the Oregon Blue Mountains 1000k I learned a great amount of rando techniques from Vincent Muoneke, Kole Kanter and Vincent Sikorski. These guys got me focused and helped gain great confidence to finish Cascade. I thank these guys for all their support along this ride that is a turning point in my biking career. OBM taught me that regardless of how your fitness and focus might be at the start, you gain strength each day during the ride. OBM got hillier and hillier each day (mileage decreased/day but still was 12,000 ft of climbing/day), so it was a must to gain strenghth after each day. And keeping that focus of gaining strength after each day, this was a huge mental breakthrough for finishing the entire 780 miles of Cascade and many other multi-day rando events!

During the tail end of the first day of Cascade, Vincent Muoneke and I were both suffering up White Pass in the heat. Vincent convinced me that by pushing on from Naches to Lodgepole would give us a chance to "beat the heat" into the 2nd day. This was not an easy task riding more tired and really wasn't planned. We are still indebted to those volunteers who provided us a sleeping bag at Lodgepole. The jumpstart up to Lodgepole seemed to be impromptu decision and we only got about 2 hours of sleep. But the next day, we managed to get most of the way to Quincy before it got too hot and arrived in Quincy with plenty of time to recover for the 3rd and 4th day. This Lodgepole jumpstart strategy kept with me for finishing other rides well ahead of the cutoff times. I gained so much from finishing Cascade and what this sport has to offer, most entirely self-supporting and a sense solitude in the backroads in the middle of the night.

Fast forwarding to the Crater Lake 1000k, after the summer series that included Olympia 200k, Volcano 300k and the Border to Border (Bellingham) 1000k, I found myself more interested in the Crater Lake 1000k and was still on the radar. No pain in the Achilles still and feeling stronger and stronger after each ride. Late August and early September was not a big month of riding but it was a chance to ease back on the miles and still mentally prepare for Crater Lake. This was my chance to support Heidi who had recently got accepted an entry into the Cascade Crest 100, which was her first 100 mile ultramarathon finish. I’m glad I could be there to support Heidi during this very special time in her life.

The Crater Lake 1000k was not something you could just jump back in the saddle without the help of all the multi-day rides and required a lot of pre-planning in order to ride. I went to sign up for Crater Lake 1000k and realized that I had not done a 600k yet this year. So the back-to-back 400k/600k option sounded intriguing since it would allow me to get a 600k credit and complete the Super Randonneur Series. But after looking at the time limits it would require some extra sleep deprivation in the last 200 miles of the ride. What really made this ride hard for everyone entering (including the 1000k riders) was the midnight start, which is something I figured would be good to get used to getting ready for Paris-Brest-Paris 1200k next year, which also has a late evening start. The 1st 400k was from Bremerton to Pacific City and most everyone would ride together. However, the 400k/600k option was different from the 1000k that required the 600k portion to start at 3:00am Saturday in Pacific City, which forced 600k riders to have to stick to the more stringent 40 hour (9.3 mph) time limit, where the other 1000k riders had an additional 8 hours to do the last 600k. Thus, I knew that I would have to determine my own pace and not get stuck riding too slow or stopping too much on the 2nd and 3rd days (600k portion).

The nature of this ride was to be as unsupported as possible, with the exception that Geoff and Vincent would give us drop bags at the 2 overnight locations (Pacific City and Roseburg). We were required to book our own hotels and transportation home (i.e. Amtrak) in advance. As I looked at the time I would need to arrive at the finish in Klamath Falls (Sunday 7:00pm) for the 40 hr 600k time limit, I began to wonder if Roseburg would be an appropriate place to sleep in order for me to make the cutoff the next day. I decided to take the chance and thought I'd actually plan ahead this time, for pushing on like the Lodgepole strategy as Vincent and I did at Cascade. I booked a cabin up at the Umpqua Last Resort (48 miles up Hwy 138 from Roseburg), memorized the map on where my cabin would be and the caretaker said they would leave the cabin door unlocked ready for me to come in at any time in the middle of the night. I thought by reserving this cabin would mentally give me a reason to push on from Roseburg, no matter what other people were trying to convince me by the time I got to Roseburg. Besides, the Umpqua Last Resort was perfectly situated at the base of the steep part of the climb up to Diamond Lake and Crater Lake. If all goes well, this would allow me "beat the heat" once again as the forecast had a high in the 80's with lows in the 30s for the weekend of the ride. This cabin could also serve as a warming hut if the weather would turn grim.

Fast forwarding to the hours before the ride… I had my Dad take me to my friend Karen and George Wiggins (some good ultrarunning friends of mine). Thank you Karen and George for feeding me the best salmon dinner ever!! With fruit and veges from their own garden, I couldn’t have gotten better fueled for this long ride. After dinner, I was thinking of sleeping a little, but after a while, I just couldn’t sleep. I just lay on the couch and watched a movie until it was time to head to the start. Thanks again to Karen for driving me down to the start as it was raining and my drop bag was really heavy!

Arriving at the start just after 11pm, it was raining and so I had all my warmer rainy weather gear on or packed. We started at 12:01am and what a thrill it was to finally start this ride. Leaving Bremerton is sometimes tricky, and I missed a light and the lead group split ahead. So just outside of Bremerton I rode hard to catch everyone so I wouldn’t fall behind too much. I caught most everyone at Gorst and it was good to ride in a group through Belfair and down along Hwy 106/Hood Canal. After turning south off of hwy 101 towards Matlock, I dropped my electrolytes and figured I better stop and pick them up. When I went to try and get caught back up, I found my legs cramping and so I didn’t try to push too hard to catch back up. I hydrated and took the electrolytes that I was lacking and figured that it’s a long ride ahead and sooner or later I’d run into someone. But in the mean time, the remoteness from Matlock to Montesano with no tail lights to follow made it hard to stay awake. Caffeine was the best prescription at this dark rainy hour! I arrived into Purdy and got some coffee and a gas station Danish. Only a couple people stopped at this store where most pushed on to Montesano. I rode onto Montesano and saw the Rando party all outside the main gas station in town. I decided to not stop here as I figured they would catch me somewhere down the road. And sure enough, everyone caught me south of where we joined onto Hwy 101 on the way to Raymond.

This section of Hwy 101 has some good 500 ft rollers and I did what I could to stay with the pack all the way to Raymond. Everyone stopped at McDonalds for breakfast but I left on my own. I caught back with Ian Shopland and Eric Ahlvin and we rode together until the Astoria bridge with a few others that joined us. It was good to ride with Eric as he and I were both agreed it was good to take a break from racing RAO this year. As we crossed the Astoria bridge, I hit a huge wall and couldn’t hang with either Ian or Eric. I stopped at the Dairy Queen in Astoria to refuel and Steve Davis and Chris Heg came in and joined me. I pushed on and eventually ran into Kevin Humphreys. We helped push each other over the Lewis and Clark Rd hill, into Seaside. Upon entering Seaside we ran into Gary Prince who convinced me and Kevin to stop and get a quick shake at McDonalds (I couldn’t get enough of this place no matter how bad I think this restaurant really is). We rode to Cannon Beach together and a there was a larger group was there having ice cream, sounds good to me!


From Cannon Beach, got some photos of the haystack and didn’t see anyone for a while. There were several 300-500 ft rollers to contend with…as many have said, just because your at sea level doesn’t mean it’s all flat! But with rollers makes great geology to observe along this stretch of the coast. It’s amazing that these rocks are apart of the 17 million year old Columbia River basalts which poured down the ancestral Columbia River and all along the Oregon Coast as far south as Pacific City. http://hugefloods.com/Basalt.html
Despite all the hills I kept my mind on the beautiful scenery how the Pacific Ocean carved pockets or coves into these Columbia River basalts.

As I rode into Nehalam, I ran into Kevin and we rode together to Tillamook. Geoff and Vincent did an awesome job in finding side routes that would take us off the main hwy 101…as the Miami Folley Road was a good break from all the traffic along Hwy 101. We road into Tillamook and stopped to get food at the Safeway. I thought it was good to get some food and not go into Pacific City starving. Here I got me some cold chicken soup that hit the spot. Heidi called at the perfect time and it was good to hear from her and kept me focused to keep pushing on.

Outside of Tillamook, there was construction but not too bad as was described on the cue sheet. The turnoff towards Pacific City was a relief, to know we were almost done with this first 400k. We arrived on the overlook on Sand Lake Road in time for a beautiful sunset over the Pacific and Cape Lookout. I arrived into Pacific City at about 7:46pm. This was just in time before the Mexican restaurant closed…chicken enchiladas hit the spot.

The Pacific City Inn wouldn’t let us keep our bikes in our room so I left it outside my room as the care takers watched over our bikes for us. I shared a room with Steve Barnes and Joey Korkames who eventually came in later that evening. I found out later that morning from Steve that he had to drop due to mechanical breakdown. Thanks to Vincent for going to pick up Steve! That’s always a drag to have that kind of mechanical that late in the ride. After eating some breakfast and coming out to pack my bike, the caretaker moved our bikes into the hotel office. At 3:00am about 7 of us started the 600k. I couldn’t keep up with Charlie White and Ken Carter or Robin Pieper and figured I wouldn’t see them until Klamath Falls. I was riding on my own here and it was a so cool to listen to the ocean pounding on the bluff below. Later that morning I ran into Eric Ahlvin, Doug Kirby and Bill Boggess and eventually David Strong. The Otter Creek loop section had awesome views of the moon glow on the huge waves on the Pacific.
We all stopped at a nice little bakery in Newport that we had to wait a few minutes before they opened…but it was worth the wait to get yogurt/granola and a huge cinnamon roll with coffee.


It was good to see Yaquina River Bridge at Newport as this is where I worked one summer for the EPA before starting my career in Olympia. It was good to think of all these times that I had in Oregon that got me where I am today. As we rode south of Newport, we realize we missed the turn off of Beaver Ck Road, but only missed it by a ¼ mile. Beaver Ck Road had some nice rollers but it was again good to get off the main drag of Hwy 101. We ate at another McDonalds in Florence. But I figured this would need to be my last long stop for the day, since I knew I needed to push on to get to my cabin in a reasonable time later that night. At Reedsport, there was a large number of 1000k riders we caught up to or who caught us. Eric and I left on our own to head inland and didn’t see anyone else until Roseburg. It was starting to warm up as we headed towards Roseburg. We kept a good pace along the Umpqua River as it is all nice flat terrain along Hwy 38. We stopped briefly in Elkton for a refill on water and ice cream. Upon leaving Elkton, Hwy 138 climbs up several rollers in between the sinuous Umpqua River. I once roamed these lands as where I started in my career in geology and hydrology, while working for BLM in Roseburg. But back then I was not into biking and never rode on any of these roads.

As we arrived in Roseburg about 8:15pm, the sun was already set and Eric offered the extra bed in his room. Even though it sounded intriguing at the time, I knew I had to push on. I knew there was something that drove me to get to the cabin I had already reserved. Geoff reminded me that it is only 48 more miles on gentle rolling terrain and that it was a good idea to get this jumpstart as I had already planned. Geoff also helped me to realize that I should leave Last Resort by 5am to give me 14 hours to do the last 200k. Geoff and Vincent did this last 200k in about 12 hours in the July pre-ride, so I knew giving myself 2 additional hours would be a good idea. Others that had already arrived in Roseburg were showered and hitting the sack for a few hours. I called Heidi and told her I was feeling good to push on and thought I might be able to convince someone to ride with me. Eric and I ate at the Denny’s across the street. Eric had the brilliant idea to buy breakfast to go, which I did the same. I ate a big meal (chicken sandwich) then also got me some hot cakes and bacon that I would take with me. By the time I restocked all my gear I left Roseburg at 9:53pm. The downtime in Roseburg was sufficient that gave me a chance to catch my breath, restock and gain the confidence to push on. Ian was the only other person that pushed on who was camping somewhere up the road but left about a half hour before me. Even though it had been nice to ride with everyone the 2 days prior to arriving in Roseburg, I was ecstatic about riding on my own into the night. I figured I would eventually meet up with other people after I slept for a couple hours at the cabin.

Anyways, Hwy 138 up the North Umpqua River brings back many memories of working stream surveys for the BLM, which was my first job here in the NW, that launched my career in geology and hydrology. I couldn’t help to think of all the good times I had, moving from Ohio straight out of college and seeking new places to explore, either backpacking, trail running or mtn climbing. The North Umpqua is a very scenic river that has been in several movies (Fire in the Sky, The River Wild and probably more) but the River kept me from feeling alone and brought me to appreciate the beauty of the solitude that lied before me. It brought to realize why I ride long distances… to capture solitary moments in the wilderness that enhances our understanding of our surroundings. A few times a grip of reality would come to light, when some animal would jump out in front of me but luckily it was just a smaller critter that was probably more scared of me.

I finally arrived up at the Umpqua Last Resort about 2am. It was relief to get to the cabin and find the light on, heater on and door unlocked waiting for me. I set my alarm for 4am and fell right to sleep. I easily woke up at 4am without hesitation of falling back asleep. I grabbed my pancakes and bacon and glad I had some real food to start me up the road. I left Umpqua Last Resort at 4:50am and headed up towards Diamond Lake. There was actually some good downhill to start off but soon enough the climb up to Diamond Lake would be evident. Riding 6 to 7 mph was common and just kept moving forward (as Geoff described in his pre-ride report…Relentless Forward Motion).


A "Blur" of what Relentless Forward Motion looks like, an ugly site INDEED!


I only ate caffeinated hammer gels on this steeper portion of the climb. I was getting nervous that I was only able to keep an 8.5 mph pace since the cabin, and knew that I would need to keep pushing in order to make the cutoff by 7pm later tonight.




I arrived at Stump Lake where the Clearwater River crosses the highway and saw a beautiful sunrise over Mt Theilsen that is over 9,000 ft in elevation, sticking as a lightning rod above the Diamond Lake area. But it was still a distance off and knew I still had a lot of climbing, since the road goes near the base Mt Theilsen about 5400 ft.


Another couple hours of climbing, Mt Theilsen finally appears above the trees, this time straight ahead! I had the urge to get some coffee at the Diamond Lake resort. But once I got to the turn off to Diamond Lake, I noticed it was a 0.7k down off the course. So I decided to push on and just eat and drink my own. I had my bladder bag still full of water and my bottles were still relatively full.





After entering Crater Lake National Park, I stopped and ate a clif bar and stripped down out of my leg and arm warmers. It was just after 9am and was feeling good that I would possibly make it to the rim before noon. But I still felt the need to keep pushing to stay ahead of the cutoff time. The climb from the Park entrance to Crater Lake Rim was just as beautiful as I remember. There is a slight downhill into the pumice desert which has an awesome panoramic view of the Rim. Climbing up to the Rim was slow as predicted and once you get to the Rim it still climbs several hundred feet until you get to the lodge. But the view looking into Crater Lake is worth the 7,000 ft of climbing in the last 100 miles and worth riding 600 miles just to get to see the most magnificent volcanic caldera feature on this Earth!! Crater Lake also brings back memories to me of either running the Crater Lake half or full marathons, cross-country skiing on the National Park ski patrol or just hiking endlessly around the area. And now I can add…riding to the top of Crater Lake Rim as one of the memorable moments in my life!


I arrived at the Rim Lodge about 11am and greeted by Geoff. I ate some food just at the cafeteria as I didn’t want to wait at the lodge diner. Vincent arrived in his car and he kept me from lingering around too long. Doug Kirby and Bill Boggess had to drop on the climb and I appreciated how supportive they were for me. I left the Rim Village lodge a little before noon and descended to Klamath Falls. The first 40k to Fort Klamath was nice and fast descent without too much effort. However, once we reached Fort Klamath, we were routed on the west side of Klamath Lake to avoid busy Hwy 97. It was really hot by the time I got to Hwy 140, but at least I stocked enough water to make most the way to Klamath Falls. There were a few climbs that felt really hot along Hwy 140, but not as bad as the 1000k riders experienced who hit the long Crater Lake climb in the heat of the day. There was a one stretch where there was no shoulder on a climb and a truck was not very forgiving and I rode off into the soft shoulder but luckily I didn’t fall over. Other riders also experienced this stretch to be not very pleasant with some locals hassling by not giving enough room. As I entered into Klamath Falls, I followed the tcx file on my Garmin and went up an extremely steep 25% hill. Got to the top and there was a gate. I looked at the cue sheet hard copy and realized that they had skipped this…oh well got some bonus climbing in!

I arrived into Klamath Falls Olympic Hotel at 4:55pm (37:55 for the 600k and 64:55 for the 1000k total time), with just over 2 hours before the cutoff for the 600k. I guess all that worrying about making the cutoff paid off. My Lodgepole cabin strategy also paid off and somehow beat the heat on most of the Crater Lake climb. And I am so thrilled to finish a tough 400k/600k back to back, on a course that provided so many awesome views from the Pacific to the Crater Lake! What a way to finish a 600k and the Super Randonneur Series. Thanks Geoff and Vincent for organizing a fabulous ride. Thanks also to Geoff, Vincent, Kole Kanter and Mark Thomas for pre-riding this course in the pouring rain and on some rugged road conditions that forced a reroute making it more pleasant for us during the brevet. Thanks also to Vincent for driving me home, with the help of Bill and Doug who carpooled to Albany. And thanks to Heidi, my family, friends and fellow Randonneurs for all their support for giving me confidence to finish this ride!

See you all next year on the road to PBP!

John Pearch