Crater Lake is Oregon's only national park, but its beauty makes up for the lack of more. The scenic road circles the lake with many vista overlooks. The NP service closes for cars the east side of the rim road for two Saturdays in September. The Klamath Basin Chamber of Commerce organizes and supports the bike ride, which is free with suggested donation of $10.
An ex co-worker of mine, Chris, contacted me a week before, asking me if I wanted to go. The ride was not really on my radar, as I rarely do destination rides, but sounded good, so I agreed. We were also joined by another office mate - Mark and the two riding buddies of Chris - Guy and Pete.
It is September and it is dark in the morning. All five of us piled up in a Toyota Tundra. My V20 happily fitted on the Yakima bike rack, Mark's bike in the bed of the truck.
The car ride from Eugene to the park's North Entrance takes about 2.5 hours. As we went over Willamette pass and into central Oregon, we started noticing smoke. Soon the smoke thickened, the sky darkened. We saw road signs "prescribed burn". That did not make us happy as we were getting quite close to the national park. Luckily, a few hundred feet below the crest of the Cascades, the smoke cleared. Light wind from the west was keeping the smoke in Eastern Oregon.
The line of cars at the park's entrance was long. The plan was to park just after it, as we had a vehicle park pass and would not need to pay entrance fees for each cyclist. Later we found that a lot of people were doing the opposite. Was the NPS not charging cyclists on Ride the Rim day? From there we were to do about 9 miles and about 1500 feet of climbing to the rim itself, ride around the lake and go back, classic 50 mile "lolly pop" shaped ride.
I was getting very antsy in the car and as soon as we parked, I jumped outside in to the nice cool fall mountain air. Temperature was in the upper 50's, but the blue skies and still strong sun were promising upper 60's later in the day. Slobbered the sunscreen, took the bikes off the rack and off we went!
I was the only recumbent rider. This season I went on quite a few backpacking trips and I have not been riding as much, so I was not in my best shape. Mark is not so much into cycling as the rest of us and was riding his commuter bike. We agreed, that he'd ride his own pace, while the rest of us would keep together. Chris is fairly new to cycling, but has been very keen and putting more miles than me this year. Pete is a very experienced cyclist, but middle age, job and family don't leave much time for bikes. Guy is a cycling machine, maybe in his mid sixties, putting probably more miles each year than he has hairs on his head.
The road started with a moderate incline of 3-5%. Guy started with a modest pace, Chris right on his wheel. Pete was riding a bit faster. The air was cool and crisp and I felt excited and wanted to go fast on my fast machine. I knew that I should pace myself, but I figured it was only 50 miles and 5600 vertical feet, I would be able to sustain that, right? We even entertain the thought of doing two laps of the rim itself. At the "pumice fields", there was a small downhill, which I flew down, Pete was very impressed at the speed of the Vendetta.
Views soon started opening up and I saw Mt Thielsen's iconic profile in my rear view mirrors. Pulled up to take some photos, my soul full of joy. The incline increased to 6-7% and my speed went down. Guy and Chris caught up with me and we arrived at the rim.
Most of the bike riders parked here and this is where the official ride registration happened. We decided to go the way most riders did - clockwise. We went past the closed gate, leaving the cars behind. Riders of all sorts were working up another short hill and then came the first long and exhilarating downhill! The pavement was brand new, I was flying past all riders, shouting warnings well in advance. At the bottom of that hill was the first view of the lake itself and words are weak to describe the beauty of the deep blue water surrounded by steep cliffs, sun was still fairly low and kind, shadows long and air crisp.
For the next few miles the hills were rolling gently and I was riding fast and easy, chatting with Pete, who was also a fast descender, often trying to tuck behind me. Somewhere here was the first rest stop, which we did not feel the need to use. Some more vistas, photo ops, meeting other rider friends from all over the state.
Then, came a long hill. I still felt strong, but towards the end of it, for a first time I felt that my climbing tempo is slowing and I feared may not be able to keep up with my upright friends. I was happy to see the next rest stop. I think I failed to fuel properly till that point as well. Some more climbing and we got to the highest point of the ride - Cloud Cap Overlook. It turns out it was not only the highest point of our ride, but it is the highest paved road in Oregon, at 8065 feet.We could see all that smoke just a few miles away!
Some more photos and there was another great long downhill. Unfortunately, the new pavement had ended some miles ago and the harsh winters leave scars on the old road. I had to keep hands on the brakes, hitting bumps at speed almost threw me off the seat a couple of times. Here I still was able to gain quite some distance from my company and even as they were closing on me on the next hill, we crested together for yet another rest stop. Now we overlook the Klamath basin, Southern Oregon and Mt Shasta glistening in the distance.
It is unbelievable how well this ride is organised, food is abundant and good quality, rest stops are literally every few miles.
Another long fast downhill for me and this is where we joined the West rim road, packed with cars and drivers unhappy to share the road with hundreds of cyclists. At that junction, I stopped to regroup with my party. I should have studied the elevation map - this turned out to be a mistake. We were at the lowest point of the rim ride now, and from here on, the road was going only up and up for many long miles and nearly 2000 ft of elevation. The inclines were never bad though, between 6 and 8%, but here is where I felt my tank was empty. How come - we had merely done thirty some miles to that point? Elevation was one factor I had not counted in. We spend riding all season in the Willamette valley, only a couple of hundred feet above sea level, and here we were at between 6 and 8 thousand. Was I paying now for my unreasonable tempo for the first ten miles? My upright friends took off and I was left on my own, spinning and huffing, hoping they wouldn't have to wait too long for me.
We regrouped at the park lodge, enjoyed vistas again, but then the incline was relentless and now cramps. Now we were overlooking the western Cascades, ridges as far as the eye can see. Here was finally the end of that long hill and we were at the beginning of the Rim Ride again. Some orange slices at the rest stop, I was completely exhausted. I joked about doing one more lap around the rim, everyone shook their heads - not even funny. More photos and now another fast long descent back to the car, seems designed to be ridden on a Vendetta, I got Strava podium on that segment.
Kudos to the organizers, this event is top notch. A note to self - next time carry almost no water and food. There is plenty all along. Bring a good camera instead and a heart rate monitor to pace yourself better. Maybe two loops around the rim next time?
An ex co-worker of mine, Chris, contacted me a week before, asking me if I wanted to go. The ride was not really on my radar, as I rarely do destination rides, but sounded good, so I agreed. We were also joined by another office mate - Mark and the two riding buddies of Chris - Guy and Pete.
It is September and it is dark in the morning. All five of us piled up in a Toyota Tundra. My V20 happily fitted on the Yakima bike rack, Mark's bike in the bed of the truck.
The car ride from Eugene to the park's North Entrance takes about 2.5 hours. As we went over Willamette pass and into central Oregon, we started noticing smoke. Soon the smoke thickened, the sky darkened. We saw road signs "prescribed burn". That did not make us happy as we were getting quite close to the national park. Luckily, a few hundred feet below the crest of the Cascades, the smoke cleared. Light wind from the west was keeping the smoke in Eastern Oregon.
The line of cars at the park's entrance was long. The plan was to park just after it, as we had a vehicle park pass and would not need to pay entrance fees for each cyclist. Later we found that a lot of people were doing the opposite. Was the NPS not charging cyclists on Ride the Rim day? From there we were to do about 9 miles and about 1500 feet of climbing to the rim itself, ride around the lake and go back, classic 50 mile "lolly pop" shaped ride.
I was getting very antsy in the car and as soon as we parked, I jumped outside in to the nice cool fall mountain air. Temperature was in the upper 50's, but the blue skies and still strong sun were promising upper 60's later in the day. Slobbered the sunscreen, took the bikes off the rack and off we went!
I was the only recumbent rider. This season I went on quite a few backpacking trips and I have not been riding as much, so I was not in my best shape. Mark is not so much into cycling as the rest of us and was riding his commuter bike. We agreed, that he'd ride his own pace, while the rest of us would keep together. Chris is fairly new to cycling, but has been very keen and putting more miles than me this year. Pete is a very experienced cyclist, but middle age, job and family don't leave much time for bikes. Guy is a cycling machine, maybe in his mid sixties, putting probably more miles each year than he has hairs on his head.
The road started with a moderate incline of 3-5%. Guy started with a modest pace, Chris right on his wheel. Pete was riding a bit faster. The air was cool and crisp and I felt excited and wanted to go fast on my fast machine. I knew that I should pace myself, but I figured it was only 50 miles and 5600 vertical feet, I would be able to sustain that, right? We even entertain the thought of doing two laps of the rim itself. At the "pumice fields", there was a small downhill, which I flew down, Pete was very impressed at the speed of the Vendetta.
Views soon started opening up and I saw Mt Thielsen's iconic profile in my rear view mirrors. Pulled up to take some photos, my soul full of joy. The incline increased to 6-7% and my speed went down. Guy and Chris caught up with me and we arrived at the rim.
Most of the bike riders parked here and this is where the official ride registration happened. We decided to go the way most riders did - clockwise. We went past the closed gate, leaving the cars behind. Riders of all sorts were working up another short hill and then came the first long and exhilarating downhill! The pavement was brand new, I was flying past all riders, shouting warnings well in advance. At the bottom of that hill was the first view of the lake itself and words are weak to describe the beauty of the deep blue water surrounded by steep cliffs, sun was still fairly low and kind, shadows long and air crisp.
For the next few miles the hills were rolling gently and I was riding fast and easy, chatting with Pete, who was also a fast descender, often trying to tuck behind me. Somewhere here was the first rest stop, which we did not feel the need to use. Some more vistas, photo ops, meeting other rider friends from all over the state.
Then, came a long hill. I still felt strong, but towards the end of it, for a first time I felt that my climbing tempo is slowing and I feared may not be able to keep up with my upright friends. I was happy to see the next rest stop. I think I failed to fuel properly till that point as well. Some more climbing and we got to the highest point of the ride - Cloud Cap Overlook. It turns out it was not only the highest point of our ride, but it is the highest paved road in Oregon, at 8065 feet.We could see all that smoke just a few miles away!
Some more photos and there was another great long downhill. Unfortunately, the new pavement had ended some miles ago and the harsh winters leave scars on the old road. I had to keep hands on the brakes, hitting bumps at speed almost threw me off the seat a couple of times. Here I still was able to gain quite some distance from my company and even as they were closing on me on the next hill, we crested together for yet another rest stop. Now we overlook the Klamath basin, Southern Oregon and Mt Shasta glistening in the distance.
It is unbelievable how well this ride is organised, food is abundant and good quality, rest stops are literally every few miles.
Another long fast downhill for me and this is where we joined the West rim road, packed with cars and drivers unhappy to share the road with hundreds of cyclists. At that junction, I stopped to regroup with my party. I should have studied the elevation map - this turned out to be a mistake. We were at the lowest point of the rim ride now, and from here on, the road was going only up and up for many long miles and nearly 2000 ft of elevation. The inclines were never bad though, between 6 and 8%, but here is where I felt my tank was empty. How come - we had merely done thirty some miles to that point? Elevation was one factor I had not counted in. We spend riding all season in the Willamette valley, only a couple of hundred feet above sea level, and here we were at between 6 and 8 thousand. Was I paying now for my unreasonable tempo for the first ten miles? My upright friends took off and I was left on my own, spinning and huffing, hoping they wouldn't have to wait too long for me.
We regrouped at the park lodge, enjoyed vistas again, but then the incline was relentless and now cramps. Now we were overlooking the western Cascades, ridges as far as the eye can see. Here was finally the end of that long hill and we were at the beginning of the Rim Ride again. Some orange slices at the rest stop, I was completely exhausted. I joked about doing one more lap around the rim, everyone shook their heads - not even funny. More photos and now another fast long descent back to the car, seems designed to be ridden on a Vendetta, I got Strava podium on that segment.
Kudos to the organizers, this event is top notch. A note to self - next time carry almost no water and food. There is plenty all along. Bring a good camera instead and a heart rate monitor to pace yourself better. Maybe two loops around the rim next time?
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