60 seconds to finish the Cascade 1200
Part I: Welcome to the most god-awful Brevet in the Western Hemisphere.
Completing the Cascade 1200 was, by far, the greatest physical and psychological challenge of my life. It was also the most rewarding. I remember one experienced long distance rider telling me that you can’t really train for a ride on this order of magnitude. I believed he was wrong and I was hell bent on proving it. But now I know he was right.
I set my goals:
- Weight: 144 pounds – I would have to lose 11.
- Body fat: 10% – I would have to shed 4%.
- Resting heart rate: 44 bpm – 6 beats below where I started.
Between Monday and Friday of most weeks, I logged six rides and 100 miles. Twice each week I lifted weights to strengthen my core, back, shoulders and arms. On Saturdays, I rode 200K or more in the foot hills and the mountains that would approximate the terrain of what I would encounter in Washington.
I selected a Rivendell Atlantis for the job. Its lugged-steel frame, relaxed head-tube angle and extended-length chain-stays seemed ideal for riding 200 miles every day. On its elegant chassis I installed the heartiest time-tested gear I could find, with an emphasis on components that I knew I could repair en-route, if the need should arise.
I read and re-read every ride report from the inaugural Cascade 1200 in 2005. I studied and I incorporated the advice of long-distance riding coaches, ultracyclists, and riders more experienced than me. I defined my goals. I laid out a plan. I put it to paper. And, as much as life would allow, I stuck to it.
When the day came to leave for Washington, I was well aware of my strengths, my weaknesses, and I committed that I would not be drawn out to ride beyond my limits.
For the first two-and-one-half days, I kept that promise and the ride went well – better than expected, in fact. But it was precisely this success that lured me into breaking my promise. On the road between Quincy and Malott, in a place called Farmer, I decided to lift my pace and grab onto the rear-wheel of a faster, stronger rider. It was a decision nearly spelled the end of my dream.
Randonneurs love to debate which of the world’s 1200 kilometer brevets is the toughest. Some say it is Paris-Brest-Paris. Others believe it is Boston-Montreal-Boston. According to Ed Pavelka, editor & publisher of RoadBikeRider.com, “The Cascade 1200 has a god-awful reputation that extends to the East Coast. Everyone in the know says it’s the hardest 1200K there is, harder than BMB, which is harder than PBP, say people that have ridden both.”
Jan Heine, publisher of Vintage Bicycle Quarterly, has ridden both and he concurs. In his pre-ride report published on the Seattle International Randonneurs mailing list, he said, “Overall, I found the ride about twice as challenging as Paris-Brest-Paris. Well, it did not quite take twice as long, but it certainly felt that way.”
The ride began 20 or so miles northeast of Seattle, Washington, in a strip-mall of a town called Monroe. Monroe is what demographers call an edge city, because depending on how you look at it, it demarcates the start of one of the nation’s most densely populated cities, or the last stop on the road to rural farmlands, river valleys, and, ultimately, one of the most rugged mountain ranges in North America.
The route is more than 762 miles in length, and circumnavigates the Cascade Range between White Pass to the south, and Washington Pass to the north. More than 40,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain is spread across the route, not even half of it in the wet rain forests on the Western slopes of the mountains. Much of the climbing was in the arid, high deserts of eastern Washington, where the road follows the twists and turns and undulations of the Columbia River.
There will, no doubt, be many ride reports at the Seattle International Randonneurs Web site that will detail the course and the challenges riders faced between controls and waypoints. But mine will take a different tack. This will be an essay in five-parts, counting this one. I will share the lessons the Cascade 1200 had in store for me, organized in a way that helped helped me prepare for it.
Mind, body, and bike are the core elements that riders must concern themselves with in order to complete a ride of any distance. It was the application of those disciplines – and a little help from my friends and fellow riders – that afforded me the honor of crossing the finish line within the prescribed 90-hour time limit.
What makes this story particularly interesting, though, is that I did so with three riders from Florida with an elapsed time of 89:59:00 – just 60 seconds before the cut-off.
But wait, you say, what honor is there in finishing a 90-hour brevet with so little time to spare? One of the credos of randonneuring is that brevets are not races; the object is to finish within the time limit. First, last and all positions in between hold the same value.
Of the 70 riders who started, 20 did not finish. Any one of them would pay dearly to have been in my shoes and crossed the line in time. And it is to each of these riders that I dedicate this article, along with a prayer that they will find meaning in their experience, that inspiration will soon replace their disappointment, and that each of them completes this wonderful, god-awful course when the Cascade 1200 is run again in 2010.
Photos courtesy of Michael Rasmussen.
Miss an installment? Read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Commercial Break.
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6 Responses to
“The most god-awful Brevet in the Western Hemisphere”
Michael R
July 6th, 2006 at 10:54 amInspiring words about an epic ride. Nice work, except for this shocking bit:
* Weight: 144 pounds – I would have to lose 11.
* Body fat: 10% – I would have to shed 4%.
* Resting heart rate: 44 bpm – 6 beats below where I started.
WHAT??? Most people would love to have that body fat and resting heart rate levels. As to weighing 144, the last time that was true for me I was in junior high school. Those were ambitious goals.
For the more human of us out here, let’s look at another goal set. This one is designed to prepare me for Paris Brest Paris next year.
* Weight: under 180
* Rides: back to back 200 and 300KM rides every six weeks. Start with the
200s and build up
* Hills: Climb Tabor (local 500 foot climb on my commute to work) on every workday. Get my pace up Rocky Butte (another hill that’s kinda on my way to work, 7% .8 mile climb) to stay above 5mph. Weekly (at min) climbs up to Council Crest (highest spot in Portland, 1200 feet. An 1100 foot climb from downtown).
* Speed: Able to sustain over 15mph on a flattish 200K – one of the OR Randonneurs permanents.
* Endurance: Not sure how to measure this yet.
The goals are based on ride strength and self dicipline. If I ride over Mt. Tabor on every commute, I’ll ride it when I am feeling weak or down or tired. Good practice. The back to back 300KM rides (nice weekend workout) provide for half of the PBP distance in half the time. There’s something there for sanity, equipment, fitness, dicipline and endurance.
The weight goal is outside of cycling, but goes hand in hand with it. I remember weighing 180 and thinking it felt better than 170 or less. We’ll find out.
David
July 6th, 2006 at 12:18 pmThanks for your comments, and sharing your training plan.
Regarding my weight – that’s a BMI reading of 22, which is in the middle of the ‘normal’ range. Keep in mind, too, that I’m 5’8″. At 155, I had a BMI of 24 … at the top-end of normal.
I could have built a lighter bike, but it was cheaper to lose the weight.
Kitty Goursolle
July 6th, 2006 at 2:13 pmDavid, great story! I’m proud to have ridden the course with you and survived it! The most important thing to think about now that we’re done is what were the lessons learned and how to do better next time around. Hope to see you at PBP,
Kitty
Susan France
July 7th, 2006 at 10:01 amDunk tank. It’s reliable for measuring %body fat. Years ago I was measured via dunk tank every few weeks in prep for a really big race. At 5’6″ I had 145lbs of lean body mass alone…forgot the non-lean, probably 15-20lbs, as the 160s seemed normal. The tech said “my, but you are a solid girl”. Those were the days!
Don’t understand your theory in resting heart rate. I’m very overweight, but because of all the exercise I get, I have a low resting heart rate, 50 and under at times. While on a monitor after surgery 2 years ago I set off the monitor alarm more than once with my low HR.
Nice essay. Awaiting the remainder.
David
July 7th, 2006 at 8:33 pmI received an email from Del Scharffenberg regarding my reference to the Cascade 1200 as the most difficult of all 1200 kilometer brevets. Del has ridden more than a few 1200 events and he had this to say about the subject (which I reprint here with his permission):
“I really think comparing which 1200 is most difficult is rather silly, as they are all plenty difficult enough. Just riding that far is a major accomplishment. Add mountains, heat or cold, rain, headwinds….each route will vary a lot from year to year.
“The RM (Rocky Mountain) 1200 climbs to over 2000 meters twice on Day 2 (for most people). It is usually wet and cold as well as high above the glaciers. Very difficult gradients. Perhaps Cascade 1200 has more accum gain/loss,I don’t really know.
“For me this year, the headwinds were the worst part of Cascade — much more unpleasant than the temps or climbs. White Pass is higher than Elk Pass by 500 ft, but on the original route, Elk Pass was followed by another 2000 feet of climbing on Old Man Pass the same day, and then more to start day 2.
“I have finished PBP twice, RM 1200 three times and Cascade 1200 twice now. They are all great rides. The huge number of riders and public supporters make PBP easier. The same crowds can make it difficult to get through controls efficiently.
“All the rides are very well supported, but I think the luggage shuttle and group accomodations of Cascade 1200 make it much easier to do logistically.”
Footnote: this week, Del became the seventh rider to be named to the Ultra Randonneur list - a distinction earned when one has completed 10 Super Randonneur series (which consists of a 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K).
Awesome, Del. Congratulations!
alberto
July 18th, 2006 at 4:03 amDavid,
Excellent ride and excellent post. I’m always learning and look forward to seeing all your upcoming posts on such a great event and experience. I don’t know how you do it, but it certainly is encouraging for the rest of us. If anything we can enjoy your experience – sort of steal it – to make it part of ours. I also enjoyed reading Kent Peterson’s recent brevet experience in Victoria. Very nice work, indeed.