Color Country Club members (front to back) Dave, Al, Mark and Larry departing Newcastle.

There is nothing like an unseasonably cool day to sort out the real randonneurs from the fair weather riders. A blustery spring day in St. George provided just that kind of test for our event. Even though it was only 40 degrees at the start, the forecast called for temps in the low 60’s with plenty of sun. That may be pretty cool for April in southern Utah but I believe it is a forecast that people in many other parts of the country would find pretty acceptable right now! Spring is a great time to ride in Zion. The leaves are coming out, the streams are full of water and the skies are clear.  Local conditions allow us to get in a fair amount of riding by this time of year but this is still early season for most riders.

Catherine Shenk, self portrait at Sand Hollow Reservoir.

We had 7 club members from 4 states turn out for the ride. Joe and Sue on their tandem, and Richard, Rose, Kevin, Bob and Catherine had single bikes. One rider (whom I shall spare any further embarrassment) was confused either by jet lag, time zones or daylight savings schedules and made a late start, but persevered and eventually caught back up to the ride. Even though it was cool to start, most riders enjoyed the ride out to Zion.  It was only after reaching the end of the canyon at the Temple of Sinawava and beginning the run back down canyon that they realized they had been enjoying a bit of a tailwind. The wind was now in their face and seemed to be picking up a bit for the ride back. Canyon winds are shifty creatures however and even though there were some tough sections, there were also some sections where riders got a little relief from the wind. Finally after a few miles of descent and one last climb through Toquerville the course turned south and promised a tailwind for the remainder of the day. The final control on course at the Leeds Market saw riders cheering up again after they had a few miles of downhill with tailwinds under their belt!


Kevin, Bob and Rose (l to r) coming down the canyon.

Seven riders started and seven riders finished, proving once again that the best riders showed up to ride and weren’t put off by a less than perfect weather forecast. The difference between a randonneur and another rider is that others will check the weather to decide if they will ride, where a randonneur will check the weather and decide what to wear.

Results for the days ride are at the Southern Utah Brevet website at www.subrevet.org

I ride many different types of cycling events from red carpet tours to totally unsupported epics. But when an organizer charges an entry fee to enter a fully supported cycling event then I personally begin to have expectations. Different groups often produce varying results in the quality of support they provide with club supported events often doing the best job. It can range from a veritable buffet to bare bones and soggy Subway sandwiches for lunch. The highlight of todays ride, the Tour de St. George was the consistent choice of PBJ's and banana's. It seemed to me that little care was given to the riders needs or wants and it showed with the support. One rest stop which although was not too busy did not have any PBJ's prepared and riders had to wait for their half sandwich to be made. Water jugs were near empty and the tables were otherwise bare. I only did a shorter version of the event and could have gone with no support whatsoever but if I were doing the full 100 miles I would have been very dissapointed.

I must cut the organizers a little slack though. They recently had an event director bail on them so the new director may not have been up to speed, but if you cannot get up to speed quickly then the event will suffer. I even heard that one of the water stops did not show up in time for quite a few riders. That is inexcusable! I know of events that were killed as a result of a single bad year. There were a number of complaints among the riders I talked to with the common theme being that they wondered what they had paid for! There is no point of putting on an event if you do not plan on doing it well. I believe that many people were probably dissapointed today in the level of support that they were provided during todays event. If it hadn't been for the fine weather then this event might have been a total bust for many.

I dont often give ratings to events but I might start. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give today's ride a 5, with at least 2 points of that being for the weather. I guess people will always come to ride St. George in springtime because of the likelihood of good weather but they may not be willing to pay for full support only to receive much less than that.

The start, 8 am at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse outside Portland Oregon. Rain just starting.

Friday the 13th of March was a beautiful day in the Portland area, sunny and cool with light winds. It would have been a great day for a bike ride. The ride I had on my schedule however was for Saturday the 14th and the weather forecast was much less optimistic.

We gathered at 7 am at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse which was our designated starting location. There were 38 riders who were ready to ride with about half of them looking more like racers than randos and seemed to be travelling pretty light. The rest were on fully fendered bikes and looking pretty prepared otherwise. The weatherman was predicting rain so it was probably just going to be a matter of time until we got wet. Almost on cue during the pre-ride meeting it started to sprinkle and a few minutes later at 8 am as we got started riding it began to come down more seriously. By the time we were 5 miles into the ride the roads were saturated and the spray was coming up from the other riders tires as heavily as the rain was coming down.

I myself felt pretty prepared for a wet day having come with wool clothing, raingear and booties. I even had a spare pair of dry gloves in my bag. I may have underestimated the cold a little however as the temperature at the start was 41 degrees. My Portland bike is a Surly Cross Bike, fully fendered and with front and rear bags. It is a little on the heavy side but it is comfortable, rugged and goes good. This would be my first real rain ride with it.

We cruised out of the Beaverton area into farm country, zig-zagging our way through farm fields and pastures. Our first control was in what once was a town called Mountaindale. These days it appeared to be little more than a soggy crossroad but this is where the rain really started to come down. The control had a canopy to protect the volunteers but offered little protection for the riders. Not that it mattered much, we had already been exposed pretty thoroughly to the elements by that time. I left my Surly leaning on a Suburban and went to check in. Paperwork done, I grabbed a quick snack and took care of other neccesities. It is amazing how quickly you will cool after you have stopping for a break. The temp was still in the low 40's and I needed to get moving so I did not linger.

It had been a little bit of a climb to get here so it was going to be a cooling descent once I got going again. I decided to crank it up a bit on the return to get the heater going again. That worked okay but it is amazing where spray off your tires can end up in swirling crosswinds! This next section manuvered through a very pleasant farm country on a circuitious course. There
were many picturesque farms and buildings along the way. We passed through the town of Banks and on to the next control which was the far point of the loop. After a quick stop the route turned more south and into a headwind as the rain continued. There was a secret control thrown in just for fun but it didnt really seem neccessary.

        
Return from Mountaindale                             Forest Grove Control

The terrain and the countryside reminded me a little bit of riding in France. Green pastures and constantly rolling terrain, and even some roundabouts thrown in for good measure. After bucking the headwinds for a while I rolled into the town of Forest Grove and the next control at a coffee shop called "Maggies Buns". This was a great stop and I enjoyed soup and coffee and a seat out of the rain. There were a number of shivering riders here but I was not that cold. I'll refrain from singing the praises of wool clothing once again but it really works. Here is where I pulled out my secret weapon, a spare pair of dry gloves! They werent that neccessary but were a fine luxury that I enjoyed.

As I left Forest Grove it was raining hard but it soon started to taper off and a few miles later it was hardly raining at all. The wind was still up but it became a crosswind for the rest of the ride which was not too bad. It wasnt too long before I pulled into the final control at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse which is a fine McMinamens Brew Pub. I do think that the Oregon Randonneurs know how to finsih a ride with food and other refreshments.

The Surly rode well all day. It has 28c tires and is fully fendered. Bar end shifters, Detour bags, and a Rock Shox road post complete the accessories. It is a low/mid range Shimano group and does not go like my normal Campy stuff but it is very acceptable for these shorter events. The biggest event that I am likely to do on it will be Seattle to Portland later this year. Yes, I am signed up for that! Stay tuned for more on that.

It was a dark and stormy night………. Actually it was a dark and stormy morning at the Best Western hotel in Ventura, the start location for the PCH 300 km Brevet on February 7. Some 32 riders ignored the grim weather forecast for the day and lined up for the start. Observing the equipment and gear that different riders were sporting it appeared that many were either optimistic about the weather, or being from So Cal probably didn’t have much foul weather gear to wear. Myself, being experienced in bad weather events (lucky me), I had plenty of gear to choose from. I was fendered, bootied, helmet covered and otherwise protected from the impending weather.

The event started out with a mild pace as riders were getting settled in for a wet day.  Navigation was also easy for quite a while as this was familiar terrain for the local riders and someone always knew the way.  Later, after the second control as riders were more spread out you had to check your cue sheet a bit more often.  After the control at Lake Casitas we had a bit of climbing up to Casitas Pass but it was not too bad. The rain continued on and off all morning but as we descended to the third control in Montecito it really started to pick up again. In that stretch I encountered some unique conditions, something I had not really experienced before.  It was raining hard and water was sheeting on the ground as well as pooling in low spots.  There were so many pools that oncoming traffic frequently splashed us with their spray.  They were not aiming for us but it was unavoidable. We had water from above, water shooting at us from the side and water spraying up at us from our own tires. There was nowhere to hide and all you could do was to steel yourself for the onslaught.  Even though I was well prepared I became thoroughly soaked and just resigned myself to that fact. My wool clothing served me well however and I stayed warm in spite of the wetness.  I would just like to say that coffee and pastries are great brevet food on a wet day, perhaps contrary to conventional wisdom.

Richard and I at lunch, Shoreline Park, Santa Barbara

Past Santa Barbara the rain tapered and I began to air-dry, eventually removing my raingear altogether. That would prove to be the last of the rain for the day but later on cold would prove to be the problem. At the El Capitan control I enjoyed the hospitality of the event staff and after a brief stay I departed with fellow Utahn Richard for our return.  The route allowed us to stop in at our hotel to change clothes, and some dry gear was a nice change.

Port Hueneme was our next control and we made just a brief stop there. We hooked up here with Jim, a local rider who would accompany us for much of the rest of the route. I had been riding with my lights on for most of the day for visibility reasons but now darkness descended and that lighting became mandatory. This was a new lighting system for me, a combination of a SON 20 R dyno-hub powering an Edelux led headlight. The system proved to be a flamethrower at night and I was very pleased with it. Even at the slower speeds while climbing up Grimes Canyon Road it was great and on the descent its illumination was equal to that of a motor vehicle. It was perfect for the very twisty (and debris strewn) descent in the dark. We had another control in Santa Paula before the final run in on Telephone Rd. As we neared Ventura there were dozens of traffic lights and we hit more than a few of them but the road surface was good and we had a good run in.

Overall Richard and I were the 5^th and 6^th riders in and finished in 16 hours and 14 minutes with an on bike time of 13 hours 18 minutes.  With 9 required controls and an urban route having many traffic lights this is not one of the fastest 300k’s I have done but it is a good route. I hope to ride in this area again on the Fleche in April. That’s assuming that I can put together a team by then!

Ventura California, Saturday January 10, 2009. This was the first event of the season for me and I don’t have a lot of miles on my legs. I finished 2008 with only a couple of rides since October so I knew it was going to be a rough day. This seemed to be confirmed by the weather forecast which indicated there would be “red flag warnings” along the coast all day. The Santa Ana winds would be blowing viciously, but hey I’ve had worse, right? That would prove to be my mantra for the day, or something similar.

Joe and Craig from Cedar City accompanied me on the trip. They are not really brevet riders but I guess they thought I needed looking after. After the disastrous season I had last year they may not have been that wrong. Well, 50 or so riders started out at 6:30 and the predicted winds had arrived. It was a quartering headwind blowing at 20 or 30 mph as we headed east. While in town we got a little relief from the wind due to the buildings and vegetation but once we got out in the open there was nowhere to hide. Gusts were occasionally higher and they rocked our group when they hit. We had 35 miles of this to look forward to! The quartering wind took its toll and riders kept dropping off the back of our group. We were down to about 8 or 10 riders when I had to stop and remove some clothing. Losing our group was not that much of a loss since there was nowhere to hide from the wind anyway! We all made our clothing adjustments and the 3 of us regrouped into an echelon each taking pulls and resting alternately. We were actually pretty efficient this way and soon we started catching the riders ahead of us. They were each riding alone now and as 3 working together we were much faster. Pretty soon we caught them all and our group reformed somewhat.



We were headed to our first control in Malibu at Starbucks. You know you are getting close to Malibu when you hit the rollers. They are not steep but some are long and with the headwind it broke up our crew again. We rolled into the control in groups of two’s and three’s after about 2 hours of headwinds. After getting fed, watered and stamped we departed the control heading westward now and hoping the winds would be a little kinder to us on our way back. Well it wasn’t perfect but we had a good ride back. Mostly a quartering tailwind but on some sections we could cruise at 25 mph or so. This made the return to Ventura pretty enjoyable and pretty swift. It had started to warm up some as well and we were now riding in shorts and shorts sleeves. So far this could have been a lot worse.

We arrived at the control in Ventura where Greg and Lisa had provided a wonderful lunch with wraps reminiscent of the ones Susan makes at the Arizona brevets. We enjoyed the hospitality and were tempted to linger but soon we decide that we should be off. The winds here are funny. We started again heading westward, but now the wind was in our face although not nearly as strong. It was a nice cruise along the coast to Montecito and the next control. Just before the control we started seeing the first riders returning so we knew we were close. It was another friendly location and it was also tempting to stay and enjoy the day but we reminded ourselves that we still had 27 miles to go and we set out once again.

The last leg of the ride was very enjoyable and we had a tailwind again allowing us to cruise easily at 22 mph or so. The Pacific Ocean was just to our right and view was spectacular. The winds had cleared the air and it looked as though you could just reach out and touch the Channel Islands. We came straight into Ventura on Main Street and finished in Mission Park. We had been out for about 9 ½ hours overall and on the bike for 7 ½ hours.

Thanks to Greg and Lisa Jones (co-RBA’s?) and all of the other volunteers who made this a great ride. Also, some thanks to those above who may have had some influence on the weather and kept this from being as bad as it could have been! I found out later that maximum wind gusts of 62 mph had been recorded in the area on this day.

Here's a good local event to ride while the season is winding down. The Tour de St. George is a local favorite and even though it happens late in the season the weather is always warm and sunny at this time of year. It uses some of the best local roads in a tour of the St. George area. The organizers, Doug McCoy and Dave Smith and their staffs do a great job on this event. Even though I ride these roads frequently this is one ride I try not to miss. There is also a version in the Spring which is equally awesome. Try to catch them both!

This is arguably the best cycling event in southern Utah, perhaps in the whole southwest. It features classic western scenery, fantastic support, typically great weather and the best volunteers around. It has been held for the past 5 years and is in my own backyard, yet I have never been able to ride in it. Why you ask, well there is a very good reason, I am the event director. This event was founded 5 years ago by Clair Jensen and myself. We had been riding many double centuries around the west for several years and decided that we needed one here in Utah. Well, nobody was going to do one for us so we were just going to have to do it ourselves. We started with a test event for our local club riders and once the route was proven we put it together for real. This year was the 5th year of the event and we had 340 riders participate.

Sadly, the co-founder of the event and my longtime riding partner passed away suddenly late last year. We were unsure as to whether or not to continue with it but eventually decided to move forward as a memorial event. This year the Desperado Dual / Clair Jensen Memorial came off as one of the best years ever. Wind, weather and other conditions were near perfect and riders were treated to a wonderful day. Our event staff all stepped up to honor Clair and the success of this years ride is mainly due to their efforts. A ride like this cannot be produced with the dedication and efforts of many people.

This year marks the end of a 5 year run for the event, at least for me. The event will continue with new partners to carry it into the future and hopefully we can look forward to many more years of the Desperado Dual Century. That means perhaps that I will finally be able to ride in the event and I am looking forward to that very much. I will continue to assist and advise as requested but the event will be in capable hands from here. Thanks to all those who have participated in or supported the event over the years. By doing so you have done the most important part to ensure that we have great events like this to ride.

Lonnie "Epic" Wolff
Desperado Dual Event Director (retired)

This event was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of RUSA. 10th anniversary events were being held all over the country on this weekend and this one had a good turnout as did most. There was a 100 km as well as a 200 km option today. I chose the lesser distance for a couple of reasons, we had family plans later in the day but the bike I was riding is fairly new and had never been on a brevet before. It seemed wise to work up to longer distances to work out any bugs. The bike is a Surly Cross bike and is basically out of the box except for some 28c road tires. This is the bike I keep in Portland to ride when I am in town.

The route is basically an out and back to Multnomah Falls on the old highway. We start in a neighborhood park in Portland and work our way out past the airport and then along the river. The pace starts out briskly and then moves to fast. I am usually not an "A group" rider but I decide to hang near the front for awhile. About 6 of us are taking pulls at the front and several more are just hanging on. The pace is about 21 - 23 mph which is fast for a brevet but I know it wont last all day.

We arrive in Troutdale pretty quickly and wind our way through the town. After crossing the river we leave Fishville behind and start up the old highway on a gentle grade. In spite of the incline the pace has not slowed and it is now faster than I care for. When it pitches up just a little more I decide to bail out the back of the pack. The group has shrunk  to 6 or so riders now and they wont miss me. The scenery is great and traffic is light and I am enjoying the climb. There are many small farms and fruit stands along the way and I am guessing that this route is popular with tourists. Traffic will probably be much heavier later on the way back in.

The road continues to wind and roll. It will be a hot day today but for now I am under a canopy of trees and it is cool and green. Suddenly the road bursts out into the sunshine at Vista House, an overlook of the Columbia River. It was built in 1916 for tourists to enjoy the view and is still popular today. It is our second control point in the ride so I make a brief stop. The turnaround is at Multnomah Falls, just another 8 miles down the road. It is a spectacular sight and is usually crowded with tourists. We are here early enough that it is pretty peaceful and there are not many people here yet. We enjoy the moment before moving on.

The return ride is back along the outbound route and although the route is the same the scenery is different. I ride solo for most of this part and enjoy the sights. I arrive back at the start just after noon and pull into the cool shade of the park. It is quite warm out now, probably 90 degrees or more already. I'd be tempted to blame global warming for this but the record high for this date was over 40 years ago, so that was a little before my SUV.

This is a ride I haven't done in awhile and the last time I rode it there were about 300 riders participating. This year there will be over 1500! It starts in Lehi and circumnavigates Utah Lake for a 111 mile loop. I have hooked up on this ride with 6 friends on 3 tandems. They say they plan to ride easy and see how it goes, but I know these are code words indicating it will be a fast day!  My plan is to hang on to this train as long as I can and then cruise in from there on my own.

The ride starts out a little scary, there were several wrecks or near misses right in front of us and in the first few miles. The route starts off winding through city streets for 30 miles or more. The many twists and turns along with the road hazards take their toll and we see at least 3 ambulances loading up their cargo. The first rest stop we take is about 30 miles in and it was just okay for its food offerings. We grab some food, make some adjustments and get going again. The course is a little faster now but that brings some new hazards. The railroad crossings are a little rough and I hit a couple of them pretty hard. Others seem to have had it worse than I and after each crossing there are dozens of cyclists stopped and repairing flat tires. We have avoided that fate at least and continue on. With the open road the tandems are in their element and set a brisk pace. I take a pull at the front and my riding partners thank me but really they just want me out of the way. THEY are setting the pace and I am slowing them down so I take my designated position in the rear and hang on for dear life.

It is a hot day when we pull in to lunch at mile 62 at a cool and shady park in Genola. The supplies are good here and we make the most of it. Cold drinks and sandwiches call to us and the green grass and shade are very seductive, tempting us to linger. Soon though we decide to press on and finish this thing and are back on the road. The challenge for me remains the same, hang on to the tandems as long as I can. Another railroad crossing and the same dozen flat tires, but not for us and we continue.

After lunch I am starting to fade a little and I wonder how much longer I can hang on. The winds are a little from the side so I echelon out to try and stay in the draft. My legs are becoming noodles though and I figure my free ride is almost over.  Thats when I start getting some leg cramps and I suddenly drop off the back. I watch my riding partners pull away with a sigh. We are into some rollers now so I just set my pace and do the best I can. After a couple of miles of solo riding I see that my buddies have slowed up a bit, they are waiting for me! What great friends! After a short bit of an easier pace and a rest stop we are cruising again. We pretty much stay together until the end. We are separated by traffic lights and stop signs in the last couple of miles but otherwise we were together. We were able to do the 111 miles in 5 1/2 hours riding time and so averaged over 21 mph!

Epilogue: Looking over my bike the next day I find that I have severely damaged my rear wheel. There are 2 major dents in the rim and a larg flat spot. In addition the rim is out of true and rubbing hard on the brake. I probably did the worst damage before lunch but I dont know for sure. The dragging brake certainly did not help my day though. In the end I rebuilt the wheel replaced the rim. I did this ride on my beautiful vintage built 1998 De Bernardi road bike and all I can say is that I really hate destroying beautiful bike parts!!!