We started from Toutle at 7AM to beat the predicted heat. We reached Johnston Ridge with it's stupendous view of Mt St Helens, just a bit after noon. My Garmin showed that I had an 11.7 average for the trip up. I goofed around a bit and my 11.7 average was only good enough for a 5th place today on the climb up.....but I did get quite a few photos!
We had a brisk headwind, but it helped cool us on the long climb. The temperature at Johnston Ridge was tempered by the altitude so it was quite bearable. A couple of us took in the short movie at the visitor center, the others looked at displays and took in the view.
The descent back to Toutle was just made for me. My bike gearing is set up to take advantage of downhills and tailwinds.........and that's just what we had.
Well, the wind did shift a bit to a bit of crosswind, but still a good run.
I was running my stock wheels today which give me a 12-27 cogset. Coupled with my 56x42x30 triple I have a pretty broad range. I pedaled most of the way down the hill today, thinking I was trying to catch two of my riding buddies. As it ended up they had bonked and pulled off at Elk Rock to recharge and regroup. I kept the power on just amazed that I couldn't seem to catch them.
My heart rate averaged 131 bpm on the ascent and 136 on the descent. Maximum heart rate was 167 going up, and 170 on the return. I was pedaling when I reached my maximum speed today, 50.3 mph. I had a 19.6 mph average on the return, including some sight seeing slow poking around Coldwater Lake.
I rolled into Toutle still thinking I was behind Gary and Ken. When I didn't see them I thought that perhaps they had tight schedules and had already loaded up and left. I was quite surprised when 15 minutes later the second rider came in and said he had passed them quite a way back. He said they had bonked climbing the back side of Elk Rock. Another 15 minutes passed before they rode in.
We went to a nearby convenience store and got cold drinks (and popsicles!)while we waited for the 4 remaining riders. After another 30 minutes (1 hour after my finish) we drove back up the course to see if there was a problem.
As it ended up, mostly just bonking and heat issues but there was a wheel tangling incident just before we got to them.
We tended to the wounds and loaded the bike and "patient". The others rode the remaining mile and a half back to our end point. It was 95 degrees when I finished the ride at 2:30PM, we saw 100.2 on the return drive down I-5 in the Kalama area.
We were lucky in that we did our climbing when it was cooler and by the time the temperature began to climb we were coming down the hill.
A good ride today!
............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........84...............0...............0...........84
Jan........618...............0................0..........618
Feb........692...............0................0..........692
March......940...............0................5..........940
April......934...............0................0..........934
May........905...............0................0..........905
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug........291...............0................0..........291
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....6570...............0..............5.........6575
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