A Ride Around Crater Lake

4 of us biked from Diamond Lake up to Crater Lake, around the lake, and back again. Two of our group had never been there before.

3 of our group traveled from the Puget Sound area and traffic woes on top of a long drive made for a late arrival Friday night.  They ended up putting up tents well after dark.

 We planned an 8:30 AM start on Saturday.  I noted that my heart rate before pedaling was just over 80 bpm, nearly twice my normal resting heart rate. I expressed my concern to my fellow riders, as last year I was surprised to see my heart rate with just moderate exertion hit 180 bpm on this ride. We talked about heart rate and other performance issues, but pedaled off right on time.   I was a bit embarrassed as the ride leader to start off with a wrong turn.  All was not lost with our little 8 mile and bonus climbing detour though.  They were polite and said they liked a warm-up, and we did get a nice view of Mt Thielson.

There was some smoke in the air from forest fires caused by recent thunderstorms that would plague our trip today. This was especially sad for the two of our group had never been to Crater Lake before.

Having corrected my faulty routing, we started up toward the edge of the caldera, a nearly 3000 ft climb in 15 miles. In a short distance we entered Crater Lake National Park and stopped for the mandatory photo.

We continued on upward.  I kept an eye on my heart rate display.  I was concerned to see 145 on just casual pedaling.  We were at about 5600 ft elevation.

 

By the time we were near 6500 ft elevation it was clear that I had to slow down to keep my heart rate below 160.  I told my riding partners to ride their own pace and we'd regroup at the caldera lip.  The smoke seemed to thicken as we made our way southward.

I managed to hold 5-6 mph and made my way to the rim.  I was disappointed to see the thick smoke hiding the beauty of this lake.

We were riding in a counter clockwise direction, to better be able to manage our water supplies. Before we reached the Crater Lake Lodge, we came across a couple from Germany, who had taken a year off work and were biking from Alaska to the southern tip of South America. Holger and Silke Sdunnus are maintaining a blog of their adventure HERE.  (you'll have to use a translation tool to convert from their native German)

Holger

Silke

 We were fascinated with their touring bikes.  David even managed to snag a test ride of Holger's 95 lb steed.

Cathy H photo

 We all held our breath as David tried to wrangle a bike too large for him, with a lot of weight in the front bags.  He wobbled around the parking area for about 50 ft before dismounting.

Cathy H photo

It would have been a real international faux pas to drop the bike on the pavement with them still having thousands of miles to go on their adventure.  David managed to avoid any incidents and returned the bike unscathed, as well as thankful to be able to again be on his own lightweight bike.

We arrived at Crater Lake Lodge, and had lunch, refilled water bottles, took a brief tour of the historic lodge.

Cathy H photo

Cathy H photo

 We ran into Holger and Silke one more time.  They would be pedaling southward, while we would be riding around the lake.  We bid them good pedaling and a safe trip.  We also commented among ourselves how sad it was for them, on this once in a lifetime adventure to have such a scenic impaired experience here.

We took a picture of our group just outside the lodge.  There should be a great background of a deep blue lake behind us, but alas.

While wandering around n the lodge we noted a sign showing where the 18 fires, sparked by recent thunderstorms, where burning within park boundaries.

 We pedaled along, with me descending well, but climbing ever so slowly.  I felt sorry for holding the group up as they kindly waited for me at overlooks and the tops of climbs, but it was all I could do today.
The smoke was really impacting views.  Anything  other than the closest of things was obscured from view.

Vidae Falls

 We took a short hike to get a better view of the Phantom Ship than we could get from the road.  The half mile walk was a welcome respite from the bikes.

Cathy H photo

  Informational signs told us that this is the remnants of an older volcano that was covered over by Mt Mazama, only to be uncovered by the cataclysmic eruption that created Crater Lake.  It contains the oldest rocks in the caldera.

Far from being flat, the 33 mile trip around the lake would account for over 3000 ft of our total climbing today, including the climb up this big switch back about 35 miles into our ride today.

 

As we made our way around the lake, the wind shifted slightly, moving some of the smoke out.  While far from perfect, it did give us our first views across the lake.

I continued to struggle with high hear rates.  I'm not sure how much is related to only riding 3-4 times a month lately, and how much might be related to other issues. My riding partners continued to be kind and say my slow speed wasn't a problem, but I know I was costing them time.

We all noted that the last 10-15 miles before competing the circuit go agonizingly slow. You keep expecting to round the corner and see the long descent back to camp, only to round the corner and see yet another hill to climb. Luckily, they are comparatively small.

Finally we turned a corner and began the thrill ride back down to Diamond Lake.  While I climbed like a slug today, I could still descend well.

I got on the aerobars and shifted into my 56x11 to give a little push from time to time.  I arrived back in camp in time to store the bike and get the camera out to get a photo of my partners as they rolled back into camp. Despite the smoke, a wrong turn, and bonus climbing, they all had smiles on their faces.  Maybe it was because they realized that they didn't have to ride anymore!

We finished up the day with showers, a cold drink, and a scrumptious potluck dinner.

It would have been better if the smoke wouldn't have obscured the view, but it could have been worse if the predicted thunderstorms had materialized.  All in all, a good day to be on a bike.

..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today..........71...............0..............0...............0............71 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
 August..........71................0..............0...............0..............71
Total..........4254...............0..............0...............0..........4254