| Distance | Average Speed | Max Speed | Time | Elevation gain |
| 54.15 miles | 14.8 mph | 37.0 mph | 3:38:11 | 5200 feet |
Today was the day everyone (except me) has feared on the forums all year. It's a 2 climb day. The first is right out of the gate with 20 miles of rise that includes several 8% sections with a 12 mile descent that just as steep once we cross into Oregon at the top of the Siskiyou's at 4802 feet. It was in the mid 40's at the start. The skies were clear over night which gave us our first real star gazing night and morning. Walking down to breakfast at 4:50am (breakfast was at 5am again today to allow for the long climb) revealed the mass of stars. You could even see the dense band of stars that looks like a gas cloud through our Milky Way. Just stunning. As I was walking back to my tent after breakfast, a different kind of light show was emerging as people were making their way down along the road to the park and breakfast wearing their head lamps. It created a kind of procession of acolytes moving silently through the darkness. I laid back down in my tent until 6am when I started getting ready. I headed out around 6:45am and hit the blue rooms. I suited up with my long sleeved jacket, leg warmers, and long fingered knit gloves under my short fingered ones. When I came back out and put my bike down on the road to get started, my rear tire was completely flat. We were in an area of the country with nasty thorns. I had carried my bike up to the blue rooms, but I had leaned it against a chair outside the shower trucks in the dirt, so I must have picked it up there. I went back to the main area where the Bike Gallery tent was, did a quick change using one of my 2 spare tubes, pumped it up with one of the pumps they keep out, and then got on my way by 7:15am. Coming off the first small climb, my front tire started going flat. I pulled off to do that change, and now both of my spare tubes were gone, and I was hoping for no further issues. That wasn't to be the case. I got off again at 7:30am, and a few miles down the road before I even got to the first water stop at mile 12, my front time started going soft again. Luckily, I had just passed one of the bike patrol guys, so I flagged him down to see if he had a patch kit. He wasn't sure about his glue, so he let me take a tube on the condition that I just bought a new one and gave it to Bike Patrol when I got back to camp. I found the culprit this time in the form of a small shard of glass embedded in the outer casing of the tire which I hadn't felt from the inside before. Then while I was getting ready to pump up the tire, a motorcycle course monitor came by and offered me the use of a full sized pump. So, my misfortune of having 3 flat tires in the course of an hour was at least offset by the fortune of being in the right place at the right time for help when I needed it.
At this point it was already after 8am, and I had been passed by a lot of people while I was on the side of the road. I started riding at my pace up the hill which after training with my commuter and the quad is considerably faster than just about everyone else's pace. I may not have mentioned that my Specialized feels like a feather after the other bikes I more regularly ride. I felt really good, and I had pushed the flats of the morning out of my mind. I passed several tandems include one couple on an older Santana which no triple chain ring and no drum brake. The captain wasn't all that happy, but they were moving pretty well. Seemed to be a really strong team. I high-fived one of the sag drivers dressed as a pirate near the top of the hill and asked him, "when is the climbing supposed to start." I know, cocky. At a turn out, there was a sag wagon pointing out that there was a great view. It was nice, but I wasn't going to stop. As odd as it sounds, I love climbing, and the way the road winds through the forest up a hill is just as interesting to me as the constantly changing view as I carry on. As I crested and started down the hill, I had to zip up my jacket again because the air was still cold. I didn't even notice the chalk line across the road indicating when we had re-entered Oregon. At the ODS rest stop, I purchased a tube from the Bike Gallery mechanic stationed there, and as luck would have it..again, the bike patroller who had given me the tube came in so I was able to pay him back immediately. The rest of the descent was fast and twisty and cold. I passed someone who jumped onto my wheel immediately as I rode by. I pulled him across the Illinois Valley to the lunch stop. We were doing about 22mph when I looked at my computer. He didn't even thank me for the pull. Wheel suckers never do.
Second Breakfast (or lunch, if you insist) was actually around 11am for me today thanks to my many stops and the climb. It was at a vineyard called BridgeView. We had chicken wraps on the patio deck overlook a duck pond. The ducks seemed to punctuate the singing which I thought was kind of funny. We parked our bikes amongst their grape vines, and as I was about to leave, I found my back tire once again flat. This time, I took it over to the mechanics who were not helping anyone at the moment to buy a patch kit, but they offered to fix it for me. I also went ahead and bought a new set of tires that are a little more robust. I had bought the tires that I had on there a couple years ago in bulk since they were so cheap, but on rides like this, you don't want to skimp on tires. After this swap, I didn't have another flat the rest of the week. I didn't have the cash to pay for the tires, so they wrote me up an IOU that I could bring into camp to settle. I found out later that the president of Bike Gallery, Jay Grave's son was the one who helped me out. Jay was at the rest stop too, but he was busy helping someone else at the time. He's a very nice guy, and he really gets out there to do the work along with his mechanics.
The second hill of the day was on what could best be described as a back road that has seen better days. It was very pocked and gravelly and rough. On this hill was a section that on the map simply calls out the grade as being "#@!". Later reports from people with measuring devices and GPS stated this to translate to anywhere between 18% and 25% grade. For those of you that ride your bike, this is pretty much straight up and down. However, it was probably only a couple hundred yards long, so it wasn't too bad. I saw a couple people in front of my walk it. But not me. Elsewhere on this climb were also gradients of 8-10% followed by the descent on 12%. The ride into Lake Selmac was fast. I surfed a couple pacelines, but they weren't going as fast as I was so I'd pass them. They would draft off me for a while. I'm ok with that. As soon as we had a little roller though, I'd look back, and they'd be gone. Like I always say, I'm not terribly fast. Just really consistent.
I got in well before the baggage trucks again. They were very late. I got in about 1pm, and there was a sign saying that they were expected around 1:30pm. That came and went. They didn't show up until 3pm. In the mean time, everyone was congregating beneath the trees that were out in the field where we were camping. I managed to stake out a spot since I was in early. I grabbed an Oregonian to read while I waited. The football team was quick to unload the trucks once they arrived, and I was able to grab my bag straight off the truck as it was unpacked. I took my shower and got my tent setup quickly so that I could make sure I kept my spot in the shade because it was a hot afternoon. This was the only day I had to wait in any sort of a line for showers, and it wasn't even that long. Many took advantage of the lake and went wading while they waited. It's too bad the trucks were so late that day since it removed the possibility of visiting the Oregon Caves which were close by. I'll have to come back to catch that some day. I then went to Bike Gallery tent to pay my IOU and grab some lunch. Dinner was a little late too. We had turkey, and I mean these were big slices of turkey, with cranberries, gravy, and stuffing. It was good, but I couldn't finish the turkey. It was too much. When I went back to my tent to grab my camp chair, I found the tents were really packed in around the trees. There were no easy paths to get to my tent, but I found a reliable one to fall back on when it got dark as well as a path to the closest blue rooms. Stayed up for announcements, and I could hear the band ok from my tent afterwards. Fell asleep quickly enough, but continued my early waking. Another great night for star gazing. On my way back to my tent from the blue rooms in the middle of the night, I think I saw a shooting star. it was pretty quick, so I'm not completely sure.
Observations and logistics: I passed a lot of guys on really expensive, light bikes on the big climbs including the brand new, $6000 Trek Madones that Trek was there allowing people to demo. My 12 year old Specialized Allez M2 Comp can still perform. If only I could figure out where the clicking comes from when I'm seated and pedalling on flat roads. It doesn't happen when I'm standing, so I know it's not the bottom bracket or the frame. It doesn't seem to be the seat because I've replaced that with no change. I'm thinking it may be the seat post collar, but I don't know how to check that. I never did get around to asking one of the mechanics because it's not reproducible in a stand.
See what the Oregonian had to say about today.
Continue to day 4.