BikeRide.com Cycling Blog

A Kodak moment from the Paradise parking lot in Mt. Rainier National Park.

In August of 2003, I participated in the RAMROD, a 154 mile ride around Mt. Rainier in one day that includes 10,000 feet of climbing.

I rode RAMROD in 2002 just before moving across the country from Seattle to Connecticut for a job relocation. My friend Gordon and I had done RAMROD together, plus a number of other long rides in the past four or five years. I wanted to get back to Seattle to visit family and friends, so I planned the trip for the beginning of August so Gordon and I could do this ride together again.

Last year for training leading up to this ride, I had done the Apple Century in Wenatchee, the Tour de Blast at Mt. St Helens, and the Midsummer Nightmare Double Century in Spokane, so I was well prepared. This year living in Connecticut, I hadn’t done any organized rides other than a regular Saturday morning club ride, and my 34 mile round trip bike commute to work a few times a week. The longest ride I had done was a 92 mile ride through the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts, which isn’t ideal training for RAMROD.

Gordon is smiling. It is still early in the ride.

The official website says that RAMROD “is the Pacific Northwest’s premiere one-day ultramarathon cycling event.” It is very popular with Northwest endurance cyclists, but is limited to 800 registered participants. Spots filled within minutes of online registration opening, and Gordon was lucky to secure two spots for us. It is run on a Thursday to avoid heavy weekend traffic in the National Park.

On the morning of the ride, Gordon picked me up at 4:30 a.m. to drive out the start in the town of Enumclaw. This year the traditional start at the Enumclaw Fairgrounds was moved to Enumclaw High School. Gordon had picked up our registration packets the night before, so we were ready to go when we got to the start. After waiting in a long line for the bathroom, we were on the road at 5:30 a.m. just as the sun was coming up.

Fueling up at the Kautz Creek food stop. The ride is well supported.

The first 40 miles of the ride are pretty easy. It descends into a river valley, and then you follow a road that rolls up the valley. Gordon and I rotated taking pulls and we kept passing small groups of riders. About 25 miles into the ride I looked back and a line of about 40 riders had formed behind us. This part of the ride is on a road that I really don’t like all that much. It is narrow and the large groups of riders combined with some impatient drivers trying to get to work don’t mix all that well. It was getting a little crazy with big groups trying to pass other groups. Gordon and I backed off the pace a little to let some people go ahead. At one point a car tried passing a large group on a blind curve and had to lock up the brakes when a truck came around the bend. Luckily an accident was avoided.

My old racing teammate Ted climbs the road to Paradise with a great view of the mountain.

I was happy to get past this section of the ride and make it to the first food stop in Eatonville at about 40 miles into the ride. We topped off our water bottles, then began the gradual uphill to the south entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park 60 miles into the ride. This section is mostly on a road with a nice wide shoulder. There are a couple of railroad tracks that cross the road at a sharp angle to beware of. I witnessed a rider go down on one of the railroad crossing last year.

At the entrance of the National Park you need to show your number, as the park entry fee is included in the ride registration. Three miles into the park, there is a main food stop at Kautz Creek, where I ate way too much, including melons, grapes, a bagel and cookie. Last year we started the ride a little later and the first food stop was very crowded, but we beat the crowd this year.

A deer crossed the road in front of Gordon as we started downhill from Paradise.

At this point the real climbing starts up to the Paradise lookout at a little over 5400 feet. At the beginning of the climb I got stung in the neck by a bee. Not exactly the ideal way to start a long climb. After a while the pain died down, and it wasn’t too bad. As a bigger rider, climbing is not my strength, so I just shifted into my lowest gear of 39 x 27 and went at my own pace. This year Gordon was riding much stronger than me, so he continued on ahead to the top. An old racing buddy named Ted passed me about halfway up the climb. He slowed down and kept me company to the top. Thanks Ted!

After I arrived at the Paradise parking lot and met up with Gordon, we stopped at the lodge where I dumped cold water over my head and sat down on a bench in the shade for a while to cool off. After a few photos of the Mountain, we started the fun part of the ride … the 10 mile, 3000 foot descent. Another 1000 feet of climbing over Backbone Ridge, then more downhill through a number of switchbacks and two tunnels.

The finish after 154 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing.

At the 100 mile mark, and the hottest part of the day we began the climb of Cayuse pass for about 2500 feet of elevation in 9 miles. This climb hurt. I was only doing about 6 mph, so it took me about an hour and a half to climb this pass. I was paying for my lack of many long training rides. I had to stop a few times in the shade to cool down and recover a little.

After making it to the top of Cayuse pass, and making a short stop to fill up the water bottles, the ride continues on a steep descent to the exit of the National Park. Just outside the park at the turnoff to Crystal Mountain ski area there is a food stop at 120 miles into the ride. There were deli sandwiches, more melons, and bananas. That was about the best sandwich I had ever eaten. I drank a coke, and generally stuffed myself.

It took a while to get the legs turning again after that stop. The last part of the ride is 35 miles gradual downhill, but there was a strong headwind. After a few miles my legs started feeling better, and I was able to set a nice tempo to the finish. It took us 10.5 hours with 9.5 hours of actual ride time.

Photos