Suffer You Will
Just when I thought that I could not suffer any more on a bike, along comes the Shasta Summit Super Century. This ride is 135 miles of pure suffering; you know, the kind that provides a deeper insight into your mind and leads you closer to the state of prana that you've been trying to find all of your life... Right...
Rewinding a little, my alarm went off at 4:30 on Saturday morning; and I was promptly off on the road to Mount Shasta City. Three stops later (two for coffee and one for gas), I pulled into town and went for another cup of coffee at the Seven Suns Cafe. A little later I pulled out my bike so I could shake out the cobwebs that had built up from 5 hours of driving. The Shasta Valley is a beautiful place to ride a bike. The roads are lightly travelled, and for the most part have a decent surface. after a short 23 mile ride, I headed back into town for a burger and settled in to kill some time. Later in the afternoon, drove into Weed; but as I preparing to exit the freeway I got a flat tire. Such an aweful feeling, getting a flat at 7:30 PM on a Saturday (and in a place where not many shops are open on Sundays). I was having visions of having to call in to work on Monday (they'd have to put a sign up that said "Sorry, film processing is down today. Technician is stuck in Weed"), and not being able to do the ride on Sunday. But when I got a call back from the Les Schwab mechanic on duty, he seemed optimistic that he could help me. He didn't have an new 12" tires on hand, but found a used one that had a nail hole in it. So he patched it up and I was on my way. The amazing thing was that it was less than an hour and a half from when I got the flat to when it was replaced. Not bad. The worst thing was definitely putting the spare tire on on the side of a freeway...
That night, I slept in the parking lot at the high school. I'm not sure if it was technically legal, but no one bugged me; so I'll take it. When my alarm went off at 4:30, I was ready to suffer; yet I had no idea just how much I would suffer.
After finding a better parking spot, and riding to the start of the ride; I was off to the start and 135 miles of some of the most scenic riding in California (nay, the world!). At about 5:45 I got started and soon found myself thoroughly enjoying the riding throuh the farm lands northwest of Mount Shasta City, and then up into the "hills". The first climb, up to Parks Creek Summit was very fun, a mere 3300 feet above the town, and not all that steep. The road conditions leave something to be desired, and may be more suited for a cyclcross rig (perhaps not a singlespeed one though). Coming down the hill, it was amazing to see how far back some of the people were, of course I may have had quite a head start, since there really is no set start time.
The second climb, up to Mumbo Summit turned out to not quite be so fun. I'm not sure what the sadistic person that designed this course was thinking. But if it was to maximize the suffering of the riders, they have done an outstanding job. Putting a rest stop half way up the climb, and having everyone else turn around there was a stroke of pure genius. I was already into full suffering mode (replete with visions of ice cream and cold creeks) when I saw the tent for the rest stop. Coming up to it, I was shocked to see the orange arrows pointing straight. How could this climb get any worse? But yes, it does. For the next two miles or so, the road must be approaching close to 15% grades for significant stretches. I actually had to walk part of it. After that, it was amazing that I was able to ride the last couple of miles to the top. At the top, I sat down in the shade and drank a bottle of gatorade and a soda. That, combined with some fruit and cookies made me feel nearly human again. But still, two climbs to go...
The descent turned out to be a little rough, since I got a little piece of rock stuck in my cleat (the part that attaches the shoe to the pedal), and was unable to click into the right pedal. Not so fun when you are dodging rocks and bunnyhopping potholes. I eventually had to stop. Yet coming to the turn for the next climb I found myself dreading the hill. It turned out to not be as bad as the previous one, but the weather had grown considerably warmer, so the suffering was nearly as intense. At one point, I had to get off the bike and sit in the shade for a good 10 minutes before I felt that I could continue. It actually worked, and I was able to ride the rest of the way despite the cramps in my right leg.
Back into the valley, this time for the lunch stop. Which was nice, I figured that real food would give me the energy to tackle the last climb. Boy was I wrong! But it was nice to sit in the shade on the grass for a while. I noticed that a lot of people seemed to be talking about skipping the last climb, and that sort of steeled my determination to at least try it. But after getting about 3 miles up the climb, I decide that I'd had enough. So I turned around and headed back. The total was 110 miles with about 13,300 feet of climbing. At least the food at the finish was good!
And for the "Dirty Girl" (hey, that's what her jersey said!) from Redding, next year we will both finish!
The drive home was brutal, but I managed to get home reasonably early (just before 10:00) and was able to actually sleep before work today.
Rewinding a little, my alarm went off at 4:30 on Saturday morning; and I was promptly off on the road to Mount Shasta City. Three stops later (two for coffee and one for gas), I pulled into town and went for another cup of coffee at the Seven Suns Cafe. A little later I pulled out my bike so I could shake out the cobwebs that had built up from 5 hours of driving. The Shasta Valley is a beautiful place to ride a bike. The roads are lightly travelled, and for the most part have a decent surface. after a short 23 mile ride, I headed back into town for a burger and settled in to kill some time. Later in the afternoon, drove into Weed; but as I preparing to exit the freeway I got a flat tire. Such an aweful feeling, getting a flat at 7:30 PM on a Saturday (and in a place where not many shops are open on Sundays). I was having visions of having to call in to work on Monday (they'd have to put a sign up that said "Sorry, film processing is down today. Technician is stuck in Weed"), and not being able to do the ride on Sunday. But when I got a call back from the Les Schwab mechanic on duty, he seemed optimistic that he could help me. He didn't have an new 12" tires on hand, but found a used one that had a nail hole in it. So he patched it up and I was on my way. The amazing thing was that it was less than an hour and a half from when I got the flat to when it was replaced. Not bad. The worst thing was definitely putting the spare tire on on the side of a freeway...
That night, I slept in the parking lot at the high school. I'm not sure if it was technically legal, but no one bugged me; so I'll take it. When my alarm went off at 4:30, I was ready to suffer; yet I had no idea just how much I would suffer.
After finding a better parking spot, and riding to the start of the ride; I was off to the start and 135 miles of some of the most scenic riding in California (nay, the world!). At about 5:45 I got started and soon found myself thoroughly enjoying the riding throuh the farm lands northwest of Mount Shasta City, and then up into the "hills". The first climb, up to Parks Creek Summit was very fun, a mere 3300 feet above the town, and not all that steep. The road conditions leave something to be desired, and may be more suited for a cyclcross rig (perhaps not a singlespeed one though). Coming down the hill, it was amazing to see how far back some of the people were, of course I may have had quite a head start, since there really is no set start time.
The second climb, up to Mumbo Summit turned out to not quite be so fun. I'm not sure what the sadistic person that designed this course was thinking. But if it was to maximize the suffering of the riders, they have done an outstanding job. Putting a rest stop half way up the climb, and having everyone else turn around there was a stroke of pure genius. I was already into full suffering mode (replete with visions of ice cream and cold creeks) when I saw the tent for the rest stop. Coming up to it, I was shocked to see the orange arrows pointing straight. How could this climb get any worse? But yes, it does. For the next two miles or so, the road must be approaching close to 15% grades for significant stretches. I actually had to walk part of it. After that, it was amazing that I was able to ride the last couple of miles to the top. At the top, I sat down in the shade and drank a bottle of gatorade and a soda. That, combined with some fruit and cookies made me feel nearly human again. But still, two climbs to go...
The descent turned out to be a little rough, since I got a little piece of rock stuck in my cleat (the part that attaches the shoe to the pedal), and was unable to click into the right pedal. Not so fun when you are dodging rocks and bunnyhopping potholes. I eventually had to stop. Yet coming to the turn for the next climb I found myself dreading the hill. It turned out to not be as bad as the previous one, but the weather had grown considerably warmer, so the suffering was nearly as intense. At one point, I had to get off the bike and sit in the shade for a good 10 minutes before I felt that I could continue. It actually worked, and I was able to ride the rest of the way despite the cramps in my right leg.
Back into the valley, this time for the lunch stop. Which was nice, I figured that real food would give me the energy to tackle the last climb. Boy was I wrong! But it was nice to sit in the shade on the grass for a while. I noticed that a lot of people seemed to be talking about skipping the last climb, and that sort of steeled my determination to at least try it. But after getting about 3 miles up the climb, I decide that I'd had enough. So I turned around and headed back. The total was 110 miles with about 13,300 feet of climbing. At least the food at the finish was good!
And for the "Dirty Girl" (hey, that's what her jersey said!) from Redding, next year we will both finish!
The drive home was brutal, but I managed to get home reasonably early (just before 10:00) and was able to actually sleep before work today.
posted by Mike Deitchman at
12:35 PM
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