[OrRando] FW: Pre Ride Report for Das Oktober Bingen Bikenfest

[Susan France]

-----Original Message-----
From: John Kramer [mailto:jckramer at gorge.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 9:16 PM
To: Albert Lutz; bkschell at verizon.net; brian.ferguson at med.va.gov; daniel
pasley; Dave Read; david kamp; David Rowe; Del Scharffenberg;
kools8 at peoplepc.com; lochmond at aol.com; lted1 at qwest.net;
marksome at comcast.net; Michael Rasmussen; michbin at earthlink.net; nate
armbrust; Paul Whitney; Rawls Moore; Robert Buschman; Scott Peterson;
Susan France; Vic Ringkvist
Subject: Pre Ride Report for Das Oktober Bingen Bikenfest


I completed a pre ride for the Das Oktober Bingen Bikenfest on Monday
October 10th. The elapsed time was 11:00 hours. There are several
clarifications for the route. The ride starts in Bingen at Daubenspec Park
which is located on the West side of Bingen. Turn left (north) at either of
the first city streets (Willow or Walnut) and you are there. At mile 46, the
right turn to the Observatory, is easily identified by a flashing 4 way stop
light. This is the only stop light on the route and there is also a sign
with an arrow pointing to "Observatory." The RUSA time limit is 14 hours, 16
minutes ending at 21:16. See the web site for an elevation profile and map.
http://www.orrandonneurs.org/brevets/2005_Bingen_CueSheet.xls

The low temperature was 44 degrees at 06:30 am. The temperature was stable
at 62 degrees through the late morning until the end of the ride at 17:30.
The sunrise on October 15th is at 07:23 and sunset is at 18:20. I turned off
my headlights at 07:30 during the pre ride. I dressed in layers including a
wool jersey and long tights, did not add or remove layers and was
comfortable all day.

Mile 0 to 45, Bingen to Goldendale, 3.75 hours: Good road shoulders and low
rolling resistance with good views of the Columbia River and Mt. Hood and
Mt. Adams. The shoulder on highway 97 is wide enough for side by side
riding. I stopped at the Dairy Queen in Goldendale for breakfast and water.

Mile 45 to 84, Goldendale to Glenwood, 3 hours: The road shoulder was the
fog line and the road surface was aging chip seal with higher rolling
resistance. There was almost no traffic just an occasional log or cattle
truck. There is a nice descent and view of the Klickitat River valley near
mile 65. Stopped in Glenwood to fill water bottles.

Mile 84 to 105, Glenwood to Big Tree, 2.5 hours: Road condition to Mt. Adams
road is chip seal with higher rolling resistance. There was less than almost
no traffic. Mile 100 to 105 has better surface conditions and lower rolling
resistance.

Mile 105 to 134 (the finish), Big Tree to Bingen, 2 hours: Road surface is
mostly smooth with low rolling resistance and minimum to generous shoulder
widths. This is a fast leg, mostly down hill with a small number of short
uphill segments. I stopped in Trout Lake for an energy drink and a peach.

The NOAA Weather forecast has been evolving. A trough bringing a chance of
precipitation is expected Friday or Saturday but the timing is uncertain.
The NOAA detailed point forecast at this web site provides a partly cloudy
forecast and shows the probability of precipitation on Saturday of
30-percent for Goldendale, 40 percent for Trout Lake and 50 percent for
White Salmon.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/index.php?wfo=pdt&zone=waz024&county=
wac039