[OrRando] Ride Report Perm 109

[John Kramer]

I initialized Bingen Heppner permanent #109 last weekend. It was a great 
weekend to ride with clear skies, a slight east wind and cold 
temperatures between 30 and 44 degrees. The first leg to Biggs was 
pretty cold and I stopped several times to work some feeling back into 
my feet. I left the control at Biggs near the maximum time for the 
control and started climbing Highway 97 to Wasco. My Garmin gps recorded 
10,000 feet of climbing for the ride. Most of the elevation gain is in 
the 90 miles between Biggs and Heppner. I added a profile to the route 
map which may be available at the web site soon.

 

The route crosses the John Day River at mile 53. The climb out of the 
John Day River to Condon is the big climb of the ride lasting about 25 
miles and gaining 3200 feet. I stopped for lunch at the Mountain 
Identifier at mile 72 and looked at the Condon and Heppner control 
times. A quick calculation showed lunch time was over and it was off to 
Condon at full speed. I got a receipt from the supermarket with only 
minutes to spare before the control closed. The cashier told me to enjoy 
the hills and I promised I would. So I took off for Heppner at full 
speed. A quick calculation showed that I would have ride eleven miles 
per hour and the speed would have to include the slight headwind and the 
hills but it would give me about a half hour of contingency time. So I 
climbed the hills using maximum effort and descended the hills pushing 
my 53-11 gear as hard as I could. The sun set half way to Heppner and 
the temperatures rapidly fell to freezing. I made the control in Heppner 
with 45 minutes left to spare but happy and dripping wet.

 

I had to keep a close eye on the time on this ride. It was a hard 6 hour 
push from the mountain identifier all the way to Heppner. I loved the 
canyon scenery between Condon and Heppner. Pushing hard for six hours 
killed my enthusiasm for riding back to Bingen on Sunday so I caught a 
ride back with my wife who just happened to be in Heppner with a hotel 
room and two deliriously happy golden retrievers. Heppner is the Gateway 
tot the Blue Mountains where the Oregonians stash the real hills.

 

All whining aside, I noticed on my recovery ride on Monday that someone 
had flattened out the hills I normally climb. My normal hills were gone! 
Wind could turn this route into a very difficult ride.