[OrRando] RE: [SIR] Mt. Adams 200k this weekend

[Susan France]

> You may want to suggest that folks bring 4
> water bottles. It was hot today and I drank all 4 of my bottles between
> Trout Lake and Lower Falls and again between Lower Falls and Happy
> Valley. Maybe it is just me but better safe than sorry. And lots of
> food. As you know, there is nothing after Trout Lake. I almost ran out
> of time. I was just enjoying the ride and thought I had lots of time.
> The info controls don’t have close times. At one point, I did a little
> math and decided I better get moving. There is a lot of time spent
> climbing and the lower speed threw me off. Again, maybe just my problem
> but you might mention that to the riders. This is a much different 200
> than the flat ones that some of the ORR folks are used to.

It is suppose to be on the warm side this weekend so I have a few
suggestions... based on what I saw on the C1200 doing on course support.

Camelbacks are wonderful contraptions. If you cannot comfortably carry one
on your back, find a way to put one in your front bag or mount it on your
bike. I saw some ingenious modifications when I spent a couple months in AZ
where a camelback is standard equipment (you will be looked at as foolish.)
I use a 1.4 liter Free Flow camelback that is intended to wear around your
waist. It is far more compact than a regular camelback. I strap it to my
handlebars and use it like a mtn bike handlebar bag... but my handlebars are
unique. I think it could fit nicely into a front pack.

Do not fill your bottles with stream water (yes, some folks on Cascade got
desperate!) Anyone who does this, probably hasn't had Giardia. I have. It is
by far the most miserable bug I ever got. I was sick for weeks and weeks
with flu-like symptoms. Either carry a couple water purification tabs (I do)
or flag down a vehicle and ask for water. John does plan to have a water
stop or two so hopefully no one is running out of water or other goodies.

Closing times on mountains and passes are removed, as is typical of routes
out of the Gorge, you do all your climbing the first half and then just hold
on for miles and miles on the return.

BTW, our philosophy in running Oregon brevets is that we start out with
easier routes in the Spring, and move on to the harder (climbing, wind and
heat) brevets in the summer after folks have a few miles under their belts.
This is just the opposite of the SIR brevets (except in PBP years), and a
nice compliment. I was a bit worried our rookie riders in the Cascade might
be a bit unprepared, we had a lot of nice weather this year... but I had
nothing to worry about, they did better than many vets.

See you this weekend,
Bring your camelbacks
Susan.