[OrRando] Birkie 200k brevet - preride report

[marcello at napolitano.com]

Yesterday I was blessed by a glorious sunny day for my preride of Saturday's
Birkie 200k brevet. The beautiful forest vistas on the way to Timber and the
quiet SR 202 following the lovely Nehalem River are some of my favorite
riding spots in our area. Here are my notes from the ride.

 

Mile 5: as you leave Forest Grove on the low traffic Gales Creek road, you
leave cell phone reception behind. I did not have any signal on my T-Mobile
phone until I got back to Forest Grove. Keep that in mind on Saturday. 

 

Mile 12: SR6 has a rumble strip on and off (mostly on) and a shoulder that
varies in width from 4 to 12 feet. The shoulder was fairly clean. There was
quite a bit of traffic on Sunday morning.

 

Mile 15: Other that crossing highway 26 at mile 24 (very carefully), I did
not see more than a couple of cars on the 20 miles after turning on Timber
road. 

 

Mile 21: In Timber, there is a sharp left turn and a rough railroad track
crossing at the end of a fast downhill section. Slow down and be nice to
your wheels as you go over the tracks.

 

Mile 30: (not sure about the exact mileage.) A gray dog followed me for a
couple of hundred feet and barked the whole way. Looked like a yapper. He
followed me again when I went by on the way back from Vernonia later in the
day. As long as they don't get in front of my bike, dogs don't bother me.

 

Mile 38: The out and back on Keasey road has most of the chip seal on this
brevet. There are two other short patches of chip seal on Stoney point road,
for a total of about 13 km for the whole 200k course. I did not feel the
rough surface much, but I am running 700x28C tires at 90 PSI, so what do I
know... A dark brown dog chased me when I was on the way back from the info
control, probably around mile 42.

 

Mile 50: Once we get a few miles from Vernonia, there almost no traffic. 

 

Mile 60: (not sure about the exact mileage.) They are widening a bridge and
the road is currently down to one lane. There were no flaggers when I went
through on Sunday, things may be different on a Saturday. There is a traffic
light that alternates what little traffic is in the area. I had no problem
tripping the sensors in both directions on my Aluminum bike, placing the
bottom bracket at the 3 o'clock position about 6 inches inside from the edge
of the circle. Don't run the red light. It is there for a reason, and you
can't see over the construction area to tell if there are cars coming from
the other direction. Patience, grasshoppers.

 

Mile 67: The Birkenfeld store has the usual rando fare, plus a sit down
grill that serves sandwiches and burgers. I refilled my bottles and got a
couple of Idaho Spud candy bars. You don't see them very often.

 

Mile 104: Danger! After the short, relatively steep climb right after
Timber, there are a couple of miles of nice descent. It is curvy, and when I
went through the area there was a 2 feet wide strip of loose gravel in the
middle of the lane. Please use your brakes to maintain your speed to a level
that will safely keep you on either side of the gravel strip. 

 

Mile 111: Yes, there is rumble strip on SR6 on the way back as well. 

 

Mile 126: Back at the lodge. I stopped to get a celebratory small blizzard
at the Dairy Queen across the street. My version of a recovery drink.

 

There are somewhere between 5000 and 7000 feet of climb on this course. Most
of it is very gradual, since the course follows several creeks and rivers. 

 

Please note that the ride will start at sunrise at 7.00 AM on Saturday, and
that you will have until 8.30 PM to finish. Sunset will be at 7.30 PM, and
if you are going to be riding after that time, you will need to have lights
on, and you must be wearing reflective clothing. Since we expect that most
riders will be finishing before sunset, we will not require riders to carry
light and reflective clothing. But if you are not using them after sunset,
you will be disqualified. You have been warned.

 

I look forward to seeing all on you on Saturday, for a fun, safe ride!

 

Marcello

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