Touring the San Juans by ship, longboat and bicycle

Two of my sons had summer jobs as members of the crew of the Hawaiian Chieftain, a gaff rigged topsail ketch (tall ship) from the Historical Seaport of Grays Harbor. http://www.historicalseaport.org/web/hawaiian-chieftain.html

Benny was the engineer last year (the ship has a couple of diesels) and the bosun this year. Teddy was an able seaman before the mast. They went aboard on 6/26, and sailed around the coast of Washington and the San Juans for most of the summer. The Chieftain and her sister ship the Lady Washington visited various festivals, hosted a couple of summer camps aboard and ashore in the San Juans and took visitors on excursions. They had a passage from Anacortes to the San Juans scheduled, so my other son Danny and I planned to take a ride on the ship and then do a (ferry assisted) bike tour of the islands.

I was thinking about a credit card style trip and some B&Bs, but ran out of time to make reservations. Danny has been intrigued by ultra light backpacking so we decided to try ultra light bicycle touring. I had my Rando bike with a large Carradice seat bag and an Ortleib

handlebar bag. Danny had his cross bike with two large Ortleib panniers and a rack top trunk. We each packed one set of on bike and one set of off bike clothes, sleeping bag and pad and an ultralight 8’x10’ nylon waterproof tarp Linda had made. The tarps, were thin and small enough

to stuff in the pocket on the Carradice. Combined with some stakes and some parachute cord we could have a shelter for only about a pound. We were going to be near civilization so we planned to eat in restaurants rather than carrying food or cooking gear. Getting the bikes and gear organized was a last minute exercise and we got out of Corvallis around 10 on a Thursday. We stopped in Portland for lunch and to pick up a map at Powells’ and then headed north to Anacortes, arriving in time for a great dinner at the Brown Lantern.

Friday morning I had to do some work (a conference call and presentation through the miracle of remote computer access and hotel WiFi). After that we had some time to kill until the ship came in so we rode across the Deception Pass and down to Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island. We had a great BBQ lunch, and a nice ride around the island while we watched the Prowlers and Hornets in the pattern at the Naval Air Station. We got back to Anacortes with a little time to spare, and managed to grab a shower and get aboard the ship as they were offloading a group of campers. We set our bikes on the galley roof and the ship headed back out to sea at 6 pm after only two hours in port.

The Chieftain and Lady had been booked for commemoration of the Pig War at English Camp on San Juan Island http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War and they had to be there at dawn. The wind wasn’t favorable, so the diesels were used for the passage. Nonetheless, it was a great ride. We were happy to see Benny and Teddy, hear about their adventures and see how they fit in the crew. We had dinner as they threaded their way through the narrow passages and ship and pleasure boat traffic of the islands. Eventually it got dark and the Chieftain proceeded to feel her way into the narrow passage past Roche Harbor and into English Camp. The passage was not a lot wider than the Willamette at Corvallis and the ship is 80 tons and 104 feet long. There was no moon, the crew was posted as lookouts at the front of the ship and the mate watched the radar in the cabin below and called up headings to the captain. It was a tense passage, but eventually we found the bay and discovered it was full of small boats, probably there to see the tall ship. We dropped the anchor at around 1 am and settled in for a short night. We were scheduled to fire a cannon salute for the flag raising at 9:00 am.

We woke early and the Lady Washington arrived while we were having breakfast. The Lady is twice as big, has half the horsepower and only one screw, so they’d anchored outside the passage overnight and done it easily in the daylight. The Chieftain weighed anchor and carefully maneuvered among the anchored yachts in close to the fort on shore. As the appointed hour approached, the guns were prepared and run out. Benny was the gunner, so he did the work. Three 3” cannons were loaded with black powder and at exactly 9 am the first one was fired. The half pound of black powder made a flash I could feel 20 feet away, a cloud of smoke and a big bang that echoed back from the hills around the Bay. Another cannon was fired on shore and the Lady joined in as Benny fired the last two guns.

After the salute, the Chieftain was skillfully anchored close to shore with the aid of a lead line, two anchors and a line to a tree. The last demonstration of seamanship was when the bicycles and Danny and I were offloaded into the longboat and we sailed to shore. We passed through the

re-enactors in their 17th century wool with our bicycles and lycra and proceeded up the hill and out of the National Park.

The ride around San Juan Island was a low traffic road along the marine cliffs. We hadn’t gone a half hour when we saw an Orca (killer whale) paralleling our course. He kept a touring cyclist pace just offshore until we turned inland an headed for Friday Harbor. We had lunch and then caught the ferry to Orcas Island.

By the time we got to Orcas, the day was quite warm. Danny wanted to cycle that island because it was described as the “most challenging”. We headed toward Moran State Park over several steep rollers in 90F heat. We scored a spot in the “primitive campground” and settled in. We set up our tarp, grabbed a quick shower (3 minutes/50cents) and headed downhill a couple of miles to Olga for supper. We arrived at the well reviewed Olga Café at 6:15, to find they had closed at 6. The other café in town had also closed at 6, so we were faced with several miles uphill to get back to our campsite and our iron rations. When we turned around we noticed that clouds had been building behind us on the descent and we immediately heard thunder. Uh oh.

Danny and I pushed uphill at a pace which was a balance between beating the rain and eliminating the benefit of our showers. We finally ended up at our camp sweaty but ahead of the rain and settled in to test our ultralight shelter against the thunderstorm that was rapidly approaching. Our supper was 2 cliff bars, some peanuts and some crackers with peanut butter and water. It wasn’t deluxe, but we’d had a big lunch and only ridden 40 miles, so we figured we’d survive. We were snug in our shelter and could hear the thunder approaching

We’d rigged the tarps with one as a ground cloth and the other stretched between a taut line about 3 feet off the ground and some stakes. It worked fine as a sun shade and when the rain was light and vertical. The gust front showed the limitation of the fundamental design when it immediately swept rain in the open end of the shelter. Our first step was to lower the front. That worked for a while, but when the heavy rain started drops bounced off the ground and into our space. We realized at this point why tents are low to the ground on all sides. If we’d anticipated this, we could have rigged the tarp like an a frame, draped over the taut line. By now the rain was heavy and the ground was wet, so changing our architecture would be a damp proposition. We decided to bring Danny’s bike inside the tarp and stake it down between us as a central support and stake the tarp down on all sides. That worked pretty well as a fundamental architecture, and after some minor adjustments we endured an impressive thunderstorm.

The next morning was steamy and hot and we were hungry. A couple more Cliff Bars were first breakfast. Our bike clothes hadn’t dried overnight, so we put on our “off bike” clothes and cleaned up the camp. First objective was to climb Mount Constitution before riding into town for breakfast. The climb turned out to be quite steep, even with low gearing and an “ultralight load”. It was about two thirds of a Mary’s Peak climb. At the top we had a coke and climbed the lookout tower for the fantastic view of the San Juans and Vancouver Island. It was a fast chilly descent off the mountain and then rollers back to East Sound. On the way into town we saw a sign for a pancake breakfast at the American Legion, and “all you can eat” was just what we were looking for.

After breakfast we rode back to the ferry terminal at Orcas. We had a pleasant ferry ride back to Anacortes and then rode the long way around to our hotel to miss the ferry traffic. Next morning Danny dropped me off at SeaTac for a business trip to Chicago and kept the car for another week in Seattle and Tacoma. We’d had a great time on the boat, seen the San Juans and learned about ultralight bicycle camping. In three days we rode about 100 mile, and saw most of the nice roads. It was a good place to ride, but without enough roads to go very far. Next time we go to the San Juans, it’ll be sea kayaking or bare boating.

RAO training

This spring has been a series of long rides, building the endurance base for RAO. After a humbling 300K, I did a hard ride around Alsea falls and then a confidence building 200 mile weekend to the coast. I followed the route Corvallis, Blodgett, Nashville, Siletz, Lincoln City to Pacific city and met Linda at a B&B. Coincidentally, there were some bicycle racers that I knew at the B&B and our breakfast conversation comparing Randonneuring to road racing was like describing a strange planet. The route back was via the Little Nestucca, Grande Ronde, Wilamina, Dallas and Monmouth. I rode my own pace and felt strong rolling back to Corvallis. The ride confirmed that the difficulties on the 300K could be avoided with rest, adequate food and reasonable pacing.

I took another rest week then three progressively harder weekend rides. The Covered Bridges 400K was flat and fairly fast. I rode with Kramer and Dave “Ready to Ride” Rowe. We rode with Dick Weber for a while around the halfway point, but he was riding at a pace slightly above what I could sustain. We let him go, and then caught sight of him again with 50k to go. He saw us and picked up the pace until he was out of sight. He came in coincident with us and confessed to a minor wrong turn. The lesson learned was to ride at my own pace and watch the route.

The next week was SIR’s Ephrata 400K. It was a hilly 400K with plenty of wind and heat. I rode much of it alone, good practice for RAO. I had a tough patch on Loup Loup Pass during the heat of the day, when I couldn’t eat for a while, but was feeling good by the end of the ride and pounded in the finish.

The following week was the XTR 600K pre-ride. It was a hot and hilly 600K. The write up’s on Kramer’s Blog; the short version was beautiful scenery, pretty hot, plenty of climbing and a good time. It was 3/4 of an RAO in the same area, Rando style. It was excellent endurance training.

I took a week off the bike and helped Kramer with the actual XTR 600K. My job was to man a secret control and then sweep (not sag) the course to deal with any heat related problems. I brushed up on first aid for heat stroke and heat exhaustion and stocked the cooler with ice and water. I essentially moved through the controls very near the closing times and got to see another side of the Brevet than I usually do. The temperature was about 5 degrees hotter than the pre-ride and for several people that meant they couldn’t really eat and digest food. That slowed them way down and they were up against time pressure, which meant they didn’t get much sleep or recovery time. They certainly showed a lot of persistence in the face of adversity.

After my rest week, it was time to head east again for a Credit Card Tour. My friend Brian has organized these tours for the past 11 years and this is only the second one I’ve been able to attend. Luckily it was on some of the same roads that the XTR and RAO use. The plan was four days on fast bikes with minimal stuff (carry one set of off bike clothes, wear one set of bike clothes, wash them every night). I rode the Serotta I plan to use on RAO with a large Vaude seat pack. Brian, John Wilson, Harry Phinney and I carpooled from Corvallis to the start at Prineville where we met our friend Dave Gast. Harry had fallen at home before the ride, and showed up with a sore wrist. We advised him to suck it up, probably just a sprain. The ride from Prineville along the top of Lake Billy Chinook was nice. By the time we got to the descent to Lake Simtustus, there were black storm clouds behind us and we could hear thunder. Even with a fast descent we couldn’t beat the storm and we took shelter in a Café in Warm Springs just as the gust front arrived. We ate sandwiches as the water poured down and heard reports of 60 mph winds and golf ball size hail just down the road, in Bend. We rode up toward Simnasho and got detoured to Kahneeta (incorrectly) by a downed power line. The director of security drove us back up around the power line and to the top of the hill. We missed a great climb, but with the detour our total distance to Maupin was still 104 miles.

We overnighted at the Imperial Lodge on the Deschutes in Maupin. The next morning we said good bye to Harry as he headed home to get his wrist checked (turned out it was broken). We continued north on River Road then climbed out of the canyon to lunch at Moro. A tailwind blew us through the wind farms to the John Day river crossing and then into Condon. At Condon we had great milkshakes at the soda fountain and an excellent steak dinner at the Elks Lodge.

The next day we raced the rain toward Heppner and took a right at Hardman ridge. We were in a short cold rain and then rolled south through high forests toward Kahler Basin. The road through the basin was new to all of us and was one of the highlights of the trip. It emptied into the John Day canyon at Spray, a short down river grade to our overnight at the Service Creek Lodge. That was an excellent stop with friendly people and outstanding food.

The last day we had to push the pace to get Brian home for a graduation party. We rode Oregon 207 to Mitchell then Highway 26 over Ochoco for the long pedaling downhill into Prineville. Overall it was a great trip and a good reminder why credit card tours are my favorite type of riding.

The credit card tour was the transition between endurance training and intensity training for RAO. It was essentially a 600K spread over 4 days and the recovery every night let me push harder than Rando pace on the climbs. After that I did a three week block of increasing intensity, hill repeats and multiple trips up Mary’s peak and Alsea falls. My last training ride on 6/28 was a race pace century with a climb up Mary’s Peak, Alsea Falls, over to Harrisburg and back up the valley into a strong headwind.

The last couple of weeks were just easy daily commutes and plenty of work on the logistics of bike, wheel and spare bike prep. I felt ready and rested by the time of RAO.

Looping in the Wallowas

The Mid Valley Bicycle Club puts on a loop tour for their members every year. Volunteers plan the route and make arrangements and then it is run twice, in June and late July. It started more than twenty years ago as a fully loaded tour, but has evolved to the point where about half the people have their camping gear sagged. The June tour is balanced toward adults and teenagers while the July tour includes a lot more young kids. About twenty five riders and three sag drivers did the June tour. The tour started Saturday, 6/21 and finished up Sunday 6/29. The route this year was around and through the Wallowa and Blue Mountains. It started in Pendleton, the first night was at a school in Weston; Over Tollgate pass to Minam campground; via Enterprise and Joseph to Wallowa Lake State Park; over another pass to Ollocote campground; another pass and a detour to the edge of Hell’s Canyon then a long downhill to Halfway; through the desert to Baker City; into the Blue Mountains past Sumpter and Granite to North Fork (of the John Day River) Campground; yet another pass to Lehman Hot springs; and then over Battle mountain and back to Pendleton.

This year’s tour was characterized by excellent weather; a severe T-storm almost blew the Eureka tents down the first night, after that it was beautiful; nights down to the 30's in the mountains and 50's in the desert; cool mornings; hot afternoons into the 80's; 100 on the last day into Pendleton. We used all our clothes except the rain gear.

The kids did great. They didn't have much time to train so they sagged; Katy was on the tandem with me; Benny and Danny were on their own bikes, relatively unloaded; Ted was on my cross bike cause it had the lowest gears (with a compact-34x27). Ted is uncoordinated and didn't learn to ride as a kid. He doubled his total bicycling time on this ride and only crashed the first three days in a row, (no blood, no foul). He was slowest (of the Ahlvins) up all the hills, but did EFI. I was nervous about him descending but stationed one of the boys behind him and he did OK. He did ride over a snake when he couldn't dodge it like the rest of the guys in the paceline. By the last day he could hang in a paceline with the tandem in front; we averaged >18mph into Pendleton despite a mountain and headwind. For the other kids it was a vacation, for Teddy it was a huge accomplishment.

Linda drove the sag wagon (Element with rocket launcher) because it was a chance to share a family vacation. She did well, but it's a pretty boring job. She finished "Great Expectations", 1000 pages of fine print, while she was sagging. She enjoys cooking and camping and since all our stuff was allocated to our own car she brought a camp kitchen, including a Dutch Oven. If you're going to sag, sag.

The rest of the riders were fun to hang around with (generally, usually).

Some notes for the riders on the second tour: Cold Pop is out of business; the Hot Springs pool hasn't been cleaned in six years; the mountains are the same as when the club last did this route in 2002. Katy and I on the tandem (and Danny tucked in drafting) had a maximum speed of 47 mph and change.

Some of the old people are saying it might be their last loop tour; with our kids getting their own lives, this might be the last one the whole Ahlvin family does together. It was a great ride.