We love cycling!

Miles and I love cycling!

My opinion of the “High Pass Challenge” in Packwood, WA

We headed off to Packwood, Washington to ride the “High Pass Challenge” this past weekend.  After stopping off to visit Miles’ family, we arrived in this one-horse town Saturday night to spend the night before Sunday’s ride.

 

This ride is not for the novice.  They say that on their website but I’m telling you first hand—NOT FOR INEXPERIENCED CYCLIST!  114 miles and 8,000 feet of climbing.  There were 260 men and 15 women who took the challenge.  At 7am, we went screaming out of the starting gate bound for Mt. Saint Helen’s. 

 

I really should have paid better attention to what I was getting myself into.  Had I known the difficulty, I would’ve eaten more, rested more prior to the ride and dressed differently.  During the warm up, it began raining.  We quickly became cold and our moods darkened as the sky did the same.  We started climbing 15 miles in and didn’t have much of a reprieve until the top.   It was indeed a challenge.

 

But for me, the hardest part was not knowing the course: the road variations, the quality/quantity of the rest stop food, the length of the climbs, etc.  I conserved my energy instead of riding it hard simply because I didn’t know.  Of course, hindsight is always 20/20 and if I do this ride again, I will ride it much harder.

 

So, will I do this ride again?  I’m not sure.  Here are my pros and cons.

 

Pros:

• Beautiful scenery
• Excellent support
• Fantastic after-ride food and drinks
• Cheesy but fun medal awarded according to your finish time
• Local radio station DJ playing music and announcing your name as you cross finish line
• Parking was convenient and only $5
• SAG vehicles made excellent effort to stay visible and accessible

 

Cons:

• Rainy climate.  It rains all of the time in this part of the country.  It will probably rain during the ride next year and it’s depressing to ride in dreary conditions.
• No ride packet goodies but we did get nice pair of socks.
• Very few restaurants and hotels to choose from.  Only one restaurant stayed open late and opened early to accommodate hungry riders.
• A long drive to get there from Boise:  7 hrs. each way.
• No place to sit and eat afterwards.  Had to sit on wet, muddy grass.  Ugh.

 

So when thinking of doing this ride next year, consider my pros and cons.  It might be worth the effort and time just to get away from our desert landscape here in the Treasure Valley.  The rainforest backdrop of Mt. Saint Helens is truly beautiful if you don’t mind being wet while you ride.  Of course, hopefully you’re smarter than me and you bring the appropriate gear!

(This is a picture of Miles and me relaxing on Case Inlet the day before ride)