DC

I want to volunteer and owe you $100.  Who do I make check to?

Thanks

Steve Thomas
Vets Pets
4935 Raleigh Road Pkwy
Wilson, NC 27896
252.290.1571

On Jul 9, 2012, at 2:32 PM, david caudle <[email protected]> wrote:

I have posted this before but I wanted to be sure everyone knows about it. 
 
Please see the attached brochure for all the information
 
VOLUNTEERS!!!!!!   We will need many volunteers in order for this event to run 
smooth and safe. I have heard from a hand full of you but please let me know if 
you can help.  Even if you don't have a child in the event I think each of you 
would enjoy seeing the kid’s race.  You can contact me at 
[email protected] or [email protected] or call me at the Y. 291-9622
 
REGISTRATION!!!  If you plan to sign your kids up and have not done so please 
do it soon.  I will place the T-Shirt order by the end of the month and need to 
know numbers. 
 
TELL A FRIEND!!!  Please spread the word about his event to as many people in 
Wilson and out of town as possible. 
 
David Caudle (DC)
 

From: Tim & Susan <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] 
Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2012 2:32 PM
Subject: [COWs] Cascades 1200K Ride Report!!!!

Cascades 1200K
 
Day One:  I stayed at the base motel in Monroe Washington Friday evening.  
Breakfast at 5:00am and 80 cyclists from around the world roll out at 6:00am 
for an EPIC cycling adventure.  Cloudy, cool morning quickly turns into a cold 
rain that last for several hours.  I settle in, getting as comfortable as I 
can.  Pedal hard, stay warm, weather will change eventually.  Nice long climb 
getting into Mt. Rainier National Park keeps the engine warm.  Now exiting the 
park to the south we cruise beside a creek between cascading waterfalls on both 
sides of the road.  At times the sound of rushing water is so loud you can’t 
even carry on a conversation.  It’s a very mystical place.  We have lunch in 
Eatonville at mile 95.  I’m riding a bit with Ed from Portland , OR .  We stop 
at Subway with several others. Ed’s one of those guys that always carries a big 
smile no matter what’s going down.  Finally mid-afternoon it stops raining and 
we’re in Packwood, (mile 140) at the base of White Pass.  We now have a 17 
mile, 2800 ft. climb.  3 hours later I reach the summit and take some pics to 
prove I was there.  Now it’s whee time.  This is my favorite descent on this 
trip.  Smooth asphalt, wide shoulders and easy turns make it fast and furious.  
Clear Lake control, (mile 170) our final stop before the overnight control.  
I’m frigid as well as several others.  I have the shakes really bad from that 
cold descent.  I have to hold my hot chocolate with both hands to keep from 
spilling.  Volunteers give us lots of warm stuff to calm us down.  I settle a 
bit but pedaling is the ultimate cure.  We go around the huge lake, then on to 
Naches.  (Sleep control, mile 208)  Arriving at 11:30pm, Shower, Dinner 
includes hot soups, then to sleep in the gym on mats and my air mattress that I 
carry in my drop bag that I have access to each night as well as a fresh set of 
clothes.  3 hours sleep the first night.
 
Day Two:  Up at 4:30 am.  Homemade blueberry pancakes hot off the griddle.  
This support crew is awesome.  These pancakes are the best ever.  I’m rolling 
by 5:30am.  We’re doing an out and back to Lodgepole campground near the top of 
Chinook Pass.  We cycle 45 miles up to Lodgepole into the wind.  We’re served 
more food and coffee from volunteers.  Back down to Naches.  Now we travel east 
of the mountains into the high desert plains.  In previous years temps soar 
into the 100’s here but not today as we settle in at around 85 degrees.  It’s 
very pleasant after yesterday’s cold rain. Long rollers to start and grades are 
shallow so some recovery riding for me.  I’m 305 miles into the ride when I 
have my first flat.  Some glass in the rear tire.  Pack up my stuff ready to go 
and notice front tire flat as well.  Dang it.  I remove a thorn from that tire, 
I think it came from that tumbleweed that blows across the road every now and 
then.  It’s ironic that I have two flats from different objects at the same 
time.  There is a lot of snowmelt irrigation here and there are acres and acres 
of hops.  Now I’m getting thirsty.  Wow, this is a lot of hops.  I think people 
here must have a drinking problem.  We have lunch in Fruitvale.  Afterwards we 
travel around the city on greenway bike trails.  We cruise back into the 
desert.  On the way to Mattawa we cross the Columbia River then we turn right.  
There is a road here but it goes straight up to the top of a plateau.  Surely 
this isn’t right.  I unfold the cue sheet and it reads. “Yes, up that Hill” 
Ouch!  I’m in my lowest gear and I have to stand to turn the pedals.  Gotta be 
15+ degrees.  This bites!  I’m finally over the top and more of these plateaus 
up ahead but none like that one.  Getting dark now and I see several bicycle 
lights ahead of me and several behind me.  The road is straight for miles.  I 
finally roll into Quincy around 12:30am.  (418 miles)  Another hot meal and a 
shower then to bed on a gym floor again.  Only 2 hours sleep this morning.
 
Day Three:  Up at 4:00am.  I chat with John Morris from Durham briefly before 
he takes off.  I grab a continental style breakfast this morning as the cooks 
aren’t ready yet.  I’m rolling by 5:00am.  Today we’re cruising around several 
lakes to Dry Falls .  We have a headwind and it is angry, very angry.  This is 
madness.  I have a hard time just holding on.  Dry Falls is another beautiful 
place but then we have to climb to the moon to get out of there.  We go east 
then north to Bridgeport , across the river to Brewster.  We have more 
spectacular river views.  We’re now in Malott at the base of the mountains. 
(Mile 535)  Loup Loup Pass is a 17 mile climb and takes me another 3+ hours to 
summit.  I’m leapfrogging several riders including one Japanese guy who keeps 
reminding me how many meters of climbing we have left.  We reach summit just 
before sunset.  Now we throw on everything we have for the cold descent.  2 
deer cross my path within a mile.  I’m now riding brakes while others ride by.  
Sunset is a bad time for dodging deer.  At bottom we have another 25 miles to 
the overnight control in Mazama.  I’m doing some sprints trying to stay 
focused.  I catch up with Matthew from southern California on his recumbent, 
and he appears to be struggling a bit on the last section.  I usually don’t 
ride well with others being I cycle a very inconsistent pace, but I chill a bit 
and make a friend.  We both stop a couple times and walk around to clear our 
heads.  It’s a beautiful evening and the summer Milky Way is brilliant in the 
night sky, glowing so brightly you could read a book by it.  It also brightens 
my spirits.  We’re now cruising the Lost River and it kinda sets the mood.  An 
hour or so later we make the control.  3 Canadians arrive shortly afterwards 
and we grab dinner, showers, and this time we have rooms with beds.  Yea!  2.5 
hours of solid sleep this morning.
 
Day Four:  Breakfast call at 3:45, I crawl over there around 4:15.  I’m very 
sluggish this morning as yesterday took everything I had.  I’m hitting the pain 
pills early today.  I start rolling at 5:10am, thinking that I’m getting an 
early start.  There are like 20 or so bikes still at camp when I leave.  Fewer 
miles today but the event’s biggest climb is the first order of business for 
today.  It’s 18 miles up to the top of the world, Washington Pass.  A couple 
hours in and I’m relaxed feeling great.  My pace is better than my previous 
climbs.  About 3 miles from the summit we ride past the snow line.  I have a 
flat shortly afterwards.  Did I mention that it’s like 36 degrees and raining?  
I’ve kept warm by climbing but I quickly get the tire changed because the 
engine is cooling down.  The mountain peaks come into view every now and then 
so I stop to take some pics.  This is a wondrous place.  I am in awe and really 
enjoying being here.  I take a little too much time goofing off, posing my bike 
against a snow bank, taking some video.  All is good.  Finally I jump back on 
the bike and finish up the last mile to the summit.  A rider is there loading 
his bike into a support vehicle; his ride is over.  I pull over to take a pic 
of the sign.  Support volunteer, I never got his name so I’m naming him “Nick” 
because he reminds me of Nick Nolte.  Please forgive me if you ever read this 
report.  Anyway, he walks up to me and asks if I want to load up my bike.  “Why 
would I do that?” I respond.  “Because the next control is 56 miles away in 
Marblemount and you’re not going to make it before the cut-off.  I am the 
sweeper he claims and you, meaning me is the last man standing but it doesn’t 
look good.  What about those 20 bikes I left at camp?  They are DNF’s going on 
the truck he responds.  How could this be?  I am confused.  On top of the world 
one minute then my heart just sank below the pits of hell.
 
Tim’s Big Screw-up:  I did not follow up my homework for this ride.  The course 
was shortened from a 1240K to a 1201K.  I was basing all my knowledge from ride 
reports and cues from previous years.  I had wondered why breakfast was so 
early today but didn’t put the pieces together until it was too late. (Almost)
<Triathlon Brochure.pdf>

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