# 7 Hills of Kirkland



## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

How was y'all's ride? My first century of the season. I was in serious difficulty.


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

It was fun. Glad the weather turned decent just in time.

The hills -- they were not so steep, you know?

It was the first time I'd ridden on the course of an organized century. It definitely highlighted the differences between "racers" and "recreational riders." Nothing against them at all, just a different style of riding, but it was interesting watching the pace difference up the hills.

Did it with 6 teammates; it would have been a much faster average speed, except that we decided there were "KoM points" at the top of each hill...

Now they're all calling me "the chicken." Great.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

The hills are definitely doable. Sadly the distance was a Come to Jesus experience in terms of my spring fitness.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

Argentius, are you doing the Spring Century? I seem to recall you hail from P-town or environs.


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## JP (Feb 8, 2005)

Hey guys,

I did it too, and I had a good time. At first I felt a little silly paying $40 to go for a bike ride, but I liked the route, and I always like riding with others. 

I can totally relate to the difference between riding with racers and people who do these organized rides. I thought everyone could hold a line, no? Funny, but compared to Flying Wheels, Chilly Hilly, or STP the riders on 7 hills were much more stable!  Perhaps the title scared away the less experienced. 

But fun ride. You guys doing any of these: Flying Wheels, Tour De Blast, STP, RAMROD?


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

FW, STP, Torture 10,000 and--hopefully--the Super Randonneur series. We'll see. . .


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## Spinnerman (Oct 21, 2004)

jplatzner said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I did it too, and I had a good time. At first I felt a little silly paying $40 to go for a bike ride, but I liked the route, and I always like riding with others.
> 
> ...


RAMROD could be interestoing this year as there is a chance that SR123 won't be ready in time for RAMROD because of a landslide. The official word right now is that Cayuse pass from the SR123 side will be open later this summer. Whatever later means. I am sure the Redomond cycling clubs knows more about this than I. 

I dfinitely won't be doing STP. No more STP's for me unless at some point in the future my daughters or sons want to do it. 

I will be doing Mt. Shasta Super Century for the second year in a row. It is 1/2 again harder than RAMROD. If you want to make RAMROD more of a challenge on your own, go over Hwy 7 to Morton and then climb Skate Creek from Packwood and then do Paradise etc. I might take a day later in the summer and do RAMROD with a couple of clubmates starting in Orting and we might do this option. 

Except for Mt. Shasta, I won't do any specific training. I ride centuries plus all of the time from mid April through September. We all do various amounts of racing so there is usually someone or a couple that like to push the pace on any given ride. Last year I rode RAMROD very hard and then did too much fast hard riding betwen RAMROD and Mt. Shasta. I completed Shasta, but my legs were wood after the first climb. It was a suffer fest on the last two climbs and the 102 degree temperature on the third climb did not help matters. I usually like it warm to hot, but not when my legs were cooked. This year, I will taper for Shasta.


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## mdehner (Sep 1, 2002)

Spinnerman said:


> I will be doing Mt. Shasta Super Century for the second year in a row. It is 1/2 again harder than RAMROD.


I can't compare the Shasta ride to RAMROD (never done the latter), but I heartily recommend the Shasta Super Century; it's a real challenge, well-supported, and located in absolutely gorgeous country.

http://www.shastasummitcentury.com/routes.htm


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

I am from p-town, currently in Seattle, but more of a racer than an organized ride rider. Tour de Blast clashes with the Elkhorn classic, so I'm doing the latter, for instance.

What / when is the spring century?


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## BenWA (Aug 11, 2004)

Argentius said:


> I am from p-town, currently in Seattle, but more of a racer than an organized ride rider. Tour de Blast clashes with the Elkhorn classic, so I'm doing the latter, for instance.
> 
> What / when is the spring century?


hey Argentius, did you end up going to Elkhorn this year? If so, howd it go??


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

yeah, I did. I'm writing up a race report now... I PM'ed you.


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