# high pass challenge



## thumbprinter (Jun 8, 2009)

has anyone done this ride? comments? reports? i'm thinking about doing it this year, it doesn't happen till september so i've got all summer to prep....


----------



## ChilliConCarnage (Jun 1, 2006)

http://www.cascade.org/eandr/hpc/index.cfm

I did it last year, and saw a few PNW RBR people. Beautiful ride, well supported. If it didn't conflict with the Whistler Granfondo I would do it again this year.


----------



## thumbprinter (Jun 8, 2009)

seen the website... was more looking for experiential reports, specifically any comments on general grades of the climbs. i've done close to that much climbing in a 70 mile ride so based on that i'm assuming that none of the grades are too steep for very long?

glad to hear that you enjoyed the ride and that the support was good. thanks!


----------



## fallzboater (Feb 16, 2003)

It does seem like it'd be a lot more fun without the first 25, or last 35, miles. That's a lot of flat. I'd be real interested in riding from somewhere north of Carson to Windy Ridge and back sometime; have done it many times on a motorcycle, but not on the bike, yet. Would also like to do the RAMROD, but it's hard for me to commit to certain date that far in advance.


----------



## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

ive done it 3 times. so thats all of them right? 

i like the first 25 and last 10 miles. the first 25 has a mass pack. youll be going ~30 without working hard, the nature of this ride means most will know how to ride in a pack, but not everyone, be wary. the ~15 miles of rollers working back to the highway were tough. but the last 10 on the highway usually feature a nice tailwind. 

youre never climbing much, i mean, youre going up. but never granny gear. there are some great views.

its a small ride (limited to 800) so the rest stops are never packed, if youre taking your time or running through them youll be fine. 

humm, gran fondo in whistler. hummm


----------



## thumbprinter (Jun 8, 2009)

thanks for the info kreger. what don't you like about the other 79 miles?


----------



## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

dont know what you mean there. the other 79 miles (or so) are from the turn off from the highway and up to the lookout and back to the highway. this last year was perfect i was riding in a group of guys i know at a fast pace. the riding is nice, very few cars, the time of the year means its pretty cool.

i crashed into the woods on the way down. it was a lucky crash, even though i went in going 30 i only had some minor injuries. no i wasnt the guy who went off the bridge.


----------



## ChilliConCarnage (Jun 1, 2006)

Howdy Kreger. Glad it wasn't you who went over the bridge - that looked like it was probably nasty.

The Whistler Granfondo looks really fun, but they obviously underestimated interest and sold out quickly (9 months in advance!). Fortunately, they've added 1500 more spots, but I'm sure that will sell out quickly too. So, for anybody not doing HPC this year, sign up now!


----------



## thumbprinter (Jun 8, 2009)

kreger said:


> dont know what you mean there. the other 79 miles (or so) are from the turn off from the highway and up to the lookout and back to the highway. this last year was perfect i was riding in a group of guys i know at a fast pace. the riding is nice, very few cars, the time of the year means its pretty cool.
> 
> i crashed into the woods on the way down. it was a lucky crash, even though i went in going 30 i only had some minor injuries. no i wasnt the guy who went off the bridge.


i was just curious since you stated that you liked the first 25 and last 10 miles.

glad you escaped serious injury - what was the cause of your crash?


----------



## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

thumbprinter said:


> - what was the cause of your crash?


was in a turn, wheel popped up for some reason, rock or something, and i straightened up and slammed on the brakes (dumb panic move). i went off into the understory of the forest, missed all the trees =)
i was able to continue on. in all- i wasnt paying as much attention as i should have been.

i like damn near the whole ride. the rollers on the way back that run more or less parallel to the highway are the exception. the chip and seal and repetitive short rollers seem to stretch the day out.

Chili

fondo is sat, hpc is sunday. im always curious on fondos, how do you get back to the start?

fodno looks fun, im thinking about it. if you do fondo sat you can get over to glacier and do 542 on sunday!


----------



## ChilliConCarnage (Jun 1, 2006)

They've got transpo options just like STP to get you back to Vancouver. 

I won't need to use it though. I'll have my wife waiting for me - she'll have the car loaded with our mt. bikes and we'll hit the bike park at Whistler for a few days after the Fondo.

Wish it wasn't still 7 months away!


----------



## thumbprinter (Jun 8, 2009)

ChilliConCarnage said:


> she'll have the car loaded with our mt. bikes and we'll hit the bike park at Whistler for a few days after the Fondo.


lucky you!!!!


----------



## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

ChilliConCarnage said:


> Wish it wasn't still 7 months away!


if youre looking to whet you whistler (couldnt resist) there are the sir populaire this weekend and chilly hilly


----------



## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

ChilliConCarnage said:


> They've got transpo options just like STP to get you back to Vancouver.
> 
> I won't need to use it though. I'll have my wife waiting for me - she'll have the car loaded with our mt. bikes and we'll hit the bike park at Whistler for a few days after the Fondo.
> 
> Wish it wasn't still 7 months away!


 Hey not trying to hijack here. 

Another Gran Fondo coming this fall from my race team organizers, Echelon Gran Fondo/Z-team. I am away from home now and somewhat out of touch so I don't know if they have posted anything yet on the usual sites, but I often ride the route this event is going to cover and it is excellent.. In the area east of Hood River, Oregon..many of the roads are/were stages in either the Cherry Blossom Classic stage race or the Mt Hood Classic stage race.

The Echelon Fondo has some absolute classic cycling terrain in very sparse traffic and the Columbia River Gorge has plenty else to do for your non-riding co-travelers. 
sometime in Sept. so plenty of time to arrange the trip if big organized events are your thing.
Don Hanson


----------



## litespeed1 (Nov 15, 2005)

*The guy that went off the bridge*

That would be me. I was by myself when I went down. Last thing I remembered before the crash was seing my front wheel slip off the board going across the bridge and thinking I'm going down. Somehow I either flipped over or got through the barriors on the side of the bridge and landed about 30 feet below. Another rider found me by checking out the bottle that was left on the bridge and I was airlifted to harberview. Injuries were 2 fractured vertibrie, 10 broken ribs and a crushed right skull. I had 7 hours of surgery to fix the skull and was in the hospital for 5 days and off work for 2 months. My C-40 suffered only a couple of scrapes on the right seat stay. I've been back on the bike once a week for the last 2 months, now with DLS time starting up, I should be able to ride more soon. My stanima is still poor, but I can do 50 miles without back pain, still suffering a little double vision from swelling around the right eye. It was by far the worst crash I've ever had and I am fortunate in many ways on how this has turned out. And yes I plan to be back in 2010, its a great ride.


----------



## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

WOW, i saw the commotion around the bridge, but was waved through by a cyclist directing traffic. the emergency vehicle hadnt arrived yet, we saw people and bikes, and more bikes than people, we assumed someone went off.

thats a long fall. youre very lucky, way to get back on the horse and ride


----------



## s2ktaxi (Jul 11, 2006)

Litespeed - glad to know you're on the mend and back on the bike. The scary part for me was that no more than 2 miles after the bridge, one of my riding buddies ^ understeered off a turn and rode into the trees - but came out with just a minor scrape.


----------



## litespeed1 (Nov 15, 2005)

Its a long desent and easy to make a mistake, Im sure if I would have been a little more focused I wouldnt have been by the edge of the board in the bridge


----------



## s2ktaxi (Jul 11, 2006)

The gaps in the boards going in the direction of travel were too wide and could very easily catch a tire - literally stopping you in your tracks.


----------



## tazdag (Apr 9, 2002)

*Pedal the Pinchot*

It appears that Pedal the Pinchot is not coming back, which is too bad. I did that ride a bunch of times and really enjoyed it. How does HPC compare? I know it's a bit longer with more "fluff" miles at beginning and end. Looking at the profiles, it looks like The Pinchot had a bit more total elevation gain.


----------



## Travis (Oct 14, 2005)

litespeed, glad you are okay and able to get back to enjoying your bike. Sounds like a very scary experience for you and your family. best wishes, Travis


----------

