# Ramrod Ride Report



## borregokid (Jun 9, 2005)

Ramrod is a 154 mile ride that loops around Mt Rainier going counter clockwise starting from the City of Enumclaw. The total elevation gain is 10,000 feet with two big climbs. 

I left Enumclaw at 535am, by that time most of the riders were in front of me. The first 30-40 miles were uneventful until a rider went down in the middle of the road taking several other riders with him. At the same time they went down a gravel truck with trailer came screaming down the hill with horns blasting letting everyone know he was going to run over everyone who didnt get out of the way. He swerved to the left and the riders were pulled off the road or got up just as he went by. Talk about scary.

The ride up to Paradise was uneventful and everyone seemed to be having a good time. It was a very long run down at 30+ mph. About halfway down there was another rider down. I am guessing he lost control of his bike. There were a couple of Park Police officers on the scene and they were waiting for an ambulance. 

When you get to the bottom of Paradise you get the climb that separates the women from the girls and the men from the boys, Cayuse. This is a long, lonely climb. The Ramrod folks thankfully put a rest stop halfway up the climb. After getting to Cayuse Pass its kind of all down hill to Enumclaw. The only thing that keeps it from being a great cruise back is a fairly stiff breeze, which is pretty common. After nearly bonking in Greenwater I made it back to Enumclaw a little over 9 hours later. 

Nice ride and the Redmond Cycling Club does a nice job in setting up break spots with Sanikans. Unlike STP none of the stops had nice sunny pieces of grass to lay on and get lost for a few minutes.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

Thanks for the report. I hope I finally get in the lottery next year. Waiting for the Torture 10,000 in a couple weeks. . .


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## JP (Feb 8, 2005)

We must have passed each other all day. We started around 5:45 and finished 9 hours later. For me it was a good effort because I expected to take much longer, and I finished with my friends who are usually much faster than me. We didn't see any of the accidents you mentioned. I went out easy so I wouldn't blow up. With 5 miles to go on Cayuse, I still felt great, so I decided to let my heart rate go up a bit. After feeling really strong for a couple of miles, I promptly cramped, but I was able to ride it off. Amazing how fast I went from thinking, "wow, I'm flying" to "uh, oh. I've got 3 miles of pass to climb, and my leg wants to lock up." I got dehydrated on that pass, but managed to tank up, so I felt better later. Tough ride, but very fun. We got lucky with the weather. You would not believe how much dinner I ate. I'm off to a hot tub.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

jplatzner said:


> We must have passed each other all day. We started around 5:45 and finished 9 hours later. For me it was a good effort because I expected to take much longer, and I finished with my friends who are usually much faster than me. We didn't see any of the accidents you mentioned. I went out easy so I wouldn't blow up. With 5 miles to go on Cayuse, I still felt great, so I decided to let my heart rate go up a bit. After feeling really strong for a couple of miles, I promptly cramped, but I was able to ride it off. Amazing how fast I went from thinking, "wow, I'm flying" to "uh, oh. I've got 3 miles of pass to climb, and my leg wants to lock up." I got dehydrated on that pass, but managed to tank up, so I felt better later. Tough ride, but very fun. We got lucky with the weather. You would not believe how much dinner I ate. I'm off to a hot tub.


Guess all that training paid off, huh?


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## borregokid (Jun 9, 2005)

A couple of thoughts on the lottery and ticket demand. I was talking to someone on the ride, maybe a club member and they said they did 250 transfers. I figure the only way they would have that many transfers is if people sent in multiple applications, probably using wives, kids names. There were only a handful of transfers that came up on the board. I guess one way to get a ticket is to send in a few applications. 

Compared to STP there really wasnt much in the way of pace lines. The hills kind of made them difficult. Maybe my best memory was some really young guys- age 20 or so forming a pace line and passing me like I was standing still at the bottom of backbone ridge. After about 100 yards I passed them all, never saw them again. 

The first riders put some space on everyone else. I talked to a guy who was the 10th rider to come in and he said he stopped in Greenwater for 30 minutes and during that time no one came by. There was also a woman rider who I think was in her 40's that was out near the front. Too bad they dont time results.


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

*Ask and maybe you will eventually receive...*

[Compared to STP there really wasnt much in the way of pace lines. The hills kind of made them difficult. Maybe my best memory was some really young guys- age 20 or so forming a pace line and passing me like I was standing still at the bottom of backbone ridge. After about 100 yards I passed them all, never saw them again. 

The first riders put some space on everyone else. I talked to a guy who was the 10th rider to come in and he said he stopped in Greenwater for 30 minutes and during that time no one came by. There was also a woman rider who I think was in her 40's that was out near the front. Too bad they dont time results.[/QUOTE]

Great report, thanks. 

In Europe they have many rides like RAMROD, T-10,000, Markleeville Death Ride, etc that they DO time. They have a name for those kinds of events..don't know right off what they call em, but they're very popular. Perhaps if we showed our big ride organizers that we were interested over here in the US, they might find a way to give us some more events that ARE timed, like the Tour of Tucson and a very few others (so far)

I always try to find one of the organizers sometime during these big rides, (Tour De..anythings) and compliment them on their effort organizing the whole mess..It ain't easy doing the organization for these huge rides..A good word is appreciated by all "the workers" Waving to volunteers as you pass, thanking those you have the breath to gasp out to..That's easy to do..
Perhaps some emails after the weekend, thanking them and asking them to look into adding a 'timed-entry" class next year? Can't hurt, and if they get the interest, they may just work out a way around that big cop-out.."INSURANCE won't let us do that"...Hah!
Thanks again for the report, I am going to do part of that route later on this summer with some friends...
Heads UP.., Sunday near Olympia is the Wa. St. Senior Games bike races for 50+ riders..they have a TT, a RR and a crit, all in one day on good roads. Nice barbecue after..anyone over 50 wanting a chance to race against people by age groups, come on out, the more the merrier.. Check on the web for Wa St Games..
Don Hanson


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## Flounder (Apr 15, 2005)

*You can ask but I don't think it will help*

From the Redmond Cycling Club web page 

*RAMROD History 

At the Rainier National Parks request we stopped timing the ride after 1998. We do not keep track of rider results anymore*


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

*Wonder what the NPS reasons are for that?*



Flounder said:


> From the Redmond Cycling Club web page
> 
> *RAMROD History
> 
> At the Rainier National Parks request we stopped timing the ride after 1998. We do not keep track of rider results anymore*


 I forgot the RAMROD runs through a National Park. That's probably a very unlikely bunch to 'allow' the sponsor club to resume timing the ride. Once some honcho in the NPS makes up his/her mind, they usually take it as a threat to thier authority if someone even asks em to change their edict or to explain the reason for their decision.

Wonder what their rationale was for deciding "No timed events"? It is pretty amazing, the different ways things are handled. France (granted, they're not very highly respected here in the US) they'll close down Paris for the Tour, while over here, we are lucky to be allowed out on our bikes...

Anyway, if you'd enjoy doing a Ciclosportif (timed recreational rides are called that in Europe) you have to ask the people who organize these big rides so they'll know the 'market' is there to do the extra work of putting up some clocks and keeping track of people's times. I guess it's unlikely to be allowed in a National Park, but it can't hurt to ask. 
Don Hanson


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## borregokid (Jun 9, 2005)

Don the crazy thing about the Park Service and their obsession with bikes ruining things for cars is that there were no cars. I dont think I saw more than 20 cars in the three hours running through the park 50-60 miles. As far as bikes congesting the road everyone was pretty much running solo up and down. On the downhill run a total of two bikes passed me. In 1998 the last year it was timed they probably were running it on a Saturday. The Washington State Patrol has probably also had a say in the matter while encouraging the ride probably discouraging any timing of the riders. 

Don you know I am too young for any senior games. Besides I need to have something too shoot for sometime in the future. I knocked off STP and Ramrod. There are still a couple of races on the horizon. The Washington State Hill Climb TT and the Winthrop Fall Mtn Bike Race. That is it.


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