Mount Shasta Super Century and More!

I had an enjoyable weekend at the Mount Shasta Summit Century. On Sunday, I did all four of the summits on the "Super" Century route.

Miles: 134.03
Monthly Total: 250.98

The ride consists of four major climbs, Parks Creek, Mumbo, Castle Lake and finally, Mount Shasta. All are long and three are steep and all are hard.

My alarm woke me up at 4:15 am and I readied myself. I was at the start at 4:45 where I collected a second water bottle (as I had forgotten mine). I left as soon as there was enough light to see - 5:20 am. The route to the "coffee" stop was new. I headed north on Mt. Shasta Blvd, not south into town. This was an improvement as there were fewer turns to negociate in the darkness of early morning.

I did have an incident on this stretch of the route. I was descending a small hill, doing about 35 mph or so in the early morning light. I had a split second of warning before the bat hit my face. I saw a large, black flying bat just before it struck my right cheek, but I did not have time to flinch. It struck with enough force to make me think it could have drawn blood, but that was a fear only. The "coffee" rest stop workers confirmed a large red mark, but no broken skin.

The first climb was Parks Creek but it was not the first time I have climbed it. Knowing the climb, I took it easy and worked my way up to the top. My legs felt good and I did push myself somewhat, that is whenever anyone would pass me. I would pick up my speed and try to stay with them. Most of the times I failed to hang on and let the rider go, until the next cyclist came along.

After a short stop, I headed down and found myself descending alone. The road is rough and at 40 miles per hour, my Garmin 201 GPS committed suicide by jumping off of it's bike mount. I stopped and picked it up but I do not think it survived.

The next few miles took me through Weed and back into the town of Mount Shasta. I stopped breifly at the rest stop in Weed, but blew by the next rest stop and started the climb up Mumbo. The first part is not that steep and in ten miles I came to the rest stop at Fawn Creek. Here, I took a short break before starting the serious climb up to Mumbo. This is a very steep climb, at times at 14% or greater. But again, I knew the climb and took it easy.

At Mumbo summit, I took another short stop and started back down the hill. The road is very rough and I found myself bouncing around as I hit speeds up to 40 mph.

At Fawn Creek, I stopped and refilled my water bottles as the day was getting warm and the climb up to Castle Lake was next.

The road to Castle Lake is steep and hot! I was beginning to feel the miles, but was in much better shape than last year. Even so, the climb seemed to be much longer than the advertised seven miles. Once I reached the rest stop, I poured cold water over my head to cool off, and then drank several cups to quench my thirst. None the less, I took a short stop as the lunch stop was just at the bottom of the hill.

At lunch, I took a longer break and made myself a small turkey sandwich. I joined some folks at a table and enjoyed good conversation while we ate. Finishing my sandwich, I knew that the final climb of the day was waiting for me, so I said my goodbyes and headed toward Mount Shasta.

The climb up Mount Shasta is 14 miles long, but is never as steep at the other climbs. This year was the first time I did all four climbs and my legs were feeling every mile that I had already done. I was hot and slow, but I was moving up the hill. After a few miles, I came upon the optional shower, two women with hoses were spraying riders as they climbed up the hill. I called out that I thought it was a wet t-shirt contest and they laughed and really watered me down! It feel very good.

Next was the water stop half way up the climb. I took a short break and head off of the last seven miles of climbing. These were the hardest miles of the route, and the hardest miles so far this year. I stopped twice to recover before clawing my way up the last two miles to the end of the pavement. I was go glad to see the rest stop and took a longer break to recover from the climb. I sat cheering other riders at they obtained the final summit of the day.

The descent was long and fun! The road surface is smooth and the curves not so tight. I obtained my maximum speed for the day, 44.7 mph on this descent. As I flew by the optional shower girls, I though that their shirts were wet, but I was going to fast to be sure.

I finished the ride with 134.03 miles and an average speed of just 12.0 miles per hour. But, when you consider the 18,789 feet of elevation (according to my HAC4 – 14,500 is the published figure), 12 mph does not seem that bad.

I returned to my lodgings and fell asleep by 8:30, I just could not stay awake any longer.

Monday's Recovery Ride

Miles: 30.61
Monthly Total: 281.59

Scott and I met at the Black Bear Diner for breakfast at 6:30 am. We ate quickly, as we had decided to ride the Mount Shasta climb once more before returning to Salem. It was much cooler than yesterday afternoon, and my legs felt much better. I took it easy climbing up to the summit, stopping just once to take in the view. My HAC4 reported 4196 feet of elevation gain and an average of 11.5 mph, slower than yesterday.

Again, the descent was fast and fun. Near the top, Scott was just behind me as we came around a corner. There, crossing the road in front of us was a bobcat! It must have known that two cyclists were coming at it at 40 mph, but it was unconcerned as it disappeared into the brush. This was the first bobcat I have seen in the wild and was a very special moment.

You would think that these two rides were enough for me. But no. I arrived back in Salem in time to work out at the gym with Martin. Yes, my legs were tired, but I put them through my regular workout none the less. Although, it did hurt more.

Posted 9:30 PM by John Henry