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Just finished RAMROD
 

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Wheels
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1160
Location: Needham, MA

7/26/18 7:34 PM

Just finished RAMROD

I am out in Seattle and did RAMROD this morning. RAMROD = Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day. This ride is Fricking INSANE. I did it in a car and most of the route that the cyclists did. We followed a lot of them from the start of the Park at Nisqually entrance all the way to the exit near the Sunrise entry on WA-410.

The ride is 153 miles and has 10,000 feet of climbing, most of it (~8000 ft) in the park between miles 62 and 108.

Riders started between 5 - 7 AM, ride 36 miles before the real insanity begins. Between mile 36 and 78 is a steady climb of 4300 ft in those 42 miles. Between miles 78 and 116, you do the another 3400 ft of climbing.

As we were leaving the park around 2 and a good portion of riders were around mile 110. After mile 108, it's all downhill, losing 4000 ft in 45 miles.

If anyone here has done it, you're my hero.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/26/18 7:45 PM

Maybe I'll do it [in my car] next year. Imagine descending for like an hour. That sounds like stress on steroids.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

7/26/18 7:57 PM

Done it twice

I think 1999 and 2001, with the Liminator! It's hard enough, but not as hard as the Death Ride or the D2R2 180k.

Beautiful, eh Wheels? Was there snow at the top of Paradise?

The descending wasn't a problem, the last 40 miles are very gradual, mostly pedaling fast. I'm a crappy descender and don't remember it as an issue, rather I remember that part as fun.

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robertsos
Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 42
Location: St. Paul, MN

8/6/18 7:58 AM

Remembering ramrod

I think I did it in 1999 or thereabouts. I'm a flatlander, so I really enjoyed the mountains. While some of the climbs were long, they seemed to be manageable. If I lived out there, I'd do it again.
Highlights for me were the walls of snow at Paradise Pass (there had been record snawfall the previous winter), and, of course, the magnificent view of Ranier at the same location, as well as the chocolate croissants at one of the rest stops.
I do remember that last descent. While it is a long downhill segment, there commonly is a moderate to strong headwind up the pass. That certainly was the case the year I did it. I remember trying to get on the end of a paceline being led by a tandem, and didn't quite make it.

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13ollocks
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 413
Location: Chapel Hill, NC

8/6/18 10:01 PM

A couple of guys I ride with just did RAMROD - they survived - just. One slid off the road at mile ~50, lost some skin from arm and hip and ripped up his kit. Made it to the next rest stop where an EMT attempted to dress the road rash, but couldn’t get a dressing to stick. He pinned his kit together and carried on. Badass.
Apparently the second big climb was fully exposed and 90F - hot as Hades, but the views were spectacular.
I imagine the first beer that evening was something!

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

8/7/18 4:27 AM

Cayuse Pass

That's the second major climb. You've already gone 100 miles and then a 9 mile climb. And as you say, there's no place to hide...

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