Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Ronde Van Boise, 2013

A few Eastsiders and friends (Mark Schafer, Mike Shaw, Gabe Keck, Patrick Nagler, Tim Philips, Mike Sherman, Troy Nichol) all met up Sunday morning for the annual Ronde Van Boise. I was aiming to get some volume, socialize a bit, and test out the legs for what would surely be a day of challenging climbs. Plus, I had never done the ride before and was curious about the infamous “Ginzel” climb off of Hill Road. Even with Tour of Walla Walla going on, there was a sizable group gathered at George's for the 9:30 am start. George’s coordinated a Police escort which was an unexpected bonus and ensured a safe and easy warm up for the first climb of the day...Starview.

Immediately after taking the left hand turn onto Starview, Mark Schafer, Mike Shaw, and Andy Peterson were off toward the front. I tried to hold back knowing there was plenty to come. Chris Ganter, Andy Peterson and a few others immediately disappeared and escaped at the top of Starview.  I got to the front on the Shenandoah climb but then  almost crashed in front of the group on a patch of sand while making the right hand turn onto Shaw Mountain Road (yikes!).  A few hills later (after Horizon, Crestline, Highland View, etc.) I attempted to challenge Mark to a small sprint on the final 200ft of Pierce Park/Cartwright before descending into Hidden Springs/Dry Creek valley. Mark “returned fire” and hammered past me to the crest of the summit but then mentioned something about a snapping sound and feeling his bike flex unusually. This was quickly brushed off in order to descend with the pack down toward Hidden Springs and the next climb.

Mark Schafer's rear wheel - aftermath of RVB. 
George's provided an  aid station at the top of Cartwright summit. Everyone re-grouped and took 10-15 minutes to refill bottles, load up on gels and maple bars and donuts (thanks!!!!).

With the best (worst) yet to come...Mark, Mike, Patrick, Tim and Andy continued to challenge the front group on Quail Ridge and the infamous Ginzel. I imploded on Quail Ridge and attempted to recover with another gel. Ginzel was painful as expected – I considered walking it but walking it didn't look any easier than riding it. I aimed my bike for path of least resistance which included short recoveries on driveways and riding the gutter in the center of the road. Given the pitch and gutter placement in the center of the road, Ginzel actually seems more like an aquaduct than a road. After what seemed like an eternity I finally made it around the man-hole at the top of Ginzel which officially marks the end of the climb and made the descent. Pheew...its all "downhill" from here, I thought, knowing that only a few more "moderate uphills" lay ahead. The gel was kicking in but I had lost contact with the Mark, Mike, Patrick, Tim and the front group.

At the end of the next climb (Arrowcrest), I noticed Gabe holding an ice cream cone, compliments of Chris Ganter. Wow…that’s cool, I thought. Not long after I heard Gabe mention something about an ice cream headache!  Gabe, Troy Nichol, and a few others continued onto Torridon and Curling, making our way back to Shaw Mountain. At the intersection of Shaw Mountain and Table Rock, Adam Wirth indicated a group had proceeded back to the top of Table Rock. Again? I thought – that must be Mark, Patrick and Mike.  Gabe, Troy and I rode out to the end of the pavement on Rocky Canyon and then we separated at Table Rock road for what was basically "THE END" and the route back to my house via Strata Via. But it wasn't far up Table Rock road I ran into Mark, Mike and Patrick descending off Table Rock (#2). "You did Table Rock again?" I asked. "Yep" Mark replied. I decided I better do Table rock again as well. So I signaled that I was headed back up. Mark immediately initiated a u-turn and Mike and Patrick joined in on their 3rd climb up Table Rock for the day. Ouch.

After the "last climb" of the day, I showed the crew a short section of dirt trail leading back toward my house...if nothing else to add some variety and round out the ride with a little dirt and skinny tires. A quick descent on dirt and we were back on Roanoke. We then realized we had lost Mike Shaw. We turned around to find that Mike had flatted 1/4 mile from my house (75+miles into the ride). Sorry Mike! Finally, as we pulled into my driveway on Roanoke, Mark noticed his rear wheel was dramatically out-of-true. It wasn't until then he discovered that he had nearly pulled the spoke out of the aluminum rim on the climb to the top of Pierce Park.


RVB 2013 Elevation Profile






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