2010 Ride 542 - Mt. Baker Hillclimb

For the past three years I've headed over to Bellingham to do the Mt. Baker Hillclimb, also called Ride 542 because the route is up state highway 542 from Glacier to Artist's Point at the road's end.  Each year the weather has been more spectacular than the one before.  Given that the ride takes place in September and its on the western side of Mt. Baker, each year I wonder when the other shoe will drop and the weather will be miserable.  This was that year.

My sister and I left the hotel in Bellingham in a steady rain and temps in the low 50s.  As we drove east on 542 towards Glacier, more and more cars with bikes joined the stream of traffic, but the weather did not improve.  It was truly a gloomy, depressing atmosphere to be tackling such a challenging ride in.  For my sister, it would be her first time doing the ride.  I was sorry that these were the conditions for her debut.  We arrived in Glacier and picked up our registration packets and materials, put some spare clothes in the gear shuttle to the top, and got ourselves ready for a soggy, cold day on the bike.  My sister was doing the summit ride which is one of the earliest waves, starting a full two hours before my start in the competitive wave, the last start of the day.

As I hung around the start area, it began to become clear that this day was not going to be as originally planned.  I began to hear snippets of conversations indicating that the course was being shortened and that the start waves were being changed.  Eventually, an official announcement of sorts was made.   Some of the starts waves were being delayed and combined.  Also, due to zero visibility at Artist's Point, the upper three miles of the course were being chopped and we would finish at the employee lodge at the Mt. Baker ski area.  This was somewhat disappointing news, but given the conditions and the expected temperatures at the top, I was pretty sure I'd get over it.

The summit ride, with my sister in it, rolled out under somewhat moderating conditions.  At least the rain had eased.  By the time my start had come around, however, the rain had returned in its previous steady, depressing state.  I "warmed up" a bit and rolled to the start.  The competitive start usually has a couple hundred riders in it with a variety of pack riding experience levels.  Given the gloomy weather, I didn't really feel like mixing it up in the pack and thus lined up near the back of the group.  As you would expect, I was gapped very early on in the ride, after only a couple miles, and spent the rest of the ride in groups no larger than three or four riders.  This was just fine with me, as it was safer and more comfortable than being in the spray and close quarters of a larger group.  It did greatly reduce my pace however.  The first 14 or so miles of the ride are kind of a rolling stairstep climb, before starting the final 10 miles (7 this year due to the shortened course) which is all uphill.  I was about 5 minutes off my usual pace reaching the base of the final climb without the benefit of a large pack to ride in.

As we climbed, the rain continued but at least the effort kept me comfortably warm.  As we neared the final few miles, I really began to feel enthused for the first time during the ride and began to lift my pace and pick off several riders.  The rain also eased and the sky even began to brighten.  By the last mile or so below the ski area, I was wondering why we were finishing there, as conditions really didn't seem that bad.  Entering into the ski area and arriving at the finish at the lodge though, my opinion changed.  Although the rain had eased, there was a strong cold wind blowing that made things quite unpleasant.  I found my spare clothes, put them on in the lodge, grabbed a little food, and headed cautiously back down towards Glacier.

With the wet weather, I had very little braking power and had to be quite cautious with my speed.  Also, even with the extra clothes, the cold and wind was quite penetrating and soon I was shivering, at times fairly violently.  All in all, the descent off the final climb was not pleasant and at times a little scary.  I was relieved to be back down on the rolling section of road back to Glacier.  Typically, the little climbs on this stretch back to the start are very annoying and uncomfortable with the fatigue of climb in my legs.  On this day however, each one was welcomed as it provided an opportunity to generate some heat in my body and keep the cold at bay.

A couple miles before Glacier, I caught up with my sister who had started her descent a little while before me.  We chatted about the ride and the conditions and rolled into Glacier together, Ride 542 in the books for another year.

Ride 542 - A fine way to close out my season

A couple weeks ago, I headed over to the west side to take part in Ride 542, which is a recreational ride/race up the Mt. Baker highway from the town of Glacier to Artist's Point. I've done this event the past two years and have always enjoyed it a lot and have found that its mix of recreational riders and hard core racers make for a relaxed vibe that is a really enjoyable way to close out my road season. The past two editions had been blessed with spectacular weather and this year was no different with temps in the upper 70s and plenty of sun.

The first part of the course is kind of rolling with a couple short climbs while steadily gaining elevation. This first part is about 14 miles or so. Then, the final 10 miles are the serious climb broken only by a short flat section in the vicinity of the Mt. Baker ski area. For me the question is always do I push hard and burn matches trying to hang with the front group for the first 14 miles and hope I have something left for the "real" climb or do I throttle back a little and ride with a smaller group so that I know I have something left for the climb.

The first year I did this event, I eased out of the back of the pack almost immediately and found a small group to ride with for the first part of the course. This seemed like the safest strategy seeing as how I had never ridden the climb before and I wanted to make sure I wouldn't blow before the top. Last year with the confidence of a successful first year behind me, I fought to stay in the main bunch and then got up the climb with what I had left. Having turned in a slightly faster time with last year's strategy, I decided to try and hang with the bunch again this year.

I got lined up a little too far back in the pack and in a group of 260 or so that can make a big difference. I spent a lot of energy early closing gaps and moving around slower riders to maintain contact with the group. On the Powerhouse climb (the longest of the climbs in the first part of the course) I finally lost contact for good. I rode alone for a mile or so, caught in the no man's land between groups, and then was finally caught up by a group of about ten riders. We continued to make a good pace and soon we were at the base of the main climb with 10 miles to go.

A couple riders in the group continued to push the pace and I decided that their tempo was more than I was going to be able to sustain. I let them and the remnants of the group go and settled into my own rhythm. I caught and dropped a couple of them a few miles later when the aggressive early tempo turned out to be too much for them. One of these riders would catch back to me later and we would swap positions the rest of the ride with neither one of us ever getting more than a couple hundred meters on the other.

Once through the "flat" at the ski area, the final five kilometers are marked with signs and the road is steeper and even features numerous switchbacks just to make it interesting. If you're into that kind of thing, there are even spectacular views of the surrounding peaks. I continued to try and maintain the fastest pace that I thought I could hold. The kilometer signs slowly counted down, and I must say I did not feel as bad at this point as I had the previous two trips up the climb. Soon I was in the final kilometer and round the final switchback and digging towards the finish. As I rounded the last bend and headed for the line, I was annoyed to find that nearly the entire road was blocked by a race vehicle attempting to get parked just shy of the line. I had to slow slightly, but the situation was an annoyance and not a serious time loss.

I crossed the finish and had recorded a time of 1:45:24. Again, I was just over one hour and 45 minutes. I have done this event three times now with three different approaches and all my times are within a span of 23 seconds. I'll continue to try and break the 1:45:00 mark. This year I struggled a bit early, but definitely felt the best of the three attempts on the main climb. Next year, I'll be back to give it another shot.