Oregon Coast 600K Ride Report

[Susan Otcenas]

1) Roger, Steve, Ken
2) Jeff brought me flowers. Major bonus points.
3) Looks like I got a few extra bonus miles.

[jobob]

Nothing like a brevet ending at McMenamin's in Forest Grove, which is high on jobob's list of Happiest Places on Earth.

[Grog]

Susan, you are amazing. Congratulations! I'm speechless!! (Great write-up too!!!)

[colby]

Not long after, it started to sprinkle. Then drizzle. Then shower. I once read somewhere that the Eskimos have something like 1000 different words to describe snow. I often think that those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest have nearly as many words to describe rain.

I forgot to comment on this, but you are so right. A friend of mine has used the 1000 words for snow/rain analogy on me. Once, we traveled to San Francisco together, and it was semi-raining on and off, what I'd call drizzle and showers, not a downpour or anything. She would say, "it's raining" and I would say "it's not really raining... it's more of a drizzle." We'd go outside later, and I'd say "see, it's barely raining, more like a mist" and she'd reply "it's raining." Eventually it did start to actually rain with some effort, and I said "see, these drops are big, now it's raining" and she'd reply "it's POURING RAIN now, what's wrong with you people."

[azfiddle]

Wow- thanks for sharing your epic adventure. It's a remarkable accomplishment.

[Bike Chick]

You are awesome, Susan! Aren't you glad you did it? Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

[Susan Otcenas]

I forgot to comment on this, but you are so right. A friend of mine has used the 1000 words for snow/rain analogy on me. Once, we traveled to San Francisco together, and it was semi-raining on and off, what I'd call drizzle and showers, not a downpour or anything. She would say, "it's raining" and I would say "it's not really raining... it's more of a drizzle." We'd go outside later, and I'd say "see, it's barely raining, more like a mist" and she'd reply "it's raining." Eventually it did start to actually rain with some effort, and I said "see, these drops are big, now it's raining" and she'd reply "it's POURING RAIN now, what's wrong with you people."

Precisely!

[Biciclista]

The fact that you can sleep will protect you somewhat from the biggest problem that faces people that do these long rides, inattentiveness due to fatigue. You were talking about how you of all people should have worn the right gear... but you like any one else become vulnerable and can make bad decisions when you are sleepy..
So what you need to do is develop methods to insure that you will not "drop balls" - forget important gear or be in a position to make critical decisions while your critical decision maker part of your brain is out to lunch. I won't pretend i do long rides myself, but I have watched my husband (who is by nature a true scatterbrain) develop routines that he uses for his big rides, (like pre packing and using lists) that have really saved his butt. On the other hand, too many times I have seen the best of them make really stupid little mistakes (like leaving their brevet cards with the candy wrappers and then throwing it all away).
You do have what it takes, Susan. sure, it was easier because you knew the territory. But as you do more of these rides (and I know you're going to) you'll develop confidence. There's a reason you have to qualify before you do the PBP..

[Pedal Wench]

I'm so happy you finished with a smile on your face! You're an inspiration!

[spindizzy]

I read through your post yesterday and have thought about it on and off today. What an accomplishment! I am so amazed at your mental strength. Your ability to get it done, and you listening to Steve when he was helping you at a low moment - right place, right time, right words..karma...

Congratulations!

[Bike2work]

Susan,

My thinking is that if you completed the 600k last weekend you can do PBP. That 600k route is by no means easy. Remember the Arch Cape climbs? Remember the rain? Remember the climbing on the second day? And you did all that with two and a half hours to spare.

That's what I love about Randonneuring the most. The time limits are challenging but reasonable, and it doesn't matter when you finish as long as you finish within the time limit. It's not a race. Which is great because we get enough of that locally with Race Across Oregon and the Ring of Fire.

For my son Alex and I we did a rather relaxing pace because Alex was having difficulty with nutrition, got our seven hours of sleep in Lincoln City and finished maybe a half hour after you did.

We got rained on too on Sunday but not nearly as bad as you did. But you recovered, learned from it, finished the ride with time to spare and, I'd guess, along the way became even more hopelessly addicted to this wonderful crazy sport. Like I am.

Yep, if after that you're still thinking about PBP then you're probably ready to tackle it.

Keith Kohan

[Susan Otcenas]

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the reply! I saw you and Alex come in just after our little posse finished up.

Seven hours sleep! I'd like to be you when I grow up. Hope Alex was feeling better when you finished. I never got behind in my nutrition (I'm really careful about eating enough) but I certainly had my moments when my stomach was not thrilled (mostly between 11pm & midnight on Saturday). I have some friends who seem to have cast irons stomachs. They can push and push and eat anything in sight without trouble. My friend Richard worked his way through 2 pounds of salami on Race Across Oregon a few years ago. I was his crew chief and while everyone else was looking for bland oatmeal in the middle of the night, he was chowing down on salami on artisan bread.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I'm planning to do the full summer series, finishing up with the MacKenzie-Aufderheide 600K. That one looks to be a fair bit harder than the Oregon Coast 600K, so if I survive THAT, then I'll probably sign up for PBP.

Susan

[Pedal Wench]

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I'm planning to do the full summer series, finishing up with the MacKenzie-Aufderheide 600K. That one looks to be a fair bit harder than the Oregon Coast 600K, so if I survive THAT, then I'll probably sign up for PBP.

Susan

I wanna be YOU when I grow up. Never mind the fact that I'm way older than you, and I don't really wanna grow up ever!

[Susan Otcenas]

Hard to believe a year has passed.

So, this year I am the ride organizer for this brevet, which will happen this coming weekend. As such, I did the pre-ride for the event this past weekend. Solo. I wrote up a ride report, with lots of photos of the route, if anyone is interested. It's a very pretty course. And I had mostly sunshine this year! Woot!

http://susanotcenas.blogspot.com/201...de-report.html

[salsabike]

Solo! Wow. Can't believe you had to do a 600 pre-ride on your own. I know it's happened before but still....sheesh. Glad you had the sun!

My husband Chris has qualified for PBP and tells me you post a lot on a rando thread, so I knew you were training for it too. Hope you guys meet when you're there! I'll be there too but just for the museum/cafe part.