There Are Worse Things I Could Do

I found an alternate route home yesterday as having all those near death experiences on Newport started to get old. Yes, I sorta kinda remedied that but even with the fix it brought me nearer to thee my god than I felt comfortable with.

So I don't get the one mile 164th hill anymore but I gain a couple of good hills with a max grade of 15.9%. That should prepare me for RondePDX. Or so I thought.

New route in red, old route in green

I didn't bike the new route particularly fast last night since I wasn't sure where to go, but today I'll map it so I know for sure how steep it is. And yes, I know. My illustrations are the best!

For those of you not in the hill climbing know, RondePDX is something (stupid) I have committed to do for the first time - and possibly only - this year. I am a sucker for a challenge and when +Peter Warton threw down the gauntlet, I had no choice but to pick it up.

The Monster

The route is designed by longtime Portland riders Brad Ross and Hugh Givens. It  is 47 miles long and contains nearly 8,000 feet of climbing. So yeah, I might very well die trying, but trying I will.



The more I research this ride, the more my mind is going "Holy shitballs! What the hell did you sign up for? Are you fucking crazy?"

The answer to the last question is very likely "YES".

Words such as "hurt locker" and "sufferfest" are being thrown around like candies in a Fourth of July parade, and by the looks of it rightly so. My feelings about this ride go from super excited to major freak-out.

The madness takes place on April 23rd and so far it's +Peter Warton and me for sure and +Josh Ross as a maybe.

But - there are worse things I could do than bike up a hill or two, so come April - Portland, here I come.