The second Cascade 1200 hosted by the Seattle International Randonneurs (SIR) was marked by numerous challenges - both for the volunteers and the participants.

Under a clear, sunny sky on June 24, seventy-five riders and several dozen volunteers and spectators gathered at the Holiday Inn Express in Monroe, WA for a 6 a.m. start. Following the introduction of ride directors Peter Beeson, David Huelsbeck, and Terry Zmrhal and Boston-Montreal-Boston ride directors Jennifer Wise and Pierce Gafgen who were on hand to man the secret control, the riders left Monroe on their around-the-state trek.

The first day's route provided magnificent views of Mt. Rainier as it took a southerly course over rolling terrain to Randle (elevation 1,000 ft.), where veteran ultra riders Susan France and Peg Wiczewski in their SAG vehicle made sure riders were all right in the heat. The route then turned east for the first significant climb of the ride over White Pass (elevation 4,500 ft.). Following a cool, swift descent and a deceptive little climb, riders arrived at the first overnight stop, St. Peter's Retreat Center, in Cowiche at mile 220. While a few riders chose to ride straight through, the majority followed the suggested group-oriented style of riding, sharing the common overnight stops and starting within a few hours of each other each morning.

The first leg of the second day featured a 27-mile stretch on Canyon Road along the Yakima River north to Ellensburg and back. While the views of the river were spectacular, the rapidly rising temperatures and the climbs along the canyon began to take their toll, making the 27 miles back from Ellensburg difficult. Riders sought relief in what little shade there was along the route.

As the second day's route turned north into the Rattlesnake hills, the heat radiating off the pavement pushed the temperature into the 100s, and riders were clearly suffering. Ride organizers scrambled to provide riders with any relief that they could. As cyclists made their way through the hops fields around Sunnyside, Susan and Peg distributed ice-filled tube socks to wear around our necks to help us all keep cool. Coming out of Sunnyside, our group, consisting of Ultracycling Cup Competition (UCC) rider Lisa Butkus, Kathy Murphy and me, passed a half-dozen riders on the side of the road, casualties of the heat. Later, we learned that they had all abandoned the ride around the same time and were awaiting transportation. We slowed our pace hoping to make it until sundown when it was certain to cool off.

It did cool off, just in time for the "yes, up THAT hill" cue on the cue sheet - a short climb of 9%-11%, reminiscent of QuadZilla. Some 50 miles later we arrived at the second overnight control, the high school in Quincy (mile 432). It had been a long day.

Day three seemed to be the most difficult. While the day's route consisted of only 168 miles, raging heat, long stretches with no services, and lots more climbing combined to challenge all the riders. This day, our little riding group was joined by another UCC rider, Tim Bol. Two long climbs brought us to the Farmer control (elevation 2,600 ft.), a lonely outpost in the middle of nowhere, 481 miles into the ride. As most people were arriving at Farmer, the first finisher, Urs Koenig from Seattle, crossed the finish line in Monroe. With a very impressive time of 53:42, Koenig set a new course record and qualified for RAAM under extreme conditions.

Meanwhile, most of the rest of us were plodding through the heat, continuing to climb and finally reaching an elevation of 3,200 feet. Then a steep, swift descent brought us to Beebe Bridge Park on the banks of the Columbia River (elevation 900). We waded in the river to cool down and rested in the shade. One enterprising rider from Tennessee was able to coerce a camper into selling him a couple of beers. Back on the road riding along the Columbia, Lisa started to call out the temperature readings on her computer, which topped out at 117 degrees. At that point only 12 miles our of Beebe Park, we pulled over into the Wells Dam Rest Stop and sought shelter for an hour until the long shadows started to creep in.

Shifting in a westerly direction, the route brought us to the featured climb of day three: Loup Loup Pass, a 13-mile climb from an elevation of 1,500 feet to its peak at 4,020 feet. At the peak, I met up with UCC rider Jeff Sammons, and together we enjoyed the descent and the final thirty miles into the third overnight stop in Mazama (mile 600).

The overnight stop at the Mazama Inn was the Ritz-Carlton of controls. Plush guest rooms, Jacuzzi bathtubs, fluffy towels, and a breakfast buffet that was out of this world provided a tremendous reward for the third day's efforts. And the control was teeming with SIR volunteers ready to help any rider in need.

The fourth day provided the best climbs and the best scenery of the entire ride, despite the continuing onslaught of heat. On the climb to Washington Pass (elevation 5,477 ft.), riders took advantage of the waterfalls and snow along the road sides to cool off, enjoying the mountain views as they went along. The descent from Washington Pass was followed by a short climb to the top of Rainy Pass (elevation 4,855 ft.), where I tried to instigate a snowball fight with other riders. We could have used some rain, but as perennial distance champ Ken Bonner said of the crossing, the heat was "a lot better than riding in the near freezing rain coming down the western slope of the North Cascade Highway in 2005."

UCC and Year-Rounder participants who rode in the Cascade 1200 included Timothy Bol, Ken Bonner, Lisa Butkus, Bill Fox, Bill Glass, Gerry Goode, Alan Gosart, Kitty Goursolle, Chris Kaiser, William Olsen, Jeff Sammons, Mike Sturgill and Dan Wallace.

For more information about the Cascade 1200 including that blog chock-full of rider stories, pictures and commentary, visit www.cascade1200.com

Top 10 finishers

Rider	Hometown	Time
Urs Koenig	Seattle, WA	53:42, RAAM Qualified
Jan Heine	Seattle, WA	63:53
Ken Bonner	Victoria, BC	65:26, RQ'd
Michael Bingle	Vancouver, WA	83:10
Brian Ohlemeier	Renton, WA	83:10
Del Scharffenberg	Milwaukie, OR	83:10
Michael Sturgill	Phoenix, AZ	83:10
Sam Huffman	Banks, OR	84:21
Charles Coldwell	Somerville, MA	84:28
Peter Stary	Burnaby, BC	84:28

Preparing for brevets and 1200Ks
Qualifying for RAAM
Ultracycling Cup Competition