August 16-17 was the fourth iteration of the ~450-mile Cascade Ultra, which operated for several years as a Rotary-sponsored event called the Coup de Cascades. To date there has only been participation by the most dedicated area ultra racers, but the new race promoter, Shannon Henery, has a long-term vision to grow the rechristened ultra, especially in the relay categories. One major advantage of having our own local ultra is that it significantly reduces the costs (no travel and lodging in other states), and it can reasonably be done in a weekend because there is minimal travel time.
Adam Morley’s Cascade Ultra:
What is ultra bicycle racing?
Seattle is home to one of the largest randonneuring contingents in the world as well as a considerable number of ultra racing enthusiasts. While randonneuring and ultra racing might seem to be one in the same, there are some important differences.
In both, the “serious” threshold is around 400+ miles–the distance at which riding deep into the night (or all night) is part of the experience.
Randonneuring is “unsupported” (there is no support between checkpoints, called “controls”) whereas ultra race rules usually require support vehicles for each racer or relay team.
In long randonneuring events, sleep in a bed is theoretically possible. In ultra racing sleep is a last resort, and sleep in a bed is out of the question.
Randonneuring has time cuts at each control and the emphasis is more on completing the event in good randonneuring style, whereas ultra races focus on getting to the finish line as fast as possible.
The Race
The competitors in this year’s Cascade Ultra consisted of 4 solo competitors and a 2-person relay. Nearly everyone (including crew members) were familiar with one another and many of us cycle together. I crewed for Adam Morley who is a High Performance Cycling teammate. It was Adam’s first race of any kind (he recently started doing longer randonneuring events), and his longest ride in a single serving.
The solo race started at 5:10 AM, and the relay team, which consisted of High Performance Cycling’s Danny Warner and his girlfriend Nicole Fortier, left two hours later. Danny has competed in several 24-hour mountain bike events, and was a teammate on my 4-man team that won the 2013 Race Across Oregon.
In the opening miles the solo racers stayed in close proximity of one another. Dave Preston was the first to make a move, followed by Adam Morley. Mick Walsh hung back a bit, and was clearly restraining his legs during the first 50 miles or so.
When the racers got to Hwy 530 (through Oso) and flatter terrain, Mike and Mick both switched to time trial bikes. Mick has the most experience riding a time trial bike and the equipment change enabled him to pass Dave and Adam. For the next 150 miles or so it was Mick followed by Adam and then Dave and Mike. At Washington Pass Mick was 15 minutes ahead of Adam, with Dave and Mike about an hour back.
As we dropped down to the Methow Valley from Washington Pass, the hot late afternoon temperatures and dry air took a toll on the racers. To add to that difficulty, Mick’s crew temporarily lost track of him in Winthrop, and he had a slow leak in one of his tires. He ended up riding the first part of the relentless Loup Loup Pass climb on a time trial bike with a deflating tire! Because of the mishap, Mick didn’t eat between Washington Pass and the top of the Loup Loup climb, and this may have been a factor in difficulties he suffered later in the race.
Meanwhile, Mike had a strong climb up Loup Loup (though started to feel some stomach issues), and at the summit was 15 minutes behind Dave, an hour behind Adam, and 2 hours behind Mick.
Crewing an ultra race has two phases. During daylight hours the crew does “leap frog” support, which involves driving a couple miles ahead of the racer, then waiting for the racer to catch up, verify he/she is doing OK, handing off food or a fresh bottle, and repeating until dusk.
At night the crewing technique changes to “direct follow” in which the support vehicle is directly behind the racer and the racer is within the vehicle’s headlights. This both protects the racer from passing vehicles, and gives the racer a relatively well-lit view of the road ahead. Speaking from experience on the bike, however, the combination of sleeplessness and lighting results in mind-bending optical effects.
The overall objectives of crewing an ultra event are to keep the racer on the bike as much as possible by handing off fresh water bottles and food, dealing with any mechanical issues, providing moral support, and helping the racer through the inevitable mental and physical difficulties that arise during a race of this length. Sounds simple, but crewing is quite difficult.
All of the racers except the Danny-Nicole relay team were finished with the Loup Loup climb by sunset. Adam stopped for a long break in Chelan, while Mike and Dave were closing the gap on him. At the top of Navarre Coulee around midnight, except for Mick who still had a significant lead, the race was getting tighter. Adam was only 15 minutes ahead of Dave who was only about 5 minutes ahead of Mike. At 300 or so miles into the race there were only ~20 minutes between second and fourth place.
Things got difficult for everyone when the race got to Wenatchee at about 2 AM. Mike went through bouts of riding nicely, then standing on the side of the road throwing up. Mick was having similar difficulties, and they both took a time-out from the race to try to reset their digestive tracts. Adam got through this section relatively well–at one point he told us that he thought he needed to sleep, but I convinced him to drink a Coke and pedal for another 20 minutes then check-in. At the next check-in he was good to go.
Up to about mile 300 Mick felt he was having the best ultra race of his life. Given the difficulties he was having with his gut, he took a 15-20 minute nap near Cashmere, but was unable to recover enough to continue racing.
For the rest of the race Mike would periodically stop racing, get some calories, then slowly resume racing as a way to minimize the stomach issues. Mike and Dave leap-frogged one another from Leavenworth to Stevens Pass until Dave finally passed Mike for good.
The Stevens Pass climb was..evil…even in the support vehicle. About 15 miles of the roadway had been ground down to a grooved texture in preparation for a new layer of asphalt. Adam went from a speedy ~10 mph to under 6 mph. Despite a demoralizing ~2 hour climb he remained relaxed and persisted to the top with only a few short stops.
Adam summited Stevens Pass around sunrise where we learned that Mick had stopped racing, and that Adam was the new race leader. Adam survived the entire night without sleeping and was obviously compromised, but we kept encouraging him, and he kept pedaling the bike in a straight line. When I leaned out the window to tell him he was the race leader his response was “what race?” He was serious.
We could also see from text messages that Danny and Nicole were closing the gap fast. I didn’t think that bit of information would have helped Adam’s state of mind, so I omitted that from our chatter.
As Sunday morning dawned Mike started to feel better. After battling the horrendous fast-moving traffic on the west side of Hwy 2, the route turned on to Ben Howard road and low/no traffic backroads to the finish. With about 16 miles to go Mike’s crew learned that Dave was just a couple of miles up the road and within reach. This news lit a fire in Mike’s legs and he hammered the final stretch.
Mike’s crew felt inspired to see him come through a really rough period and finish so strongly.
Adam finished in 31 h 16 min and his finish line quote was: “I’m still trying to figure out what just happened. That was a long way.”
Danny and Nicole finished shortly after Adam (after starting 2 hours later) in an impressive 29 h 37 min. Although they were classified as a relay team, Danny rode the entire route, and periodically got some drafting support from Nicole who rode ~120 miles.
Dave and Mike finished at 33 h 16 min and 33 h 24 min respectively.
Undaunted, Mick Walsh plans to race the Silver State 508 (formerly the Furnace Creek 508) on October 5-7.
Post-race Debrief with Adam:
What are your recommendations for folks thinking about trying a solo ultra?
It’s not easy! would not have been able to do it had it not been for the amazing ultra racers around Seattle who were both welcoming and helpful in learning what to expect. The long rando rides, with a fast group, was very helpful in getting enough time in the saddle to make it even remotely doable. But training intensity is also key, and riding with High Performance Cycling (HPC) definitely helped with that. Back-to-back days are by far the best way to train for an ultra. For example, some of the best training blocks I had were a long ride with SIR on Saturday (200-300k) and then a hard HPC group ride the next. The combination of tired legs from the SIR ride, and riding with team mates who had fresh legs and pushed the pace really helped to build quality fitness.
It’s truly an amazing experience, and one I’ll never forget. The experience of starting out before it’s light, riding all day and through the next night, is indescribable. It’s really something to be experienced, and I’m really glad I did it.
Who were your sources of inspiration to try this crazy kind of event?
Definitely the local ultra racing community — folks who’ve done RAAM, RAW, RAO, Furnace Creek 508, etc. But also the Seattle International Randonneurs (SIR) riders who complete just within the time limits. The randos have quite a speed range. Those who aren’t as fast end up on the road much longer…when I was supporting the Cascade 1200 this year I remember seeing some of the last riders come in on the third day — their tenacity was truly amazing.
Now that a few days have passed, what are your thoughts on doing another ultra?
Immediately after the race, I still hadn’t realized that I actually managed to do it. The sleep deprivation really took a toll — with Mick DNF-ing, and me ending up leading the race, I felt like I was in a dream. But I was surprised by how not obliterated I was after a few days. Don’t get me wrong — it was super hard, and there were times where I wanted to throw in the towel (the period of time right before the sun came up, and fifteen miles of grooved pavement going up US-2 both come to mind). But I really ended up feeling like another ultra was doable, and could be just as much fun, if not more. Something like RAO would be amazing to do, as it’s even harder, and the roads and course are amazing. Plus, it has a larger field. We’ll see…
The right crew is super important, especially crew with experience. Both my crew members are excellent, and I’ve spent a lot of time with them. I just hope I wasn’t too unpleasant!
What were some things that did/didn’t work for you during the race?
I thought I’d be able to tolerate more solid food, like boiled potatoes and rice bars. I had a little bit of stomach trouble mid-ride, and ended up going back to some of my standbys which are a little hard on the body (Coke, shot blocks) but kept me going. Retrospectively, I wish I had brought more chocolate pudding, as it was amazing. I hadn’t been on aero bars for more than a few hours before the race, and more time on them would’ve really helped, as there was a lot more flat riding which would’ve been easier to do on aero bars.
How did you get through the deep dark hours of the night?
There was one particularly low spot where I was really fading, and I really just wanted to go to sleep. Thankfully, my crew suggested a coke instead of a nap, which was excellent advice otherwise I would’ve found it super hard to get going again — something I experienced on the SIR 600k I did earlier in the year, where we only stopped for a four hour nap. By not stopping for too long, I didn’t get too sleepy. I also used music, which Mick mentioned helped him a lot at night. There’s a company which makes single-earbud headphones with super short cords, so I could have it in one ear. Combined with an ipod shuffle attached to my helmet, it worked great and I could still hear out the other ear just fine. Also, having a radio to talk to the van was helpful at all times.
Anything else?
I’ve been riding for around ten years, and started out commuting. I only started to ride hard about five years ago, and hadn’t done anything longer than STP until this year’s SIR rides. SIR’s brevets, combined with a lot of riding in general, were key to making the race as painless as possible. I’ve also never done a bike race until this one. Ultra racing is super fun, but there are ways to do ultra-like bike events without racing — tours, bike overnights, team ultra racing and rando rides are all great options if solo racing is too big of a jump or time commitment.
Thanks to James McKee, Adam Morley, and Mick Walsh for their contributions to this post.
