Alsea loop permanent (from Eugene OR)

This 211k Randonneurs USA permanent brevet, #1726,  is a loop primarily north and west of Eugene with a fair amount of climbing (you cross the coast range twice) and some lovely views.  The highlight is  South Fork road from near Alsea past Alsea Falls to Alpine, which will be familiar to many local riders from the annual Alpine Century, but there are plenty of other nice views along the way.  The last 25 miles are flat.

Note: Logging trucks use some of these roads (Territorial Road in particular) on weekdays.  I have not encountered them on a Saturday, but I cannot rule that out.  The route is safest and most pleasant on a Sunday.   Consider carefully whether you feel safe sharing a rural road with logging trucks, and schedule your ride accordingly.  

Map: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1810086
Cues: http://goo.gl/1W8YR  (or http://goo.gl/Skodv for plain html)
RUSA permanent reg form:  http://goo.gl/zDwsb

The Alsea loop begins in south-west Eugene (the shopping center at 29th and Willamette) and pops over the valley rim on Lorane Highway, on the way west/south-west way to the tiny town of Crow.  Stop at the tiny Crow Market for a bite and to have your brevet card signed or get a receipt.  There is a port-a-potty outside, and despite the sign you may be permitted to use the restroom inside (ask nicely).

From Crow it is almost a straight shot north on Territorial Road to Monroe.  You will pass through the conjoined towns of Veneta and Elmira as you cross Highway 26, and will find supermarkets and other services there if you need them.  The little stretch of Applegate Trail keeps your time on the busy Highway 36 to a minimum before you are back on Territorial.   Territorial Highway merges into Highway 99 just at the south end of Monroe, where your second control is.  The Dari Mart in Monroe has restrooms and hot as well as cold food.  This is your last store until mile 72, so fill those bottles.

Just north of Monroe, you turn left onto Alpine Cutoff Road (watch the tracks!) and work your way west to Bellfountain Road, where on a Saturday or Sunday morning you are likely to meet Corvallis area cyclists out for a weekend ride.  Left on Decker, a little south of Philomath, and soon the climbing fun begins.   There is more climbing in store as you turn west (left) on highway 34.  You'll summit at the turnoff to Mary's Peak, the highest point in the coast range, but on highway 34 the road summit is only 1200 feet.  Then it's a long, fast descent, followed by several miles of flat to Alsea.

Stop at John-Boy's Market in Alsea to have your brevet card signed and/or get a receipt.  There is a restroom in the back of the store, and they have hot food. You can sit at the table inside, or on the bench out front, where you're likely to strike up a conversation with an Alsea local.

Just beyond John-Boy's Market, at the Post Office, you'll turn left on Alsea-Deadwood highway, and just a mile south you'll turn left again onto South Fork Road, toward Alsea Falls.  One of the first sights on South Fork is the Alsea Acres goat farm, which makes wonderful chevre (goat cheese), available at the Eugene Farmers' Market on Saturdays in summer.   Then you'll start climbing back over the coast range, but it's not as steep as the climb from east to west.   Alsea Falls is worth a short stop.   When you summit, the road turns steeply downward.  This is a screaming descent ... do be careful in the curves.  When you level out again, you're almost to Alpine, and soon on you're way back to Monroe (not a control on the return).   The climbing is almost over.  Monroe is your last chance for restrooms with running water for quite a while, so use them if you can.

From Monroe you retrace your route  a few miles back on Territorial, but this time you'll turn right on Ferguson, and which will bend south and take you past the Long Tom Grange.  This is an active Grange that hosts the Daffodil Festival each spring, and is locally famous for  fund-raising with its "Men of the Long Tom Grange" calendar.  Stop at the grange for an information control.  Just a little beyond, you'll turn left on Turnbow, and do your last little bit of climbing for the day.  Are those llamas or alpacas on the right?

The descent on Turnbow takes you to High Pass road, where you turn left (east) toward Junction City.   Now it's flat and pretty straight and, frankly, pretty boring compared to what you've been through ... sorry, can't be helped.   Before Junction City you'll turn right on Dorsey Lane, which looks too small to possibly be on the way to anywhere, but it really is on the way to Alvadore. And maybe Alvadore isn't anywhere, but there are a couple convenience stores catering to visitors to Fern Ridge Reservoir, and you should stop at one of them to get a receipt.

More flat ... I've tried to avoid routing you much along the busy Clear Lake road, but you'll have to endure half a mile of that shoulder before you turn right again onto Fir Butte, which takes you to Royal, which takes you to the beginning of the Fern Ridge Bicycle Path, at the intersection of Royal with Greenhill Road (just several yards south on Greenhill).  Now this is more like it ... a nice separated multi-use path all the way back into Eugene.   Where the path to Roosevelt splits off to the left, you bear right (crossing the canal) toward down town.  Watch for pedestrians and runners, and keep an eye out for heron and cranes along the canal.

You come off the Fern Ridge path just past Chambers street, across the canal on a little bridge, and then across a larger bridge that crosses 18th Ave and through the disc golf course, ending in a school parking lot.  Work your way left through the parking lot to a path that takes you out to Polk Street, then follow cues to work your way back to the starting point at 29th and Willamette.  In addition to the food establishments in the shopping center, there are food and restrooms in Market of Choice, the large grocery store.

Rando-curious: 200km brevets vs. century rides

If you are considering your first 200km brevet, your most related experience is probably a supported century ride like the bRamble, Alpine Century, Peach of a Century, etc. Here are some points of comparison:

Distance
200 kilometers is 125 miles ... a little more than a 100 mile century, but not an outrageous length. Note, however, that the extra 25 miles is usually at the end.

Time
A brevet is a timed event, with time cuts for intermediate "control" points as well as the ride finish. You do not have to be very fast to finish within the time cut (13.5 hours for 200km), but you need to keep going at a modest pace. Elapsed time, rather than time in the saddle, is what counts ... so those food stops are on the clock.

Paperwork

The term "brevet" comes from the card that a randonneur carries on the ride to document passage and times at "control" points along the way. At a control, you can ask someone (typically a clerk at a convenience store) to initial your card and write the time of your arrival, or you can obtain a receipt with the time, date, and location. At "information controls", you answer a question on the card to demonstrate that you visited a location where you find information to answer the question.


Food
On a supported century, volunteers provide you with food and drink at intermediate points along the ride. On a brevet, you stop at markets. Typically you buy food and get your brevet card signed at the same stop. Remember, you're on the clock, so don't dally too long unless you're a fast rider.


Support
In addition to food stops, century ride support typically includes a sag wagon. Occasionally a brevet may feature support at a remote intermediate point where markets are not available, but usually you are on your own, and sag support is unknown. In fact, there is a rule against receiving help from a person other than rider on the same brevet, except at designated control points.


Navigation
You get a cue sheet for your century ride, and you get a cue sheet for your brevet ... so far so similar. But the supported century ride probably features road markings or even volunteers pointing the way. The brevet route is not specially marked ... you'll have to read the cue sheet and navigate.


Cost
The fee for a century ride covers a variety of support expenses, such as the sag wagons and food stops, and often includes a portion for charity and advocacy work of the sponsoring club. The fee for a brevet is usually much less, covering insurance and the minimal support provided, typically including a snack at ride end. A typical fee for a 200km brevet might be $15 or even less. Longer brevets, especially with overnight stops, may cost more.


Light
Supported centuries typically take place entirely in daylight hours. A 200km brevet may take place entirely in daylight in the summer, but most brevets either start before dawn or extend beyond sunset (and some even start in the evening). Whenever a brevet is not entirely within daylight hours, a randonneur is required to have adequate lighting and reflective gear, as spelled out in article 10 of the Rules for Riders. Note in particular that lights must be attached to the vehicle (the bicycle); lights attached to the rider are not sufficient.


Weather
Supported centuries are nominally "rain or shine", but in practice centuries are scheduled in periods where "shine" is a reasonable expectation. The brevet season starts earlier in the year, and often extends further into fall. Randonneurs in the northwest are accustomed to riding long distances in the rain.


Equipment
The bicycle you use for a supported century will also work for a 200km brevet, provided you have lights if the ride will take place partly in low light or darkness. However, you'll notice that a lot of randonneurs are riding bicycles with fenders, generator lights, and front or back racks. You'll see a lot of handlebar bags, which serve both to hold the cue sheet and to feed the randonneur between controls. Many randonneur bicycles will sport fatter tires than racing bicycles, and randonneurs will be wearing shoes that make walking practical.

Down the Drain 2012 pre-ride report

August 25 was a good approximation of a typical day in early September:  Cool morning, warm afternoon just verging on hot.  If we are lucky September 8 should be similar.   A short-sleeve synthetic jersey with a light base-layer was adequate, and I deemed knee or leg-warmers unnecessary as I rolled out around 6:40 from home.  It was fully light.  On September 8 we can expect sunrise at 6:44, so those riding to the ride will need lights and reflective gear.  Sunset September 8 is 7:24pm, before the ending control closes, so again lights and reflective gear are in order, although few should actually be riding in the dark.

Many routes from Eugene start by popping over a small ridge that edges the southern end of the Willamette valley. Lorane Highway is one among the standard handfull of ways out.  It's a gentle climb, good for getting the blood pumping at the beginning of a ride, followed by an easy descent that can be surprisingly chilly even on warm days.   Lorane highway turns left at "four corners",  with the other two corners being Bailey Hill Road (to the right) and Spencer Creek (straight ahead).  Then Lorane has a couple gentle climbs and a descent past Fox Hollow road.  Some of Lorane Highway has recently been overlayed with unpleasant chip-seal.  Just past Fox Hollow, though, this turns to lovely new asphalt.

The cue sheet notes a fire station on the left, a little after passing Fox Hollow, with a port-a-potty.  Perfectly placed if you tend to take in a lot of liquids just before a ride, as I do.

After a bit Lorane Highway ends at Gillespie Corners, in a T junction with Territorial Highway.  We go left (south) toward the town of Lorane.  Alas, the pavement is bad, the shoulders vary from narrow to absent, and there are lots of blind curves.  Fortunately traffic is light early on a Saturday.

The town of Lorane is not a control, but it's a handy stop if you are in need of water, nutrition or a toilet.  Of the general store and the café, I prefer Linda's Café, confusingly labeled "Lorane General Store."  I bought a couple boiled eggs and a cup of coffee, and ate one of the eggs there.  They also have a flush toilet, and there are jugs of cold, filtered water in the white refrigerator, to refill your bottles.   It's also a good place to ask about local roads.  I asked about Carpenter Bypass, and the lady who may or may not be Linda said she wasn't sure but that the couple having breakfast probably knew.  The couple having breakfast said it got a little steep toward the top, and there were probably still some unpaved bits, but BLM had done a lot of paving a couple years ago.

At Lorane we turn right (west) onto Siuslaw River Road, but not for long.  And here's the first difficulty of the day:  The Carpenter Bypass, which is called Road 20-5-141on the 2007 cue sheet, is unmarked.  No sign at the turn, no sign along the road to tell you where you are.  I passed it thinking "odomenter says it should be here, but it can't be that one."  It was that one.  If you reach Fire Road, you have gone too far ... turn around and take the first paved road, unpromising as it may look.  You'll see a beat-up green electrical box on the right side of the road, bearing the number "27300" in stickers.  That's the closest thing I could find to a positive identification.  If you have a mapping device, you may see that you are at the intersection of Siuslaw River Road and Carpenter Bypass.

Must be Carpenter Bypass Road

You can guess what comes next:  Single lane forest service road with perfunctory paving.  Some climbing.  Some category two Mirkwood canopy, and some clearings.

This is working forest, so you'll see clearcut and ex-clearcut in various stages of regrowth. 

What you won't see is a sign reassuring you that you are on the right road, aside from a yellow warning sign that is an information control.  Eventually you will see a small sign at a fork in the road indicating Road 20-5-141, but it won't be apparent which fork it labels.  Bear left there ... you'll apparently be transitioning from Carpenter Bypass Road to Tip Davis Creek Road, according to Google maps, although you'll never see a sign confirming or denying this.   Also, you may notice that perfunctory pavement is giving way to dirt and gravel.  There might be some one-time pavement under there somewhere.  Some of the downhill was a bit technical on my 25mm tires.

You pop out onto Upper Smith River Road, which is lovely pavement except where it has fallen off the side of the mountain ... fortunately all from the other lane.   A large dog gave chase just after the intersection, but he wasn't very fast.  After just a little bit of climbing, there is a fast, fun descent to Umpqua Highway (38).

Just a few miles on Umpqua Highway take you into Drain.  Ray's Food Place on the left is a good place to refuel and get your brevet card signed and/or get a receipt.  If you need unidentifiable deep-fried foodstuffs, they are to the left from the entrance.  I had a green chili "burrito", and it was just right.

The 2007 cue sheet takes you to Hayhurst Road via Drain Section Road.  I haven't decided whether to stick with that, or keep you on the Umpqua Highway.  The latter is simpler and has a good shoulder; I've never felt unsafe on it, and in any case it's just a couple miles to Hayhurst.   There was a secret control on Hayhurst in 2007.  Since it is only ten miles between Drain and Yoncalla, both of which offer ample food-shopping opportunities, we may instead have an information control at the intersection of Hayhurst and Skelley Road.

The information control answer is not that yellow thing.  The picture was taken pre-modification. 

Hayhurst takes us to the south end of Yoncalla, and we drop down through town to Highway 99.  East past the high school, just a little way to Elkhead Road.  Elkhead takes us a bit north and under the freeway, where we bear left to Scotts Valley Road (following the freeway for just a bit) and then right (east again).

There is a short stretch of gravel just as a kind of warning, before we turn left onto London Road and the real fun starts.

Oh yes, it does.  More than once.

 There are two or three stretches of gravel.  They aren't deep, and they don't go on forever, but some of them are on climbs and, if you ride fairly narrow tires as I do, you will need to maintain a nice smooth pedal stroke to avoid slipping.  But then you reach the top of London Road (or maybe it's Shoestring Road by this point) and it's beautiful, smooth pavement in sweeping curves on a long descent.  Worth it.

And then that's it for climbing, until almost the end of the ride.  You glide down past Cottage Grove Reservoir, into Cottage grove, and then take the Row River bicycle trail on an out-and-back spur along Dorena Reservoir.  There is running water in the bathrooms of some of the parks along the Cottage Grove reservoir.   There is a small park with vault toilets and a water fountain on Row River Trail before it reaches the lake.  There are vault toilets, but no running water, on the trail as it runs along Dorena Reservoir.

New smooth asphalt was a pleasant surprise on Row River Road, which connects you from the Row River Trail to Sears Road.  Until very recently the shoulder was wavy.  Killian's Market is at the intersection of Row River Road and Sears Road, where you turn north.  The sign says "no public restrooms", and I've never asked if it's true, so take advantage of the vault toilets on the Row River Trail before you leave the lakeside.

Sears Road is mostly flat with a few rollers, paralleling I-5 north to Cloverdale Road.  You take a quick jog left on Cloverdale toward Creswell, then turn onto Dale Kuni, which takes you over I-5 to highway 99.  Yes, alas, you must ride north a bit on 99, and it's not nice ... then left onto Dillard Road, which will give you the last bit of climbing for the day.  Unfortunately the pavement on the descent is too poor to allow you to safely zoom ... take it slow and watch for ruts and potholes.  Dillard takes you to Amazon,  and a few more turns and a couple miles brings you back to the start.

Saturday will be a home football game at 3pm, so expect the bars and highways to both fill up whenever the game is done.  How long do football games last?  I have no idea, because I just ride my bike when other people go to the game.

Overall: Nice ride, some gravel;  you'll need to put a little time in the bank in the first part of the ride to compensate for time lost on the Carpenter Bypass section.  Food opportunities are more than adequate along the way.

Five Rivers (RUSA permanent 1587)

Five Rivers (RUSA permanent 1587)

This loop from Eugene to Lebanon, with a spur to Walterville, takes you along the Willamette, McKenzie, Mohawk, and Calapooia rivers, and across the Santiam. The second half is fairly flat, and climbs in the first half are mostly gradual. The first climb is on Marcola Road where it becomes Brush Creek road (familiar from the Eden's Gate 400km brevet). The second, and steepest, is on Fern Ridge road between Crawfordsville and Sweet Home (and an information control at the top is there to make sure you enjoy it). The last is on Gap Road south of Brownsville.

There are few controls on this route (Walterville and Lebanon, plus two information controls and the start/end), but there are lots of optional food stops: Mohawk, Crawfordsville, Sweet Home, Brownsville, and Coburg. Each of these has at least a port-a-potty, and Sweet Home and Brownsville also have running water.

Start at  Eugene Coffee Company near 18th and Chambers, or at one of the other establishments there (cues are oriented from 7-11 in front of Bi-Mart Eugene Coffee Company) and take Fern Ridge Bicycle Path into town.  Sadly Eugene Coffee Company has closed.  7-11 is charmless and their coffee is dreadful, but it's a convenient start on the south side of 18th.  On the north side, there is a Starbucks inside Albertsons, and you can pick up the Fern Ridge path directly to the right and behind Albertsons.

This route was approved July 15, 2012.   I've tried to make the cues as clear as possible (and thanks Crista and Lynne for good advice on that), but if you have any issues or suggestions for improving clarity, do please let me know!

Cue sheet
Randonneurs USA (RUSA) record

Map:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1272826

Click for larger image.  For dynamic map, use the RideWithGPS link above.

Five Rivers Permanent

Five Rivers (RUSA permanent 1587)

[This post has been superseded by a July 15 entry with the same information, since the
  route has been approved by RUSA]

This loop from Eugene to Lebanon, with a spur to Walterville, takes you along the Willamette, McKenzie, Mohawk, and Calapooia rivers, and across the Santiam. The second half is fairly flat, and climbs in the first half are mostly gradual. The first climb is on Marcola Road where it becomes Brush Creek road (familiar from the Eden's Gate 400km brevet). The second, and steepest, is on Fern Ridge road between Crawfordsville and Sweet Home (and an information control at the top is there to make sure you enjoy it). The last is on Gap Road south of Brownsville.

There are few controls on this route (Walterville and Lebanon, plus two information controls and the start/end), but there are lots of optional food stops: Mohawk, Crawfordsville, Sweet Home, Brownsville, and Coburg. Each of these has at least a port-a-potty, and Sweet Home and Brownsville also have running water.

Start at  Eugene Coffee Company near 18th and Chambers, or at one of the other establishments there (but cues are oriented from Eugene Coffee Company) and take Fern Ridge Bicycle Path into town.

This route was approved July 15, 2012.   I've tried to make the cues as clear as possible (and thanks Crista and Lynne for good advice on that), but if you have any issues or suggestions for improving clarity, do please let me know!


Cue sheet