Elderly Man Completes 60 @ Sixty Epic

It took spot-on logistics, a sterling support crew, and a take-no-prisoners ride pace, but my dream of riding 60 miles of prime PNW trail in a single day became a reality on July 23rd.

Supported by 14 friends who handled everything from pacing to wrenching to shuttling, I covered 63.6 miles of singletrack that included approximately 7,000 feet of climbing.

We were on the Ape Canyon trail at 4:55 a.m. and rode across the Plains of Abraham, through the washes on the north side, and back to the start point in 2:47. Total was 15.5 miles.

We dropped over to the west side of St. Helens and hit Blue Lake to Red Rock Pass to the Kalama Horse Camp. It took us 1:24 to cover 8.8 miles.

It was 11:25 a.m. when we got started at the Curley Creek trailhead at Lewis River. The temp was rising and the interval climbing took a toll on all of us. We covered the 22.2 mile out-and-back to the Lower Falls in 3:57.

Falls Creek was last on the list. It was about 85 at the Oldman Pass parking lot but cooled down when we got under the canopy. I was feeling a little fatigued as we climbed to the top, but our entire crew put the hammer down on the last 10-11 miles. We reached the bottom at 6:36 p.m., covering the 17.1 final leg in 2:09.

Ryan McMaster, Lance Brigman, and Dave LeMonds also completed all four legs.

Ten photos at the bottom of the post at http://writeteknorthwest.com/archives/5285/elderly-man-nails-60-sixty. I'll try to put a vid together by the end of the week.