If you are going to reach the top of the highest road on Mount Rainier, you’ve got to work for it. 6,400 feet and 50 miles of steady climbing out of Enumclaw, my legs are aching just remembering it.

Chris and I decided that we needed to get a long ride in before the upcoming Mountain 600K. The Sunrise permanent has been on our radar since we starting doing these rides. I suggested that we ride to the start in Black Diamond from Seattle and turn the 200K in to a 300K. It looked easy enough on paper…

We set out at 4:30am from our homes in South Park. Within the first five miles, I questioned what the hell I was even doing up that early. Those thoughts started to fade as the sun rose, little by little. By the time we were making the climb from Auburn to Black Diamond, the sun was really starting to make an appearance. Riding through a sunrise never fails to completely perk me up.

We reached Black Diamond exactly when we expected to, around 7am. We spent some time prepping for the day and making sure we were ready for the ride ahead of us.

We followed the Green River Gorge out of town and out towards Cumberland. The roads were hilly but very pleasant with almost no traffic and the sun just starting to warm us. We had some trouble with the first control question. It asked for some information that we weren’t seeing in the area. I snapped some photos and hoped for the best. Worst case scenario, I have a wonderful (unofficial) ride to talk about.

I had a friend who asked last minute if he could join us up to Sunrise from Enumclaw. He agreed to meet us on the corner of our turn on to Highway 410. We reached him about 8am and started our climb in to the mountains around Mount Rainier.

It was nice to have company for the climb. Talking keeps the mind off of the suffering. The highway shoulder is tight at times though, so we kept our eye on the prize. I’m pretty sure that we reached Greenwater (about 1,800 feet elevation and 25 miles from Enumclaw?) faster than I’ve done on previous rides that have passed it. We had a solid tempo going, nothing super impressive, but pretty good for a bunch of large guys on steel bikes.

The turn off of Highway 410 and on to Sunrise Road came at about mile 84 on the day (for Chris and I). I was extremely happy to see that there was a place to get some water here. We still had 15 and a half miles until we were going to reach the top, and I needed all the liquid I could get.

The law of diminishing ride returns kicked in pretty early. 9 mph with 15 miles to go… we should get there in a couple of hours. 7 mph and 14 miles to go… we should get there in a couple of hours. 6 mph and 13 miles to go… it might take over 2 hours. Thankfully I have a minimum speed for the most part, or I would never get there.

We discussed the possibility of seeing the famed Snow Tiger Lion at some point in the ride. Legend has it, the roads were built out of mostly bald eagle bones and scat. They seemed pretty smooth anyways. Maybe I was just delirious from the heat. I was suffering at the back pretty much the entire 15 miles. I had a couple of second winds that were quickly followed by my body remembering that it hurt. The views more than made up for any pain though. With every turn in the road, the trees were thinning. You could see the valleys down below. I’ve never been up so high before. It was simply stunning.

We reached the Sunrise lookout and I mistook it for the top. I snapped a picture of my bike with the elevation sign. Oh wait, we have a couple of miles left? Alright…

Despite that disappointment, the next 2 miles were probably the best of the climb. The road was facing the peak of Rainier and the climbing had let up a bit. The pictures help describe it, but they don’t do it justice. The mountain is just so massive and epic. The photos do nothing to capture that sense.

We reached the top (6,400 feet) to a lodge with a cafeteria and restrooms. I wasn’t expecting all of the amenities, but it was pleasant enough. I bought the worst sandwich I’ve ever wasted my money on there though. One turkey sandwich, a tiny bag of chips and a soda cost me over 11 dollars. Normally, even the weakest foods are pretty tasty on a bike ride. This didn’t even fit that bill. Still, calories are calories and it was nice to get some “food” down.

On to the downhill… that sweet, sweet descent. We had 15 miles of pretty epic downhill with long stretches of visible roads followed by loose switchbacks. I had a huge grin on the whole ride down.

We had a mile of climbing to get back off of Sunrise Rd and on to Highway 410 again. For the most part, it was downhill all the way back to Enumclaw. We were all feeling the effects of the day though. We all were standing often and stretching whenever possible. Our friend stopped off at his car at the bottom of the climb and Chris and I kept on moving. We were only 8 miles from the official finish of the 200K in Black Diamond. True to all SIR rides, there was one last long climb right at the very end of the ride.

We reached the final gas station around 5pm. That put our 200K time at around 10 hours. I was pretty happy with that considering all of the climbing involved.

All that was left was a downhill to Auburn and a ride up the Interurban Trail back to Seattle. Though it was quite possibly the longest 35 miles ever, we made it back to Seattle by 7:30 or so. My feet and butt were singing.

I drove to work today.