Monday, August 10, 2009

Cascade Lakes Relay: leg 33

I made this video of leg 33 of the Cascade Lakes Relay two weeks prior to the event. I went over to central Oregon to scope out part of the route in addition to doing the 10k of the Smith Rock Sunrise Classic. This was the leg I specifically trained for. I made this video so that I would know what the -1372 elevation change over 6 miles pretty constantly downhill really looked like.

Imagine this same stretch of the road with no cloud cover. The temperature was 20 degrees higher, the sun beating down on walkers and runners alike, while the baked pavement radiated the heat back up through shoes. And no rain.



Looking at the video now, it seems way different than how it was on August 1st. The road was much wider when I was a walker on the edge. The turns seemed bigger and more intense. Interesting to have the whole scope change with the change in, literally, vehicle: inside a car versus in shoes on the side. And the rain would have been welcome! It did cloud over the last couple miles of the relay, but the base temperature was still mid-90s.

The relay was an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again next year. We're already planning.

The music is from Passages, by Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar.

[note for those who may be wondering, "what's up with the little bouncing buddha thingy?": I've made periodic short videos for one of my blogs, Dashboard Buddha Films, of travel in and around the city. This video is posted there, too.]