Photo: Jocelyn De La Rosa

DNF on Dam 600
"Two Dam Far" 600
Ride Dates: June 3-4, 2023
by Rick den Braber

Rick didn't intend this to be a newsletter submission. Bob Koen read it, liked it, and passed it along to me. I too thought others would enjoy another angle on this challenging ride. Rick agreed to let me include it here. [EF]

As Barry has already observed, heat was the culprit in this event. We headed South with beautiful conditions, and even with the hills in Canada we were riding reasonably well. At Osoyoos, about 100 plus km, we took our first break. Notably we both comfortably finished the first 100 in 5 hrs 15 minutes and achieved the first Control within 2 minutes of Barry's projected timeline.

We crossed into the states and carried on to Oroville and Nader the turn on to the back roads towards Omak. Barry stopped along the rural roads with more of the pains that have been plaguing him recently. He encouraged me to go on and catch up to Bob and Jacques.

I picked up the pace for a bit in an effort to catch the others but soon realized the heat was increasing. Later my GPS registered a high of 39 degrees. I turned back onto the main highway and was immediately met with hot winds with gusts. It was hard to keep the mouth from drying out. I was on my last bottle of water which was warm by this time.

About 12 km from Omak I stopped on the side of the road to eat an orange as I was feeling a bit confused and dizzy. I ate my orange and managed to keep it down. After some more water I carried on. I was still well within control limits with a projected arrival in Omak of about 15:30, with about 2 hours in the bank.

I arrived at the main light in Omak with a choice of Burger King and McDonald's. I tried BK but they were closed and so McDonald's it was. Before I left the light Jacques rolled up and told me he had spent a substantial amount of time in the Subway. He looked hot but OK to go on. I was having cramps in my arms and shoulders, so I decided that McDonald's was a good place to hang out and cool off and rehydrate and eat some more. I got some Sprite to start with and was able to down it. I decided to lay down as I had been up for 12 hours and thought a short nap would help. I was wrong. After sleeping for a bit I tried to get up but was hampered by numerous leg cramps that were quite painful and would not subside.

I have knowledge on the various stages of heat problems and suspected I was in full heat exhaustion. I confirmed my gut feel by checking online. To go on would have been fatal in all probability. The manager of McDonald's came to check on me with concern and ask me to stay as long as I needed. Kudos to her and her staff. I rested at McDonald's for a while, but after a bit I phoned Barry and arranged for a rescue, calling on his and Jeanine's help.

The cramps were with me for the rest of the day. By the next day I was in full recovery mode, but still suffered from cramps on Monday night. The projected recovery time for heat exhaustion is 2 to 4 days.

Doing fine now and look forward to future rides. I'm rounding into shape but need additional training to be faster and to defeat the heat. Mind you, only the fittest were able to post a reasonable time on this ride. Jacques and Gary Sparks, who are slightly fitter than I am at this point, squeezed in with only 20 or so minutes to spare. They suffered too as I learned when I saw them after the finish.