Desert River 300k - April 6, 2013

Event: Desert River 300km
Organizer: Paul Whitney - post questions to this blog or email.
Ride Date: April 6, 2013
Start Time: 6:00am, registration 5:30-5:55. Sunrise/set: 6:27/7:33
Start/End Location: Intersection of Leslie and Gage, in the parking lot between Albertsons and USA Gas, in Richland, WA.
Finish by: 2:00am, April 7, 2013
Registration: Pre-register here. Check here to see who else is registered.
Entry fee: $15 (ride insurance, Brevet cards and Sonic-Burger). Cash preferred; or check made out to Paul Whitney.
Medals: Available directly from the RUSA online store.

The Route: The (draft) route sheet is here. A ride with gps view of the route is here. Some photos from the pre-drive are here.

This ride starts before sunrise, and will likely end for all but the fastest riders after sunset. Accordingly, please remember your lights and reflective gear. See RUSA guidelines here for lights/reflective-materials.

The route looks like this:

This route starts in Richland at Leslie and Gage (a usual location for DRR); heads out to Prosser for a mini-mart control. There is an interestingly steep climb out of Prosser, and then (eventually) down to Umatilla, Hermiston, Echo and then out to Pendleton. Then the route reverses course and winds over to Benton City, and then home via a standard route. This alternative preserves the use of the very nice canyon between Echo and Pendleton. Here's a link to a Ride With GPS version of the ride. The route sheet is based on the out and back variants of that route.

We will greet you at the end of the ride in the inviting Albertsons parking lot w/ a cold beverage (water!) and a Sonic Burger. We also will have a volunteer at the top of the horseheaven hills w/ some water and encouraging words. It should be a great ride.