Cyclist tests his limits

By Gail Wood | The Olympian • Published August 06, 2008

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With lungs aching and Achilles tendon throbbing, John Pearch wearily peddled up Mount Hood, exhausted from two straight days of riding his bicycle across Oregon.

Just fives miles remained in Pearch’s incredible 535-mile journey in the Race Across Oregon that started near the Portland International Airport and ended at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. And he nearly quit.

“My Achilles was screaming at me,” said Pearch, an Olympia resident who works at the Department of Ecology. “I was so close to quitting. All I wanted to do was stop.”

Encouraged by his support team and determined not to disappoint his friends and himself, Pearch finished, placing ninth out of the 20 bikers who started the race. Only 10 finished.

He finished in 45 hours and 21 minutes, three hours under the time limit and the mandatory stop. Pearch, who has run 100 miles in 20 hours and 15 minutes in the Western 100 race, was spent. He hasn’t gotten on a bike in the three weeks since the race.

“It is by far the toughest thing I’ve ever done,” said Pearch, who just turned 35. “Way tougher than running 100 miles.”

Peddling over several mountain passes, Pearch climbed a total of 40,000 feet, the rough equivalent of three ascents of Mount Rainier.

In his two days in the saddle, Pearch caught only 14 minutes of sleep.

When he stopped for his only nap 300 miles into the race, his support team that included Brent Warner, Linda Huyck and Chris Matthews warned him they’d dump ice water on him if he wasn’t up in 15 minutes. Pearch set his watch alarm for 14 minutes.

“When I woke, I felt like I had been asleep for hours,” Pearch said.

After climbing through Government Pass, Pearch rode through the deserts of Eastern Oregon.

Temperatures varied from 30 degrees to 90 as he rode through mountains and deserts. Often he was a solitary figure, moving slowly across remote country roads with his support car close behind him.

“In the night, I’d look up and see the stars. It was beautiful,” Pearch said. “It’s totally exhilarating. You feel closer to God.”