December 100k: Bellevue, Kirkland, Issaquah, Mercer Island. And a dragon.

The day almost started perfectly:  My ride partner Pete and I arrived at the Mercer Island Park-n-ride one after the other at 10 to 7, well ahead of time.  We unloaded our bikes, topped off tires, and then I realized "I forgot my helmet!"  -- to which Pete replied "I forgot MY helmet too!"   There was nothing to do but to back home and get them, he to Issaquah, I to Bellevue.

20 minutes later I was at Peets, having some coffee (may I have a receipt please?) and watching a couple of fellows playing Cribbage across the room.  I've been a cribbage player for many years, and was entertained by their running discussion of the game.

Pete showed 15 minutes later, and we rolled out at 7:40, 25 minutes past the scheduled 7:15 start time.

The route we selected "Eastside loops" goes across the I-90 bridge and then heads north, hugging the Lake Washington shoreline to downtown.  This necessitates a few short steep climbs and gets you warmed up.  From downtown, it heads north to Medina, east a little way, and then north again to Kirkland.  Most of that run is fairly flat.

Then it gets interesting, as you encounter two of the hills made famous by the Memorial day "7 Hills of Kirkland" ride.  The first hill isn't so bad, but the second one "Seminary hill" goes on and on, topping out over 400 feet.  Your hard work is rewarded by a screaming run downhill to Kenmore -- on newly laid asphalt even.

Once in Kenmore, we were done with hills for a while as we hit the Burke Gilman trail - the same trail we were on the last time we did 100k.  I was feeling pretty good so far.  I had been dropping behind Pete on the hills but staying with him on the flats.  We cruised to Woodville, then down the Sammamish River trail to Redmond, through Marymoor park, and then onto East Lake Sammamish Boulevard.  Now we were two hours in, and all my extra energy was gone.  I couldn't keep on Pete's wheel any more, and wound up just riding along at 14 mph instead of the 16-17 we had been doing.

West Lake Sammamish isn't flat - there are slight grades here and there, with one "hill" 2/3 of the way to Issaquah.  Pete waited for me at the top, and then we rode to Issaquah together.

We stopped at the only "receipt control" on the ride at the Starbucks attached to Safeway and he generously bought  me a hot chocolate while I attended to some urgent business in the Mens room.  We didn't stay long, not wanting to get too cooled down.

From there we climbed another seemingly endless hill up Newport Way, heading east.  Once again, he led far ahead while I slugged it out, getting what felt like slower and slower.

We joined up at the top of the hill and rode together through Eastgate and Factoria, across the I-90 bridge again.

Ran into a traffic jam of bikes at the light on the west side of the bridge:  a group of 5 women cyclists was heading west, 4 or 5 men were heading across going east, and we were in the mix wanting to go south.   Once that was sorted, we were on our own again, doing a partial clockwise Mercer Island loop.

Pete led the way, and I followed - the theme for the day - and when I got to the Info Control at Clarke Beach I saw he was 50 yards ahead and hollered at him to come back, which he did.  We got our last info control written down and he let me lead for a bit, then begged off to ride ahead because he had to get home to make a time commitment to his wife to leave for an annual party they were attending.  I bid him farewell and just ambled along at a comfortable pace for the remaining few miles.

I've ridden this route dozens of times, but saw something that I had never seen before:  A dragon!  I was impressed.

By this time I was getting actually hungry, and decided a hamburger would be perfect, so I stopped at the McDonalds for my last control, and got two burgers to go, figuring to eat them in the car on the way home.

When I got to the Park-n-Ride, who did I meet but Pete!  He had ridden ahead and stopped at Peets for his final control, which apparently was busier than McDonalds.   We said our "good ride" and "see ya laters" and headed out, each with another 100k permanent in the bag.  My P-5 ride, his P-2.

This is the fourth time I've ridden with other people and been the laggard.  I think it's time to bite the bullet and start some actual training to build strength.  Sadly, just riding around isn't going to build strength.

Recovery 100k: Dry, fast and fun

So after my DNF 300k last weekend, I'm hoping to redeem myself with a 100k ride this Saturday. In order not to burn up the entire day, the plan is to start at 6:15 AM and try to get home by noon or at least before 1:00.   The forecast earlier in the week was showers, but it's changed to dry!  Temps in the mid-40s.

I partnered up with a new Randonneur, Pete Peterson, who offered to join RUSA so he could ride with me.  (Rules are, anyone on a RUSA ride must be a member - insurance rules, apparently).  Pete has lots of miles under him, and was riding his newly built old-frame LeMond on its inaugural ride.  And this was Pete's first Rando ride, so lots of firsts today.

We were doing Perm 757; Redmond-Issaquah-UVillage.  I've been on this route, and written about it before.  Start at Peet's in Redmond, down the east side of Lake Sammamish to McDonalds, back the way you came, on to the Sammamish River Trail (SRT) which becomes the Burke Gilman Trail (BGT) and ride to University Village - then turn around and ride back the way you came to Redmond.  100k (or a bit over, actually -- 65 miles).

We left Peets at 6:15 sharp, our control start time, and headed south in total darkness. We each had decent lights. There was little traffic.  Pete is faster than me, by 10-15% easily, but I had plenty of glycogen in my legs to burn after not riding all week, and was able to keep up with him at 18 MPH as we zipped down the dark road.

McDonalds, our first control,  was just 40 minutes away, and we stopped for Apple Juice - one of the cheapest things on the menu, and at 70 calories, a bit of a boost and some fluid.

 It's starting to become daylight now.  Back on the bikes, head north, and now with a little tailwind, 20 MPH is possible  We are flying!  At Marymoor park, we slide over to the SRT and continue our ride north.

2nd control 18 miles later is the ARCO in Woodinville, just north of Wilmot Gateway park.  We each get a V-8, chat, use the "facilities" and back on the trail again.  I'm starting to have some trouble keeping up, but managing, for the most part.  Fortunately there are NO hills on this part of the route.

3rd control would be the U-village QFC but Pete says he knows a good coffee shop, so we stop there. Zoka Coffee.  I'm all caffeined up after my double shot mocha at Peets, so I have a hot chocolate and pumpkin bread.  Pete gets the Zoka bar which is made, apparently of 50% sugar, 20% chocolate and 30% flour. Yowzers, it is sweet!

Outside Zoka is some public art. I don't know the significance of the animals - I thought perhaps they were the Chinese Zodiac animals, but they're not.  No rat, snake or rooster did I see.  You take a look (click to enlarge):

Now all the glycogen is gone, and I'm running on just what I can make as far as energy.  Pete's going strong, still leading out at 15-16 mph and I'm doing what I can to hang on.  I keep dropping back and catching up.  I'm not discouraged - just not that fast, right?  It was good to have someone to chase.

We swing past Wilmot Gateway again in Woodinville, for a bathroom break and a couple of Tums to ward off the cramps that are threatening, and then it's just 9.6 miles to the finish.  Headwind on the SRT heading south, so we're a little slower - 14.5 - 15.5 mph but holding steady.  I latch onto Pete's wheel and just keep pushing.

Wind up at Peet's at 11:42, 5:27 after we left. The line of people is practically out the door, so we head over to Teriyaki to get something to take home for lunch, and the final control receipt.

Yesterday, it had rained off and on all day, but we only had one brief, half-hearted shower in Issaquah. The rain held off, and even the wind wasn't all that strong.  I was happy that I could hang with the fast group, at least for a couple of hours, and now I have my P-4 ride.   (4 consecutive months with a 100k ride).  It was encouraging to me to find out after last week that I haven't lost all ability to move a bike faster than 11 MPH.  The extra 15 degrees in temps helped a ton.

Frosty 300k - a Treehouse and a DNF

Time for another 200k ride to keep the R-12 string going.  I had Nov. 15 locked in for a 200k.  One of my friends who missed out on a 300k last weekend was lamenting he'd have to ride alone, so I offered to accompany him.  I'd done 300k before, even 360k, so figured a 300k was well within reach.   We published our intentions, and two more intrepid Randonneurs decided to join us.

We set on a route from Bremerton, south through Elma, Yelm, then east through Rainier, curve north to Puyallup and then back home to Seattle.  Overall, a fairly flat route.  Not fabulously scenic. Advertised as a "good winter 300k ride".

We met up at the Seattle ferry terminal at 5:45 AM for the 6:00 ferry to Bremerton.  It was pitch dark.
I wondered if it was going to become daylight by our 7:15 start time, and magically, the sky started to brighten, and finally it was nearly light. It's a great picture, click on it to enlarge.

We got to Bremerton, hit the Starbucks for a snack and coffee, and rolled out at 7:30, 15 minutes past our "official" start time.

It was probably around 25 degrees, and we started right off with a few hills, mostly short, some steep, to avoid riding on busy SR 3.  I was working a bit to keep up with the others, and although I lagged behind the others, I was able to catch up.

After a short while, we were on flat ground again, riding along the south side of Hood Canal on route 106.  This reminded me of the waterfront section of the Chilly Hilly, right after coming off Baker Hill, except that only lasts a mile or two, and this went on for 15 miles.  With the water on our right, and a hill on our left (south), this area doesn't get much sun in the winter.  We saw some fantastic arrays of icicles that had been growing for a while: (Thanks Keith for the picture!)

We stopped as a group at the next control, doing well.

Then I started lagging behind the group, and soon I couldn't see them any more.  I nearly missed a turn, but Bill was there to holler at me; he had stopped to take off a layer.  We rode together for a bit,and then I had to stop for an urgent Call of Nature.  I met up with the group again in Elma, and we all left together.   I noted the time and distance:  70 miles down,  (122k), just 8 over 1/3 of the ride.  And we had used up 6 hours, including stops to get here.  It's now 1:30 PM.  If you were to just say "OK, double up what we did, that's 12 hours and that puts us into Seattle at  1:30 AM.  Hmm.. we had been shooting for a 17 hour ride -- after all, another group had burned up the same course in under 12 hours the week before, how hard could 17 hours be?  Harder than we imagined.

Left Elma, and the road is flat for some distance - a long way, actually - and still I am lagging behind the group.   After 30 miles, I meet up with them at an Info Control, and say "Look guys, I appreciate you waiting for me but don't bother -- I am not going to get any faster, and it's just holding you back" They protested, but I  said "You can wait if you want, but I'm giving you the OK to go ahead without me, I'll get home OK on my own. (This was especially relevant to Keith, who had driven me to the start line in Seattle.  I would have to ride home another 10 miles from Seattle on my own.)

I was fine with this because the pressure of keeping up was killing the fun of riding.  Once I knew they weren't waiting for me, I could do what's recommended for such situations "Ride within yourself".  I think just trying to keep up for the first 6 hours had burned what little reserves I had, so I was happy to get up to 13 mph, and actually satisfied with 11 mph, although that was barely fast enough to finish in the allotted 20 hours.

And that finish was starting to worry me.  I had obligations the next day - teaching Sunday school, and helping with Fran's new space in the Antique mall/Flea market in Burien. I was beginning to think I might be getting in very late. But I was far from home, so all there was to do was keep riding to the next control.

I did have some nice views of Mt. Rainier again from an angle I rarely see it:

Once the sun went down, darkness wasn't far behind.  And as I'm riding, thinking about needing water, I look to the right and there is this fantastic tree house WAY UP in the air.  I stop to take a picture:

And the guy sees me.  I say "Hey great treehouse."  "Thanks, you wanna come up and take a tour?"  Well, I WOULD, but I'm on this ride, see, and I have this time limit and ... what the heck, this is a once in a lifetime chance, you BET I wanna come and see."  So I wheel the bike over and climb up.  The first stairway is steep, 2x6's let into solid stringers, with little makeshift handrails scavenged from bunk beds.  Get to a landing, curve around, and then there's a ladder with 2x4 rails nailed onto two long 5" thick TREES.  Use the steps as handholds until the end where there's a handrail.  And now I'm up on the front deck/porch.  "How high is this?" I ask. "We are 50 feet up."  He said he built it originally to watch the races at the racetrack just across the road.  We go in (watch your head) and it's really cozy.  A little table, with two benches, an easy chair, a tiny 14" flatscreen TV, and he's got a mini-fridge too.  He's still working on the bedroom and the bathroom.  It's all put together with scraps and pieces, but feels right solid.  We chatted for a bit, he offered to split a Rolling Rock with me - I said no, I have to ride more yet - and then I went down.  I asked if I could use his water and filled up my bottles, got all my night riding gear on - vest, reflective ankle bands, extra headlight - and I was off.  What a wonderful respite!

My host:

Panorama shot of the interior.  Looks a little bigger than real life.

As I rode away, I thought that if they were waiting for me in Rainier, they were gonna be waiting a long time.  And if I did find them there, I would have to keep this a secret.  Being a tourist when you're doing a rando ride is fine -- if you have time -- but I didn't have much to spare.  Actually I don't think I spent more than 15-20 minutes there, but as slow as I was, it would have put me way way way behind.

I'm now riding down Old Highway 99, with traffic, and it's starting to get actually dark.  I can see the sky turning the same colors behind me as it did in the morning, not too long ago.  I turn on my primary not-too-bright-but-lasts-a-long-time light.  Wind through Grand Mound and get on the Yelm/Tenino rails-to-trails bike trail.  This is a nice respite from the shoulder, but it's DARK.  I flip on my super-bright-but-won't-last-all-night light and punch out the miles to the next control in Rainier, 8 miles ahead.

You know, 8 miles doesn't sound very far when you're doing 186 miles, but when you're only going 11 mph, it's nearly 40 minutes.  And if you're wanting to be there NOW, that 40 minutes can take a while.  Fortunately, the trail was mostly dead flat, with a few 2% grades here and there. What it took, it gave back.  It was actually fine.  One benefit of night riding is that since you can't see much, you don't get a sense of time - it "compresses" the distances in your memory.  However, it doesn't compress the actual distance.  I was considering abandoning at this point but decided to see what was what when I got to Rainier.  It wouldn't be long now, and 15 minutes either way woudn't affect anything.

The only things I saw on the trail were occasional rabbits darting across ahead of me, and some pretty good views of the stars.  Sadly, some ground fog came up and turned off the views.

Finally!  Rainier control.  It's 6:30 PM.  I have 72 miles to go.  I'm lucky to do 11 MPH.  Rounding up that's 7 hours of pedaling, and a good rule of thumb is add 20% for controls and whatever. So 8 1/2 hrs to go.  That puts me into Seattle at 3:00 AM, if my speed holds.  And gets me home at 4:00 AM.  And I have to get up at 7:30 AM.  And I only got 5 hrs of sleep LAST night.

I consider the consequences of quitting:  No R-12 ride this month, the string of 2 is broken.  Fran has to drive all the way down here.  But the benefits:  I'm tired, it's cold, I'm slow, and I could really use a nap.  In the end, it wasn't a hard decision.  I made the call.  I was at Sonja's restaurant, a warm, friendly little place specializing in Asaian food.  I could have something to eat while I waited the hour or so for her to get down here - I was 70 miles away from Bellevue, too.  And so that's what I did.

I texted Keith and told him I had abandoned, so he'd know and could inform the others, then had a bowl of spicy cabbage soup, some Kung Pow pork and rice, and some ice cream for dessert.  Then I rested and listened to the owner socialize with everyone who came in.  Rainier is a small town and apparently lots of people know lots of people.

Fran arrived around 8:15, we put the bike in the car, and drove home.  I got to bed by 10:30 and was asleep by 10:33.

I have a rule: no decision about future rides can be considered final or binding if made ON a ride, or within 72 hrs AFTER a ride.  One thing I am thinking about is giving up on the R-12 series though.  It takes so much time, a whole entire day - to do one 200k ride, and there are only so many weekends in a month.  For now I'll put the R-12 on the shelf and focus on my P-12 series.  I can do 100k on a Saturday morning if I start early and get home by noon.   What about P-B-P?  I make no decisions on that at this point.  If you had asked me yesterday I'd say it would be stupid to even try.  But the PBP isn't ridden in 25 degree weather, with only 8 hrs of daylight.   And Randonesia is a wonderful thing.

PS: P-12 and R-12 are awards given by the RUSA organization to riders who complete either a 200k every month for 12 consecutive months (R-12) or a 100k in 12 consecutive months (P-12).  200k=124 miles, 100k=62 miles.  You must finish in the allowed time, 6:50 for 100k, 13:30 for 200k and 20 hrs for 300k.  It works out to an overall speed of about 10 MPH.

PPS: I had a leg cramp issue that wouldn't let me spin up, which cropped up time and again.  If I tried to push the pedals too hard or too fast, the muscles on the tops of my legs would cramp, painfully, and I'd have to slow down and pedal softer for a bit to get it to calm down.  That certainly didn't help my performance either.

Rain, wind, sun and 200k to Orting Fall 2014

What with schedule conflicts, work, and a quick trip to Oklahoma city to help my daughter move to her new job, Saturday Oct 25 was a "do or die" day to keep my R-12 (one 200k ride each consecutive month for 12 months) alive.

The weather forecast wasn't wonderful:  Rain and showers, 10-40%, depending on the time of day and which forecast you listened to.

I was fortunate to have some co-riders Jason and Keith, experienced Randonneur riders who would serve to cut the wind, and provide companionship and encouragement for the ride.

We met up at the Mercer Island Starbucks before the 7 AM start time, downed a low-fat bacon egg sandwich, and we were on the road by a bit after 7:15.

We headed east on the I-90 bike lane, and after 45 minutes were at our first control at the Issaquah McDonalds on East Lake Sammamish Parkway.  Here's me and Keith waiting at the light:

We also took the chance to take a picture of it NOT raining on day that had rain forecasted:

However, the dry was not to last, and it started raining shortly after this picture was taken.  We got up to the Redmond Shell, 2nd control, and I deployed the RainLegs that Jason had loaned me.  That proved to keep the rain away for quite some time.

After the loop around Lake Sammamish, we navigated over to the Lake Washington Loop trail, headed down to Renton, and then southward to Orting.  There were not a few just "grind it out" miles along some of the heavily travelled roads but also occasionally something fun to see, like this house that went all-out for Halloween: (it's worth clicking on it to see it full-size, there's a LOT going on:

Our stop in Orting included some yummy spicy soup with sourdough bread at the Safeway (Thanks for the bread, Jason!) and then we are off again.

The route heads east before it goes north, and there was one hill that was testing my resolve.  I am slower than both other riders on the up-hills but they were patient and waited for me at the top.  However, once we headed down, I started feeling better and felt quite good for the rest of the ride.

With a zippy tail wind of 18 or so MPH, we made good time heading north on the Interurban trail, a quite-flat trail under some power-lines through the Kent valley.  Swing around the FunCenter in Renton, wind through South Park, over the West Seattle bridge,  

Jason led us through the wilds of SODO (he works down there), over the new Royal Brougham overpass [another hill - ugh] and then up Dearborn to the I-90 trail again.

By this time the rain had returned, as had the wind.  We dropped down onto the floating bridge and the wind was screaming across it, pelting us with the rain.  It was so strong and constant that there wasn't much worry about getting blown off course, but this was the beginning of a wind storm that would, later that evening, leave 70,000 people in the Seattle area (including your author) without power.

Once across the bridge, we were in the shelter of the tall trees as we did a counter-clockwise loop of Mercer Island to finish off the ride.  We got into the Starbucks about 12 hours after we had left, but now tired, chilled, and really really wet.   A quick bite to eat, a bit to drink, and we were all headed home to warm showers and dry clothes.

All in all a good ride, even with the wind and rain.

October Colorado Populaire 100k

I was in Boulder this weekend and had some time so I figured I'd try to squeeze in my P-3 100k Populaire ride. This would be the third consecutive month of riding 100k,

I rented a bike from University Bicycles in Boulder, a Specialized Allez.  Aluminum frame, compact (?) double, 10 speed.  Pretty basic  bike but so much lighter than my steel Fuji Touring (which, to be fair, is loaded with a rack, trunk bag, and fenders).  I brought my seat and pedals, which they installed, along with front and rear lights because I figured it might get dark as, due to other events, I had to start at 1:00 PM and sunset is right around 6:00 PM these days.
Here's the bike all put together:

I was going to ride the Cherryvale Populaire:

Starts in Boulder, heads south, east, north, west, and then south.  There are some hills, in fact most of it is sloping one way or the other, but they aren't long or steep.  And there are some flats.

The middle part has just some long roads that don't vary much:

so it's often a matter of just pedaling and pedaling without too much new stuff to see.  But there ARE things to see if you keep your eyes open.

Like an old schoolhouse from 1911:

Cattle (there were patches of cattle all throughout the ride):

Pumpkin patches complete with bouncy houses, rides, and mazes:

And best of all, a  collection of prairie dogs.  When I came upon these guys, there were about 6 above ground, but they saw me and dove into their holes.  There were two who were the designated bouncers.  Here's a video of one of them, and you can hear the other one in the background;




I managed to finish the ride at 6:30 PM MT, 5 1/2 hrs after starting.  Of course that includes time taking pictures, eating, comfort stops, and the like.  I liked the bike OK, it got the job done, but I'm not ready to rush out and replace the Fuji yet.

2nd 100k flat flat flat ride

The route I rode today is known as the "if you need a 100k ride and are short on time or feeling off your feed" route. It's super-flat, and runs (depending on where you start) down along Lake Sammamish to Issaquah, then back up again through Redmond, Woodinville, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park on the Sammamish River Trail and Burke Gilman trails, turn-around at University Village QFC, and then back on the same route to the start.

Basically a big crescent done twice:

So today I was short on time, and it was a good fit.

I got to bed early so I could get some rest before the alarm went off at 5:35 -- in preparation for a 6:30 start.  I figured I could do the route in about 5 total hours and was shooting to get home by noon for weekend project work.

It was quite dark when I got up, dressed and out the door.  Peet's Coffee in Redmond opens at 6:00 and I was there at 6:10, buying a drip coffee and getting my first receipt.  Went to the car, got shoes on, all fixed up and ready to go -- and it's just 6:20.  So I have to cool my heels and wait until the official start time before I can head out.

Even as I started down East Lake Sammamish boulevard, the sky was beginning to lighten.  There was a layer of mist/fog/cloud hanging just 150 feet above me, and was visible across the lake as it obscured the rising land on the opposite bank.  The lakes in the Seattle area are remains of glacier activity, and the banks rise steeply off the water.  Same thing with Puget sound.  Any ride that hits the water will have a steep climb pretty soon!  This ride, however, hugs the shore and only has one "hill" of any substance -- and that one isn't over 150 feet high.

I zipped to the first control at the Issaquah McDonalds downed a sausage McMuffin.  Back on the road in 10 minutes.  If I could keep the 3 controls to 10 minutes each, I'd be doing good.

On the way back, I caught a view of a kayaker on the lake, and took a quick picture  The fog still was hanging low on the opposite bank.

I noticed that there is new construction along East Lake Sammamish boulevard, including this yet-to-be finished enormous mansion.  It will have nice views of the lake, even if it doesn't have actual waterfront:

Quick run up to Woodinville, control #2 at the ARCO AM/PM, and then back on the trail.  Along the trail in Kenmore, there's a great mural that depicts the "Rails to Trails" nature of the route.  Very well done.  Be sure you click on the picture to see it full-size, it's worth a closer look:

Uneventful ride to the QFC, 3rd control and then turn around and head back to Redmond.  I hit a headwind as I headed north up the west side of Lake Washington, but lost it when I turned east in Kenmore.

There were cyclists, runners, dog walkers and more using the trail today; but what I didn't expect was a full blown wedding party getting their pictures taken:

Round the bend at Wilmot Gateway park and then the final run south to the finish, and my legs started aching, like I'd been climbing a hill too hard.  And even though I'm now going south, I have a headwind AGAIN!  Really, I had been kind of pushing myself, but this seemed a bit odd.  I finally stopped for a short break 5 miles from the finish to get caught up to myself, and realized I smelled like ammonia.  Ketosis is the process where you don't have enough carbs to burn and start burning muscle instead, and ammonia is the byproduct of this process.  I guess even for a "short" 4 hour ride, it's worth eating and hydrating regularly.

Finished at Peet's in 4:30 of saddle time and just over 5 hours of door-to-door time.  Great weather finally peeked out about 2/3 of the way along, but even before that it was decent -- and with no wind.

I never really contemplated going after the RUSA P-2 award for 12 consecutive monthly 100k ride but I might just give it a shot, now that I'm up to P-2.  There are some nice routes around Seattle, and a 100k ride can be wedged into the schedule without taking up the entire day like a 200k or longer ride tends to do.

First 200k since the crash: Success!

Today 9/13/14 is 13 weeks since my collar-bone breaking crash on my R-4 200k ride in Wenatchee.  I wanted to get the R-12 series started again, and this was the only free weekend, plus the weather report was fantastic, so ready or not, I signed up for Route 2214 Mercer Island - Carbon river 200k route.  I had ridden many if not all the segments of the route before at various times, including a personal Bellevue-Gig Harbor ride in 2011, Phil's May Day Classic that ends at the same spot in 2013, and a just-riding-around Bellevue-Enumclaw and back ride.  All that is to say, I kind of knew what to expect.

I got a good fast start on Mercer Island. Parked at the Park-N-Ride, got on the bike, rode a few blocks to the QFC for a start control receipt, and I was on my way at 7:05, just 5 minutes after the "official" start time.

It was chilly this morning and although I had arm warmers and a nylon vest, my fingers and arms were still cold on the descents, and would stay that way for a couple of hours.

The route goes across to Bellevue and then up Coal Creek Parkway - as in elevation "UP". There was a lot of UP on the first 60 miles of the ride, and not too much down or flat.  It then winds through the eastern highlands of Renton, and Maple Valley before zooming down to the Cedar River Trail.  Of course, the trail is a gentle UP also -- and after a while, it becomes gravel.  Not the worst thing but I'd rather have road with my 32c tires.  And then the route jogs off to the right, up a steep little hill, to the Cedar River to Green River trail, also gravel.  And stays on it for 5 miles until it finally exits to a real road again.  Fortunately, the route passes one of my favorite bakeries, CJ's Bakery just outside Black Diamond.

I stopped at the Cenex in Black Diamond too, the "official" stop on the ride, to get a bottle of water to refill my empty bottle with.

On the way through Enumclaw, I feel the tell tale rumble of the back tire. It's going flat.  I pull off and sure enough, it IS flatted.  So I find a shady spot next to a fence and change it out. I picked up a tiny 2mm x 3mm thin white shard of something --I suspect a broken Botts Dott,.  Those road markers are very hard and if one was to break, it would be hard AND sharp, they break like glass.  I have one new tube, along with a patch kit,so I hope I don't get any more flats.  Repair time: 25 minutes. Hands are filthy now; I need to bring some wet wipes and a shop rag next time.

Once past Enumclaw, the route heads toward Wilkeson and tips up.  And it keeps going up for 12 miles, including a 8% one mile climb just outside of Wilkeson.  A few miles later, it goes over an impressively high one lane bridge "Carbon River Bridge" by Jet Lowe - US National Park Service, [1]Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by User:Jay8g using CommonsHelper.. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

After another 5 miles of sunny flats and climbs I reached the high point on the trip, 1875 feet high.

 And then immediately scrubbed off 150 feet of that (arrgh) to continue the last stretch to the Carbon River entrance to Mount Rainier Park.  At this point we are just a few feet higher than the river, which is just off to the left.  People are camping on the narrow strip of land between the road and the river.  Although it was far below us when we crossed the bridge, the river bed has been rising and rising as we go upstream, and eventually we meet up.

I got to the turnaround, sat down and ate the banana I had bought at the QFC for my start control receipt, a little water, bathroom break, and then back on the road to return to Mercer Island.  I wasn't quite half way, yet, but it had been a long climb and I figured it should be easier going back.

Well, it WAS easier, for a little while.  There are a few short climbs mixed in with the downhills back to Wilkeson, but the downhills rule.  Arriving in Wilkeson, I realized I was not going to get to hit the gas station I had stopped at on the way up, where I had purchased a Maple Bar and gotten some free water refills at the pop machine, so I stopped at a gas station and bought a small Starbucks Mocha in a bottle, along with water.  I downed the Mocha and filled my bottle.  The proprietor had a coffee can for donations to "The Skate Park" which I had seen going in about a half mile back.  I gladly tossed in my change, who doesn't want to see kids having fun at a skate park?

OK, recharged, sort of, I'm on my way. Although I'm going downhill, there are some uphills and flats that begin to test me, and I start to feel the effects of the 13 week layoff from riding,  Legs just don't want to move like they used to , feel a little achy and lethargic.  Whatever, I have to finish.

After another screaming downhill, I arrive at the Foothills Trail.  This is a wonderful paved multi-use trail, and it was in full use today with joggers, families on bikes, kids on bikes, and walkers.  I rode this about 10 miles to Orting where I needed another control receipt. Fortunately the Orting Bakery was open and was glad to refill both water bottles with cold, fresh, filtered water while I bought a large chocolate chip cookie for just $1.00. I will buy water if I have to but I prefer to buy food and get the water for free.  From here I have about 50 miles to go and am optimistic.  It will get easier and also harder.

If Mount Rainier, a domant volcano, erupted, the glaciers would melt and send rivers of water, mud and rocks speeding downhill toward the towns in the flatlands including Orting.  And that's why they have Lahar warning sirens and signs directing you to higher ground:

The foothills trail has a gentle downhill slope and I was sorry to see it end.  I follow the route through the industrial area of Sumner, first on horrible torn up roads, and then on the new Industrial Park roads.  The route north on the Industrial park road is fine, except that I'm getting really tired now, and need to rest.  I find a grassy spot and lay down for a few minutes in the shade.  The road itself is smooth but wide and fully exposed to the sun and to the headwind that has started up.  Really more like a head-breeze, but I can see flags almost straight out, so it's not something I'm enjoying.  I slog along at a blistering 11-12 miles per hour on the flats, calculating what time I can expect to get back.  I was hoping for 12 hrs by7:00 PM, or 12:30  or 13;00 at the latest.  That puts me in at 8:00 and it's practically DARK by then.  I have lights but no confidence in the batteries (remind self to carry spares!)

Eventually I find myself at the far end of the Interurban trail that heads due north.  I have about 12 miles on this trail. It's similar to the Industrial Park in Sumner.  Straight north, with the headwind but at least the sun is at my back left quarter and not baking my quite as much.  I plug along and finally stop for a short rest in the shadow of one of the large concrete bases for the powerline towers that the route follows.

When I get to Renton at long last, I am once again on familiar ground, this was my commute to Tukwila for a year.  However, because the route follows the west side of the lake, not the east side like I'd normally take, rather than follow busy Renton Avenue, it goes UP again (!!!!) and I am really not happy about this.  After climbing for a couple of blocks I'm feeling tired and hungry, so I pull over and grab a Gel out of my bag and suck it down along with some water.  The road parallels Renton Ave and eventually heads down a steep hill that requires braking off some of my precious kinetic energy before turning left and joining Renton Ave.

From here it's just the Lake Washington Loop, with a cut-off over I-90.  I follow the route and once I get onto Lake Washington Blvd, I'm under 10 miles to go. It's just after 7:00 and I know I'm not going to make 7:30.  As I ride along the lake, I see a man flying what appears to be a paper airplane -and it's flying really well.  I just was making paper airplanes for my sunday school class last week, and mine don't fly at all so I'm very interested.  I asked him if he'd show me how to make it, and he did.  I even shot a video of it so I can replicate it this Sunday.  Watch the video here.

And so with just two more climbs we will be back. One up through the park to get to the top of I-90 and then one on the east side of the I-90 trail. Picture below shows the glow of the headlights on I-90 floating bridge and city of Bellevue off to the left.

  I just put it in low gear and slug it out.  I'm not in any hurry at this point, my front light is nearly dead but so am I,   All I can do is find a pace I can hold, even if it's just 5 mph uphill, or 10 mph on the flats.  The time limit is 13.5 hrs, and if I finish in 13 hrs I'll still be good.  That's the great thing about Randonneuring, it's not about finishing fast, it's about finishing at all and in the time limit.  And as we can see, the limits are pretty generous -- even a guy with no riding in the last 13 weeks can do a 200k!  And it turns out this was the same time I had on the Wenatchee 200k back in June with my buddy Zach, although at the end of that ride, (broken bone notwithstanding) I had a lot more in the tank than I had today.

Time to celebrate!  My R-12 is back started again, I didn't die, I finished on time, I didn't crash, and aside from asking myself a few times "Why am I doing this?" I had fun.

PS: This route relied on a number of regional multi-use trails including: I-90 trail, Cedar river trail, Cedar to Green River Trail, Foothills trail, and the Interurban trail.

Happy to see a stranger

Great weather on Labor day here in Seattle.  I haven't ridden much since the P-100 two weeks ago, aside from a short slow ride in Bremerton to celebrate one of my bike friend's recovery from a heart attack.  So today I hopped on the bike for a spirited lap around Mercer Island.  This is an 18 mile ride, door to door, including a wonderful stretch of uninterrupted road around Mercer Island -- including some of the best switchbacks ever.

Shortly after getting on the island, about 3 miles in, I am behind a rider about my age and size.  I slow down just a bit, and follow him for a half mile until we get to a point where the route splits.  One fork goes up a hill and stays on the bike path, the other fork takes the road.  He takes the path, so I take the road.

I was cruising along pretty good, hitting 20 mph on the flats (was there a tailwind?) and burning off what glycogen had accumulated over the past couple of weeks.  Two miles later at the next fork, I took the bike path hill vs. the road, and crested at the northeast side of the island in good shape, although I had by this point burned nearly all the matches I had brought along.

The next hill to climb is longer, so I put it into a low gear and started spinning it out.  I look behind me and about a quarter mile back, there is the guy I dropped!  I didn't have energy left to sprint, so I just kept pedaling and watched as he got closer and closer.  Now, getting passed by someone who passed you isn't the worst thing -- after all, I HAD been pushing it at the first, so turnabout is fair play.

I'm resolved to getting reeled in, and as he gets closer, all of a sudden I see a flash of red.  The guy I'm thinking of was wearing green.  And sure enough, as I get passed, I realize with a sigh of relief that this isn't my guy -- this guy is in black with a red hydration pack!  I'm used to getting passed by better riders all the time, so this isn't just no big deal, it's great news.  The guy I dropped is dropped for good.

I wasn't so happy to see a stranger in a long time.

Epilogue:

After 8 more miles, I nearly reeled this guy in.  Caught up to him on the little steep hill on the east side of the island, just before the switchbacks.   Then he dropped me again.

Great ride, nearly a record, actually.  My matchbook is filling up again.  Next big ride should be my R-1 200k ride on Sept. 13.

First 100K after 9 weeks of idleness

So I broke my collarbone 9 weeks ago on Father's day the the very end of a 200k ride.  That ride was my R-4 -- which is to say, it was the 4th 200k ride out of 12 leading to the coveted R12 award, given by RUSA to any rider to completes one 200k (or longer) ride in 12 consecutive months.  Now, because my string was broken, if I want the R-12 I'll have to start over again, likely in September.

But RUSA also has a P-12 award, given to people who ride a Populaire, a 100k ride -- once a month for 12 consecutive months.  I have my P-1 ride in the bag as of today.  100k is 62 miles for you Americans.

I was a little leery of making my first ride after 9 weeks a 100k ride, but the route was so configured that I could bail a little early if I had a mind to.  But the heart and soul of Randonneuring is "overcome all obstacles and finish the ride in the time limit", so that wasn't too likely.  And in fact, it wasn't necessary at all.

I had a flight today leaving at 2:25 so I figured if I rode for 5 hours, and allowed time to get to get home, shower, drive to the airport, take the parking lot shuttle, etc.,  I'd have to get up at 6:00 and be on the road by 6:30 to pull it off.

I went to bed at 10:30.  However, I was so excited with the prospect of riding that I kept waking up -- look at the clock -- 12:45?!! No way!  Back to sleep.  Up again -- 4:00?? Yikes, not again!  Finally beep-beep-beep and perhaps the first time ever I was happy to hear the alarm clock.

Throw on bike clothes, grab some breakfast, and drive over to the Mercer Island QFC where I was going to start the ride.  I got there, and pulled out my wallet to buy something to document my start time.  No wallet.  Somehow I didn't bring it.  Fortunately I had some "emergency money" and bought a banana for 25 cents and got the receipt.  On the road by 6:40, just 10 minutes past my "stated start time" of 6:30, not too bad.

Now, the concept of "matches" is that when you put out an extra effort, you burn a match.  This is my matchbook the day I crashed in June:

And after 9 weeks of no riding, this is my matchbook:

I can still ride, but there's nothing extra in the tank for any special efforts.  At least not now. I'll have to work back up to that over the next few months.

The route I was following crosses the bridge over to Bellevue and goes north to Old Bellevue skirting Lake Washington.  It's the hilliest - as in steepest - part of the ride.  None of the hills are long but they are stiff grades, one 12% even.  I discovered early on that although I felt OK riding the bike at a normal pace, I didn't have anything extra to get up the hills.  I was just going to have to drop it into low-low gear and spin up the hills as best I could.  This would not be a record setting run of this course.

Once I got past downtown Bellevue, the legs started remembering what cycling was about, and quit complaining. I still didn't have any extra power but I was able to keep moving at an acceptable pace, 13-15 mph.  The course is just rollers until you get north to Kirkland, and pick up the 7 Hills of Kirkland route heading up Finn Hill and Seminary Hill.  Even that wasn't too bad, just put it in low and spin it out.  Happily that hill has some flats to get a little rest between the lifts.

Coming down the north side of Seminary hill is usually a blast, with speeds of 45 mph not uncommon.  However, not today.  The road is under construction, and there were areas of new asphalt, gravel, ground down pavement, and general nastiness so I had to keep the speed down and take the lane.  Traffic was light so few cars were inconvenienced but I still managed 35 mph in spots.

Once in Kenmore, the route picks up the Burke Gilman Trail, and then becomes the Sammamish River Trail.  Flat flat flat for 10 miles all the way to Marymoor park, where I hit the halfway point.  Ride through the park, and onto East Lake Sammamish Parkway.   That has a few small rollers, and one little hill near the end.  By this time I was shifting into "I feel pretty good but I'm just going to be happy to get to the end so there's no big hurry".  I was getting a few 'on your left's' from faster riders all day.  I had no urge or ability to chase any of them.

Stopped at Starbucks in Issaquah for a control receipt and a snack.  They had chocolate croissants, my favorite!  I recommend when you get one that you specify "cold" or "don't warm it please" because although it might make it tastier, that chocolate will squirt out the other end and make chocolate blobs and stains on your nice clothes.  Don't ask me how I know this.

OK, on to Newport way.  Last long hill, about 4 miles long topping out at 418 feet.  This isn't a steep grade, and has some flats between the lifts, but it seems to go on forever.  Zip down the other side, through Factoria, and over to do a half-lap of Mercer Island.  Sadly, I'm going clockwise.  Sadly because the Northwest side of Mercer Island has some fantastic switchbacks, and they tend to go downhill when you're going counterclockwise, so you can really pick up some speed.  Going the other way, it's mostly uphill and takes the edge off the fun.

One final hill and then coast into downtown Mercer Island, and finish up at the same QFC -- and again, buy a banana to get a receipt.

The weather was good for a ride -- mostly overcast but the sun poked out here and there which was nice. 74 degrees at the end of the ride.  My shoulder was giving me a little twinge now and then but it seemed to be more of a muscle than the bone.  9 weeks into healing from the break and I have long times now where I don't even think of it.  I get reminded if I lift a heavy weight away from my body - like a gallon of milk -- but overall it's fantastic that it's healed this far so fast.

Randoneurring explained

Here's a good article; listen or read - to explain what the PBP is all about:

NPR explains Randonneuring

Seeds of the journey

My road to PBP 2015 – Prologue

What is the PBP?  It is the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200k "randonee" which happens every 4 years.  1200k is 745 miles, and to succeed, you ride it on a bicycle in no more than 90 hours.  And that 90 hours is start to finish including riding, eating, sleeping, and everything else.   In 2011 6000 people registered and they are aiming this year to raise that to 6500 riders in 2015.

How it all started:

Back in 2001, I was working in downtown Seattle and living 10 miles east in Bellevue.  I was taking the bus to and from downtown.  One of my co-workers, Zach, who lived north of downtown, started commuting by bicycle.  Well, I had ridden my bike all OVER Eugene Oregon when I went to school there in the 70's, and had put the bike away when I moved to Seattle in '82.  I heard there was a bike trail between Bellevue and Seattle, so one summer day I got the bike out, pumped up the tires, left a little early, found the trail and rode to Seattle.  Except for a couple of hills, it was a great ride, and I decided to do this more often. 

At first I rode to Seattle and took the bus home, or took the bus in and rode home – I wasn't really in shape to ride 10 miles each way on the same day. In fact, I was only doing this three days a week.  But over time, as I got more used to the ride, I added days, added trips home, until after a few months, I was commuting full time by bike both ways.  I traded my old Eugene bike for a more modern Schwinn from the Goodwill that I passed every day, and eventually traded that one for a better 12 speed from Goodwill.  Those all lasted me until I bought a new Fuji Touring bike with 27 speeds, steel frame and rear rack in the fall of 2002.  I have that bike to this day, and expect to ride in on the PBP.

So now that I'm riding a bike, I start reading about bikes, and discover the Bicycling.com forums where people discuss all kinds of different things related to bikes.  One of these things is Long Distance Cycling, and I read about people riding 1000k and 1200k rides which is just a fantastic thing.  I rode my first century ride (100 miles) in September 2002, and the stories these folks would tell got right into my soul.

One story in particular was by a fellow who went by the moniker "Dr. Codfish".  He was actually from the Pacific Northwest, living just a bit south of Seattle. He related the harrowing PBP he rode in 2007. That year it rained – and rained – and rained.  It was quite discouraging to the riders, of course, to be wet all the time.   And I found the most inspiring part (believe it or not) of his story was where they were on the last part of the trip, everyone down in the dumps, and he told his riding companions "Hey, buck up guys!  Think of this as just another crappy rainy ride, and believe me, it will be epic in the telling later on."  Why would I think that riding 745 miles in the rain was a great idea? Yeah, I don't know, perhaps because it WOULD be epic in the retelling.

I read that in 2007, and it germinated for 6 years, until I started thinking about it again in early 2014.  I looked up PBP online and discovered that the next one was in August 2015.  I also discovered that registration priority was given to people according to the longest ride they did the year before – so 2014 was going to be my "warm up year", and the beginning of my Road to Paris-Brest-Paris 2015.