What could be better on a Sunday morning – a ride on an
island with 4000 of my best-friends-I-just-met, biting wind, hills, and food
for sale?

I left my house at 7:10am, riding the 2.5 miles to Eric’s
house for a carpool north to the Seattle ferry terminal. Pat (shoeless on
BeginnerTriathlete) joined us as well.

Once on the other side, Bainbridge Island, the hills started
immediately. Nothing huge or steep, either up or down, which is a good thing
considering (a) the number of people that were dumped onto the local roads all
at once, and (b) the disparate skills involved in that crowd.
All thoughts of cruising at even a normal ride pace were
quickly abandoned, instead replaced by a self-preserving vigilance of those
around me. Yes, it did eventually thin out. For a while.
Parts of the ride are already a blur. Maybe it would have been
better to make more picture stops. Photos of some of the real character of the
island (and the riding characters).
There was the guy who had a very large frog on a
Trail-a-Bike, several single speeds (ouch), a few fixies (OUCH!), folding
bikes, mountain bikes, and even one unicycle.
We bypassed the first couple seemingly-unofficial rest
stops, and then stopped at the main rest stop at 18 miles. I was shocked to see
that all the food there was for sale! Fortunately Clif Bar was there giving out
samples of Clif Bars and Shot Blocks. I understand that these things can be
money makers for groups, but $5 hot dogs? The water (the stuff from the hose,
not bottles) was free at least.
We pushed on, into the winds on the shoreline, some steeper
hills…
At the base of one of the largest hills, there was a group
giving free shots of whiskey. No, I didn’t stop for a drink. I should have at
least stopped to take a picture of that. Maybe THAT’S why those people we
weaving so violently going up that hill.
And a very welcome final hill into “town” near the ferry
dock.
We stopped in the finish area, decided that, yes, we’d go
ahead and partake of the chili feed (for $8), get warm, then head down to the
ferry dock in time to load up for the 1:10 ferry. We figured the less time
between getting there and leaving, the less cold we’d get. Well, that kind of
backfired, as we were queued up still when that 1:10 ferry weighed anchor and
set sail for Seattle. D’OH! At least there was a walk-on passenger area to hide
out from the wind for a while.
Another half-hour boat ride, and we were back in Seattle. A
short coast to the parking lot, load up, then the drive back south to home.
By the time we were back in Puyallup, I was warm again.
Finally. Just in time to get back on the bike and ride another couple miles
home.
On Monday, my supervisor (who is a casual rider) asked how
the ride was. My answer: Chilly and hilly. How appropriate.
No comments:
Post a Comment