My 2012 Randonneuring season is off to an ignominious start. Yesterday morning I set out bright and early to meet Gary and Dave, the organizers of the Seattle Randonneurs spring 300k, and Tom and Bill who will be helping to run the event. We were planning to pre-ride the route before next Saturday's official event.
With a steady rain falling and a temperature of about 35 degrees we sat around for a few minutes talking about whether it might be prudent to wait until Sunday to do the pre-ride. But the forecast for Sunday wasn't any better, so we rode off into dark wet streets at 5:30am. As we rolled through Lake City, Bothell and Woodinville the rain never let up an iota. Then near Cottage Lake we came upon a road closed sign due to a flooded roadway ahead. Had we been normal intelligent people rather than randonneurs, we might have taken the flooded road along with the mixed rain and snow falling from the sky as an omen or maybe even just a good excuse to go home and go back to bed. But we were convinced that the clouds would part at any minute and the temperature would rise, so we detoured around the flood and pressed on.
By the time we got to Monroe, Gary had come to his senses and decided he was going to grab a cup of coffee and then catch a bus for home. The rest of us didn't share Gary's good judgement (possibly due to hypothermia) so we decided to keep riding.
From Monroe to Granite Falls the route leaves civilization and gets into the Cascade foothills. The route never got much higher than 500' above sea level, but that was enough elevation to turn the mixed rain and snow into just plain snow. And then heavy snow. Then the snow started to accumulate on the road. By the time we were five miles away from Granite Falls it had become obvious to me that continuing the ride was not just plain stupid, but it was "rando stupid." My feet were soaked and aching cold, my hands were like lifeless stumps of numbness. As long as I kept peddling my core temperature stayed warm enough, but I didn't want to think about what might have happened if one of us got a flat tire and had to try to fix it with numb frozen hands. The last five miles to Granite Falls rank up there with some of my all time most miserable randonneuring experiences, and that's saying something.
Of course once safely in a coffee shop in Granite Falls, the misery quickly melted away into a puddle on the floor. I spent a few minutes thinking about whether I would try to ride home or call Sarah for a ride, but I didn't for a second consider riding the rest of the 300k. Luckily Sarah was happy to come get me, otherwise I might still be in that coffee shop in Granite Falls.
Hopefully we'll have better weather next weekend for the actual event. It's hard to imagine how it could be worse. I'll probably be working at one of the controls and I'll make sure we have hot drinks ready for everyone who comes by.
I successfully rode the pre-ride for the SIR 200k a couple of weeks ago so I'm now batting .500 for the 2012 rando season. Not a great start. I blame climate change.
A cautionary tale of obsession
and bicycling in the pacific northwest
Showing posts with label Winter Riding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winter Riding. Show all posts
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Monday, October 31, 2011
2010 Solstice Ride Redux
Last year in honor of the winter solstice a few folks from my Randonneuring club did a 200km all-night ride just for "fun." Documentary film maker, Dan McComb filmed us for possible use in a project he was working on. He did this edit to help promote our 2011 solstice ride. I'm the guy with the Christmas lights in the wheels first seen at 0:36 and then several other spots later on.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Solstice - Waiting for the Eastern Glow
This past Saturday night I rode the Seattle Randonneur's Second Annual Winter Solstice Ride. Yes, I know we missed the actual solstice by three days, but for working stiffs like me doing the ride on Tuesday night would make for a rough day at work on Wednesday. Besides, from the saddle of a bike one long, cold, wet night looks much like any other.
The idea of the solstice ride is to take advantage of the longest night of the year by spending as much of it as possible on a bike. It's a 200k ride that starts at 8:30pm, so if you ride slow enough you can roll into the finish just as the sun is peaking over the eastern hills. That of course assumes the sun does any peaking at all which it rarely does around the Winter solstice in western Washington. The ride was also billed as a Festivus celebration so it included the traditional Festivus pole, airing of grievances, and feats of strength.
About 25 of my hardy randonneuring buddies showed up at the start at Peet's Coffee in Redmond. Also at the start was a documentary film maker named Dan McComb. Dan is working on a feature length documentary called Beyond Naked that follows some "ordinary" folks as they prepare to ride in the Fremont Solstice Parade naked bike ride. Somehow Dan heard about our ride and decided to incorporate it into his film. I suppose our solstice ride makes a nice compliment to the annual naked ride in Fremont because of the obvious similarities. For instance, riders in both events probably wish they had more clothes on at times, and in both events many of the people who see the riders probably think they're totally crazy or maybe just dumb. It's also possible Dan, desperate for material, just Googled "bikes and solstice" and we were the only thing that came up.
I decided to decorate my bike for the event, so I zip-tied and duct taped some battery powered christmas lights to the frame and the wheels. Though it's hard to make out the lights, here she is anxious to roll outside Peet's at the start.
The lights were a big hit, especially once we got away from street lights of the city though the high-speed wobble that comes from duct-taping battery packs to the rims is a little spooky on the high-speed descents. A weight weenie I am not.
The route was a big loop that went from Redmond up to North Bend, then through Issaquah, Maple Valley, Renton and up around the north end of Lake Washington back to Redmond. It was about 38 degrees at the start and the moon and stars were out which was a bad sign. Clear skys mean cold and ice.
Sure enough as soon as we came over Novelty Hill into the Snoqualmie Valley, the temperature dropped and the roads turned very icy. I had ridden the first part of the ride with some of the "fast boys", but at that point they all decided that while the idea of an all night ride sounded neat in theory, it wasn't worth risking a broken hip or dislocted shoulder for. So the fast boys all turned around and rode home. I decided to press on, so I slowed down and waited for some other riders to catch up. At least if I crashed and broke my hip there would be someone there to call 911. Not long after I was joined by a group of familiar faces including Greg Cox, Mark Van de Camp, Warb Beebe, Bill Dussler and Michael (whose last name I've forgotten).
As we started to climb up out of the valley toward Snoqualmie Falls the wind picked up and the temperature with it. We traded icy roads for vicious head winds which, all things considered, seemed like a reasonable trade. With tempertures back into the upper 30s the riding was almost comfortable for the next few hours.
By far the nicest part of the ride for me was from Fall City to Issaquah on the Issaquah Fall City Rd. The wind had died down and it was warm enough to keep the roads wet instead of icy. Dan and his film crew (of one) drove along and filmed our little group as we rode the winding ups and downs. It sort of made us feel like we were something special.
Halfway through the ride we stopped at a minimart for a bite to eat. It was 1:30am and the ride was going pretty well, considering. But as we pulled out the rain started to fall and within a few minutes it turned to snow. As we rode up May Valley road we were soaked by big fat snowflakes mixed with sleet and rain. Lovely stuff.
The snow and sleet continued for about an hour and a half as we continued on down to Maple Valley where Joe Platzner had kindly parked his RV and was serving up hot cup of noodles, coffee and other snacks. Dan and his film crew were there too and they filmed us gobbling down noodles. Dan asked me some questions about why we do what we do and I gave completely incoherent answers which I'm going to blame on the time (about 3:30am), the cold (about 35 degrees) and on my IQ (low 70s). Hopefully none of that interview makes it past the editing process.
Another shot of my bike in the dark:
From Maple Valley on, the ride was uneventful and pleasant. There wasn't a lot of talking as we were all ready to get to the end and get out of the cold. Led Zeppelin's Battle of Evermore was playing in my head ("Oh well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow/Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow"). We timed it right as the sun was indeed starting to show itself as we rolled into the parking lot at Peet's Coffee. I think it was around 7:00am when we finished.
As with all good randonneuring events, the painful memories of cold, rain, snow, wrong turns and endless hills had almost completely evaporated as I loaded my bike into the car for the drive home. Thanks to Joe P for throwing a heck of a Festivus party!
The idea of the solstice ride is to take advantage of the longest night of the year by spending as much of it as possible on a bike. It's a 200k ride that starts at 8:30pm, so if you ride slow enough you can roll into the finish just as the sun is peaking over the eastern hills. That of course assumes the sun does any peaking at all which it rarely does around the Winter solstice in western Washington. The ride was also billed as a Festivus celebration so it included the traditional Festivus pole, airing of grievances, and feats of strength.
About 25 of my hardy randonneuring buddies showed up at the start at Peet's Coffee in Redmond. Also at the start was a documentary film maker named Dan McComb. Dan is working on a feature length documentary called Beyond Naked that follows some "ordinary" folks as they prepare to ride in the Fremont Solstice Parade naked bike ride. Somehow Dan heard about our ride and decided to incorporate it into his film. I suppose our solstice ride makes a nice compliment to the annual naked ride in Fremont because of the obvious similarities. For instance, riders in both events probably wish they had more clothes on at times, and in both events many of the people who see the riders probably think they're totally crazy or maybe just dumb. It's also possible Dan, desperate for material, just Googled "bikes and solstice" and we were the only thing that came up.
I decided to decorate my bike for the event, so I zip-tied and duct taped some battery powered christmas lights to the frame and the wheels. Though it's hard to make out the lights, here she is anxious to roll outside Peet's at the start.
The lights were a big hit, especially once we got away from street lights of the city though the high-speed wobble that comes from duct-taping battery packs to the rims is a little spooky on the high-speed descents. A weight weenie I am not.
The route was a big loop that went from Redmond up to North Bend, then through Issaquah, Maple Valley, Renton and up around the north end of Lake Washington back to Redmond. It was about 38 degrees at the start and the moon and stars were out which was a bad sign. Clear skys mean cold and ice.
Sure enough as soon as we came over Novelty Hill into the Snoqualmie Valley, the temperature dropped and the roads turned very icy. I had ridden the first part of the ride with some of the "fast boys", but at that point they all decided that while the idea of an all night ride sounded neat in theory, it wasn't worth risking a broken hip or dislocted shoulder for. So the fast boys all turned around and rode home. I decided to press on, so I slowed down and waited for some other riders to catch up. At least if I crashed and broke my hip there would be someone there to call 911. Not long after I was joined by a group of familiar faces including Greg Cox, Mark Van de Camp, Warb Beebe, Bill Dussler and Michael (whose last name I've forgotten).
As we started to climb up out of the valley toward Snoqualmie Falls the wind picked up and the temperature with it. We traded icy roads for vicious head winds which, all things considered, seemed like a reasonable trade. With tempertures back into the upper 30s the riding was almost comfortable for the next few hours.
By far the nicest part of the ride for me was from Fall City to Issaquah on the Issaquah Fall City Rd. The wind had died down and it was warm enough to keep the roads wet instead of icy. Dan and his film crew (of one) drove along and filmed our little group as we rode the winding ups and downs. It sort of made us feel like we were something special.
Halfway through the ride we stopped at a minimart for a bite to eat. It was 1:30am and the ride was going pretty well, considering. But as we pulled out the rain started to fall and within a few minutes it turned to snow. As we rode up May Valley road we were soaked by big fat snowflakes mixed with sleet and rain. Lovely stuff.
The snow and sleet continued for about an hour and a half as we continued on down to Maple Valley where Joe Platzner had kindly parked his RV and was serving up hot cup of noodles, coffee and other snacks. Dan and his film crew were there too and they filmed us gobbling down noodles. Dan asked me some questions about why we do what we do and I gave completely incoherent answers which I'm going to blame on the time (about 3:30am), the cold (about 35 degrees) and on my IQ (low 70s). Hopefully none of that interview makes it past the editing process.
Another shot of my bike in the dark:
From Maple Valley on, the ride was uneventful and pleasant. There wasn't a lot of talking as we were all ready to get to the end and get out of the cold. Led Zeppelin's Battle of Evermore was playing in my head ("Oh well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow/Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow"). We timed it right as the sun was indeed starting to show itself as we rolled into the parking lot at Peet's Coffee. I think it was around 7:00am when we finished.
As with all good randonneuring events, the painful memories of cold, rain, snow, wrong turns and endless hills had almost completely evaporated as I loaded my bike into the car for the drive home. Thanks to Joe P for throwing a heck of a Festivus party!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Bring it!
Seattle got it's first good winter blast this week and as usual it brought the city to a standstill (If Canada would just keep it's weather to itself we wouldn't have these problems). Anyway, I'm usually pretty wimpy when it comes to bicycling on snow and ice so I rode the bus to work on Monday when I saw snow in the forecast. And snow it did. The commute home Monday night was a mess. I got on a bus in the bus tunnel around 5:00, and by 6:00 the bus was only about two blocks past the end of the bus tunnel and going nowhere. From there I took matters into my own hands and got off the bus and started walking. It was really quite a fun adventure to walk home in the midst of a blizzard, passing hundreds of cars doing little more than idling and sliding. It took me about an hour and a half to walk the six miles from downtown Seattle to Ravenna where Sarah came and picked me up about a quarter mile from home. I'm pretty sure I beat the bus.
While I was walking, I saw three or four cyclists go by. They seemed to be getting along reasonably well in the snow. The only thing about it that looked a little scary was all of the two-ton four-wheeled hockey pucks sliding around on the road around them.
But mostly I was inspired. I worked from home on Tuesday, but by Wednesday morning with a bit of cabin fever starting to settle in and the snow still on the ground, I decided to give biking to work in the snow a try.
The roads in our neighborhood were hard-packed with some icy patches. The main arterials had been plowed and had some pavement showing through, but mostly I stay off of the main arterials on my route to work. It definitely wasn't my fastest ride to work. It usually takes me about 35 minutes each way, but today it took nearly an hour.
My bike probably doesn't have the ideal setup for riding in the snow with standard 28mm road tires. Still, it was much easier than I had expected. I did a little bit of squirreling around on some of the icy patches, but managed to keep the shiny side off the road for the whole trip. I have to admit, I had more fun riding in to work this morning than I've had in a long time. I mean, I'm not ready to move to Minnesota or anything, but… well… bring it on!
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