Chilly Hilly

[bikerHen]

Have any of you wet side gals done the Chilly Hilly?
http://www.cascade.org/EandR/chilly/index.cfm

My little chick and I are kinda thinking it might be fun, but the hilly part and the almost 5000 riders in last years ride are a little frightening. Can anyone give me some real, been there done that, information? BikerHen - from the not-so-dry side.

[Trekhawk]

Hi Bikerhen - I have no idea about this ride but I did find an old thread about it.http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=337&highlight=chilly+hilly

Hope this helps some.:)

[Eden]

I've done it twice and I think its a great ride. The first year I went we were all lucky and they were moving some ferries around so we had a bike only ferry. What an awesome sight to see hundreds of bikes all laid out on the ferry.

Its actually pretty surprising how spread apart 5000 riders can be, plus with so many people coming over on the ferry so it creates its own staggered start. The only kind of crowded/hairy bit is exiting the ferry and maybe the first mile or two. It gets a bit bunched up with the first hill with lots of people trying to pass, but things spread out pretty quickly after that. Ride sensibly, stay to the right and you will be just fine. The loop is quite nice and does live up to its hilly name. There are two especially notable hills that I can think of. One is close to the halfway point, is short but quite steep and takes some people by surprise. The other is long, but the trip down the other side is waaaay fun - careful it makes a sharp left hand turn at the bottom!

My husband and I expect to ride it in about 2.5 hours. We try to catch the first ferry, ride home shower and go to brunch! Its a great way to start your training for a century.

Cascade always has good support and works to make its rides as safe as possible.

If I can answer some more specific questions please feel free to ask