Printable View
Darn straight!! 127 miles is no laughing matter. That last 70 miles would have been so miserable... there's no sense in putting yourself in harm's way when you can come back next year stronger and more prepared (at least, that's my philosophy... I like to "leave it all on the course" but my "all" stops at reasonable levels :p). STV has a nice ring to it anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZooZoo
It's "The Twilight Zone" effect--so I have dubbed it in my head. I can hear the music and see Rod Serling, even. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by colby
Colby, you Ironman, I expect you could do it in one day. I think it would be hard to do in one day solo, though. Pacelines help. We know, because we're not in them! Chris can do this ride much faster on his single and in a paceline.
I will say, I am not sure I could do it in one day on my single, although I know I could do it in two days. Being on a tandem is a great morale booster for the one day ride. And the only reason we prefer one day is because it's easier to just keep going than to get up the next morning and say, "Oh my God. We have another 100 miles to go." And the hotel room at the end on Saturday night is such a treat.
No pictures, Mimi. No time. I think I took one picture of a meadow while we were riding, but really we were pretty intent on....just riding. And I see Marathon has ours up. Most of them were from the front, so only two of them have my face in them. Don't know if we'll buy either of those or not.
I dreamed about flats all night Sunday night.
I love reading all these stories. Great job, everyone! I didn't have my camera with me but DH might have snapped a couple of shots. If any of them turn out I will post them.
We were going to ride that too, but they aren't holding it this year. :mad: Their webpage says it will be back in 2010. I think DH and I are just going to ride that route self-supported sometime in August anyway, because the steeps will be good training for a nasty ride we have coming up in September.Quote:
Next organized ride for us will probably be the Summits of Bothell
Yeah, I got in on the waitlist, and since I didn't want to suffer alone, I managed to nab DH one of the last tickets that RCC sold on eBay. He was not altogether pleased about that, but he's resigned to riding with me now. I think he'll be happy about it in the end because we've done so much riding this season that this year we'll be in shape for it. Who knows if we'll get this much ride time in next season.Quote:
Good luck on RAMROD! Did both you and your husband get in?
Now, I just need my STP saddle sores to heal enough in the next couple weeks that I can put in another 11-or-more-hours-in-the-saddle type of day. :(
I've been on a buisiness trip all week, so I'm late to this discussion. Great ride reports...gave me flashbacks to the good, bad & ugly of the ride.
The good: volunteer support. They did a good job controlling the food 'distribution' at the stops. At first I thought they were being a bit mean restricting me to one PBJ, but I quickly realized there were a whole lot of riders behind me that still needed to have their PBJ's. I've done rides in the past that ran out of food/beverage before I got there, so hats off to the volunteers who had to control all of us & our big appetites. The other riders I encountered generally were safe, polite & considerate...better behaved than I remember 2 years ago. Cascade has done a good job trying to communicate that we have responsibilities as we are on the road. Although as a large group we 'took the road', I have to admit it was fun heading into Spanaway in our amateur peloton. OH...and lots of good pavement along the way (including the HILL, but excluding the long stretch of gravel south of Centralia), the Lewis & Clark bridge looked like it had been swept, and the mats over most of the worst of the rr-tracks.
The bad: bonking about 10 miles from St. Helens. DH finally told me to stop and made me ingest (you don't exactly 'eat' that stuff) a gel. That got me to St. Helens.
The ugly: headwinds & Hwy 30.
We started later than planned, spent too much time at a couple of the stops, and the tandem we were riding with had some challenges. The last 30 miles went really well for me (didn't hurt that I had DH's wheel the rest of the way). Got in just before 9PM. I had no saddle issues at all. Terry Butterfly is apparently my perfect saddle. Lots of comments about my "She Loves Hills" jersey. I met someone from TE in the restroom @ the college, but didn't get her name...darn! The best was a young volunteer who said "Team Estrogen...that's my favorite jersey today". ;)
Sunday AM we had a great breakfast & watched some 2 day riders come in...that was fun! The Fat Tire guys pulled in just as we were leaving...hats off to them. The drive home was loooong. I had to get up for a 6AM flight to the east coast Monday morning...no rest for the weary. I was still hungry and actually ended up buying food on the airplane...shoulda had another gel instead. :p
Lil bolt what did you mean it was easy, you had DH's wheel? weren't you on a tandem?
I am not totally in love with my saddle, but I think my issue would have happened no matter what saddle I was on. When you sit for 12+ hours in a sweaty chamois, problems are bound to arise! I sweat a ton and my shorts just never had time to dry out. I think the Glide I used worked really well, I just need to be diligent about hitting every spot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista
What a bummer that the SOB is cancelled. We live in Bothell, so we ride the route often, but it's always funner to do as an organized ride. What is your "nasty" ride you are doing in September?Quote:
We were going to ride that too, but they aren't holding it this year. Their webpage says it will be back in 2010. I think DH and I are just going to ride that route self-supported sometime in August anyway, because the steeps will be good training for a nasty ride we have coming up in September.
We were on singles. We had friends with us from Ohio who rode their tandem. They've only been riding tandem for a few months, and probably would have done better on their singles, too. They are still learning to work together on the hills & rollies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista