Cascade's Flying Wheels Saturday, June 11th

[Susan126]

Yes indeedy . . . I am home after a great ride. Here is what I wrote at bike journal:

#4

I did the Metric Course today of the Flying
Wheels. It's a very hilly course. Raleighdon is very familar with NE Inglewood Hill Road. My garmin told me the grade was 8.9% at the lowest and the steepest part was 15% but overall it was always between 12-13%! And the "other hill" the one about 12 miles from the finish coming out of Fall City that is another steep climb. 12% grades on it too.

Last year I did the century but this year I only did the metric. I just haven't been riding enough. I had a great ride though! The route goes through some pretty scenic country.

Miles: 63.22
Time: 4:23:54
Average speed: 14.4
Max speed: 38.3

More details at My Garmin Connect.

Have a great metric tomorrow Mimi and don't forget to post a report.

[ttaylor508]

DH and I ended up doing it too. Neither of us was sure how far we wanted to go as we are both "broken" right now. He has a chronic back problem which has been flaring up lately and I am not back to 100% yet. We decided we would just play it by ear. Seems like there were a lot more people this year than last. The rest stop at around mile 40 had a food line longer than I have ever seen before. I am guessing those poor people were in line for at least 20 minutes. At mile 55, we both were feeling a bit sketchy, but continued on and ended up finishing the 100 miles feeling really strong. I am really glad we decided to do it and the weather even held up for us. Considering neither of us has much outdoor ride time in this year, our time was only 15 minutes slower than last year. All in all, it was a great ride. And I think Susan is right, Inglewood Hill seems steeper than 8.9%

[Biciclista]

sounds like you are back in the saddle again!

[Susan126]

It's been a long 6 months for my back but it's slowly getting better. Biking helps but sitting does not. It gets worse if I sit too long. I've seen a spine orthopaedic doctor and he wants me to continue with PT and a chiropractor but he says if the pain doesn't completely disappear by the end of July he wants to give me a spinal injection. So hopefully when I get out of work for the summer and I don't have to sit in front of my computer all day it will finally get the chance it needs to heal completely. I'm going to have to stay active this fall winter. It's the usual time I begin to slack off. I think the exercise is what is really helping me get better.

How was your 100K yesterday Mimi?

[Biciclista]

It was really hard. it was 79 miles http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=43257 read all about it. I was riding with the big kids, every one of them really a tough rider with amazing miles under their belts.

[kfergos]

I too did the Flying Wheels Century on Saturday. It was a good ride for me, mostly: Rode with my fast buddies and we averaged just over 20 mph the first 56 miles. The rest of the ride I slowed down a bit and finished with an average of 19.2 mph. Faster than usual pace because it was a mostly-flat ride, compared to the Ramrod Training Series rides I've been doing.

Rode on new-to-me Dura-Ace wheels, and the rear one popped a spoke at mile 86. ARGH! The wrench at the mile 85 rest stop happened to be a friend and he loaned me a rear wheel to finish on -- I owe him cookies or something. So grateful to finish, even if all my friends were long gone by the time I rolled in.

[ttaylor508]

sounds like you are back in the saddle again!

Yup, back in the saddle. I think it was more mentally important for me to get back on the bike than anything else.

kfergos --breaking a spoke at mile 86 sucks! Lucky you to have someone who could lend you a wheel to finish.