Cycle the Wave

[NbyNW]

Oh, it WILL be beautiful! I tend to bring good weather with me when I come to town.

[Biciclista]

thank you!

[XMcShiftersonX]

If it's raining I probably won't do it at all, but as long as it's dry I'll stick with the Burly girl!

[lauraelmore1033]

I'll be doing the Burly girl again. Weather will determine if I ride the old bike or the new one.

[NbyNW]

I'm staying with my brother in First Hill this weekend and I'll have my folding bike with me. Can anyone give me a ride out to the east side? I could meet you somewhere in the city if it is more convenient.

[Biciclista]

hm, maybe you can go with me deary

[NbyNW]

That would be great! I'll get in touch with you later this week to iron out details.

[Susan126]

I saw Mimi at the end of my ride today. I signed up to do the Burly Girl (I've done the Burly Girl every year) not this year though. At the second rest stop this morning, mile 25 where they had the giant soft pretzels, I decided to instead take the Middle Sisters route back. The weather was getting to me today. Even so I still had a great time.

I now have three Cycle the WAVE medals! Hope next year's ride will be on a sunny dry day.

Hey Jessica did you ride the WAVE today?

[lauraelmore1033]

I signed up to do Burly Girl, but it just wasn't meant to be. I over slept by two hours (!!), then my little toy panther got out as I was struggling with the bike in the doorway, and did her kitty hovercraft sprint to the woods behind my house. when I finally found her, she was shivering in the brush and wanted to be carried back to the house. Then it was time to tear the house apart looking for my helmet (which I always keep in the same place), and after that came the obligatory wrong turn in Issaquah. So I started with the girly girl straglers in a pretty intense downpour. I was actually feeling pretty good in spite of the rain, and the giant pretzle and tasty chickpea salad at the "deciding" rest stop was such a great pick-me-up, I decided to tackle the rest of the burly girl ride. 3 miles into the climb on Tiger mountain, my rear wheel started visciously rubbing the brakes for no darned good reason. I fiddled with the brakes until it stopped, but it started up again about a quarter of a mile further on. I got it to stop again but decided to just turn around and head back down toward Issaquah-Hobart road and back to the start. Wasn't long after that that my rear wheel flatted and I discovered that I had everything but the levers and the kitchen sink in my emergency bag. Several wonderful women stopped to help, but then the SAG van showed up. Oddly, they didn't have levers either! But, they showed me a neat trick of using the little handle that flips up to tighten the pump as a lever. pretty slick! I was pretty happy to see the finish, and was happy to call that a middle sister finish. Sorta. I picked up my swag and booked it out of there since there was a really long line for the food. I tried not to be annoyed when the sun came out as I reached my car. It really was a good ride, but I was having an abundance of slightly irritating events going on concurrently. It does my heart good to see all the youngsters being quietly, but powerfully influenced by this event. I'll try to keep it all in perspective for the next year, and sign up again

[Biciclista]

well... sniff... I DID say I wouldn't ride if it rained, but my buddy Renin and I whined most of last night during the torrential downpour about how crummy the weather outlook was.
This morning it was not raining but the weather forecast was 90% chance of rain AND thunderstorms. But, ever hopeful, we went. My legs are still kind of shot from the climb over and back of cayuse pass I did last weekend, so I was in an odd place of feeling strong sometimes and just achy othertimes. Early in the ride, Renin (a fairly green rider) almost lost control of her bike as she braked going down a hill so after that she was a lot more timid. The rain was mostly off, but the ons were fierce and the constant sounds of brakes squealing made me kind of nervous; plus, there was Renin, way way back behind me on all the downhills. My legs and her nerves AND all that wet was just not a good combination, so we called it a good ride at the girly girl. that means we did NOT get to walk on the red carpet or get soft pretzels, and instead we got back too early for the great lunch promised us.
Owell. We're on course to do the middle sister again next year if the weather is better.

[bmccasland]

Mary (MM_QFC) picked me up at my hotel, took me out there, and we met Salsa at the end of the ride. Sorry I missed you Mimi. But we did look for you. Mary looked for other TE riders, but didn't see y'all.

We're plotting to have a get-together some time in the future. Something about sweet potato fries.....

[Biciclista]

Beth, that sounds great! meanwhile; what time do you get off work?

[salsabike]

Beth is a hoot. It was really good to meet you and to see MM_QFC at the end of the ride!

Mick Jagger sweet potato fries (melted brown sugar/butter sauce)....Snohomish pub. Bike or no bike. In about a month, maybe? So Beth can meet the PNW gang.

[MM_QFC!]

Mary (MM_QFC) picked me up at my hotel, took me out there, and we met Salsa at the end of the ride. Sorry I missed you Mimi. But we did look for you. Mary looked for other TE riders, but didn't see y'all.

We're plotting to have a get-together some time in the future. Something about sweet potato fries.....

Yes, Beth and I got there @ Noon and spotted Salsabike as she finished, so we enjoyed a quick visit - which turned soggy in a downpour! Lots of riders coming in and milling about but I didn't recognize anyone else - sorry we missed you Mimi et al...did NbyNW ride?

Time for another greater Seattle area TE-get together! ...maybe a ride and/or gathering in October?

[NbyNW]

Alas, I wasn't feeling up to it -- my hip was bothering, and I've been feeling homesick of late, and the best medicine was to stay mellow and watch football with my brother.

I would have loved to be able to say I did this ride three years in a row and to meet up with you all, but bad hip + rain didn't help my motivation.

I think I may try to spend more time down here this winter, so hopefully I'll see you all sooner rather than later!