UPDATE:
I drove up to Tacoma on Friday night and found room in the inn. Saturday morning I was at the start line of RAPSody by 6:30AM. I got my rider packet, affixed my rider number, checked my baggage, visited just a bit with folks then pedaled off.
The locals are quite proud of their bridge with it's 12ft wide bike lane.
But I get to ride across a lot of bridges, I was more enamored by the ferry crossing of years past. One of the nicest photos of a past RAPSody showed a ferry that was just filled with row after row of bicycles and not a car on board.
But it is a nice bridge. ;-)
RAPSody is a ride put on by 5 Puget Sound area bike clubs and it benefits the Bicycle Alliance of Washington. With all the awesome scenery and unbelievable rest stops it is surprising that only 400-450 people ride it. It's got some hills...okay by most people's standards a lot of hills... but still, I'd expect a lot more people to ride it.
Unlike Chilly Hilly, a 38 mile ride in early spring, that is noted for crowds that are not quite in shape to ride hills that early in the season. RAPSody has riders with pretty decent bike skills for the most part. Maybe it's that they've had most of the summer to get in shape? More likely just that the less fit might try a 38 mile ride but not even think of doing two ~85 mile days in a row.
Whatever the reason it was nice to not have to be continually on the lookout for a wobbly rider cutting in front or suddenly coming to a stop.
I rode well, though I took quite a few stops to take photos. The ride consisted of views across the water interspersed with rides through the trees.
I was making good time and didn't have anyone pass me. Those that did pass while I was taking a photo were soon in my rear view mirror when I'd start pedaling again. It is not a race but it was nice to have the legs to power up the hills without working too hard at it.
About 5 miles out of Manchester I spotted a West Sound Cycling jersey on a rider out in front of me. As I caught up my suspicion became true. I was soon chatting with Leo Stone. He and I "met" several years ago via the Cascade Bike Club message boards. I think I first met him in person at an STP
He's quite a character!.........and a really nice guy. :-)
He's a member of the West Sound Bicycle Club and his club was sponsoring the rest stop in Manchester. I was treated to some home made cookies served by the maker himself! (Leo makes some pretty good cookies!)
He was in his element, surrounded by his friends. I spent a little time and ate and drank sufficiently. I decided to leave Leo to continue holding court as I pedaled on.
RAPSody is such a scenic ride.
Before long another 30 miles had passed and I arrived at the second rest stop of the day, Allyn, noted for it's calazone!
The calazone was yummy, despite my trepidation on eating a lot of "real" food, I had 2 pieces! I was probably stopped here for 20 minutes, a long stop by my standards. I kept an eye open for folks I might know but finally decided to pedal onward.
I arrived at Shelton High School, our overnight stop, at 1PM. A root beer float and berry smoothie awaited cyclists as they arrived! Both were very tasty.
I was surprised to see an empty field where the tents were to be set up.
I would have my choice of location!
I set my tent up, showered, then visited with other cyclists as they arrived. As I milled around the cafeteria in anticipation of dinner the usual suspects arrived, along with some of the more unusual ones too!
Plans were soon hatched for a post dinner beer run. Leo (wouldn't you know it!) Shaun, and fellow Oregonian Lynne were in on it. In years past we took a shuttle bus that conveniently dropped us off at Ernie's Pine Cone Bar and Grill. This year there were no shuttles, and having less than a full selection of brew, we decided it just wasn't worth going to Ernie's so we walked across the athletic field to Fred Meyer and were soon confronted with shelf after shelf of choices.
All four of us belong to several bike clubs each, but the one club common to all of us was Cascade Bicycle Club. We are blaming them for the fact that we ended up sitting on a curb in a WalMart parking lot drinking beverages from brown bags!
By the time we returned from our little adventure the athletic field had filled up with tents!
We finished off the evening listening to a band that was playing oldies for us oldsters.
(not sure why the sound doesn't come through on the blog, the base file plays fine)
But like old folks, we didn't stay up too long. The band quit playing around 8:30PM and I was tucked in my sleeping bag shortly there after
I was planning on a good night sleep, tomorrow would bring another ~85 miles with, surprise, a few hills!
............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......101...............0...............0..........101
Jan........618...............0................0..........618
Feb........692...............0................0..........692
March......940...............0................5..........940
April......934...............0................0..........934
May........905...............0................0..........905
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug........832...............0................0..........832
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....7111...............0..............5.........7116
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