Today was Cascade Bicycle Club's season opener, Chilly Hilly. The ride takes place on Bainbridge Island, a place noted for it's hilly topography. Nothing big, just a lot of up and down.
The weather forecast said it was going to be wet, and even a chance of it turning to snow by afternoon. For the second year I was volunteering as a ride referee. There was some talk of eliminating the ride ref program, but after an uproar by the ride refs, the club big wigs relented. I was disappointed to see many of the refs today bail out because of the weather forecast. If you ever needed the ride refs it would be in inclement weather when crashes are more likely to happen.
I like to ride to the ride when possible. It was 42 degrees as I rode down Queen Ann to the ferry terminal.
My ride packet was to be mailed to me, it included a rider number that gained me space on the ferry. Without it I'd have to pay a separate fee, with it, the ride was included in the ride registration. My ride packet never showed up, not a rare occurrence I found later. Cascade said they'd have a duplicate available at the registration desk. When I arrived I was bounced around from line to line only to find a clueless person at the desk. With the ferry leaving imminently, I finally just told them to forget it, I was just going to go for a bike ride. It was a good thing I planned on dual citizenship and had a pirate flag on the bike to better fit in with the .83 sponsored FHR.
The ferry is always a sight to behold with all the bikes.
The views are always nice on this ride. Even with the hassle of stopping, taking off gloves, taking the phone out of it's waterproof packing, taking a photo, and reversing the process, I just had to stop for a photo every now and then.
With the predicted wet and cold weather the crowds were a little smaller this year. Those of us attending enjoyed the better than predicted weather.
I stopped to help 3 folks with flat tires who lacked the parts or skills to deal with it. I also assisted with one person who had a medical issue and was evacuated from the route.
Marathon Photo happened to get a photo of the pirate ride ref.
Even with the stops to assist, I finished the course by noon. I hadn't even had a single drop of rain. I pulled into Harbour Public House, the location floated as an after ride meeting point. The place was hopping, and I was about 2 hours early. No problem, Scott B showed up shortly and we just waited on the front porch before staking out a table.
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| Scott B photo |
Once I knew that some others were just minutes away I walked in to put our names on the waiting list. A patron who happened to be one of the guys I helped with a flat saw me, and bought me a beer as thanks!
Before I had to take leave to catch the ferry back, 17 friends showed up for a little post ride food and drink.
It also started raining while we were there.
After the ferry ride back across the water I rode back north along the Seattle Waterfront, then UP Queen Ann.
It was a nice ride!
............road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today..........39................0..............0...............0............39 Jan.............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 504...............0..............0...............0............504 Total..........1214...............0..............0...............0...........1214
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