Biking to Seattle - 2012

It's almost inevitable that the Ride weekend is weather challenged. Only this year, the first day was even uglier than last year's start. As I recall, it was very wet at the beginning, but the rain eased off for much of the day; whereas this time it poured all day on Saturday, and like the rest of this month it was unusually cold. For the first couple of hours, until we hit some moderate uphill stretches I was wishing I had put on more clothes. But then after warming up it was just as well not to be over dressed. As it was I stayed soaking wet inside and out, but not cold until I stopped at the end of the day.

Mercifully, the opening ceremony was kept to a minimum this year, so most riders were on the road at 0715. I lost most of my team in the crowd at the start, so it was nice to get together with Sarah before crossing the border, where we skipped the first pit stop, since we were still relatively fresh and it was too wet to linger. This time the route took us via the Peace Arch crossing, and then east into Blaine rather than along waterfront like last year: the rain was keeping visibility to a minimum, so the spectacle of Drayton Harbour would have been mostly shrouded anyway. Although the weather was coming from the southwest, the headwinds were minimal compared to previous years.

The rest of the first day's route followed the well established track around Birch Bay and through Bellingham, with lunch at Lake Padden, following the long uphill grind of Samish Hill. I had forgotten what a welcome break that stop is, since there is another 80 metres elevation gain to reach the crest of the hill before coasting down to Lake Samish. The rest of the way to Mount Vernon seemed relatively easy, with no serious uphill stretches, and a lot of coasting. On arrival at camp I decided to wash the bike in hopes of better conditions on Sunday. It turned into a long wait in line, but it was right at the camp gate, so I watched riders coming in while I queued.

A team dinner downtown Mt. Vernon provided a good photo op, and a chance to go over the day's adventures and how the challenges were met. Retiring to the motel in Burlington for the night fairly early, I had a pretty good night's sleep and was up and ready to go by the six o'clock departure for camp. With no fanfare for this start, we were on the road by seven, and Sunday morning traffic was extra light. Nonetheless, Mt. Vernon police were on hand give us priority.

Although it was cloudy on day two, and there were showers drifting around, the worst I ran into was a heavy mist, so I kept the rain jacket in reserve, wearing the special polka dot shirt over a long-john top. That proved to be the ideal outfit for staying warm enough and dry. The rain jacket is good in keeping the rain out, but not so good in letting moisture evaporate. At the last pit stop before the end of the ride the sun came out, so I was even able to remove the long underwear and finish in fine style. 

The Sunday route was pretty well the same as previous years, with the very welcome transition from road to bike trail at the second pit stop just south of Arlington. Although the trail maintains a pretty constant climb for over 5 km it just doesn't seem as demanding as most of the other longer grades.

This time there seemed to be less confusion and crowding at the start, so I managed to stay with John, the new senior member of our team. We are pretty well matched, except he has much more endurance, and he can leave me behind at will, particularly on longer uphill portions. In any event, we stayed together for most of the ride until he decided to make tracks near the end and lost me when Sarah dropped back to see me in to the finish.

There's no doubt that the dry day made a huge difference in everyone's attitude, and the pit stops and lunch at Lake Stevens were really pleasant and refreshing, rather than rushed in order not to cool off too much as the previous day. Wearing the polka dots, I was easy to pick out of a crowd, and I had lots of compliments from riders who realized what it meant. With the temperature rising toward the end, even the headwind along the Samamish River into Redmond didn't seem daunting – particularly since I was able to draft Sarah for much of the way. We crossed the finish line shortly after 1430, and managed to tie up with friends for a drink before heading home to a slow and lengthy border lineup.

All my generous sponsors made this event a huge success, and they deserve the credit for making the ride such a rewarding experience.