Spring 100k Pre-ride report.

Yes, it is a little late. But I was wiped out from riding it and didn't have time to write it up that night (Saturday), and I volunteered at the Seward Park control the next day. But, I was the guy who rode onto the Freeway! .

It was the best of rides; it was the worst of rides. The hills were constant, and when respite came in the form of a reasonably flat stretch (such as E Marginal Way, or the Alki Trail) it came with the dread of how Eric was going to compress more hills in the ensuing stretches to make up for "lost time". My fears were often proved right. I only got lost twice and added about 5 miles in bonus miles to the process.

Thanks go to Eric for proving that one can be riding 200s all winter long and still stink on a 100k. 91st, the climb away from Lake City Way and Henderson Road, all genuinely kicked my butt. The descent down Fauntleroy was something to remember though. As was "What was the sign before the bridge?". I just had to turn around and take a picture.

Volunteering on Sunday was infinitely more fun. I got there 10 minutes after the control opened. Jennifer saved me by appearing at the control very early, and I saved her by wearing the Blue SIR Jersey that made me easy to identify. Duane brought us supplies, and Eric made us the "junk food" control. Pop, Chips, Pretzels and Cheez-Its; his control probably had nice wine, Camembert Cheese, Clotted Cream and Blueberry Scones (Maggie told me at the pub that they had boiled eggs with custom painting on them!).

I probably bored Jennifer to death. She was great company! This is her first year as a rando but that hasn't stopped her from registering for the RM1200. I saw the fast guys for more than a minute! Duane dumped us to go see a basketball game (he has got this thing for the Huskies). The pub was also cool; as was seeing Allison, Peg and a lot of other friends after a very long time. Since it has been a while, Peg decided to start razzing me the moment she saw me. Mark Jackson, Steve Davis, Theresa Garl, Peter Beeson and Mark Thomas were just some of the familiar faces. Rosie (Albert Webmaster's daughter) completed her first 100k. Congratulations!

A fun way to spend a day with the randonneurs.

That's crazy talk, aka the Mountain 100K pre-ride.

Mark Thomas and I pre-rode the season-opening 100k route, this past spring. Somewhere there, before we got slammed with 5" of snow, I mentioned to Mark that I didn't show up at last years Mountain 100, because I was not sure I would be able to finish it. This, after completing last years 3 pass 1000k. Mark's response, and he is pretty quotable, was, "That's crazy talk!".

I took that vote of confidence with me as I pre-rode the 100K route with Kent Peterson, Shan Perera and Matt Newlin, all of whom have spent some time shelling me out in the past. We left at 9.40a from Tibbets Field Parking lot. My front tyre was low, and I stopped to pump it up, as my riding buddies went ahead, but waited for me at the Zoo hill climb.

That climb was long, but not Washington-pass-going-west long, but I was the last to get to the top. The descent was something though, and quite worth the lung-busting climb. It comes early in the ride, and so, you don't feel like you are done. There was a lot of up and down, but the notable ones (to me), were the Tiger Mountain climb, the climb to the Issaquah highlands, Tolt Hill, Duthie Hill and the last murderous climb, that completes the ride. The last climb (Squawk Mountain?) completely took me out, and made me cry for stronger legs or a lower gear, and I got neither. We finished on the dot: 6h 45m.

This really is a fantastic ride; people who have ridden with me know that I get shelled out the back at the first appearance of a climb, and this was no exception, except that my riding buddies waited for me at every turn, and offered encouragement. The stop at Sandy's was fabulous, with all of us getting something cold to drink, and nourishing ourselves for the 3 hills (Tolt, Duthie, Squawk) ahead. I think eating at Sandy's is a good idea, as the last 22km kick serious butt.

There is a surprising amount of flat on this ride, so much so that Kent at one point leaned to me and asked, perfectly innocently, "Do you think there is enough climbing on this ride?", this just before we did Tolt Hill. I was about to tell the man to have some mercy. However, doing this ride a few times, will certainly help my climbing. An enjoyable ride, and I shall definitely do it again. I also plan to do this ride to train for the hills.

Kent's Pictures and mini-report