Yesterday I set out for the 10:30 A.M. ferry to Bainbridge Island - a nice break from the 5 A.M. start time on last week's 400k brevet.. this would be a day of leisurely riding over short distances.
Got to the ferry in time, found Robert, Chris, and Joby waiting. Robert bailed and went home (dude. you missed out!), and we bought our tickets and boarded the boat for the island. On the ferry we found Rachael & her friend Heidi, two Group Health racers that were also doing the loop - sweet, we've got a peloton of five!
The plan was to do at least one 32-mile (~53 km) "Chilly Hilly" loop, something I've always wanted to do. Yeah Cascade does the organized ride each February, but I'm not about to pay anything to ride 50 kilometers! No wonder .83 organizes the yearly "Fucking Hills Race" on the same day, I might go for that next year.
Anyway we more or less did the loop, getting lost a few times. Not sure if we skipped the monster climbs, because nothing really seemed all that bad. Maybe 7% for 1/2 mile, but that's something you can find in the city anyway. We tried to follow the "Dan Henry" markings but they seemed to send us in different directions than the cue sheet - my theory is that the cue had an incorrect marking for the turn on to Lynnwood drive.
Oh yeah and we saw "Frog Rock" - you be the judge if this looks like a frog to you: (image source)
After the loop we got on the ferry back to Seattle - once there Heidi took off for home, as did Chris & Joby. Dennis met up with Rachael & I and the three of us headed through downtown towards the I-90 bike trail out to Mercer Island. More riding, sweet!
Mercer Island seems to be smaller than Bainbridge, but doesn't have the "small town" feeling that Bainbridge sometimes provides. Mercer is more like houses centered around a small strip-mall. Yuck.
But the Mercer Island Loop is great! Only 13 or so miles around, but curvy two-lane roads that cyclists drool over. We banged it out at a 20 mph (32 km/h) pace - nice work, team!
Total Distance: 95 km (59 mi)
Total Rolling Time: 3:59:00
1 comment:
I'm sure it was good fun, but I had french toast and eggs. Bailing out was totally worth it.
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