Monday, May 5, 2008

Photos From the 300k Brevet

5:30 A.M. - Downtown is looking dry. Sweet. Gotta catch a ferry somewhere behind that forest of buildings.

~6:01 A.M. - I came so close to missing the ferry it wasn't funny. And when I told the toll-booth lady what the ride was, and when I expected to finish (~10 PM), she looked at me like I was crazy! She might be right.. Here's what I rode, my fast-bike, the Ciocc:

Rando-bikes hitching a ride across the Sound to Bremerton, with Seattle in the background:

Seattle in the morning:

~12 P.M. - The first control in Brady - ~110 km down (~70 mi). Chocolate milk never tasted so good. This was our group of fast riders - just look at all the potential energy in those legs!


~8:55 P.M. - the glowing warmth of the ferry from Bainbridge to Seattle - after 189 miles under our reflective belts, nothing sounds better than a cushioned chair and warmth.

~9:30 P.M. An overexposed photo of downtown on the way back at nightfall. Home sweet home. I pedaled very slowy up to my apt on Capitol Hill, just a few kms from the ferry terminal.

As you can see I didn't get many shots, mostly due to the rain. So my camera was packed into my seat-bag & was not accessible most of the time. Things I wished I'd snapped a photo of:

  • The countless abandoned/run-down shacks & old houses that dotted the scenery
  • The funny fireworks shops on Highway 101 between Skokomish & Quilcene. One called "Miller Time" had 8-bit looking pictures of dogs, I thought of them as redneck hieroglyphics. Another winner was the "Ill Eagle" fireworks shop - get it?
  • The lush scenery of steep slopes, green trees, and dense fog (or were those clouds?) covering the area
  • My face covered in road-grime from a fenderless rider or two

All in all it was a great ride, and it felt good to get another 300k done. Thanks to the route organizers, the riders, and volunteers! See you on the 400k..

2 comments:

Robert H said...

How did the Ciocc feel over that kind of distance? You sticking with the Miyata for the 400k?

Anonymous said...

It felt great!

I was worried about my arms/hands/back getting tired or numb due to the racy position, but besides normal fatigue I was fine.

Overall the Ciocc is much faster & efficient (or feels like it) than the Miyata, so I'm tossing around the idea of using it as my brevet bike.

But, the big comromise with the Ciocc is lack of fender clearance... if anything that will be the deal-breaker.

Oh and the gearing on the Ciocc (39x53, 11-23) is way too high for the steeper sections, and especially our upcoming mountain brevets. So I'll be throwing a 25 or 27 tooth cog on it hopefully before then - maybe a compact crank too.