Just in the nick of time.

We’ve done our best to get our permanents ridden before it got too late into a month so we wouldn’t be stuck under pressure like this. The month of December seemed to have plans to keep us from getting our R-12. There were 14 of us that were all antsy to get a ride in before the end of the year for one reason or another. Some had to for the R-12 eligibility, others just had cabin fever from 2+ weeks off the bike thanks to snow and ice.

There was nothing that was going to stop me from finishing this ride. Not the left over ice, not my lack of fitness right now, and definitely not the fact that I should be working.

The turn out for the ride was pretty amazing. It made the ride so much more enjoyable. A good chunk of the group played sweep up and in the end, about 8 of us stuck together and chatted all day.

We were the second Guinea pigs for a brand new route that is pretty much designed with bad weather in mind. Over the 130 miles, we never really got over 400 feet or so, and most of the route was insanely flat through the valleys in southern Washington.

We left a Tully’s at 8am out of Mercer Island and caught back on with the I-90 trail out towards Factoria. We quickly hit our first road block of the day near a wooden bridge that crosses some swamped area. It had a few hundred yards of ice layered snow still. We were forced to walk the distance to stay right side up.

The rest of the ride out to Redmond was pleasant enough, even with the ride up and around Lake Sammamish. Going South bound on the West side is always full of debris and tight (but usually light) traffic. We always seem to end up there one way or another. There was a bit more ice coming out of Maymoor park, but nothing that had us walking.

From there, it connected to the East end of the Lake Washington trail and a much needed water break at Kidd Valley. We took most of the Seattle to Portland route out through Renton. I figured we would latch on to Interurban trail going South, but Geoff found some great low traffic streets and trails that I had never been on before.

The route rode straight into the valley of Mount Rainier in to the town of Orting. If the mountain ever blows, they will be one of the first off of the map. It was around mile 70 by this point, and the control had an option for Subway. Their sandwiches are nothing special, but after that much time on the bike, it tasted like heaven. I ate my turkey sub dangerously fast.

The break seemed to bring everyone’s spirits up a bit, and it also gave us all a chance to catch up with one another. The ride out of town was filled with pleasant banter. We seemed to get called quite a few names from the locals though. There seemed to be pre-teen children everywhere just waiting to sling a barb at us.

The funniest of the day? “Hey look, it’s the Ninja Turtles.”

The weirdest? “I have to pee!”

We spent the next several miles retracing some routes and taking new ones up towards Interurban trail. There was one area with tight shoulders and lots of big trucks backing up behind us as we climbs up some short but steep pitches. The traffic caught behind them was getting very angry and it made for some frustrating riding. Still, once we got back on the trails, things were very pleasant.

The Interurban eventually linked up to the tricky Green River trail. I didn’t look at the cue sheet much in the last 40 miles because it was basically every Thursday night ride I’ve ever had rolled into one package. I helped guide everyone through the tricky turns in the area so we could keep on the water front and not miss any major turns. I suspect that area will be trouble for future riders, especially after dark.

Once we hit the info control at the Harbor Island bridge, we all voted on Peter McKay to take us back home. The last 15 miles is basically his work commute, so he was more than happy to go in to (a little too efficient) auto pilot and guide us through the area.

The final kick in the pants was a loop around Mercer Island. It is a fun loop, but it is frustrating. You are so close to the finish and then are pushed in to a victory 10 mile lap around the island. It wouldn’t be a SIR ride without a double digit grade hill right near the end of the ride. This was was no different.

Chris, Joe and I met Chris’ wife Emily at the Roanoake afterwards for a much needed beer and food when all was said and done. I’ve never been so happy to have completed a 200k.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 9:02 am and is filed under bicycling, sir. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.