Lobster Joe

Chris stopped by at 7am to ride the Leschi – Auburn – Leschi 200k on Saturday. Both of us were fresh off colds that kept us off of our bikes for a couple of weeks. Making matters worse (for myself at least), I’ve been eating pasta here and there… and there. There might have been beer and bourbon involved too. It is the holidays after all.

The forecast was “chance of rain” throughout the day. Seattlites know that means “definite rain” at least part of the day. As it turns out, the weather was all rain, all day. It was never dumping rain, but it was a steady drizzle throughout. Enough to soak through every layer I had on and then some. I was decked out in my full wool getup, so I was warm, but it wasn’t very comfortable either.

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Steve Frey blocking wind (somewhat, he needs to gain a few pounds)

Between cooking and eating and cooking and eating some more, I occasionally confuse my body with some exercising. I can only imagine what my muscles must think when I neglect them for weeks on end (up to a month) and then jump on a bike for 10 or so hours in a lump sum of punishment. Thankfully, I don’t much care what my body thinks of it. I’m always happy to get out on the road.

I left the warmth of my bed to drive out at 6am for a 7am start of the 3 Rivers Cruise 200K in Arlington, WA. We could have started later, but I was happy to minimize the amount of night time riding we might be doing towards the end of the ride. Chris and I were joined by Steve Frey, John Whitenack, Jeff Loomis  and Alan Bell. It ended up being a perfect group since we were all riding at about the same pace for the day, and we were all happy to enjoy a sit down lunch mid-ride.
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“Alright guys. I need you all to brainstorm some clever ways to say ‘We got rained on’.”

I’m pretty sure there were one or two suggestions that weren’t fit for print… Ignore the title of this post.

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If you are going to reach the top of the highest road on Mount Rainier, you’ve got to work for it. 6,400 feet and 50 miles of steady climbing out of Enumclaw, my legs are aching just remembering it.

Chris and I decided that we needed to get a long ride in before the upcoming Mountain 600K. The Sunrise permanent has been on our radar since we starting doing these rides. I suggested that we ride to the start in Black Diamond from Seattle and turn the 200K in to a 300K. It looked easy enough on paper…

We set out at 4:30am from our homes in South Park. Within the first five miles, I questioned what the hell I was even doing up that early. Those thoughts started to fade as the sun rose, little by little. By the time we were making the climb from Auburn to Black Diamond, the sun was really starting to make an appearance. Riding through a sunrise never fails to completely perk me up.

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