Greg and Mary Cox have a wonderful toilet bowl for throwing up in. It has good height off the ground and easy access from the finish line. I wish I didn’t know that.

I’ve been completely ruined by a stomach flu for the past few days. I first noticed it on Saturday morning before my ride and chalked it up to nerves or maybe dinner the night before. Midway through the pre-ride though, my body was starting to shut down. Every time I’ve eaten since Saturday, I end up with a weird gaseous, pukey feeling that doesn’t stay too long, but makes it hard to get excited about food. Today is actually the first day that I haven’t felt it, so things are looking better already. Too much information?

Saturday morning Chris and I packed up his car and drove out to the start at the top of the tallest hill in Kent to pre-ride Greg’s wonderful Chili Feed 200K course. This was my third time on the route and I was happy to get back into the randonneuring season. The first time I rode it was my first 200K ever, and the second I set my fastest 200K pace so far. There are plenty of memories on this route, and it appears that I now have more to add to that.

Somehow I messed up navigation to the start so we were really close to being late, but just snuck in on time. I had to pull up my knee warmers on the road. There were an astonishing number of riders for a pre-ride (close to 20) and everyone was a pleasure to ride with.

Everyone stuck together for the most part leading in to Dash Point. A couple of the more serious climbs split us up, but the faster of the bunch couldn’t resist the siren call of coffee at the first control.

Most of the day seemed to work like this (from what I heard/saw). The super fast riders shot out front and towed a few of the relatively fast riders, maybe dumping a few here and there. They would converge on a control and bunch back up like a slinky, only to do it all over again to the next stop.

I got snapped off that slinky in Auburn at 5 or maybe 9 terrible back to back stop lights with a couple of other riders. I lost my rhythm pretty quick, but I knew I just had to keep my own pace for a bit. I didn’t want to cramp up like I had the Sunday prior, and I could feel some of the tenderness from that ride in the back of my legs still. That was fine, except I couldn’t quite keep up with the other two I was riding with, so I ended up in kind of a no man’s land (riding solo) for a while.

Going down Green River Valley, the route stuck me dead in the middle of an official time trial race. I had to slow down so I wouldn’t hit a woman turning around to finish her race. It was really surreal to ride down the road and have these super loud carbon bikes (disc wheels and all) whip by you like you were standing still. The really crazy part was actually crossing the finish line though. People were in folding chairs, waiting for loved ones and snapping photos. I’m sure they saw my bright orange, handle-bagged bike and just shook their heads. What a waste of a digital photo.

I made it to Black Diamond Bakery with one thing on my mind – DONUTS. I bought two donuts and a chocolate milk for $2.50. That place is a steal! Amazingly, everyone else was still there. They were wrapping things up, but it was good to know that I wasn’t that slow. I crammed a donut down and chugged my chocolate milk so I could get back on the road with the group.

Within 2 miles, the group had dropped me. I just really didn’t have it that day. It wasn’t a huge deal though. The sun was out and it was turning into an outstanding day. I found myself in between the lead (main) group and a bit slower group for a long, long time. I was actually really enjoying my solo ride at that point.

At one point I called Jane just to say hi. I think that I usually only contact her when I’m in some emergency situation, so I figured I should change that up a bit.

The climb from Enumclaw into Greenwater is always kind of a slog. It is a scenic one, but I always expect to see the return riders on the decent, taunting me with the fact that I still have X amount of miles to the top. None of the pitches are very steep though. If  you are feeling good, you can climb the whole thing (17 miles) quite fast. I wasn’t feeling good though. My legs were just naturally sore from the lack of distance riding and the Sunday ride prior and my stomach was starting to rumble like it has in the past.

Right before I made it in to town, Geoff and Lynn caught me on the climb and seemed to shoot by me without too much effort. I saw the lead group starting to descend at around that point as well. I wanted to keep the stop short, but I didn’t have it in me. I took the time to rest, hopefully settling my stomach with a Sprite and some light food. 1 million K Vincent rolled up (surprisingly) around then and had a snack and talk with us.

We all rolled out together, and I was dropped again, this time on a downhill. That is extra embarrassing for me, because there is nothing this beer gut does better than whip downhill.

My stomach never settled down though. I fought with it all day to keep everything inside. Once again, I wasn’t able to eat very much. I had the best luck with gel packets though. That is something I’ll keep in mind for the future. They tasted awful, but seemed to really help get some needed calories in me. I spent the rest of the ride basically by myself. I saw Geoff and Lynn pulled over for a flat, and they quickly passed me again after it was fixed, but that was it. I was nursing myself in.

10 miles from the finish, I kept looking at soft grass spots in the sun. They all seemed so appealing. After maybe a mile, I pulled over and flopped my bike down. I sprawled out in the sun and just laid there. It was an amazing feeling. A random bicyclist pulled up and gave me a “Dude, are you okay?”. I gave Chris a call and let him know that I was coming… just very slowly. I spent maybe 5 minutes or so there, it is hard to say really.

I figured that would be enough, but literally 2 miles from the finish, I stopped again. This time it was in front of a fire station. I flopped out again onto the lawn. My stomach felt great until I had to get back up again. I pretty much limped in to the finish. I was a pretty pathetic sight. Bob Brudvick grabbed my card for me and I bee lined to the bathroom.

Doesn’t that make you want to do this ride? It should.

We are starting to piece together our flèche team for the year. The plan is to travel light, long and fast. Chris and I are joining up with Joshua Bryant in Portland to hook out to the Oregon coast up into Olympia.

Chris made this amazing drawing and I added some fonts and what not. We are thinking it would look pretty kick ass on some jean jackets. I’m not sure how that is going to work exactly…

If you really like it, I’m sure Chris would be willing to tattoo it on you permanently for a small fee.

The Friday of the ride, we are taking the train down with our bikes for a 2pm start with Joshua in Portland. We should have a couple of hours to impress the locals with our charm. I’ve heard they don’t see many bikes down there, so those will be a hit, I’m sure.

Last year I rode with a bunch of flatulent, chatty randonneurs that were sure that breakfast was in “the next town”. It wasn’t. It never was!

I have no idea how this year will shake out, but I guarantee it will be an experience. Expect all of the gruesome details (hopefully no vomit involved) sometime in April. I have a bad history with night starts, so I’m looking to correct that. Still, it wouldn’t be a rando ride if I wasn’t questioning my sanity at least one time along the way.

Special thanks to Jane and Norman for once again helping drive us back home. I’m sure they will have a crazy weekend harassing the local hippies. I expect nothing less.

I know one thing is fact, I will be eating nachos at least once when I hit the finish. Olympia Hot Dog Company, here I come!

I spent Saturday night with some pretty vivid dreams. I was helping family move back into my old neighborhood that I grew up in. There are only two ways to get to it, and both are hills. One is long and steady, the other is shorter but much steeper. For whatever reason, I volunteered to push a mattress support up to the house. This was maybe a mile or so of the heaviest and toughest haul imaginable (in my dream, anyways). I was getting there, but it was slow and steady. There was no other way to do it.

Cliche as it seems, this dream was directly related to where my head has been at in regards to randonneuring. There has been a lot of second guessing and fear at my lack of fitness these days. Last years slacking is definitely showing this year. I haven’t finished a 200K since November and every time I get to around 50 miles, my body punishes me. The dream was appropriate though. I just need to keep at it, slow or not. The goal will be achieved.

SIR’s Spring Populaire (100K) was on Sunday. We decided to ride out to the start since it was only 10 miles away. I surprised myself by actually waking up early enough to eat a decent breakfast and have coffee. Chris and I left a little earlier than necessary but it gave us time for even more coffee near the start.

There were probably around a hundred people, possibly more at the starting line. They organized a bagpipe sendoff for the group that was pretty surreal. If I saw it on paper, I might have thought it cheesy, but in person it was pretty amazing.

There were tons of people to talk to right off the bat. It is always great to catch up with friends(at least at the start and finish) on these rides. It was a stunningly gorgeous day, especially for a Seattle February. It threatened to get close to 60 degrees and everyone was in great spirits.

I felt strong out of the gates and figured I should hang on to that while I could. I’m pretty aware that I have a limit these days, so I might as well knock out the miles while I can. I dropped Chris for a little while and hung with some faster riders than I usually do.

There was a soul crushing climb near Cougar Mountain that really seemed to suck my energy quickly. I kept eating some homemade energy bars and tried to stay hydrated. It was near the usual Zoo hill climb, but not the same one. It was less scenic and the grade was more steady and headache inducing. It would make a fine training hill.

I kept attaching on with Joe Platzner, then losing him again. His fancy blue Pegoretti kept him one step ahead of me. I’m pretty sure that’s how it worked, anyways.

Somewhere along the way, my legs started to give me grief. Surely they were complaining at the lack of distance training and overall general neglect. The muscles were pinching behind my knees and acted up every time I hit a hill (and this was quite often towards the end of the ride). I had to stop and stretch three or four times. I lost the great group of guys I was riding with, but I knew that I just had to do it at my own pace. Much like my Sisyphus dream the night before, I had to get there one pedal stroke at a time.

My general mood was greatly enhanced by the wonderful weather and amazing ride support. No matter how many times I had to stop, I knew that I was getting there.

I caught a bit of a second wind on the bike trail leading to the finish. A child on a BMX bike started a sudden 180 and almost nailed my front wheel. I briefly considered just pushing him over. Is that mean?

Finally I got in, alone, to the finish at the Dog and Pony in Renton. Beer was in need to sooth my aching muscles.

It was great to see new and old friends. A big thanks to everyone that had a hand in putting together a wonderful permanent. The cue sheet was perfect, the weather was amazing, and the turnout was great.

I’m all signed up and excited for SIR’s biannual Cascade 1200K. I managed to get my name and money in yesterday morning when the registration opened up. There are already a number of riders from all over the country signed up. Finishing a 1000K or longer qualifies you for an early Paris Brest Paris registration next year, so I’m guessing that there will be even more riders gunning for rides like this.

I’ve read numerous stories on people’s Cascade experiences. It has been on my radar since I’ve known about randonneuring. It is widely considered one of the harder 1200K rides in the world, and right in my back yard!

I’ve ridden the first section of the route on other brevets, but everything past Naches is relatively new ground for me. I know that Day’s 2 and 3 go through some seasonally hot areas of the state, so I’ll need to figure out a way to acclimate myself for that. We are lucky enough to have a fairly moderate climate around Seattle, so it is always a bit of a shock once I end up on the east side of the Cascades. I’ve done well in the past though; it shouldn’t be a huge issue.

Check out some ride reports and photos from previous editions.

Geoff Swartz – “Living the Dream!”

Ole Mikkelsen – Ride Report

Lothar Hennighausen – Ride Report (How about these names!?)

Val Phelps – Ride Report

Jake Kassen – Ride Report … his photos here

Flickr pool from 2008 (so many pictures)

Dan Boxers photos

A foggy morning

Bombing down to Puget Sound

Tony Corke in Orting

Mount Rainier peeks through

I missed out on the second SIR training ride. I was planning on carpooling with Peter Beeson up until he had to change plans for work. I woke up on time, packed my things and loaded the car. Driving about 5 miles, I realized that I forgot my wallet (and had yet to eat breakfast). I called this a sign and turned back around. I felt a little silly driving over an hour to the start for a 50 mile training ride by myself. That said, I’m sad I didn’t get a chance to see everyone. I managed to sneak a ride in anyways, tracing the first half (and bits of the last half) of the Summer 100K. The sun snuck out right around the time that I hit the waterfront on Maplewild St, so I sat at the public bench for a bit and enjoyed it.

Sunday, I had plans to meet up and ride with my clients at Tacoma Bike. Their cyclefit guy Tony wanted to show me around Tacoma a bit. I’ve ridden through once or twice, but it was nice to have some new roads to explore. We stuck mostly to flat trails and rode out past Orting and back. It was a pleasant weekend of riding overall.

Bridges in Tacoma

Jersey I designed for Vinnie and the rest of the (crazy) Cascade 1200 Permanent riders

I’ve been getting really antsy this holiday season. Antsy for the new randonneuring season to start. Antsy for my form to come back (I don’t have to do that myself, do I?). I have had a hard time motivating myself to roll out the door these days. I love it once I’m out, but the mental prep of bracing for the elements in the morning has proved difficult. It would help if i didn’t need to wake up before 6am to do it, but it really comes down to a whole bunch of lame excuses. I just need to do it. Enough with the BS.

SIR is rolling out with the usual Winter Training Series this weekend. It is always fun to catch up with the rest of the crazies in the group. They’ll give me a hard time for eating so much and I’ll make fun of them for being so old. It will be fun.

I’m missing the first ride though. My mom (Hi, Mom) is getting married in Vegas this weekend and dragging Jane and I along for the ride. We plan on hitting up a couple of restaurants and probably have a drink or two or three. That should help out with my form a bit.

I rode the Southcenter ride (#3) fixed last year, but I think I was in better shape because I’m having a hard time imagining taking those hills again on my current setup.

The regular series is going to be pretty intense this year. Everyone is doing a bit of sweating over PBP enrollment in 2011. It is only done once every 4 years and was slightly overbooked last time around. For this, coupled with the high DNF (no finish) rates in 2007, officials decided that they might need to clamp down on a number in order to keep the ride at a maintainable size. Lots of people (myself included) are concerned that they might not have a chance at getting into this ride that they’ve been working towards. Getting the time off and the money together for a large trip like that isn’t easy, and it is tough to not have any certainties.

In order to get a better shot at going, RUSA members will be given a higher spot in the lottery if they finish longer rides in 2010. It is a bit more complicated than I care to elaborate on, but basically you have the best shot of going if you finish a series (200, 300, 400, 600Ks) and a 1000k in 2010. Needless to say, I have a feeling that there will be very high turnout numbers this year.

I plan on completing at least that much. It is easy to talk out of my butt this early into the season, but I’m shooting for 2 complete series. Chris and I are putting on the Fall 600 (and 200) so I know that I’ll at least be responsible for that. The Cascade 1200 has been on my radar since I started this stupid hobby, so I know that I’m good for that too.

I guess this was a long winding way of saying that I’m going to be riding a lot this year. You should too.

Also eating… I’ll be doing lots of that as well. Happy New Year.

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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I spent last night clutching a Chipotle burrito in bed, trying to stuff it down my throat before I passed out. I’ve been pretty wiped out on rides before (a couple of weeks ago comes to mind), but 9000 feet of climbing in 126 miles ruined me.

I guess they call it “Issaquah Alps” for a reason. Every single steep pitch on the eastside was marked for two wheeled consumption. I came in strong and left a shaky, broken mess.

We started in Redmond, using one of my “free” days at work to take advantage of a weekday ride. A stroll down Lake Sammamish brought us to the first rise up SE 34th and really set the tone for the day.

The air was crisp and it was tough to regulate my temperature. Every time we climbed, I would overheat, and every descent brought back freezing air. Believe me when I say that this ride is nothing but up and down. We had maybe 5 miles without some sort of grade.

We looped some familiar roads before reaching the biggest surprise hill of the day (for me at least), Somerset Blvd. SE. It was a long climb up through an active neighborhood. Parents were in the process of dropping their kids off at school. Apparently they are all in band too, since almost everyone had an instrument.

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Summer has rolled on by and I feel like I didn’t get enough riding in while it lasted. This isn’t entirely true, but I can’t help but feel like some of the better riding weather slipped underneath my nose. Still, not all is bad. I rather enjoy slipping back in to my full tights and thicker jerseys. What the heck, bring on the cold and rain.

The riding I did do produced some interesting tan lines this year. Aside from the usual glove tan’s, I have really defined marks across the top of my leg and above my ankles. All the sun screen in the world doesn’t stop the onslaught of sun from a full day or two at a time on the bike.

On our bike ride last Thursday, Chris mentioned the “what’s next” letdown he felt after completion of the 600K. I admit that it didn’t hit me as strong, but I definitely feel the siren call of the “next big thing”.

The obvious choice for me is the Cascade 1200. I was really hoping they would put it on this last season, but I am glad to know that it will be on the schedule for 2010. The website is pretty sparse on info so far (and needs a redesign…) but it already has me excited. The PBP I plan on riding in 2011 is also a 1200K, so this would be more than adequate training for the overseas ride.

From what I hear, the Cascade ride is one of the hardest 1200K’s around, and it doesn’t surprise me a bit. The course tends to ride over all of the favorite mountain passes in the area with different days rolling through varied terrains, hot and cold. It should be quite an adventure.

Before next season, I am really going to try and drop a few pounds too. I’ve been stuck in this rut at around 200 pounds for well over a year now. I am fitter than I have ever been, but no lighter. That doesn’t help me get up the mountains any quicker. It is obviously easier to say this than actually do it, but I’m hoping that I’ll be a little more accountable to the goal by putting it out there. Time will tell.

Mark Thomas put out a call for volunteers a few weeks back. I saw an open 200K and figured it would be a good next step after putting on the 100K this last season. Somehow I got suckered in to both the 200 and the 600K. Apparently they are going to be run on the same weekend and should finish at the same location. I have no clue where it will be yet. I think maybe a vampire themed ride through Forks is appropriate though. Everyone has to wear fangs and pancake white makeup through the whole ride. And body glitter.

Thoughts?