My first century of the year will be the Alaska Airlines Flying Wheels Summer Century | Cascade Bicycle Club. I'll be riding with a social team this year, which should make the miles fly by. The idea is if I can kill this ride, I'll be in good shape to prep for Cycle Oregon at the end of the summer. More about this ride coming soon!
Bike MS 2014 Mt. Vernon Washington
I'm Riding Washington State in 2014
It's been a big year for MS research. We've seen 2 oral medications come on the market that have proven to slow progression of the disease. This is huge, as the only treatments available up until now have been injectable. There is also an exciting new drug, Ampyra, that can improve walking ability. It's the only drug specifically targeted to improve the daily life of people with MS (MS drug research has been singularly focused on slowing down the disease, not treating the chronic symptoms people already face). The MS Society funds research that results in these and other breakthroughs. We are in a very hopeful time.
Please support me today. This September I'll be riding in Washington state. I'm excited to ride in my 6th new state this year.
8 Lakes Leg Aches Spokane Washington
Apple Century 2013 Wenatchee Washington
Tulip Pedal 2013 La Conner Washington
The day started out rough, with a flat tube, a puncture in my tire and worry about rain. But it quickly got better with a giant mocha on the way to the ride. The start of the Tulip Pedal was probably my most favorite part of the whole ride; a very talented jazz band played for us while we got our registration and things. There were also free tulips being handed out, which I wasn't quite sure what to do with on a bike ride. But, an awesome setup. The jazz band really got me into the groove, and I had jazz music going in my head for miles. This would have been a prize ride if the weather were just a little better. First off, it started in LaConner, which has to be one of the cutest, most quaint little touristy art towns in all of the Northwest. Then we rode through all the highlights of the Tulip Festival. Pancake flat, quiet roads, beautiful colors in the endless fields of tulips and daffodils on both sides of me (and they photograph horribly! Sorry, no good pictures on this ride!). The coordinators of the ride were impeccably friendly. They managed to keep that low-key, chill feeling even though the ride was pretty well attended and people came from all around to participate. I would have enjoyed riding with a buddy and taken the time to stop and wander through the fields of flowers, grab clam chowder at the stops, taste cheese samples from the dairy, wine from the wineries and wander through the endless farmer's markets.The second best highlight of the day was driving through the darling town of Edison. It seemed so odd to pedal through such a delightful town in the middle of nowhere. Where did this town come from? How does it manage to have the economy to be this cute? I just wanted to eat it up. And then stay there for a weekend. Or live there. Or something. The rest stop there served us truly amazing BreadFarm Bread (a name which cracks me up, but is a bread to be reckoned with!). Trying to find a link for this page on Edison proved unfruitful, and it isn't even on the map. But Wikipedia tells me it was settled by a utopian socialist. No wonder I feel so drawn to it!
DCIM100GOPRO
Most of the roads were chip sealed, which wouldn't have been so annoying had I been more used to my bike or the weather not been so poor. The headwinds were strong and fierce. I grimaced and tucked in and pedaled with all my might to go 8mph on level roads. The most distinctive part of this ride was the burn my legs felt early on. The burn continued to progress until by mile 50 I was singing songs to myself and pulling every coping mechanism from the deep pocket of years of grueling training. I knew I'd make it, but it was rough. By the time I got to the finish I wasn't sure I would be able to walk. My whole body shuddered with every step. My eyes fought back tears. I wasn't sure it was possible to feel so much burn in your legs just standing there. I tried to avoid the very scary thought of what my legs would feel like the next day.
DCIM100GOPRO
But then the boy came to get me. He had a fresh bottle of water, salty potato chips and a great attitude. With pride he took me to a public shower he found for me at the nearby marina in LaConner. He even bought me a pair of plushy socks (green ones to boot!) so I could wear the ones I had in the shower. The shower helped the burn in my legs a lot. By the time I got out I wasn't shaking at all and walking felt...doable. We then wandered the streets of LaConner and found ourselves in the delightful Calico Cafe. We ordered salads, which would have been pretty tasty in their own right, but they came with surprise slices of bread! It was a cafe after all, and these generous slices of bread, while totally different from Breadfarm Bread, was quite tasty. It came with a dollop of fluffy raspberry jam. I don't even like raspberry jam and it was good. And no, that's not just starving-post-ride me talking. Afterwards we walked to find and ice cream shop, but the town was already rolling up it's roads for the night and the tourists were heading to their rooms for the night.
It was a challenging ride, more challenge than I wanted. But I would totally do this ride again.
Ride Stats:
67.8 miles
4:42 hours
14.4mph average speed
27.2mph max speed
69 average cadence
930 ft climb
285 max altitude
146bpm average pulse
169bpm max pulse
45-58 degrees temp
2307 calories burned
Seattle to Portland (STP) 2005
My STP adventure began Thursday evening when I dropped my bike and luggage off at the Amtrak station. Afterwards I biked over to the Hollywood Theatre to watch first ever MS 150-sponsored movie night. A group of MS 150 Coordinators showed up, promoting the ride and handing out buttons. We watched “Breaking Away” from 1979. It was a subtle and wonderful film. Before the movie the lead coordinator talked and showed us a film from last years ride that brought me to tears! I boarded the TriMet bus bright and early Friday morning and then transferred onto the train. I had a pleasant ride up to Tacoma, with nice overcast views of the area. Many passengers were also going to the STP. They were easy to spot, with their bike jackets and jerseys, ride day tee shirts, and helmets. I felt so incognito, with only my conservative bike fleece to give me away. The rain fell heavily when I got off the bus in Tacoma. A headache started to brew from not drinking enough water. The water I brought to drink had floatie chunks and I dared not to drink it. My aunt Geri picked me up and we drove to her family’s huge house in Puyallup. I rested my headache away at their house while they ran errands. For dinner, the 4 of them treated me at a cute Italian restaurant owed by the family of one of my cousin Emerald’s friends. The food tasted divine and the service was fabulous! I choose my meal based on the waiter’s recommendation. I ate chicken piccata with artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, and an Italian sauce over fettuccini. It hit the spot, but put me directly to sleep. I slept all evening, making myself the unexciting guest. Geri woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning to drive to the start line in Seattle. With all the traffic, I still didn’t get to the start until 6:00. When I tried to air up my tires, the gauge got stuck on my valve and I ended up blowing the tire trying to get it off! It was my first flat with this new bike, but luckily the event did not set the tone for the ride! I met up with Jo and Brian’s friends, Kenny and Michelle, before the ride. We started the ride off with another Denver couple and a friend of theirs from Seattle. It took me a while to get used to the bike traffic, and even longer to realize the group never really would spread out. It is hard to perceive 8000 people on bikes going the same place at the same time. I was pleased to find every rider to be courteous and alert on the ride. Although I expected the STP to be swamped with ‘hot-shot’ riders, it really was a ride just like all the others. There were babies pulled by trailers, tots on tag-a-longs, racing bikes, fat tire mountain bikes, families, tandems, triple tandems, quads, recumbents, tandem recumbents, home-made bikes, tricycles, big wheels, and a unicycle. Yes, someone rode 204 miles on a unicycle! I saw older folks, dressed up folks, chubby folks, and bikes so old I marveled at their functionality! The first day went pretty smoothly. The food was okay. Free handouts consisted mostly of fruit, Cliff Bars, and Ultima Drink. I am not a big Cliff Bar fan and I found the Cotton Candy-tasting Ultima drink repulsive. Luckily I did not need too much sustenance and I was able to buy Gatorade to drown out the Ultima taste. I rode a mph faster than I expected! I didn’t get really tired until mile 75. We rode from Seattle to Renton, then Kent, Auburn, Algona, Pacific City, Sumner, Puyallup, Spanaway, Yelm, Rainier, Tenino, Bucoda, and finally to Centralia. I slept overnight in Centralia. The place was allright, but I was not impressed with the organization. I got the feeling that there were too many people to make the facilities feel special. Several eating places had long waits or simply ran out of food. There were about 1/3 as many massage therapists as there could have been. Still, it was a beautiful night and I felt great! I woke up Sunday morning earlier than I wanted to. The sounds of riders getting ready penetrated my earplugs. I slept terribly. The night consisted mainly of frequent uncomfortable wakings and horrid nightmares. My butt complained agonizingly, but somehow I managed to get back on the bike. The first 10 miles I began to wonder how I would ever finish amongst all the soreness and fatigue. But, by mile 130, I knew I could do it! Sunday brought a light rain for several hours. I cut up a plastic divider sheet and strapped it to my handlebars with twisty ties to hold the ride map. It kept the map dry for the most part. One rest stop was hosted by high school FBLA members, to which I hollered out, “Hey, I used to be in FBLA!” They didn’t seem impressed. At the St. Helens rest stop I really caught my second wind. That one was hosted by band members and boasted popcorn. I blasted through the last 30 or so miles, passing rider after rider as I tireless pushed on. My driving force, knowing the faster I rode the sooner I’d get off the bike, kept me going. On the second day we rode through Chehalis, Napavine, Winlock, Vadar, Castle Rock, Lexington, Kelso, Rainier Oregon, Lindburg, St. Helens, Scapoose and then Portland, at last! I met up with Kenny and Michelle just before the finish and we wheeled into Portland together in a huge group of finishers. The after party yielded lots and lots of freebies, some yaki soba noodles and all things bike. I am now planning my riding goals for next year! Zoe, exhausted from Teething-baby sleeplessness, picked me up at the party and my night ended in delight. I did it, I rode not only farther than ever before, but faster than I ever thought possible. On top of that, my body felt fine! There is an amount of saddle-bottom soreness, but my muscles feel fine, even without a massage! I am now taking requests for people who want to ride with me next year!
DAY 1: start: approx. 7:15AM, 6.41 hrs. ride time, 10hrs. elapsed time distance: 100.2, av 15 mph DAY 2: start: approx. 6:45AM, 7.22 hrs ride time, 9hrs. elapsed time distance: 103.8, av 14 mph