Month: April 2010

Northwest Crank – Day 1 Thursday (Wenatchee to Ephrata)

The day greeted us with clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70’s. A pleasant change from the rain and overcast skies in Seattle.

We all headed off at 9am towards Quincy. A brisk tailwind kept the pace high and I was glad I was riding a bike with gears this year. The last time I was out here two years ago I rode my fixie on this ride and was spinning out and unable to keep up with the group. The max speed on my fixed gear with it’s current gearing is about 25mph (and at that speed my legs are really spinning!).

About 15 miles into the ride everyone, except me, took a left turn to head up to Pallisades. I’d decided not to go that route due to 6 miles of gravel which I thought my tires might not be wide enough to deal with. I heard later that they would have been OK.

Anyway I found myself all alone heading east towards Quincy and Ephrata. It was a great day though and I didn’t mind. Here’s a shot from the side of the road en route.

I made good time to the half way turn around at Ephrata and as there was no time pressure decided to have a proper lunch. The good thing about these rides is that all that matters is calories as you’ll be burning through whatever you eat. This was my oh so healthy lunch.

Then is was time to head back and face the headwind. It was very strong from the get go and I settled into a fairly slow pace. About 10 miles later I saw a group of 4 people behind me which was a welcome sight. This was the lead group from the Pallisades option who had looped around and were now returning on the same route as me. I latched on to them and picked up the pace considerably (they are all strong riders and towed me along for the next 20 miles or so to a manned support stop).

Grabbed a quick sandwich and then it was time for the final stretch back to the Inn (22 miles or so). The winds were even stronger here and it was difficult to get a good draft even with the group. Eventually they pulled away from me and I was left to battle in by myself. You know it’s a strong wind when you descending a steep downhill and if you stop pedaling the wind actually brings you to a standstill!

It really made you feel you were out in the elements. I got back to the Inn around 5pm. Now we’ll see how the body recovers ahead of tomorrow’s hilly ride.

P.S. This was dinner

A light drizzle saw our group of 36 riders take off at 7am on Saturday morning from the start just outside Starbucks. The “fast” riders promptly took off into the distance, finishing eventually in 11:37 hours (exactly 4 hours ahead of me). I rode with the second group for the first couple of hours but eventually had to drop off the back as we hit our first climbs at Chuckanut Drive. The pace was a little faster than my body was feeling up to so I decided to continue at my own tempo along the 8 mile rolling climb.

Got a bit of everything on this ride with rain, hail, wind and, if not sun, at least glimpses of blue sky. I was even tempted to take off some of my rain gear at some points.

The middle stretch was a bit of a slog into the wind and I wasn’t feeling particularly fast. Hopefully the spring camp in Wenatchee and a series of back to back days will get my legs faster for the longer rides ahead.

An unfortunate incident in the final stretch back along Highway 20. It was dark at this stage and three of us were riding in a pace line in the wide shoulder alongside the road. The lead rider didn’t spot a curb jutting out into the shoulder until the last moment and swerved very late. The rider behind him went down and I had no where to go and went down as well. There’s a sinking feeling when you know there’s nothing you can do to avoid a crash and just hope for the best. I hit the ground on my left side but all my rain gear protected me from any real road rash. I quickly got up to get the bike, and myself off the road, and then checked for damage. I’d scraped up my elbow a bit and bruised my hip. The front wheel wasn’t turning but I was able to straighten it out in the lights of  a concerned car full of people who had stopped to see if any assistance was needed. Fortunately the other rider was OK as well.

Then it was back on the bike for the final 25 miles before I could seize up. It would have sucked to DNF that close to the finish after over 160 miles.

Ultimately finished in 15:37 near the back of the field.