MOUNT ERIE RIDE

Ah yes, Mount Erie ...
... let me just say that this is probably the hardest frickin' hill I've ever ridden. (Perhaps contributing to that impression is that Scott Young, this other person, and I had already ridden 40 miles to get there, much of it into those Skagit headwinds.) Mount Erie Road climbs 900 feet in 1.7 miles, 600 of that in the last mile. And the leadup from the south climbs about 400 in probably 1-1/2 miles. Above, see Pinkboy Young doubled over the handlebars in exhaustion and me wearing an expression of a mouth-breathing goober whilst I try to catch my breath.
Afterward, Scott, the other person, and I stopped at the charming Lake Erie Grocery for refreshment. The retired gas pumps were stuck $1.45 per gallon. Below is Mount Erie, also renowned as rock climbing hotspot.


On the way back, we added a loop around Lake Samish and a mini-Donut ride out Marine Drive to total 100 miles. With 4,600 feet climbing. RAMROD, here we come!

CHUCKANUT RADIO HOUR

Huuuuge thrill. I'd written an essay about my father and read it last night during a live taping of the Chuckanut Radio Hour (http://www.thechuckanutradiohour.com/) at Bellingham's Leopold ballroom. Packed house too, like 300 people. Headed up by Chuck and Dee Robinson of Village Books fame (http://www.villagebooks.booksense.com/), the show is kind of a local rendering of "A Prairie Home Companion" complete with live music, comedy skits, readings, etc.

Doug Fine, author of "Farewell My Suburu" (http://www.dougfine.com/), a humorous tome about living green on his ranch in New Mexico, was the featured author/interviewee. Other performers being the venerable Robert Muzzy, the hilarious Alan Rhodes, the dextrous guitarist Walt Burkett and a bunch of others. It was really, really cool being onstage with so many talented local folks.

The show airs Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 9 p.m. on KRME, 102.3 FM. It's show 15, I believe, and I'm on just after the intermission, about halfway. But listen to the whole thing; the show's great! There's also a way to listen to it via the magic of the Superduper International Worldwide Innerwebber thingee but I've not figured it out. Here's that: www.shoutcast.com/directory/?s=kmre.
Big weekend coming up. Bake's school has a field trip on Friday down to the World Rhythm Festival (http://www.swps.org/) at Seattle Center. Saturday, it's the Washington State Elementary Chess Championships (http://www.chessenrichment.net/) in Redmond, and Sunday I'm hoping to do the Vance Creek Master C's race down in WayDownSouthSomewhere, Washington.

Below, apropos of almost nothing, is another video of one of my New Jersey rides from about 10 days ago.