MOUNT BAKER HILL CLIMB (RIDE 542) PHOTOS

Another great day on the mountain! 

Almost at the top. Not much more than 1K to go at this point. (Or, for folks heading down the mountain and back to Glacier, about 40K to go.)

Certainly one of the stories of the 10th annual Mount Baker Hill Climb was the weather up top--about 45 degrees and a chilly, windy, foggy soup. This is Bellingham's Becca Steinkamp about 100 yards shy of the Artist Point finish line. (Tomorrow's forecast is for a high of 35 so we can be thankful we're not racing tomorrow.) The other story is that this is the first time since 2010 that the well-organized, Charlie Heggem production has been able to go all the way to the top. Last year, the D.O.T. never cleared the road's last 2.5 miles of snow and the year before that, inclement weather shortened the race.

I rode the Fast Recreational race with my GoPro camera mounted on my seatpost pointing backward and clicking shots off every 10 seconds. Got some pretty cool  pics. 

Moments after the start. (Or was this the rollout down to the start?) That's RD Charlie Heggem with the bullhorn.  Another fine job!

The fast guys. Results aren't up yet  but I think these guys were in the top 10 of the Competitive Race. (Top seven, maybe?) That's Rusty Dodge in the orange Fanatik kit.  

The Competitive Race winner. Again, sorry I don't have his name yet but he's on Team Exergy, a Boise, Idaho squad that I think raced this year's Tour of California. Women's winner is on the same team, I believe. (If anyone's got this info, feel free to send it along. Otherwise, I'll post it tomorrow when results will be up.)

More upsies and downsies right about where the fog cloud descended up us.  That's the two leaders of the Competitive Race right behind the motorcycle.

Epic Trumpet Guy!

Epic Unicycle Guy!

Epic Skirts Gals!

I hope to heck the gal in red had warm clothes waiting for her at Artist Point.

A cheery Safety Signs dude.

Terrific Tammy Bennett and her brother with about 1K to go!

Another seatpost cam shot: that's Chris Behee, the Galbraith Map guy, on the left.

Early on the big 10.5-mile, 3,000-foot climb to Artist Point. A few miles before this on the Powerhouse Hill, number 677 crashed right in front of me and I had no choice but to ride right over he and his bike. Luckily, no one was hurt (he said I bent his derailleur) and in fact, he finished ahead of me.

I like this shot of these determined dudes finishing strong. 

C-C-C-COLD! Kirsten Wert at the top. The dude in orange is Lance Sherwood, a real nice guy. He and his buddy drove all the way from Spokane just for this race. They each bought copies of my "75 Classic Rides" book after the race too! (Thanks, guys!)

Check back tomorrow and/or the next day--I've got lots more photos I want to post.