MORE MOUNT BAKER HILL CLIMB (RIDE 542) PHOTOS

Here're some more pics, a mix of GoPro seatpost-mounted shots and handheld shots. This post has Hill Climb photos as well. 

Also, just to let you know, I'll be doing some upcoming slideshows and book signings at Puget Sound area REI stores; click on the EVENTS box up there for more info. I'd love to see you there. (All events are free but you have to register online to ensure a spot.) I'll no doubt be using some of these shots in my presentations.

Enjoy ... 

I love this guy's expression. It's like, 'OMG, this McQuaide dude is just killing it up Powerhouse Hill; it's all I can do to hold his wheel.' Then again, he could be thinking: 'I just wish this old guy would get out of my way.'

Red. Love the red in pics. It just pops.

Saw several kids riding on Sunday. That was cool. 

Orange pops too.

See above comment re: kids.

Nathan Cranston (550) of Everson. He e-mailed me that he lives in the "lesser known bicycling paradise of Everson." E-town rocks, baby! Ride 34 in my "75 Classic Rides" book begins and ends in Everson!

See above comment re: red.

I dig this guy's Jens Voigt expression. SHUT UP, LEGS!

The final K fog.

This was with about 150 meters to go. Must've been really freaky for riders who'd never been here before. They must've been afraid they were going to ride off the edge of the earth. 

Thanks B'ham Herald photog for tilting the camera and making it look like I'm climbing really, really fast. 

The aftermath of the little Powerhouse Hill crash. (See post below for more details.) Here, rider 677 checks bike damage after I unavoidably rode over his bike.  

Some friendly folks out for a 24.5-mile ride. That climbs 4,300 feet. And ends in a 45-degree foggy soup.

Fast guys.

Fast and not-as-fast guys.

Fast guys.

Bellingham's Philip Buri, all smiles on the descent.

Cool.

Cold.

Pat Skaggs and family. Cold.

Hot Bodies in Motion. These guys were good! 

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.

MORE PHOTOS, DETAILS FROM HART'S PASS-SLATE PEAK RIDE

Above are a couple panoramic shots from the top of Slate Peak taken with my fancy-pants Samsung Galaxy S III phone. (Of which, frankly, I don't feel worthy.) In the top photo, Brian Ecker, who made it to the 7,488-foot summit some 40 minutes before me, sits in the sun protected from the wind by that small building. Though it was 70 degrees down in Mazama where we started, at the top of Slate--which is 5,500 feet higher--it was 46 degrees!

Heading out. Our start/finish point was on Lost River Road, across the street from the Mazama  Store.

This was at the start of the lower narrow, scary section. This Harley dude appeared to be considering heading up but thought better of it and stopped. 

Such an amazing ride!

Good luck to everyone riding tomorrow's Mount Baker Hill Climb (Ride 542) and High Pass Challenge!

CX-PLORING THE CIRRUS BODY FLOAT

My wife and son have been back East all week visiting family and so I had ambitious plans of riding throughout the state both near and far. And while I got in an Artist Point assault and a visit to the Stevens Pass Bike Park (for an upcoming Seattle Times story), for the most part my sub-5 hour Tour de Whatcom has left me pretty much worn out.

So instead, I've been pedaling from my house and enjoying some CX-ploration rides on my cyclocross bike. The above pic is from the Burnout Road Overlook; that's Samish Island and Mount Erie (ouch!) in the distance. Below is from the towers at the top of Galbraith Mountain.  



On both these rides, I was trying something new: a Cirrus Body Float seat post suspension thingee. For months, Charlie Heggem, who's RD of the Mount Baker Hill Climb, has been trying to get me to try one and truthfully, I haven't been interested. (He's involved in a sales and marketing capacity, I believe, with the Bellingham company that makes them.) Last thing I want to do is add anything to my bike, especially something that looks frankly, a little dated.

But after two rides with it installed on my cyclocross bike--totalling about 50 miles, most of that on gravel road and hard-packed trail--I have to admit, I kinda liked it.



On Tuesday, Charlie and I rode Galby and I liked how the Body Float absorbed the bumps on seated gravel road climbs. I felt less jostled and pushed around than normal, able to track better and keep a straighter, more efficient line up the road. (My cyclocross bike is a fairly middle-of-the-road Giant TCX 1; aluminum w/ carbon fork.)

When descending, the differenence was even more noticeable. Fast descents on logging-type roads can be pretty miserable on a 'cross bike w/ cantilever brakes, but on the way down, the bumps felt like they were being gobbled up; I felt a lot more stable and confident and thus was willing to go faster. I found pretty much the same thing the following day on a 30-miler that took me to the top of Burnout Road and down into the Lost Lake basin.

 

I'd be interested to see how the Body Float worked on my rigid-fork, single-speed 29er. But I can't see using it on my full-carbon road bike which is already comfortable as heck and never leaves me sore.

Check the website for more details about it; I don't know if it's available now or will be soon or even how much it costs. (What good am I?)

Riding a road bike w/ skinny 23C tires, Charlie climbed to the Galby Towers and descended the Wonderland Trail. Guess what: he got a flat tire.