FAIRHAVEN RABBIT RIDE VIDEO

Yesterday, whilst all the Bellingham world was Ski and/or Seaing, myself and a handful of others (six?) did the Rabbit Ride. Great fun, made a couple new friends--Brian Bressler of PainCave Cycling fame and someone named Scott, who's last name I didn't get--got in a great workout and, always important, set a couple Strava PRs on the Colony Road loop. Gotta love that! Please enjoy the above vid of said ride.

Chuckanut Drive

W. Lake Samish Drive

 Shout-out of congrats to Titanium Cowboys John Clark (mountain bike) and Titanium Cancellara (road bike) whose Ski to Sea team, Aven Construction, won the the Whatcom County Mixed division at Ski to Sea. Check out the mega-trophy!



FAIRHAVEN RABBIT RIDE

If, like me, you're not doing Ski to Sea on Sunday, consider doing the Rabbit Ride, a fun sorta race(ish) ride that follows the 32-mile Colony Road Loop. (Hey, that's in my new book!) Here's how it works: every Sunday riders leave from Fairhaven Bike and Ski between 8 and 8:30 a.m. with slower riders leaving closer to 8, and faster ones closer to 8:30. Groups of no more than five leave every three minutes, the idea being that faster riders will eventually catch slower riders who, in turn, can hopefully hang on to the faster group. I've done this ride only once but had a great time and plan on being there this Sunday.

John Hauter, who owns Fairhaven Bike and Ski, told me he's also trying to grow the Tortuous Ride (Tortoise, get it?), geared for slower riders and/or those new to group rides. Whereas the Rabbit Ride is for those who ride in the 15 to 21 m.p.h. range, the Tortuous Ride is for those who generally ride 13 m.p.h. and under. Torturous Riders leave at 7:45 a.m. Sunday and basically ride the Lake Samish Loop, about 20 miles.

For more info, contact Fairhaven Bike and Ski or John Hauter.

In other news, I want to thank Village Books, Mount Baker Bike Club, Everybody Bike—not to mention the super terrific audience!—for a fun time at last night’s Chuckanut Radio Hour!



LATE AUGUST MTB, ROAD RIDES

Got in a couple great rides this past weekend. Saturday was mountain biking with Titanium Cancellara. With some bushwacking through a recently logged stretch, we were able to connect the old Burnout Rd.-Land of the Lost-Pine and Cedar Lakes loop, one of our faves but one that had been out of comission for almost a year now. Above, Scott picks his way down toward what remains of the Ender Trail and the Rockyard. Just follow the ridge in the direction of Lost Lake, which you can see in the above pic. (Pine and Cedar lakes are on the ridge beyond Lost Lake.)

Here's a shot that looks a lot like the top photo except when you zoom in and see that Titanium Cancellara was being buzzed by ...

... a Titanium Hummingbird! Cool. It was great to connect this loop again; we bushwacked for probably a half-mile through serious ankle-buster underbrush, but saw a route where we could probably cut the bushwacking in half. Burnout Rd. has four (or five) killer steep stretches and of course, the climb back up to Pine and Cedar is a mega-hill. In all, I rode 28 miles with 3,600 feet of elevation gain. And broke a chain. And was eaten by mosquitoes as Scott and I (mostly Scott) fixed it.

Sunday, I rode the Rabbit Ride for the first time. This group road ride leaves out of Fairhaven Park and is essentially a ride of the Colony Road loop (about 30 miles) at race pace. Self-seeded groups leave at 3-minute intervals with the goal being to catch the groups that leave before you; slower groups leave earlier, faster ones later. Despite my 3-1/2 hours spent climbing up and down the Chuckanuts the day before, hubris made me join the fastest group and I surely paid. I had a heck of a time hanging on to wheels and my time at the front was short and puny in power. Oh well, did the best I could, hung on for most of it before I ended up in no-man's land on my own. Still and all, a great ride and I spent the rest of Sunday totally dead!