2012 TOUR DE WHATCOM

John Clark and host of others exit Fairhaven at the start of the Tour de Whatcom.

I had a book signing scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Village Green and with the Tour de Whatcom's 105-miler starting at 7:30 I knew there'd be little to no chance of me getting back in time. I admit that I'm pretty whimpy when it comes to putting pressure on myself, to pounding out the miles, gettin' 'er done, as it were, in order to be back by a certain time. So I figured I'd just cut my TdW short, maybe turn left on Enterprise Road between Lynden and Blaine and head back to Fairhaven that way. I'd make it to my book signing with time to spare!

Sean Fields, Scott Alexander, Ryan (?) and Dennis Weeks somewhere in the southern portion of TdW.

But ... heading out Old Samish in the early miles, the lead group--Rusty Dodge, Scott Alexander, Logan Wetzel, Dennis Weeks, etc.--were right there, I mean right there, seemingly reach-out-and-touch close. So after some backing and forthing, should I or shouldn't I-ing, I figured what the heck. Since I'm not riding the full century I might as well hook up with them. A goodly sprint or two later and there I was, lanterne rouge on the Great Tour de Whatcom Express Train. I hung on for dear life as later, the diesel engines up front pulled us along at 26-, 28-, even 30-miles an hour. I was dangling off the back like a tin can tied to a newlywed's car. 

Riders approach the Chuckanut Drive bump just south of Fairhaven.

We'd blown by the first aid station at mile 20 and the only reason I was able to hang on was because I was planning on getting off the Express (probably 20 to 24 riders) at the Nugent's Corner aid station at mile 40. I'd figured some other folks would stop too and that I could hook with a smaller, slightly less rapid group. But the Express Train slowed not at all for aid station 2 either.

Unfortunately, I'd assumed we'd be stopping so I put on the brakes, started to pull in to the parking lot and then realized I was the only one. For a few moments I watched as the Whatcom Express began to disappear down the road. After about a second or two's consideration, I stood and sprinted as hard as I could to catch back up with them, not exactly easy when they're motoring along at 25 miles per hour. But I caught back on, tried to ignore the 180 registering on my heart monitor, took my seat in the caboose and figured I'd try to hang on 'til the Lynden stop at mile 55.

Tête de la course.

This was the seventh annual TdW and I've ridden probably five of them. I rode the first one in 2006, which seemed to be made of up myself, John Clark, Stacy Moon and maybe 3 other riders. I'm exaggerating, I know, but it's been pretty cool to see this ride grow and become such a destination event for folks in NW Washington and Lower BC. Good on ya', Todd Williams!

That's a long way to get to my next point which is, since I've done this ride so many times I know the course pretty well. (It's the first route in my book!) So, when the Express Train reached Nooksack, took a right and began heading north on Highway 9, I knew immediately that we were off course. But I'm not going to raise a fuss with folks pulling me along at 25 miles an hour so I just smiled, nodded my head and assumed they'd figure out a way to get us heading west again toward Lynden. Which they did.

The Great Tour de Whatcom Express Train.

Thankfully, at Lynden everybody stopped; here's where I was getting off the Express. I'd made great time 'til this point (my Garmin 500 told me that we'd averaged 23 mph to this point--smokin' fast for me; we'd done 55 miles in two hours 26 minutes)--so with my amended shortening of the TdW route, I knew that with ease I should be back in time for my book signing. 

Between bites and munches of various sweet and salty aid station offerings, Richard Kiene asked if I wanted to ride the next section with he and Sean Fields in a smaller group at a slightly slower pace. Sounded great to me. Just then though, Richard eyed the head engines of the Express Train getting back on the road so he sprinted to his bike to get back on and I pretty much did the same.  

After riding the 50-miler to Birch Bay and back, tutu-wearing Mary from Everson peruses my book on the Village Green.

But this lasted for only five miles or so. Rusty, Scott, Logan, et al., were just too strong and fast and at mile 60, there was a definite split. I gave one or two chases to get back on, but there was no way. But I had what I'd wanted along: a small, still fast but slightly slower group--Richard, Sean and Ryan (?) from Australia--and we got busy, continuing west toward Blaine. Approaching Enterprise Road, my intended turn-off, I did some quick calculations. I was so far ahead of schedule--so far ahead of where I couldn't even imagine I'd ever be--that I had no reason to cut it short. And truthfully, at 50 (I'll be 51 in less than a month), how many more chances will I get to finish a century in--if things continued to go well--close to four-and-a-half hours? I was all in, and the four of us worked well together. We clicked off some crazy-fast (for me) splits: 60 miles in 2:39, 80 miles in 3:38, etc.

Speed-wise, the four of us maintained a more humane 20-, 21-mph pace and wind-wise, she seemed pretty accomodating. Maybe a slight tailwind from east to west. However, we knew the real Wind would be from Birch Bay back to B'ham. Every time I've done this ride, that homestretch wind at the end of a long day in the saddle feels like a baseball bat whack to the face. But I almost didn't get there.

Highway 9.

Riding so hard for so long isn't easy. And even though I'd spent much of the day hanging on for dear life at the back it's extremely strenuous sprinting like hell everytime there's an acceleration after a turn or a set of railroad tracks. The accordian effect can be a beeatch. So I wasn't super surprised when at mile 77, shortly before the Birch Bay aid stop, my left leg seized up mid-pedal in one giant mega-cramp. I pulled off and sort of fell over onto the grass at the side of the road. Luckily, I'd just finished a pull and was slightly off the back so I didn't take anyone down with me.

Usually, I can stretch these things out and make the excruciating pain disappear but it wasn't happening. The downside of being at the back was the others had no idea anything had happened and as I limped and hobbled around attempting to get the pain to stop, I watched as Richard, Sean and Ryan rode on, turning left on Harborview toward Birch Bay.

At the Village Green Tour de Whatcom riders get ready.

Eventually the pain disappeared, I got back on my bike and began pedaling gingerly hoping that at the Birch Bay aid station, maybe I could hook up with some other riders for the epic Wind Battle back to Bellingham. But lo and behold, I'd not pedaled 50 yards when I saw Richard, Sean and Ryan riding back toward me and wondering what had happened. I was stunned! Grateful as hell too. I didn't really know these guys per se, had ridden with Richard once or twice, maybe Sean once (?) and none of us had ever met Ryan before. (I'm still not sure if that's even his name.)

That's one of my favorite things about these rides: you always meet new people and you end up working together to help each other have the best ride possible, and to have the most fun. Even if you ride with your regular mates, you usually end up adding one or two (or five, whatever) new folks to your list of friends. Love it!

Chuckanut Drive.

Thankfully, the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. They had Cokes at the fun, well-stocked Birch Bay aid station and to stave off further craps I ate a banana and gobbled down every salty thing I could find including a couple Slim Jim-type items. Sean had given me one of his Enduralytes as well. (Thanks, dude!) We were seranaded by a high school marching band playing, among other songs, "Poker Face" by Lady Ga Ga.


Perhaps making the return ride most uneventful was the fact that apparently the epic Wind Battle had been cancelled. It wasn't bad at all. Last year, I remember taking pulls at the front of my group and being embarrassed as hell that I couldn't pedal faster than 12 mph. This year, it was fine and we cruised it on in able to maintain our 20 to 22 mph. And guess what--I made it back for my book signing with 15 minutes to spare! We got back to the Village Green so early that the finish line cheerleaders hadn't even arrived yet. (Only bummer of the whole day.)

Mucho thanks for an amazing ride to the Great Tour de Whatcom Express Train as well as to Richard, Sean and Ryan (?)!

Here're some geekmeister facts'n' figures: Total ride distance/time: 105.7 mi./4:56. With stops, 5:16.
Our 100-mile ride time was 4:33; with stops, 4:53. Crikey! I've never ridden 100 nearly that fast before.

After the ride, I spent a couple hours selling copies of "75 Classic Rides: Washington" out on the Village Green with Christina from always-supportive Village Books. Thanks VB! And everyone who stopped by! 

As for most of these photos, I tried something new by mounting my Go Pro Hero on the seat mount. Kinda cool. Sorry most of the pics are dark; it was cloudy much of the ride.

Rolling through Fairhaven at the start.

The great John Clark gets ready to rock.

The Mount Baker Bike Club won the Tour de Whatcom trophy.

Country roads down in the Skagit County stretch.

Me. Stuffing my face at the Lynden aid station.

Sun is out for a little bit on Highway 9.

Just south of Blaine, Ryan heads toward Birch Bay.

Me 'n' my books.

MORNING RIDE WITH GEORGIA CHAIN GANG

Had a fun time this morning riding with four guys from the Chain Gang, an Atlanta-based group of riders who were finishing up an 800-mile, multi-day bike trip. The four riders, all between 60- and 73-years-old, started about 10 days ago by riding STP (Seattle to Portland), then headed east along the Gorge before turning north through Goldendale, Yakima, Ellensburg, Leavenworth, Chelan, Winthrop, Washington Pass, Marblemount and up our way. Today they were finishing up by riding from Bellingham to Lynden. Incroyable and inspirational as heck because these boys be strong! (Unfortunately, I only got one gentleman's name: Vern Zander.)

I was able to direct them around some of the B'ham construction on the north side of town as well as turn them on to wonderful Aldrich Road just north of Bakerview. They loved it and it felt great to showcase some of the terrific road riding we have out here!

Great job, Chain Gang!

Upcoming: Tour de Whatcom on Saturday and just a reminder that I'll be signing books right after in the Village Green. Come by and say "Hi!"

RETURN TO LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN

I've got this Winthrop-Conconully ride on the brain--a 70-miler that includes significant climbing and descending chunks on gravel road--and I'm trying to decide what kind of bike to ride: 29r MTB or a 'cross bike. So Titanium Cancellara (Scott Young) and I headed up (and down) Lookout Mountain, Galby's big brother, to see how enjoyable (or not) it is on my Giant TCX 1. 

Scott's expression pretty much says it all--Lookout is tough, hard, difficult and a pain-in-the-glutes/quads/calves/hammies. Only 5.2 miles long, it climbs 2,032 feet for an average grade of 7.4 percent but that's deceptive for way more than a mile of it is flat or downhill. All I know is that w/ my 38-26 (as opposed to my Tarmac's helpful 34-27), I suffered mightily. 

 

Usually, Lookout rewards w/ a stunning vista south toward the Chuckanuts, Bellingham Bay and San Juan Islands (see this post from last year), but today she was pretty socked in.



The descent requires a short bushwack and we wondered if we'd have trouble following the trail, but it was no problem.



Titanium Cancellara fends off a gigantic foxglove!

On the way back to town, we stopped by Lake Padden where Charlie Heggem, RD for the Mount Baker Hill Climb, was helping out with the Padden Duathlon. Which reminds me, the road to Artist Point opens next Tuesday--woo-hoo!  

Kinda funny, Tyler Mitchell, who rode with the Ti Cowboys during last year's Tour de Whatcom (this year's TdW is next Saturday!) was out shooting phots for the duathlon and snapped the below shot of me. (I look in a spot of bother; I think Scott just passed me for the town sign sprint.)

TOUR DE WHATCOM 2011

Above photo is from the Bellingham Herald website--John Clark and I are the blurred riders; the in-focus dude is someone who rode with us all day but whose name I unfortunately forget.

Given my super-strenuous, epically repetitive ride just two days earlier (four times up the last 8 miles of the Mount Baker Highway; 9,100 feet of climbing) I was kinda sorta fearing Saturday's Tour de Whatcom. Certainly, 105 miles is long and is never something to be taken lightly. But more than that, I knew that given the mostly flat route, the pretty much perfect weather conditions (60s, 70s and sunny) and that all three Titanium Cowboys were riding, that at some point a group mindset of "How fast can we do this?" would take over. And it did. We rode the last 100 miles in 4 hours and 54 minutes My first sub-5 hour century! Cool.

(Way too complicated to get into, but very simply: John Clark and I rode the 4 miles to the start from our homes and then finished the route 4 miles before the end, so I'm counting the last 100 miles of riding as an even century.)

John Clark, Scott Young and I at the Birch Bay aid just stop just before the annoying, head windy return ride to Bellingham.

Fairly early on (I think it was near Lake Samish) we hooked up with two other riders (photographer Tyler Mitchell and a nice guy whose name I forget) who were able to share the workload for the rest of the ride. This was key because, like I say, I wasn't at my strongest. Odd thing about riding so hard for so long is that you don't get a chance to really talk to one another; you're just kind of taking turns rotating off the front. Wouldn't want to ride like this all the time, but every once in a while it's fun. 

Our Tour de Whatcom group of five.

Seems to me that in just a half-dozen years or so that the Tour de Whatcom has become insanely popular. Which I hope doesn't begin to work against it. All rides (105-miler, 50-miler, 25-miler) have staggered starts so that they return to Bellingham at roughly the same time. This clogged up a lot of the roads in the north and northwest corner of the county and we saw some odd-slash-dubious choices being made by both riders and vehicle drivers. And the Ferndale Rd.-Slater Rd. intersection was backed up for a few hundred yards with both cars and bikes, something I'd never seen before out in the county. Perhaps in future editions, someone needs to be stationed there to direct car and rider traffic. You'd hate to see riders get hit taking unnecessary chances while trying to cross Slater Road.

But all in all, a great day. Next up, the Shasta Summit Century on Sunday. Yikerz!

RIDIN', RACIN' PLANS FOR 2011

Crummy January weather has me looking ahead to when it'll one day be warm and sunny. Or at least not so cold 'n' wet 'n' windy. First up, I've gotta finish my Classic Road Rides of Washington book, however the weather hasn't exactly been cooperative of late. Oh well, nothing I can do about that.

So I'll look forward to mountain bike races and road rides. I've already mentioned ad nauseum Oregon's High Cascades 100 and Olympia's Capitol Forest 50, both of which are beginning to fill and making me a little nervous that I won't get in. ('Course if I made a decision on which I want to do, that'd probably solve everything, wouldn't it? ) Another one that's caught my eye is the Test of Endurance 100-miler (and 50-miler), also a Mudslinger event in Oregon.

Certainly want to do a couple of the Indie Series races. Had a great time two years ago but missed all of last season with a broken collarbone. (2011 schedule doesn't seem to be out yet.) BuDu Racing also has their series which runs February through April so I may jump into one or two of those races. Last year I single-speeded (izzat a word?) Cookin' in the Kettles, on a great course through Whidbey Island's Fort Ebey State Park.

Probably do some local(ish) road events too--Skagit Spring Classic in May, the Tour de Whatcom in July. I've done Wenatchee's Apple Century a couple times, which usually heads north along the Columbia River to Chelan. I notice this year's course, however, heads inland toward Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee. That could be kind of cool, especially if there's a tailwind from L-town east. One that intrigues me (and one that will definitely hurt) is the Chelan Century Challenge which heads up McNeil Canyon. The overall ride climbs 9,000 feet with 2,200 of it up the 5-mile McNeil Canyon Road. Not sure how they do it, but apparently you can ride McNeil Canyon as a timed hill climb. (See here for my McNeil Canyon write-up.)   

Speaking of hill climbs, after a couple years off, I think I'd like to give the Mount Baker Hill Climb (Ride 542) another shot. (Click here for my write-up on the last time I raced it.) Which means of course I'll be starving myself throughout July and August to somehow get my weight below 160. My best time was 2008: 1:38:10. This year I'll be in a new age group (as opposed to say, a New Age group), 50-59. Damn, that sounds frickin' ancient!

TOUR DE WHATCOM PHOTOS, ETC.

Scott "Titanium Cowboy" and I rode the 107-mile Tour de Whatcom yesterday, finishing just before the skies opened and sprinkled a bit for the first time since ... when, 4th of July? Great ride, great fun, and the collarbone felt really good.

Photos here are from the Birch Bay rest stop at mile 85 which, incidently, was the first we'd seen of other riders for about 30 miles. We'd been in no man's land since Lynden where we'd split from the group we'd been riding with b/c we were both dying for a cup of coffee. So we pulled into Woods, downed our cups of joe, and thereafter found ourselves on our own fighting a headwind seeminly all the way. No matter, Scott is super strong and I could always fake that my collarbone was hurting if I didn't feel like taking my turn pulling into the wind.

It's a good route--you hit just about every town in Whatcom County--with lots of flat fast sections, particularly early. On highway 9 north--Acme to Deming to Everson--we flew, clicking of the miles at 22-, 24-mph for a couple hours.

 

Birch Bay is also where the 50-mile riders turnaround, and though we weren't able to find a group to ride home with to Bellingham, it was fun to see all the other riders--lots of big, heavy mountain bikes and otherwise old school rigs. People just out having fun and really, that's what it's all about.

In all, I tallied 107 miles with 2,900 feet of elevation gain.

Next up, Hurricane Ridge on Tuesday.

PACKWOOD-PARADISE-STEVENS CANYON LOOP

Rode a kind of RAMROD Jr. today. Eighty miles with 6,000 feet of elevation gain including the climb to Paradise (el. 5,400 feet) and the one over near Stevens Canyon that climbs to about 3,500 feet. Only Cayuse Pass was missing. As well as about 75 other miles. (Click here to read about my epic bonk on Cayuse two years ago.)

Still, it was plenty tough. Rode it all on my own. From Packwood, where I was on the road at 5:45 a.m. if you can believe it, I headed northwest via Skate Creek Road and the Nisqually entrance of Mount Rainier National Park. Saw many elk along the way but hardly any cars, which was great.

From Nisqually, thus began the 17-mile climb to Paradise which isn't super duper steep, just long. Along the way, I kept imagine the juicy something-or-other I'd get to eat at the visitor center cafeteria once I made it to the top. Alas, it hadn't opened yet; I left so early I made it to Paradise by 9:30. From there, the screaming-fun descent that goes on and on into Stevens Canyon. Probably my all-time favorite road bike descent. Had to stop a few times for photos--saw a big mama bear and two cubs and just above is Reflection Lake. Rainier is truly an amazing place!

Next up, Tour de Whatcom this Saturday.

DEVILS GULCH VIDEO

It's Saturday before the Roslyn Indie Series races (http://www.indieseries.com/), your first in the 45+ Sport division, and you know how it is. You want to stay off your feet so to pass the time you hunt through music tapes you made in the early '90s on your old four-track recorder in the hopes that something could be used for background music on your mountain biking videos. Your hopes are dashed, unfortunately, because everything is ... well, not that good. But you're determined, and you find one instrumental that you hope is not too terribly embarrassing and, what they hey--you put it up. Thus, I give you my Devils Gulch video accompanied by me on several guitars and drum machine (that doesn't change).

Whilst I havest you, don't forget the Tour de Whatcom (http://www.tourdewhatcom.com/) on August 1. This great event benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County.

MERRY X-MAS OR WHATEVER!

OK, this being the end of the year, I'd like to share with you a mishmash of photos, some of which are from this year, some of which are not. Below is Lance Armstrong--I mean, me-- in the Mount Baker Hill Climb in September. Absolutely glorius day!
Speaking of another absolutely glorius day, here's the wife, Jen, paddling in June on Mountain Lake on Orcas Island. Below is the ice and snow on that steep-walled stretch of the Lost Lake Trail. That's Scott Young (looking like he's hanging his head after being caught doing something naughty) and Paul Ricci from a couple weeks ago.
Here we're at about mile 2 of the 105-mile Tour de Whatcom (http://tourdewhatcom.com/). I saw the photographer and went for it. That's John Clark's left arm. By the way, the TdW raised $15,000 for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Whatcom County. Right on! (Photo by John Brunk.)
Speaking of John, here he is about five years ago starring in "The Giant that Ate Mount Baker".Bake when he was about three or so.

Sunset from the top of Orcas Island's Mount Constitution back in June.

Emma Robbins and Bake on that same Orcas trip. Man, I wish it was summer now!