Flying Wheels 2010

We couldn’t ask for a better day to ride in the Flying Wheels Century. There were six of us Mike, John, Eric, Chris, Steve, and myself who met at the Marymoor starting line. 

It took us a little while to get organized and started but eventually we all found each other in the large crowd.  Steve, did you ever find any freebies?  We started at about 8:15am. The route took us out east of the park heading south on E. Lake Sammamish Pkwy. It wasn’t too long before we hit the first big hill of the ride (Inglewood Hill).  Chris set the early pace up the hill and made it to the top first.  Nice job!  Just to let you know, Chris rode from home so he was warmed up and ready to go where as the rest of us were still trying to loosen up. (I had to make some kind of excuse).  We worked our way around the top of the plateau then came down 244^th Ave NE to Redmond / Fall City Rd.  From there we headed east and made a left turn up Ames Lake Rd, the second of 5 hills on the route.  Chris started strong but for some reason stopped half way up the hill…what’s with that?  Btw, you should see John’s new ride…a grand spanking new Cannondale with Dura-aces…sweet!  We continued heading north along Carnation Farm Rd where we had to deal with a bunch of rollers but handled them without much difficulty. As we descended down into the Snoqualmie Valley, we came to our first stop of the day at Vincent Community Center (mile 15).

The menu was fruit, power bar, cookies, and watered down PowerAde. For some reason I was expecting more.  After about a 10 minutes rest, we headed east across the valley towards Carnation.  We decided to ride in a pace line and established a respectable steady pace of 18 mph.  When we reached the intersection of 284^th Ave and Fall City / Carnation Rd. which was the crossroad for deciding to ride 45 miles or 65 and 100 miles, Steve and the team parted ways due to a very important afternoon commitment Steve had.  I hope the birthday cake tasted good .  After we had our sad farewell, the remaining team headed north on Fall City / Carnation Rd.  Though the loss of Steve hung over the team, it didn’t last very long.  Before too long we hit Stillwater Hill Rd.  Some of the other riders on the course were showing  signs of fatigue (walking up the hill, the ultimate biker shame), but our team was up to the challenge and held their own.  This stretch of country road is very busy with many commercial trucks and pickups so be careful.  It didn’t take us too long to reached Duvall and just beyond that is the intersection of W. Snoqualmie Rd and Woodinville / Duvall Rd., the crossroad for deciding to ride either 65 miles or 100 miles.  This also happens to be the second food stop located at a dirt lot (mile 32).  Don’t let appearances fool you.  This stop offered a variety of lounge sofas on a first come first serve basis.

The menu again was fruit, power bar, cookies, and watered down PowerAde.  During the stop, we had time to discuss what our plans were.  John, Mike, and Chris had decided to ride 100 miles.  Eric and I were had previously planned to ride 65 miles.  As the peer pressure mounted, Eric and I succumb to the will of the majority.  

So we took a right turn and headed north on W Snoqualmie Rd.  As we headed toward Snohomish, a pungent thick aroma fell upon us and all of a sudden the team collectively began to “Moo”…the odor of cow manure was overwhelming.  Coincidentally, this was about the time Mike took the initiative and picked up the pace.  Mike was a man with purpose.  We reached the town of Snohomish at about noon, the half way point of the ride. The temperature at this time started to get a little warm.  We spent a little time lightening our load and then we were off again.  Someone said this was a food stop?  I didn’t see anything.  The ride from Snohomish to Monroe was pretty uneventful other than I learned that John‘s wife and Eric’s parents lived in the same small town in Eastern Oregon. ..wow, what a small world.  As we rolled into Monroe, we came to our third food stop at about 1:00pm at the United Methodist Church (mile 56), it was great to find a patch of shady grass to lie down on.

The menu was fruit, power bar, cookies, and watered down PowerAde. At this point we were all getting pretty sick of the food.  As we were describing how our legs were on the verge of cramping it happened, Chris said the infamous “f” word… I have a flat.  The team went into action and John timed us at 6 minutes flat (no pun intended) to repair the flat which included trouble shooting, diagnostics, and a test ride.  After making the repair, we were on the rode again, even with the long rest, I can tell the team was getting a little tired.  For all of us were in uncharted territory.  None of us have ridden this far this season.  Having said that, John caught his second wind and led a small team on an exhilarating 5 mile stretch at 23 mph between Monroe and the next food stop at Vincent Community Center.  We reached the fourth food stop at …I have no idea what time (mile 70).  Unfortunately, there was no change in menu from earlier in the day.  We again headed out towards Carnation, retracing a portion of the route we rode earlier in the morning.  John was still going strong and led most of the way through Carnation and through the back roads near the golf courses.  I wanted the team to practice riding in a pace line but the guys had a hard time maintaining any cohesiveness due to some weary legs.  As we approached “Stair Step Hill” 40^th St SE, Chris set the early pace. This was the last major hill of the day so it made sense to give it our best shot.  John and I gave chase and eventually caught Chris.  Finally I caught my second wind, or maybe everyone else just got plain tired.  We regrouped at the top of the hill and made our way to the 4-way stop at Duthie Hill Rd where Chris said his goodbyes and headed home.  The remaining team rode to the final food stop in the route at Sunny Hill elementary (Mile 87).  You guessed it… the menu was fruit, power bar, cookies, and watered down PowerAde.  From there, we headed down 43^rd to W. Lk Sammamish Pkwy and along the lake.  John and I were fortunate to latch on to a nice pace line to aid us back to the finish line.  It was a great day of riding, prefect weather, no crashes, no cramps, and only one flat.

 Thanks everyone for a memorable ride.