Kitsap Color Classic
30 Sep 2012 22:34![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nwhikerBeautiful ride, though more difficult than the short distance (39 miles) would seem to imply.
We finally made it out biking yesterday, to make sure all the bits and pieces were working. We did a nice 20 miles on the bike trail, and dh complained that his knees were hurting. He was hauling Linnea on the trail-a-bike.
Managed to get to Edmonds by 8:15 am, got the bikes off the car, and headed to the roped off street where they were doing registration. We got in line and $110 later, we had 5 numbers to attach to four bikes and the trail-a-bike. And, oh, less than 10 minutes to make the next ferry.
We zipped down to the Edmonds waterfront, and managed to get onto the ferry! There were perhaps two dozen people after us. It was pretty cool, bikes everywhere where cars usually go! I'm sure the people who wanted to take a ferry were less thrilled, since fully 2/3 of the ferry capacity was bikes.
That's me, blue helmet, as we all waited to board the ferry.
And here is what the ferry deck looked like. The whirlygig is attached to Linnea's trail-a-bike rather than a boring flag. Normally cars go here!
And here are the kids, before the ride.
The ferry ride was beautiful. Heck, I should state right now that we have a fabulous day: sunny, just cool enough, not too much wind. Perfect Pacific NW in the fall kinda weather!
Off the ferry, we headed straight uphill. There were Dan Henry's right away: red, white, and blue ones. We hadn't grabbed a route sheet, so we didn't know which one to follow, but we pretty much headed in the same direction as everyone else. I figured we'd stop at the Kitsap start line (as opposed to the Edmonds start line where we started) and grab a route sheet. Dh didn't want to do that, he was pissed that I'd just headed out of town without stopping, I told him I hadn't seen the start line, we snapped at each other and he got the route on his phone, which made him feel better. We headed on, and a few minutes later, I hopped off my bike to pick up a route map someone had dropped on the ground. Their trash, my treasure, I guess.
But now I knew: we were to follow the blue route!
The Kitsap start line, which dh was sure we'd missed, was actually ahead of us, and we stopped there for a second breakfast. Perry filled his pockets, and we headed out. Uphill, of course.
It was quickly obvious that this was going to be a one-family-two-groups kind of day. Dh, with Linnea on the trail-a-bike, was much slower than his usual pace, and Perry, AC, and I seemed to be capable of a bit more speed. We decided we'd just go on ahead and we'd wait for him and Linnea to catch up periodically.
Uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill. Blah.
AC had her inhaler and had to stop to use it once. She barelled up a hill with Perry, both of them on on their light road bikes, waaay ahead of me, and had a hard time breathing. We stopped, I calmed her down a bit, and she used her inhaler. Onwards.
We biked through the totally cute and quaint town of Port Gamble. I wasn't with her, but dh told me later that Linnea had liked the town. Why am I not surprised?
The next segment of road was through farm land, and was the only section that wasn't actively hilly, though I'd not call it flat. Perry, AC, and I were having a good ride, and it was SO nice to have that time with my two olders, just like I'm sure dh valued his time with Linnea.
Kids started to ask about stopping for food right about when we rolled into Poulsbo. Which was the... offical food stop! Heh. Perry loaded up on loads more junk, AC did a bit better: she at least had some peanut butter on a piece of whole grain bread to go with the cookies, rice krispie treats etc!
Poulsbo is also a quaint and cute town, bigger than Port Gamble, and the park we had lunch at was sunny and on the water. I took this photo of my little group there.
That was after dh and Linnea caught up with us. Dh's right knee was in pretty bad shape, and he was slow and in a lot of pain. Sigh. He was very clear however that Linnea was doing her best to help him, pedalling when needed, and not wiggling too badly. I felt pretty guilty, since there is no way that I can haul the trail-a-bike, because of bike geometry, so I couldn't even offer to spell him.
After lunch we stuck together for a while. Then AC, Perry, and I sped up a bit.
Then AC had a panic attack. Which is very different from an asthma attack. Still very scary. She just gasped for breath, staring at the hill to come, and tears ran down her face. I worked to calm her down as best I could. It was scary, but as soon as she could calm down to take a few breaths, she was fine, then she'd look at the hill and panic again. Dh and Linnea caught up with us, and dh had a moment of panic himself, seeing AC on the ground and me kneeling near her. Because, ya know, this is the kid with the ACL repair, and we always worry about her knee.
She walked up the next few hills with dh and Linnea, and Perry and I biked and waited, biked, and waited. The hills were getting to me too, and the downhills, while exhilarating (35mph, whee!) did not make up for the slogs.
And then... we were back at the first food stop, from much earlier in the day. I wasn't sure dh, AC, and Linnea would notice it, because you had to make a turn when the route said to go straight, but we'd planned on meeting there, not at the ferry, so I sent Perry to go start eating (that boy eats and eats and eats) and waited for the others.
AC came in not too long. She was in a fine mood, like the morning, not longer in a panic, even seeing there was a hill ahead.
Waited for dh and Linnea, and we did one last stop, and Perry was eating what was probably his 10th rice krispie treat. Dh's knee was still hurting, poor guy, and Linnea was cute as a button, saying how she was trying to help.
Back on the road to catch the ferry!
We were the last bikes on the boat! Yay for not having to wait, but we sure cut it close. The ride was nice, Perry and I went to the sun deck on top, wandered around, and enjoyed the crossing. Then Edmonds and ONE LAST DAMN UPHILL to the car.
It was a nice day. I want dh to see someone about his knee. He had the same issue on day 2 of STP, wondering if he was going to have to quit less than 20 miles from the end, and today I know it was difficult for him. And painful. Perry did great, of course. Little rotter.
And Linnea has named her current shoes. Bike and Hike. Just so that everyone knows.
So there. Kitsap Color Classic 2012. I doubt we'll be doing that ride again, much much too hilly to be a pleasant experience for most of us, though it was a good day overall!
We finally made it out biking yesterday, to make sure all the bits and pieces were working. We did a nice 20 miles on the bike trail, and dh complained that his knees were hurting. He was hauling Linnea on the trail-a-bike.
Managed to get to Edmonds by 8:15 am, got the bikes off the car, and headed to the roped off street where they were doing registration. We got in line and $110 later, we had 5 numbers to attach to four bikes and the trail-a-bike. And, oh, less than 10 minutes to make the next ferry.
We zipped down to the Edmonds waterfront, and managed to get onto the ferry! There were perhaps two dozen people after us. It was pretty cool, bikes everywhere where cars usually go! I'm sure the people who wanted to take a ferry were less thrilled, since fully 2/3 of the ferry capacity was bikes.
That's me, blue helmet, as we all waited to board the ferry.
And here is what the ferry deck looked like. The whirlygig is attached to Linnea's trail-a-bike rather than a boring flag. Normally cars go here!
And here are the kids, before the ride.
The ferry ride was beautiful. Heck, I should state right now that we have a fabulous day: sunny, just cool enough, not too much wind. Perfect Pacific NW in the fall kinda weather!
Off the ferry, we headed straight uphill. There were Dan Henry's right away: red, white, and blue ones. We hadn't grabbed a route sheet, so we didn't know which one to follow, but we pretty much headed in the same direction as everyone else. I figured we'd stop at the Kitsap start line (as opposed to the Edmonds start line where we started) and grab a route sheet. Dh didn't want to do that, he was pissed that I'd just headed out of town without stopping, I told him I hadn't seen the start line, we snapped at each other and he got the route on his phone, which made him feel better. We headed on, and a few minutes later, I hopped off my bike to pick up a route map someone had dropped on the ground. Their trash, my treasure, I guess.
But now I knew: we were to follow the blue route!
The Kitsap start line, which dh was sure we'd missed, was actually ahead of us, and we stopped there for a second breakfast. Perry filled his pockets, and we headed out. Uphill, of course.
It was quickly obvious that this was going to be a one-family-two-groups kind of day. Dh, with Linnea on the trail-a-bike, was much slower than his usual pace, and Perry, AC, and I seemed to be capable of a bit more speed. We decided we'd just go on ahead and we'd wait for him and Linnea to catch up periodically.
Uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill. Blah.
AC had her inhaler and had to stop to use it once. She barelled up a hill with Perry, both of them on on their light road bikes, waaay ahead of me, and had a hard time breathing. We stopped, I calmed her down a bit, and she used her inhaler. Onwards.
We biked through the totally cute and quaint town of Port Gamble. I wasn't with her, but dh told me later that Linnea had liked the town. Why am I not surprised?
The next segment of road was through farm land, and was the only section that wasn't actively hilly, though I'd not call it flat. Perry, AC, and I were having a good ride, and it was SO nice to have that time with my two olders, just like I'm sure dh valued his time with Linnea.
Kids started to ask about stopping for food right about when we rolled into Poulsbo. Which was the... offical food stop! Heh. Perry loaded up on loads more junk, AC did a bit better: she at least had some peanut butter on a piece of whole grain bread to go with the cookies, rice krispie treats etc!
Poulsbo is also a quaint and cute town, bigger than Port Gamble, and the park we had lunch at was sunny and on the water. I took this photo of my little group there.
That was after dh and Linnea caught up with us. Dh's right knee was in pretty bad shape, and he was slow and in a lot of pain. Sigh. He was very clear however that Linnea was doing her best to help him, pedalling when needed, and not wiggling too badly. I felt pretty guilty, since there is no way that I can haul the trail-a-bike, because of bike geometry, so I couldn't even offer to spell him.
After lunch we stuck together for a while. Then AC, Perry, and I sped up a bit.
Then AC had a panic attack. Which is very different from an asthma attack. Still very scary. She just gasped for breath, staring at the hill to come, and tears ran down her face. I worked to calm her down as best I could. It was scary, but as soon as she could calm down to take a few breaths, she was fine, then she'd look at the hill and panic again. Dh and Linnea caught up with us, and dh had a moment of panic himself, seeing AC on the ground and me kneeling near her. Because, ya know, this is the kid with the ACL repair, and we always worry about her knee.
She walked up the next few hills with dh and Linnea, and Perry and I biked and waited, biked, and waited. The hills were getting to me too, and the downhills, while exhilarating (35mph, whee!) did not make up for the slogs.
And then... we were back at the first food stop, from much earlier in the day. I wasn't sure dh, AC, and Linnea would notice it, because you had to make a turn when the route said to go straight, but we'd planned on meeting there, not at the ferry, so I sent Perry to go start eating (that boy eats and eats and eats) and waited for the others.
AC came in not too long. She was in a fine mood, like the morning, not longer in a panic, even seeing there was a hill ahead.
Waited for dh and Linnea, and we did one last stop, and Perry was eating what was probably his 10th rice krispie treat. Dh's knee was still hurting, poor guy, and Linnea was cute as a button, saying how she was trying to help.
Back on the road to catch the ferry!
We were the last bikes on the boat! Yay for not having to wait, but we sure cut it close. The ride was nice, Perry and I went to the sun deck on top, wandered around, and enjoyed the crossing. Then Edmonds and ONE LAST DAMN UPHILL to the car.
It was a nice day. I want dh to see someone about his knee. He had the same issue on day 2 of STP, wondering if he was going to have to quit less than 20 miles from the end, and today I know it was difficult for him. And painful. Perry did great, of course. Little rotter.
And Linnea has named her current shoes. Bike and Hike. Just so that everyone knows.
So there. Kitsap Color Classic 2012. I doubt we'll be doing that ride again, much much too hilly to be a pleasant experience for most of us, though it was a good day overall!
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