SIR 200k March 2007

The Seattle International Randonneur’s March 200km is typically the first organized ride of any type that I get to do in year. This year is no different. I’ve been looking forward to this for a couple of months. This ride has already been multiply documented. Here's some verse, pictures and prose.

I drive to the Seattle and Oregon rides from the East side of the state. I either stay with someone or get a cheap hotel – this time it’s the Motel 6 on Military road near SeaTac. I’d never tried to get there before, but, I find it alright. It’s UP a steep hill as one comes from the East. It’s a nice Motel 6. $3 WiFi! 24 hour Coffee Stand! I can finish my evening’s work w/o having to track down a WiFi sight or suffer through a phone connection. I do the work and am in bed by 10:10. Five minutes later I get a call from my daughter and her husband; they’re stuck at the airport (all kinds of flight challenges around the country that day), and calling me. I get another room, and then go get them. The airport’s nearby, and I get to see my daughter and son-in-law. They look tired but rested, the sign of a good vacation. They figure out how to get back to their home fine; they’re heading back across the state East the next day. I’m in bed and asleep by midnight. Plenty good enough rest for a 200km ride.

Up the next day. Gas up the car, visit the mini-mart for breakfast (cinnamon role and coffee - the breakfast of mid-pack riders). I have a heck of a time finding the starting location; I’ve been there before, but, manage to get spun around good in Kent. Eventually the strategy is: Leave Kent. That works. I get oriented and to the ride start. There are a ton of vehicles parked with bikes and bicyclists putting them together. It’s dark. Chat with some folks I know while waiting for the 7:00am start, and then we’re off.

The bunch starts; a large number of riders. I almost hit a guy while heading down the big hill into Kent; he’d stopped to pick something up. It would have been very nasty. Good weather to start with (but a dark start, due to the vagaries of daylight savings time).

So I end up climbing up the same hill I drove up and down. Haven’t yet estimated how close I came to the Motel 6 where my daughter and her husband were staying (now I have: 3 miles). It’s still steep going up there; so of course we go up.

I was having some trouble remembering the ride details from last year (I must have been lost in discussion last year while riding this part, yeah, that's it) – even though it’s the exact same route as last year. Eventually it clicked in. There are some good downhills to go with that uphill; then we’re at the first control. I had the Starbucks coffee/sugar/fat in a bottle (this can be chugged, and is a good food mix for me on a long ride). The card is signed by the proprietor and then I’m off. There’s more hill-work, then down into the valley.

Managed to do some major wheel sucking through the green river valley; thanks to Don and Elaine on the tandem (I owe them for that and a couple of other times; what’s the proper response: Flowers? Chain lube? Some Ripping Yarns?). Then there’s my favorite ‘bridge to nowhere’ off to the side of the intersection of the Green River Valley Rd and 218^th Ave SE. We get a good view of the river and then it’s up a hill.

I’m with John Kramer and RB for most of the way to Hwy 410. Talking as best we can given the vagaries of traffic, shoulder width etc. I like the rear-view mirror a lot for seeing what’s coming up from behind.

During the rider a popular discussion topic is goals for the year. It’s a PBP year, so a lot of folks have that as a target. The other popular target seems to be the ORRando 1000km from Portland to Glacier Natl Park (my personal long-ride goal for the year).

Next up is 410 to Greenwater. I get dropped by John and a few others. It’s uphill. It happens. I keep going, and get there to see those who dropped me idling pleasantly outside a convenience store. Head inside for my Fritos and other items (Gatorade, water). And then back on the bike and down – this was a quick control for me, so I dropped my droppers by being quick in and out at this control. Oh yeah, I also put on the windbreaker here for the downhill. I’ve frozen before down a hill and prefer not to again. I’m toodling down the hill, taking it easy and munching Fritos. I figure that the folks will catch me from behind soon enough. It turns out they don’t; but, I jump for awhile into another group, until even drafting they’re going faster than I want to. I let them go. It’s starting to rain pretty good.

There are a lot of folks at the Circle K; the last stop before the end of the ride. I’m not efficient at this control, but, there’s no hurry. Call home and put on a bit more garb against the rain. I end up riding with John Muellner and John Kramer the rest of the way in. We’re more or less taking it easy and chatting. I regale them with stories of the first time I did this ride, and managed to get lost w/o ever actually getting off course. Clearly I need better stories… Anyway, it’s wetter and wetter; but, an easy and good finish for a good ride.

Ride stats are below; my total elapsed time of 9:51 turns out to be a PR for that distance. A lot of that is related to efficient behavior at controls.

What I learned about the rain:

• Wind jacket and wind pants aren’t enough, not even close, in the rain; I should have taken the actual rain garb.
• Some other kind of gloves are necessary (wool?)
• My glasses aren’t rain worthy – I was riding blind with them, and w/o them I couldn’t go very fast
• A pretty good case can be made for Mudflaps, especially for people following me in the rain (apologies to Muellner and Kramer); not to mention the bike. See the picture at the end.
• I might look into different brake pads – stopping power was dicey down the steeper hills in the rain
• My current front bag isn’t even close to water resistant

Here's the bike the next day; took an hour or so to clean it up:

And here are the ride stats: