John’s Ramblings

There are a couple of bike ride/events that happen in my back yard that I have never “done”. There is the Emerald City Lights ride in Auburn, which happened September 8th, and there is the Headwaters Century. The latter occurred this past weekend. Although all the usual suspects that I ride with seemed to be otherwise engaged, I decided that with the promise of beautiful weather, there was no time like the present to try this one out.

Not giving myself a lot of lead-time (I pretty much decided to do the Sunday ride on Saturday night), I woke up at 5:20 a.m. in order to get dressed, packed, and to the start line in Enumclaw by 7. I made short work of a bowl of oatmeal, mixed two bottles of Accelerade, and headed out the door. I usually eat a more substantial breakfast before a ride, and do so well in advance of the start time. This shortcut would come back to bite me at around mile 18.

The ride started at Enumclaw High School. When I pulled in to the parking lot at 7 there were few cars there. Other riders were arriving, and immediately donning more layers of clothing as the temperature was only 40 degrees. The high temp of the day was forecast to be 80, so riders would have to contend with a 40 degree temperature swing during the ride. For me, this translated to removable arm warmers, leg warmers, and a vest. I was still mighty cold at the start of the ride, and I wouldn’t be completely comfortable with the temp until later in the morning.

There were three “loops” available, 44 miles, 64 miles, and 100 miles (cue sheet 1, cue sheet 2). I selected the 100 mile cue sheet, as it included a climb that I haven’t yet attempted to Mud Mountain Dam. The sun was just attempting to come over the foothills as I clipped in to start. This meant leaving the sunshine that had just hit the parking lot and heading back into the shadow of the hills. It was cold! The chill came through my arm warmers, and my fingertips kept reminding me that full-finger gloves might have been the better option for the early portion of the ride.

After a bit of zig-and-zag through residential neighborhoods, we passed by the Enumclaw Fairgrounds and headed up highway 410 toward Mud Mountain Dam. The climb isn’t terribly steep, but it’s 4 miles until you get to the Mud Mountain turnoff. The descent was winding, fast and fun but I was back in the shade after a brief moment in the direct sunshine. The wind-chill on the fingers had me blowing into my hands on occasion. This Mud Mountain loop ended at 14 miles as I passed by the High School again.

The start line wasn’t billed as a rest-stop, so I rode on to next section of the ride across the Enumclaw plateau. Within a few miles I was starting to get hungry. In my haste to get out of the house I hadn’t even picked up a Clif Bar for the ride. Although I’ve spent quite a bit of time cycling up on the plateau, I hadn’t been on many of the roads we were on for this portion. I concentrated on the scenery, and sipping my Accelerade. Sometimes when you are riding, however, things tend to remind you of food, be it the steaks on the hoof, or a sign on a barn.

By about mile 24, I was back on (very) familiar roads. I descended into Green Valley via Whitney Hill and took the proscribed right turn to Flaming Geyser Park. This was an official food stop at mile 28. I downed a couple of 1/4th bagel slices with PB&J, a concrete scone, and a cookie. Having silenced my stomach for the moment, I headed out for the next climb of the day, Green Valley Road. As I started up I realized that I hadn’t ridden this hill since early 2005. On that occasion I was on one of my very first training rides for the RSVP. I remembered going slow enough that a good gust of wind could have knocked me off the bike. It’s likely that the suppressed memory of that first big climb has served to keep me off this hill since. I was a slightly faster on this occasion, but I can’t say I had all that much fun. By the time I reached the top the sun had taken the chill out of the air, allowing me to remove my extra clothes and stuff them in my pockets.

Green Valley Road ends at the intersection with Enumclaw/Black Diamond Road. I seriously considered turning right instead of left. I wasn’t feeling all that sharp, the riding without food followed by the mini-feast having taken it’s toll. As I headed in to Black Diamond I considered the rest of the route ahead. I’d be heading:

• Past the bakery (there 2 weeks ago)
• Through Green Valley (there last week)
• Out through Ravensdale, Cumberland, Kanaskat (regular training rides).

My motivation factor sank to zero. I stopped the bike, pulled off my number, and rode back to the car. A weird end to a ride, but I just didn’t feel like doing 100 solo miles on my usual training roads. I’d seen all the new territory I was going to see for the day. I ended the day with about 45 miles.

3,999.88 miles year to date. As my punishment for quitting, I’m not even going to round up.

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