Jim's Guts

The Iraq v. Vietnam comparison

What he said.

GYGIG Day 2

This might possibly be the longest period of time it's every taken for someone to write a three day travelogue, it's like the Harry Potter series, about two years between episodes…

Anyway, I decided at the finish of day 1 that my best chance for riding Sunday was to take Saturday off the bike. I didn't like it but honestly my hip wasn't too thrilled with the idea of getting back on the bike, so I told JP (the Ride director) that I'd jump to crew for Saturday's leg. I was fortunate enough to crew in Texas this year, so I had a bit of an idea what goes on, but it's worth relating here. The crew works so hard on this event. They're usually the first ones up, several are already on the road before we riders have even finished breakfast, lunch can be late or on the fly, they stay after dinner to have a meeting. In other words, they do everything so all we have to do is pedal.

A quick aside (it's my blog) for the last two years my wife (The L&T) and my mother-in-law (Mom) have crewed the Pacific Northwest Ride, and while I hope I remember to thank them, I wanted to do it here publicly. Besides being great women, their warmth and generosity to support not just me but all the riders, is something I am eternally grateful for and will always treasure.

The problem with moving to crew is the stress that it puts on the Ride staff (JP, Tex, A-Train, & Julia). The 3 days of GYGIG is well scripted from a volunteer standpoint, and while they can always use the help, trying to figure out something for someone to do that's a single day and on incredibly short notice isn't easy. After some discussion it was decided that I'd do some traffic control. There's a pretty hairy crossing on Day 2 so they wanted me to help get folks across safely.

I did get to spend some time at Rest Stop 5 with M & R who were an absolute hoot! I've never spent much time at rest stops, preferring usually to stop quick, refuel, and get back on the road, and while I know there's a lot of work, I had no idea how much! Setting up the canopy, chairs, food prep, and a ton of other little things to do, I've always appreciated them, now I understand them a little bit better.

After finishing at my stop we SAG'd back to Camp 2 where I caught up with Mom and the L&T and we had dinner (Mmmmm…Pasta…) and while I wasn't too tired, I called it a night early because I knew day three would be busy…

Crash photos

If you want to see the "carnage" you can find it here – http://jimsguts.typepad.com/photos/crash_pictures

GYGIG Day 1

If asked to simplify day one into a short description I'd have to say "rain & pain" but that would belie the beauty of the thing. First things first – I don't like riding in the rain. It's cold, it's uncomfortable, it's hurts to go fast, and maybe most important for an old guy like me, it's hard to get warmed up. With that in mind, imagine my displeasure when I awoke to find wet skies and pavement on day one of the 2^nd Pacific Northwest Get Your Guts In Gear. I got up with the L&T and her mum, but had the luxury of not having to be at the start till around 6:45 for opening ceremonies, and spent the time hoping against hope that the sky would clear and we'd be able to ride in the morning sun.

Alas, that wasn't to be so I put on layer after layer of gear and rolled to the start. In addition to being uncomfortable, the rain also thwarted a plan hatched several months ago… Last year the team from Elan had one of the sharpest "kits" (a cycling term for shorts and jersey) in the peloton, and by luck a former employee of GYGIG who didn't cycle but had still managed to score a kit, was willing to trade it to me. He and I were close enough in size that it fit and has in fact become one of my favorites. The plan was to roll up to the start in my Elan kit on Friday morning and see if I could blend in with the team. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be as I was pretty much covered in various warmers and jackets that the only thing that you could see was the shorts. In the end it wouldn't have mattered anyway as they had new kits this year. D'oh!

The opening ceremony was nice, with the mayor of Edmonds on hand to help us kick off the event. Representatives from 3 of GYGIG major benefactors thanked everyone for their fundraising efforts, and folks from the UOAA and The Colon Club not only spoke but actually volunteered to work the ride. A representative for the CCFA talked up their new "Team Challenge" as an alternative to riding, but I managed not to accidentally unplug her mic anyway. Still if it wasn't sunny out, at least our dispositions where, and after a bit of confusion on my part we were sent on our way to the dulcet tones of Cake's (one of the coolest bands on the planet by the way) "Mahna, Mahna". What it should have been was The Wise Guys – "Start a Commotion", my brother Buckethead had made a disc for opening ceremonies but I misread the playlist, so we got Cake instead. D'oh! (do you notice a pattern forming?)

Leg 1 to Mukilteo – After riding out of the opening we finally we got on the open road and I started to notice that hip I had injured five days ago (see my post "CRASH" for more details) I was a little uncomfortable. Nothing horrible, but still not getting to ride with the cadence / power that I was expecting. About half of the way to the first Rest Stop (RS) I came upon Tom & Caroline from Elan who had been stopped because Caroline had a flat, I hung out with them and helped as much as I could. In reality I couldn't help much because Tom had it well in hand, but I think I provided some comic relief. We remounted and headed down to the ferry terminal and RS1, a great stop and place to refuel. Then we boarded the ferry for the crossing, and while riding a ferry is a pretty regular thing for us locals, the out of town riders and crew love it, and it really is a cool way to start the Ride.

Leg 2 to Langley – Whidbey Island is a beautiful place, even in the wind and rain, but the climb out of the Clinton ferry terminal is a bit of a challenge. There's a very short 14% climb, but even after you crest that it continues to go up at a decent clip, and that's when I knew I had a problem. In bicycle climbing there are grinders (those who use a lower gear and muscle up a hill) and spinners (those who use a high gear and cadence to climb), and I will probably always be a spinner, except I couldn't spin. My hip hurt when I tried to get my cadence up and hurt when I tried to muscle up. Not good. Still the south part of the island and the tour through Langley was beautiful with very little traffic. RS2 at the Baby Island Club (I have no idea) had a nautical them

Leg 3 to Whidbey State Park (Lunch) – It took me a while to get through the rollers that dominate the south part of the island, but lunch was worth it. Besides having a great view, the food was fantastic, sandwiches, Tim's Cascade Chips, and Great Harvest cookies, unfortunately also on the menu for me were a couple of anti-inflammatory tablets, but I really wanted to ride the 4^th leg…

Leg 4 to Ebey's Landing – Kirsten and I go up to Whidbey about 3 or 4 times a year and stay at an amazing bed & breakfast called The Compass Rose (a place that needs its own post at some point and the location from which I'm typing the bulk this post), and when I bring the bike there's a great training loop that includes one of the prettiest descents on the Island, down Hill Road. So when I heard that a change to the route on Whidbey was being considered, I started lobbying to include that descent! When the pictures are in I'll try to include some, but it's an amazing quarter mile drop (at around 8-9% grade) down to the beach at Ebey's Landing and RS4 which was located right on the beach. The sky was clearing, but that was it for me. By the time I got there my hip hurt enough that I was worried about completing the ride so I abandoned and sagged into camp.

Abandoning was definitely not high on my list of things to do, but it seemed better to give up a section of the Island I've ridden numerous times to ensure that I'd be able to continue on later…

Still to come… Day 2 "Return to the Crew"!