PBP Memories

I was looking at some of the pictures from PBP07 this morning and it brought back so many memories of that year and of the year I did it in 2003. I plucked a few of the pics that seemed to demonstrate the highs, lows, and in betweens of riding 1200 km in 90 hours or less.

Arriving in France is so great.













Here is the SIR gang the day before start day full of anticipation and nervous energy.









And then the real start line.








Many highs, high fives, and smiles.















































































And a few lows: Shermers neck and examples of carnage (carnage with energy bar wrapper, carnage by road signs, cafeteria carnage).















































And finally the triumphant (?) finish!













The agony and the ecstasy. It is a strange sport.

Broken Bones & Bikes

My hubby Robin broke his collar bone and fractured both wrists about 5 weeks ago from crashing on his bike. Just a couple of weeks after that my good buddy and sometime tandem partner, Peter, crashed his bike in CA and broke his scapula.

After Mark R broke his pelvis last year from a bike crash I began to mentally compile a list of bones that ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE BROKEN. You know, fingers, maybe an arm, or the frequently broken clavicle are not such a big deal (although I have never broken a bone, knock on wood, so am no expert) but there are those bones that are integral to the structure of the human frame that really ought not to be broken. Pelvis, skull, scapula, femur - those just really need to remain intact. I actually cringe when I hear that someone has broken one of those. Just goes to reinforce my motto on each ride - keep the rubber side down.

Back to my friend Peter. He is a very enthusiastic rider, loves to ride, has a great positive attitude, and is a big powerful guy. Two days before SIR's season starter 200k ride Peter emailed me to see if I would captain him on the tandem. I asked if he had clearance from his wife, Anita, and from his doctor. Without really answering the question he steamrolled the process and next thing I knew we were set to ride together. I hadn't captained the tandem for nearly a year and was VERY rusty. Combined with Peter's weight (all muscle Peter!) and my lack of recent experience I was doing a lot of oversteering and manhandling of the bike. Peter did confess that he hadn't consulted his doc about doing the ride and that Anita, while not forbidding it also did not give her blessing. So I got to add not just a little bit of trepidation about dumping my broken friend or just hurting him further by covering 200k of a pretty challenging bike course.

The weather was GREAT! After a winter of WAY too much snow and COLD we actually saw evidence of spring after the fog cleared. Sun and temps up to 50 degrees added to my stoker's sunny attitude to make even the tough parts of the ride fun. The last few climbs to Greg's house near the finish were looming large in our minds but we handled 218th better than expected (no walking!) and the hill on 240th passed quickly as we spent the time gossiping about our rando friends (what happens on the tandem stays on the tandem - right Peter).

No bravado here though, I was definitely wasted but pleased with our day. Always a pleasure to ride with Peter and all the other randos with terrific support and a great finish line chili feed at the Cox house. Not quite ready to think about 300k in two weeks...

Fun at the Emergency Room

Sunday started off in the usual fashion of late - layer on tons of clothes and bike down to the Southcenter Starbucks to meet up with the Charly Miller gang for a training ride. Rolling along Frager Rd in Kent events took a dramatic turn. I was on the front of the group chatting with Elaine when we heard a huge comotion behind us. After getting slowed and turned around my stomach lurched as I saw Robin on the ground. He'd had a bad fall on ice just a few weeks ago and was still healing up from that and it was obvious he wasn't jumping up from this one. A stick or something had gotten picked up by his wheel and when it met up with the fender stays and the fork the bike came to a sudden stop while Robin continued on the forward trajectory up and over the handle bars until he too came to a sudden stop on the pavement.

One of our favorite new riding companions, Vincent Mouneke, was on the scene immediately doing a status check. Vincent is a plastic surgeon but we have called on his medical expertise and calm demeanor more than once on a bike ride. After the initial all over shock Robin's main complaint was his right shoulder. We were in a portion of the road blocked from vehicle traffic so Mark rode ahead to find the nearest access point which he reported was about 1/4 mile away. Robin did not want to call an aid car and I was having a hard time watching him in pain so Peter Beeson and I rode back to his van and then drove to the access point by which time Robin, with help from the rest of the group, had walked under his own steam. Don Jameson had also hit the ground but seemed to be in good shape. Robin and his bike were loaded into the van and Peter brought us home where I got Robin into some dry clothes and he had a little rest before we headed to the Emergency Room at Valley Medical Center. X-rays showed a broken right clavicle and small fractures in both wrists. We left with pain meds, wound dressings, and various slings and braces. Sunday night was pretty uncomfortable for him and he got up Monday feeling pretty stiff and sore. Since then he has used only ibuprofen and has been doing amazingly well. The wrists are in fairly good shape and we'll go into the orthopedic specialist again in a week or so to get new x-rays on the clavicle to make sure it hasn't shifted and is in a good position to heal.

Thanks to all our fellow riders who took such good care of us and the staff at Starbucks who let us stow our bikes there while we took care of Robin. Hopefully in about 6 weeks he'll be back good as new. In the meantime he has a rather abused bike to concentrate his energies on.

Oh what a beautiful morning

Oh what a beautiful day,
I've got a wonderful feeling,
Everything's going my way.

That's what kept running through my head as a bunch of weekday ne'er do wells headed south along Lake Washington Boulevard from Leschi Wednesday morning on a 200km ride. As the sun came up it turned the lake orange while scant white clouds dotted the sky. A short time later majestic Mt Rainier loomed ahead with a chorus of bird song and the chatter of randos for background effect. I know there are many beautiful places in the world and wonderful places to live but at that moment I sent up a prayer of thanks for this being my home. Later in they day we passed by lakes, swollen fast-moving rivers and streams, and the always impressive Green River gorge. For a few hours the early February sun produced heat I could actually feel on my skin and all was right with the world.

With the exception of yours truly everyone was riding strongly and only the last few of us rolled in to the finish after dark - but just barely so I was feeling good to post a sub 11-hour time. I enjoyed chatting a bit with Urs for a while before he decided to pick up his pace after Ravensdale to ride with Thai. In Auburn Vincent joined the fast boys leaving the rest of us to ebb and flow for the rest of the day: tandem team Ralph and Carol, Kristie, Martin, Mike Richeson, Dominic, Mark, Andy, Frank, and Steve Davis (thanks Mark...).

A grand day out indeed.

Back on fhe R-12 train

Got derailed in December and starting over in January wasn't looking good after an attempt last Sunday (see Mark's account here: http://rusa64.blogspot.com/2009/01/not-as-planned.html. But thanks to Mark, Vincent, Ralph, and Kristie I got a 200k done on Thursday. It was freaking cold all day. Our "high" temp was 34 degrees and we were in fog and at or below freezing for all but about an hour. I was feeling pretty wimpish about anything that looked even faintly like ice on the road so the downhills (usually my forte) were slow and anxious. Leaving Granite Falls as the light was beginning to fade and the fog thicken even more I was having thoughts of quitting but Vincent, with his amazing power of positive thinking, got me believing I could make it.

Vincent not only gave me a ride to the start but loaded and unloaded my bike each time and had a cold orange juice waiting for me in his truck in the morning. Throughout the ride he played shepherd at the back to make sure I didn't fade away. Mark was his usual wonderful company and provided many many good pulls for me and Ralph was a complete angel pacing me up the hills at what had to be a painfully slow speed for him. Kristie was terrific company and even tried to make me feel better by pretending to be tired towards the end.

Thanks to my 4 riding companions for a great day out with warmth of friendship to make up for the cold in the air. Now I gotta get Robin healed up and back onto the R-12 train too.

Baby It's Cold Outside - or how my R-12 attempt met its end

Saturday Dec 20 - already snow on the ground in the Seattle area for a week and this is what my thermometer showed at 7:35am - yes that says 17 degrees F! 2 days later early in the morning as I was looking at the window surveying the beautiful winter scene I heard an ominous drip drip drip from the window. Our gutters were full of ice and snow and the downspouts were completely frozen solid. Since our house has no eaves that means it backed up right onto (and into!) the walls and was coming in the house. Out we go with ladders, flashlights (it was still dark), drill, sharp objects, etc. We disconnected the downspouts and and thawed them in the garage until we could empty out the ice and reattach them. Next day I was on "downspout duty" and emptied one out before it got clogged - got about a 3 foot long section of "ice tube" intact - pretty cool.

Anyway, all this equates to no 200k ride for me this month (there is no chance for me before the end of the year now I'm afraid) so I'll be starting my R-12 quest over in January. Wouldn't it be great if Santa put a new bike under the tree to take up where the Kestrel let off????

Women's Bike Camp - June 12-14, 2009

Last year Lisa Brudvik and Bridget Herzog put on a women's bike camp near Leavenworth in the tradition of Estelle Grey. I was one of the coaches for the event and it was great. It was a small group and every woman there gained skills and confidence in cycling. This year Bridget had to bow out and Lisa extended me the honor of asking me to partner with her to present the camp again in 2009. If you or someone you know might be interested please check out the website here:
http://www.coachlisab.net/bicycle_retreat/
or feel free to contact me for more information.