So this is the point where the rubber hits the road. The RCC is 120km back to back and I've just reach the distance required for day one. This is a great accomplishment, but theoretically I'm supposed to jump on the bike tomorrow!!! Yikes! The last hour of today's ride was brutal, with 100km done and 20km to go and I really felt the bonk coming on. My back, ass and neck were screaming "Uncle" and I had to keep going. So, jumping on the bike the next day (RCC Day 2) will be like putting a gun to head. I guess more training is definitely involved and I will work on trying to put on big mileage two days in a row for the next 4 weeks...yep!
---WAB1234---
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Training and Fundraising
It was the pamphlet that caught my eye at my son's Pokemon tournament that initially started me down my path. As I was reading it, it occurred to me that I wanted to ride it for my friend Coralee. That thought provided the much needed motivation to register for the ride in early March.
I began putting together a training program where I had 15 weeks to start riding incrementally up to 250km in two days. In my mountain biking days, I used to train on a 15% increment of the last weeks mileage with a 50% rest week every 4 weeks. With that in mind, I started with 60km in the 1st week and ended with 250km on week 15 (the ride weekend). Over the course of 15 weeks, I would try to cycle 1954km in order to "enjoy" the experience and not to be "a right of passage".
In early March, I started by personal website on the RCC site and send out fundraising emails to all my friends and family. What was the most special part of this experience was the touching emails and support from Coralee's family and friends. There were even people that donated that I didn't know, but Coralee touch them in her special way. I was truly deeply moved. The fundraising came on quickly and then slowed, then picked up again, once I put my campaign to Facebook.
Mid March I decided to become a training leader, reach out and contact others on the Sunshine Coast. They were Rob, Reesa, Candy, Pat, Martin, and Margaret. Together, we hit the roads once a week with organise rides up and down the coast. We started with small mileage and increased it during the countdown to the ride.
I saw great improvements in our group from Pat in March who struggled to keep up with the riders; then fast forward to the RCC ride where he demolished seasoned road riders with expensive road bikes. Reesa, who commented on every hill and tried to avoid those hills; to the ride where she was the backbone of the team and persevered to booking the RCC ride. Rob was as strong as ever; became the team captain and organise the rides when I couldn't. He also found someone (me) that could sleep through his snoring so we were a good fit. I finally rode with Martin the day before the ride and he was welcomed company during the RCC weekend. Margaret is my good friend's mom and once we figured out the right coffee shop to meet at, the group rides always appreciated her presence and commitment to ride. Her emails about where the next rides would be were often the kick in the pants that I needed to organise a ride and get something going.
Towards the end of the training, we were riding 100km to 120km comfortably back to back. Stats time:
- Mileage in 15 weeks of training: 1814km
- Total time in the saddle: 75.7 hours
- Avg km/hour: 24.0 km/hr
- Almost a dog bite: 1
- Almost a dog bite, but out-sprinted someone else, so she almost got bitten: 1
Day 1 Route
The RCC Weekend - Day 1
Saturday, June 20, 2009
First there was a stretching routine that got the crowd all pumped up and the opening ceremonies carried on after that. The chair of the RCC spoke and others spoke to inspire and motivate us. One lady who was going to ride with us just finished chemotherapy 9 months ago. Also, they walked a bike down without a rider which was owned by a rider who was registered, but passed away from cancer before the event. I was very motivated to start!!!! With a ready, set, go we were off!
Through the start gate we rode very slowly with both sides of the streets lined with cheering on-lookers. It looked like a parade!!! The cops closed the streets of traffic and we had the streets to ourselves right into Whiterock. I have one memory of looking down the street toward Hwy 99 and it was a sea of yellow jerseys. I wish I had a video of the start.
In Whiterock, we rode along Cresent Beach and within one hour, we were at the border. A quick pit stop and we waited at the border crossing for an hour. The US Customs opened two Nexus lanes to get people through, but it took over 3 1/2 hours to get us all through. Clearly they could have opened more lanes.
From the border, we rode along Birch Bay and other side street that basically went along the beaches. The 2nd pit stop was along the beach. From there we left the beach and rode the side roads that went through agricultural lands and then passed a refinery. I thought it was a prison due to all the razor wire fencing, so I guess that the US really protects its oil better than its criminals. The 3rd pit-stop was at Silver City Casino in Ferndale, about 67km in and a little more than halfway.
We started together in a pack and started to work as a team taking turns pulling while the other drafted behind. I remember us being able to sustain close to 34km/hour! Eventually, we got into Bellingham.
If you haven't gone to Bellingham, it's a smaller version of Portland with its big tree-line streets and brick-style buildings. Its a very pretty city. As we were at a stoplight, a guy came up to us and asked what we were doing. When he found out that we were on the RCC ride, his eyes glowed brightly and said "I saw you start this morning on the news and you're here already? Way to go!!!".
The only potential mishap was quickly adverted by way of an extremely loud airhorn. I saw a lady basically cut Pat off and he let his airhorn loose, which caused a swerving reaction from the driver. Hopefully, she'll take a better look before turn right next time.
Through Bellingham on the designated bike lanes we went and then east to cross over the I5 and up a long grueling hill. It looked flat, but I seemed to get slower and slower each passing minute. It was steep, my body said it was steep, but my mind was staying "what??? lowest gear you whoosie, its flat and you're in the basement?" Optical illusion I guess. As soon as the hill was gone, we were eating lunch on a lake.
Through the start gate we rode very slowly with both sides of the streets lined with cheering on-lookers. It looked like a parade!!! The cops closed the streets of traffic and we had the streets to ourselves right into Whiterock. I have one memory of looking down the street toward Hwy 99 and it was a sea of yellow jerseys. I wish I had a video of the start.
In Whiterock, we rode along Cresent Beach and within one hour, we were at the border. A quick pit stop and we waited at the border crossing for an hour. The US Customs opened two Nexus lanes to get people through, but it took over 3 1/2 hours to get us all through. Clearly they could have opened more lanes.
From the border, we rode along Birch Bay and other side street that basically went along the beaches. The 2nd pit stop was along the beach. From there we left the beach and rode the side roads that went through agricultural lands and then passed a refinery. I thought it was a prison due to all the razor wire fencing, so I guess that the US really protects its oil better than its criminals. The 3rd pit-stop was at Silver City Casino in Ferndale, about 67km in and a little more than halfway.
We started together in a pack and started to work as a team taking turns pulling while the other drafted behind. I remember us being able to sustain close to 34km/hour! Eventually, we got into Bellingham.
If you haven't gone to Bellingham, it's a smaller version of Portland with its big tree-line streets and brick-style buildings. Its a very pretty city. As we were at a stoplight, a guy came up to us and asked what we were doing. When he found out that we were on the RCC ride, his eyes glowed brightly and said "I saw you start this morning on the news and you're here already? Way to go!!!".
The only potential mishap was quickly adverted by way of an extremely loud airhorn. I saw a lady basically cut Pat off and he let his airhorn loose, which caused a swerving reaction from the driver. Hopefully, she'll take a better look before turn right next time.
Through Bellingham on the designated bike lanes we went and then east to cross over the I5 and up a long grueling hill. It looked flat, but I seemed to get slower and slower each passing minute. It was steep, my body said it was steep, but my mind was staying "what??? lowest gear you whoosie, its flat and you're in the basement?" Optical illusion I guess. As soon as the hill was gone, we were eating lunch on a lake.
Lunch was at the 88km of the ride and couldn't come soon enough. I felt drained and tired, but determined to see this thru. After lunch, the rest seemed give me a second wind and the next 42 km was the best I felt in long time. I seemed to be passing everyone and continued to drop people as they tried to draft behind me. The only thing that could have been better was the wicked headwind on the last 5km or so.
I knew that I was getting near the end as the cheering and music was getting louder. Up a little rise, right turn and cross the road through the finish gate and Day 1 was finished. I was the first of our team to finish, Pat came 5 minutes later, Rob was about 5 minutes after Pat. The girls were 1/2 hour later. 132km and 4 hours 50 minutes of riding time.
The camp had all the amenities that a cyclist would need. I parked my bike in the secured compound and walked over to the tents to get unpacked. The blue tents covered a whole football field and housed the 1700 riders. I walked over to grabbed my bag, unpacked my stuff in Tent B80 and lined up for the shower. Now, I heard about these showers being great, but I never imagined such bliss after a 5 hour ride! Shampoo and body wash were even supplied.
We had dinner and a couple of beers and listened to incredibly heart-wrenching stories. The father of Team Finn spoke of his son that past away from a blood cancer. What I remember most of his talk was he produced a 3m rope with beads. Each beads represented an injection. His example given was when Finn had a chemo injection, his white blood cell count went down, so every day Finn would need to be injected 10 times/day. When the Finn's father went to Boston to visit a specialist of the cancer, that injection in Boston was one time/day. They brought that technology to Finn, just to provide that relief. In fact that specialist is going to setup a business in Vancouver. If the money raised would change other injections to one time/day or to eliminate some, then thats moving forward. Finn's father said I'm riding in this ride to end this ride. He is so right!
8:50pm and Rob and I were sound asleep and snoring. Apparently a few people were complaining next to our tent. After 130km of riding and a few beers, snoring is definately part of the ride.
Route - Day 2
The RCC Weekend - Day 2
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Day 2 arrived with tiny drops, then bigger drops and a shower for about 30 minutes. It was enough to soak my shoes that I left outside overnight. Oh well, I though I'll probably have wet feet anyway for the rest of day. My greatest decision of the day was what to wear? Tights or shorts? Full rain jacket or long sleeve jersey? I look above and then to the west...doesn't look good to me... so I brought it all and stuffed everything in my jersey pocket.
The ride started at 7:30am or so, and we had a chance to sit on our bikes and chat to the other riders. I met this girl with a great commuter bike with panniers, bells, and racks. She was set. She said that she felt good, to her surprise, as the only training she did was on her commute every day from Arbutus Street to Cambie (which isn't far she admitted). My 1700km is looking pretty good right now I thought. My ass was a bit tender, but I settled within a minute or so of riding.
Ready, set, go and we were off, and not quickly either. Actually about walking speed for the first kilometer or so. The first 22km was non eventful accept for all the possums that been run over. I must have seen about 3 of them in this stretch of road or what was left of them... After Stanwood, we head down along Miller and Norman road. This stretch of road went along the river, farms, fields and was easily the most prettiest part of the ride. It was flat and Pat, Rob and I were trucking along very nicely (about 34km/hour). There was this one lady who didn't look like pro, but man could she ride. She pushed us and dragged us along for part of the ride. We got back on the Pioneer Hwy and headed to Arlington.
On the east side of the Arlington airport, was another pit stop before we got on the Centennial Trail . This trail is about 25km long and links Arlington to Snohomish. This trail was also the highlight of my trip with no cars to avoid and lots of room for riding two abreast. It was just Pat and me ahead on this to the Lake Steven and had a ball. Pat was on fire and I could hardly keep up!
We had lunch at Lake Stevens where our whole team arrived to recharge and swap stories of the mornings events. The big news item was a guy got injured on the railway crossing at Arlington. It was nasty and slippery. Injured shoulder someone said.
We got back on the trail and booked to the celebration station that we all agreed to meet up. Pat and I made a deal to skip the next pit stop and ride non-stop. I booted up this hill leaving Pat behind and had to stop for a bathroom break at the pit stop and I guess while I was there, Pat must have passed me. I waited for another 5 minutes and realized that he's gone past, spent the next good 30 minutes trying to catch him. Just 5 minutes past the stop, the skies opened up and torrently poured on me for 20 minutes. I put on my heavy rain jacket (I was glad I had it now) and just rode. I LOVED IT. Riders ahead of me pulled over and headed for cover, but I kept going and to try to catch Pat. I eventually caught Pat at the bottom of Bothell Road and we started together onto the Sammanish River Trail. This river was interesting as there were numerous kayaks and canoes paddling the slow moving water. Oddly relaxing to watch them I thought as we were riding the trail at an excessive speed. This trail was also the windiest trail that been on and doing it at 20km/hour or so. Pat lead the way and wow was he going quick. A little way along, we hit the last pit stop of the day.
About 1/2 hour at the Pit Stop, Rob looked over and said "look at the hail, that can't be good". Almost right away, there was a grape-size hail stone that hit the ground. I looked around for cover, found a box and put it over my head. The others did the same and within a minute or so, it was hailing and raining so hard that the parking lot was flooding, people where scrambling for cover and I, with a box over my head, couldn't hear anyone talking much less yelling. The squall last about 10 minutes and all of a sudden it was sunny! Rob emptied his helmet (it was full of hail) and we were off to the finish.
The last 22km we rode together much like we did when we trained on the coast. One big difference was this ride was dead flat!!! We rode along paved trail right to the University of Washington. We could hear the cheering of the crowds and knew that we were almost there. I could see the excitement and last rush of energy of our group when we finally rode up the path to the finish line. At the finish line, there were easily 500 people cheering, waiting for their friends and family members to finish. I was so elated to finish! I did it!!!!!!
The rest of the story was more anti-climatic. We found our bags, put our bikes on the truck, celebrated with a quick beer and jumped on the bus back home. I wanted to say one thing about the crew and organization of the event. Awesome! I been to other organized rides before and this event is, by far and away, the best organized event I've been on!!!!
So thats it then....my experience of the event and my ride for Coralee. I miss her and I know that tailwind pushing me along was her.
---Warren, 2009----
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That's it, keep training! You can do it.
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