What a great day for cycling!
On Saturday, I rode Flying Wheels, Cascade Bicycle Club’s summer century.
The event
(map,
cue
sheet)
is three loops along the
rural roads of eastern King and Snohomish counties. One can do
50, 70, or 100 miles:
- 50 miles: Marymoor (Redmond) – Carnation – Fall City – Marymoor
- 70 miles: above plus Duvall
- 100 miles: above plus Snohomish and Monroe
The return segment passes within a few miles of my home. Since I already had my
bib #, I talked myself out of going to the official starting point
and competing for parking with the other riders and the
Prarie Home Companion groupies attending the recording later in the
afternoon. Instead, I joined the route in downtown Sammamish. This
was within 0.2 miles of the official tick sheet.
They staggered the starting times, letting the 100 mile riders get an one-hour
lead on the rest. I thought this was a great idea because folks visiting the
food stop in Carnation could get in and out fairly quickly. As it happens,
I skipped this stop on the way outbound because I was already juiced up and
wanted to get most of my riding done in the morning while it was still cool.
After Carnation, the 70 and 100 mile riders continued on a loop towards Duvall.
This segment was part of the
populaire I
did in March and had a “secret control” just before
the road bends and heads towards Duval. It’s a very quiet,
lightly trafficked meander around the sub-suburbs.
While I was in my reverie, a maniac in a black Dodge Ram pickup
zoomed by me, almost clipping me
in the process. I only bring this up because I had one of those
weird “time dilation” experiences: I’m biking. Something says scoot right and
I do.
I watch as his passenger side mirror flies over mine. I feel a whoosh of
air, then hear the sound of him zooming by. When I snap out of it, he’s
half a mile away. My heart’s racing from the andrenaline rush
and I’m thinking of
Stan Reynolds getting clipped earlier this month.
And then, a minute later, all is quiet again.
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