Ride For Major Taylor
It was an early morning start on April 23rd for the Ride For Major Taylor cycling event. And, as is typical of a Seattle spring, it was raining with a high in the low 50s. I really hate riding in the rain! My mood wasn’t great as I started the 65-mile route (a big training ride for STP for me).
After about 10 miles into the route, the rain finally stopped and I saw some bits of blue sky.
At around mile 15 there was a very steep hill. I’m told it was around a 15% grade over half a mile. I could tell before I even started that I was not going to be able to get to the top. I made it about half way before I had to get off my bike and start pushing it the rest of the way. This was no easy task since the total weight of my three batteries is around 30 lbs.! I wasn’t the only one off my bike. I would guess that over half the riders that day walked up that darn hill.
I had worn several layers under my bike jacket and was very hot after that big hill. At mile 20, the first rest stop, I was feeling a bit dizzy, too. I thought that if I ate some food I would feel better. Nope…I had barely taken one bite of food when I had to hug the trash can and vomited all my breakfast into it. Not just once, but a total of three times before I started to cool off and feel better! I felt fine the rest of the ride, thank goodness.
The next stop was at the Point Defiance ferry dock, which all riders would take to reach Vashon Island and continue the route. On the way to the ferry, several of us missed a left turn near the Port of Tacoma, which added about a half mile to get back on the route.
After arriving in Vashon, I sprinted ahead of the others up the steep hill, then across the island to get to the ferry going to Fauntleroy (West Seattle). I was booking and was the last one on the ferry, which was great since they only run every 40 minutes or so.
Of course there was another steep hill after I got off that ferry! I was so tired and so done with hills that day!
Would I ride this again? Maybe…but only if the weather was much better!
