Tulip Pedal 2022

I drove to La Conner to meet up with my friend, Kim, who was going to ride the Tulip Pedal with me. I had ridden with her last year and later did a camping trip, but then her husband died and I hadn’t seen her since that camping trip.

Last year I decorated myself and my bike with tulips. This year was about 10 degrees colder than last, so I was going for warmth and didn’t dress up this time. Kim attached a bunch of fake tulips to her bike helmet.

The route was easier to follow this year, but there was very heavy traffic near Roozengarde, making it hard to ride between them and the shoulder (which had a big drop-off). Because our springs was so chilly, many tulip fields were empty. It didn’t look as lovely as last year.

My stomach was cramping up most of the ride and about 3/4 of the way on the route, I had to stop. Within seconds I was tossing my cookies. Thinking I was done, I went back to the bike only to start heaving again. I finally felt more settled and downed my bottle of water. Kim was very patiently waiting for me to continue the ride.

At the finish I ended up tossing up all the water I had drank. I wasn’t hungry but knew I had to eat something after the long bike ride. Some Tom Yum soup at the Thai restaurant was the ticket.

After lunch I drove back to Arlington to a hotel where I was spending the night since I had another bike event in the area the next day.