2011 KCC ride - Ending the season the same way it started...

...cold, wet, and waiting for the Washington State Ferry.

Take the following parts:
- The beating rain from Chilly Hilly
- The constant wind from Skagit Valley Tulip Ride
- The rolling hills of RSVP Day 1
- The poorly marked and supported route of Flying Wheels

...Add in a Ferry ride and mix them all together and you get this year's Kitsap Color Classic!! YAY!!!

Did I know it was going to be foul weathered for the KCC? ...Yes
Did I remember how miserable I was at the end of Chilly Hilly? ...Yes

I didn't care though.

Between the mechanical issues, the weather issues, heck even the planning and logistics issues that I faced this season (for those that dont know, RSVP almost didnt happen for me), I could not have wished for a better opportunity to face my own fears of riding through crap weather and get back to a state of mind where I could anything.

It wasnt fun, and at points very miserable. But it was also a new place that I had never been before. I was back to exploring new locations with my bike. At the end of the ride I felt much better than I did at the end of Chilly Hilly. I was still wet, cold and waiting for the Ferry to arrive, but I felt that sense of accomplishment.. not just survival. Call it closure, if you will.

And with that, I bid everyone farewell for the cycling season. It's time to hang up my road bike, put some fenders on my hybrid and buy some winter riding gear. Yup... I'm talking about fall and winter weather riding.

I've got a big goal for next year, my biggest goal yet... and nothing is going to stop me!

-CLOS

worst luck... EVER!!

Alright seriously… I’ve ridden my bike to work a whopping 3 times this season. I blame the weather and my overall laziness because there is one big ass hill right before I turn into my building. For you TMO folks, I’m over at the Sunset North campus and on the other side of I-90… but that’s not the point of this rant.

The first time I had no issues coming in and took the big hill pretty well. Little did I know that I had a slow leak in my front tire and as the day went on it got completely flat. Thankfully it was just a puncture and a patch kit was able to fix it up.

The second time I rode in to work, the valve stem on my rear tube blew out. Never seen this happen, but it pretty much meant an instant flat for me. Oh and forget trying to use a patch kit here, there was no way I could even pump up the tube. Thankfully I had a spare tube with me.

Yesterday was my third time and just like the first time, I got in with no problems. The hill was a little bit harder this time because I was carrying a back pack full with clothes and my laptop, but I made it in with no problems and I was thinking the curse was broken. I was completely wrong… my luck had not changed at all. In fact it got worse. I would have been lucky if a flat tire was all I had to deal with... but instead one of the effin spokes on my back wheel decides to break off like one of those Kit Kat bars in those annoying commercials.

Between the issues commuting to work, and the mechanical issues I’ve had on our team rides, my bike has not made this season an easy one. I just hope that I’m getting all of the possible issues out of the way before our big ride.

Hillary has fallen!

Since Hillary and Leo have yet to fall on a ride, this momentous event needed to be documented. Hilary has taken her first plunge into the pavement. I know that she is trying to catch up to my falls lol. 

More from Flying Wheels 2011...

They say that if you can do 45 miles of Flying Wheels you can do 200 of STP...

The first time I ever heard that was 2 years ago when I first started cycling and it was very hard for me to understand the math behind that statement. That is until I actualy saw (and experienced!) what Flying Wheels actually is... living hell!

Its called Flying Wheels because by the time you get to the mid point of the last hill you're flying off the handle cursing the day you payed $30 to participate in this event. Chances are you might even throw your bike off a cliff in frustration, at which point you'd have quote, unquote 'Flying Wheels'.

Well 45 miles is not enough for this team. We tackled the 65 miler (which the event coordinators list as a 70 mile ride)!!!
.
It was a very hard and challenging ride, but thankfully we did not have any mechanical issues as a team and the weather was very much on our side.

Here are some more pics to supplement Leo's post. Hope y'all enjoy the pics, and if you're ever in the mood to put yourself through self inflicted torture... feel free to bike the route we have posted below!

TEAMobile... UNITE!!


Hey Leo... what's your all time favorite number?


The newest addition to our stable of road machines... Hill's bad mamajama Tomaso!!


... and a few more of our rides.



The TEAMobile 'flyers' in action:





And finally the two pitctures that sum it all up... Mike 'Before and After' Flying Wheels.

Flying Wheels 2011

First of all I want to congratulate everyone for a ride well done! I was so traumatized after this ride last year that I was unbelievably nervous heading into it. For those first timers that only had our horror stories to go off of, kudos to you guys for sticking through it!

Here's the link for those of you that want to view the summary of the hellacious ride we did this past Saturday! http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/37215918

Our two newest members... JR and Nicole!

Gearin' up for the ride... our first FULL team photo!

"What do you mean we've only gone 10 miles???"

What happened to your other helmet Hillary????

Which way do we go Carlos??

Hillary gettin' in a good stretch before we're back on the road!

You're supposed to ride the bike!!!

West side of the I-90 Bridge

"My legs are cramping, my legs are cramping!"

Jocelyn's new friend... Mya

Thank God for good people in this world!

Spoiled ass cops on Mercer Island...

Memorial Day Ride

Here's the link to Map My Ride if you want to check out the stats of our ride today.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/35905666

Enjoy!!

Finally.... PICTURES!

And Joc says I take up the entire road!!!!

Mike looks like a chipmunk storing seeds in his cheeks

Awww... one of our "couples," ain't that sweet!

teaMOBILE at Seward Park

Hill after her trip into "the most disgusting bathroom... IN THE WORLD!"

Took some convincing on our part, but CLos finally gave in to the mighty power of alcohol!

35 miles in... Margaritas anyone?? I think, YES!

Mikes first fall of the season... many more to come!

The re-enactment of Nicole's second, no wait, third fall... wait, was it the fourth? I don't know... too many to count!!

Tulip pedal pictures

here are a few (read: 2) pictures from our LaConner to Mt. Vernon to LaConner wind-filled, semi-cold, not-really-enjoyable 40(ish) mile adventure. I've only got these 2 to post right now, have 2 more that I'll update with later.

this was taken when Mike needed his flat changed, 26 seconds into the ride. the smell was fantastic, remember?

i took this while riding; yes, i'm that talented. here we were on our way to getting semi-lost. but at least i captured this image (totally by accident).

cheers,

JR

How about a team logo?

Mayah says, "Thanks!"

On Saturday I checked my mail with one purpose....to check for my "Continuity Statement" from T-Mobile. Yep, that's right...I was waiting for the exact dollar amount that my company thinks I'm worth after 11 years of work and dedications. Much to my surprise there was a letter addressed to me from Mercer Island. I new it could only be from one person. Darling, little Mayah.

Both Mayah and her mom wrote us cyclists a little note of thanks. The card was beyond sweet and so wonderful to receive. Of course, I tiered up a bit...but let's be honest I cry every time T-Mobile previews our new advertisements. Attached are both cards for your viewing. Grab some tissues...I promise it will warm your heart.


P.S. Along with the card we received a Starbucks gift card...next ride the coffee is on Mayah:)

A Lovely day, A Lot of Hills, and A Lost Little Girl

We took a team ride as I posted earlier around the South end of Lake Wa and across I90. For the first time, our 7 man team (New name pending suggestions) was together and we rode like the wind. Or rather we rode against the wind. Insert the sound of Leo impersonating the wind who seems to hate us and always push us down. Sorry I trailed off.

Anyway, a few team members had some anxiety and anger to blow off so we started off strong. Riding to enjoy the day, to get some exercise and to well work off some frustrations. The day was a little cloudy but after Chilly Hilly it was like I was pedaling in Hawaii! I should back up, I have NOT been on a bike since that dreadful event and honestly almost cried thinking about mounting up this week. Just a little PTSD....

Anyway the day was nice and we started out heading South towards Renton. To quote Jocelyn, "There are just a few hills on this route." Unfortunately for Joc, she became the Girl who cried wolf... There were a lot of hills, great training for our journey in August.

We curved around the SOuth end of Boeing Field and took a little rest for a snack at Seward Park in South Seattle. We mounted back up and headed towards I90 and Mercer Island.

Mike and I decided to ride up the hill while the rest took the flat route and then climbed the stairs to the top of the bridge. (Note to self: it was one hell of a hill, thanks Mike!)

Across I90 is always my favorite part and aside from some sand in my teeth it was no different. I did feel like it was soooo much easier this year as compared to last.

Now the interesting part. We ventured onto Mercer Island to add about 13 miles to the route by biking around the Perimter. About 11 miles in we all stopped to recuperate. Mike and JR had some leg cramps and the rest of us had to go to the bathroom bad. While we rested in some rich Mercer Islander's driveway, we saw a little girl walking along side the , not so safe, road. It looked as though she had popped out of the huge Mercer Island Trail system that goes for miles through the inside of the island.

She was crying, sobbing and shivering. We got her to come with us and finally got her name and her age, just 6 years old. Apparently her friend's dad dropped her off at home but then zoomed off in his sports car (that i am assuming, no idea what car he drives) before she got inside. Her house was locked and no one was home. So she started walking and walking attempting to find her way through her tears to her friend's house. Luckily she came upon us and not the awful people that are scattered in this world.

We called the MI police, and a hybrid SUV later, a nice cop showed up and helped us return her to her home. Not before reaming out the friend's mom and making our little lost girl feel safe again. I hope her parents give those other parents HELL about this and that the little girl is doing better today.

We rode on, with our anger and astonishment to propel us forward and we ended our 35 mile bike ride, some 4 hours later back at our cars. Starving and tired, and in desparate need of a bathroom.

Never a dull moment with Team _____________________ (Still looking for a new name).

Next up- Tulip Ride!!!

If Sunny Skies Prevail

How about this for our route on Sunday?

35.67 miles. Start at SE Bell park and ride, head south around the bottom of the lake, thru Seward Park and the Mercer Island Loop back to the car.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/29901148

Newest team member!!!

I would like to introduce everyone to Team Jarlos' newest team member and first fan, Mike! He finally got the nerve to join us for a ride this weekend. Without a "cough" holding him back, he manned up and rode 30 long, trecherous miles along the Centennial Trail! The ride was from Snohomish to south Marysville. Here is a pic of Mike (don't know what he's doing) with Marysville highschool in the background.

At the start, you can tell Mike was getting a little nervous. His cleats wouldn't let him fully clip into the pedal but he said screw it and we were off. Thank God for nice weather, especially after what was the worst sunday of my life last weekend. The ride was honestly so easy (even on my old piece of shit) that there really isn't much to talk about here! Just glad teammate number 5 finally joined in!
If you notice in the pic above, we're all holding the number 25 with our fingers. Reason for this is the last two miles of the first half was a pretty gradual downhill slope. Mike decided to take off showing off his insane bike skills. Soon after that, CLos passed me and I screamed out "I CAN'T HIT 25!!!!" This is because on my old piece of shit bike, the fastest I can go is about 25 mph, but it takes a force of God to get the speed up that fast!!!

Three strikes rule...

Hello everybody!!! So like Joc, this is my first post of the season, and also like Joc, I can't guarantee that there will be much more of these, but i'll try my hardest to keep you all entertained! (No that doesn't mean I'm hopping back on my mountain bike!)

So you're probably thinking about why I named my post "the three strikes rule," well I just want you to pay attention to the strikes throughout this post and keep in mind that once you reach three, you're usually out, you quit, you give up, you turn around... but for some reason, we didn't.

So for me the day started out questioning my sanity. I had a party to attend the night before and didn't get to sleep till about 2:30 in the morning KNOWING I had to be up bright and early for our first organized ride of the season. Exchanging texts with Joc at 6:30 and waiting for her to say "i'm out!" But that never happened. We all met at the Mercer Island park & ride with the weather a blistering 32 degrees! We loaded the bikes and were off to Seattle, along with our newest member of the team, Carlos' brother in law, Earl.

The ferry ride was probably the best part of the day, for the simple fact that I had half an apple fritter. It was delicious. Joc got a little nauseus (of course) and we hadn't started to ride yet. Disembarking the ferry, Carlos took quite the spill (strike number 1). He collapsed going an amazing 2 mph and happened to take another biker out with him. Apparently the other biker started doing push-ups and I think Hillary pee'd herself a bit. After everyone composed themselves we were off!

From the get-go things didn't seem to going well for one of our teammates, our first downhill Carlos' phone flies off his bike. Not the way you would think where the velcro gives from a bump and becomes detached, I mean, the unthinkable way. The phone completely comes out of it's casing and crashes to the ground in the middle of the hill forcing Carlos to turn around and climb up an unnecessary hill (strike number 2).

After those two nightmares to start off the ride things started to look up. We were all expecting rain/snow and cold weather but the sun was poking out and the scenery was GORGEOUS! Wait, I spoke too soon. Our first big hill it started to snow... just a bit. And at first we all were mocking the weather. "Look!! It's snowing! Wouldn't be a chilly hilly ride without the snow!!!" I wish I could take back that mockery now because it kicked our ass for the rest of the day!

After about another 10 miles of complaining about the cold, the wet, the snow, the hills and whatever else you can possibly think of we were close to the half way point. Except Carlos gets a flat about 2 miles away (strike number 3, time to quit??? Nope!) He repeatedly fills up his tire with air about every 4 pedals and finally makes it to the halfway point. At this point I've been waiting for about 20 minutes hoping that I would warm my feet up. My toes felt like they were frost bitten. Earl gave me a pair of socks to put over my shoes to try and block the wind, and surprisingly they worked for a bit. We all got some snacks, tea, and Carlos fixed his flat. Off for the second half.

Hill after hill, rain and more rain, snow and slippery roads we muscled through the second half of the ride. More gorgeous scenery and wind from hell. It's as if the devil himself was throwing us EVERY curve ball in the book to prevent us from finishing this ride. Carlos' chain kept falling off (strike number 4) and Hillary couldn't change gears anymore (strike number 5). But we all muscled through it!

At the finish line, soaking to the bone and Carlos' jacket weighing in at about 367lbs due to waterlog we were all looking forward to some chili, but the room was tiny, and it was a small bowl for $7. I know it's going to a good cause, but the best cause for us at that time was to get somewhere warm, and that tiny room was not it. We rode the last half mile to the ferry where we endured probably the coldest part of the ride. Sitting outside, not moving, waiting for the stupid cars to unload... absolutely miserable!

Looking back on things, you usually forget the bad things and only remember the good. Like for me for instance, I remember marine corps boot camp as being fun although going through it was hell. As for yesterdays ride? I don't remember a single good thing! That's gotta mean something! The good thing is, we finished. We triumphed through the harsh weather conditions, the miserable hills, all the problems with bikes, our frozen extremities. 3,000 less people rode this ride than recorded last year, and we were part of that insane group. Now that we can say we've completed it, we'll never do it again... right team????????

Now for Vancouver!!