Chilly Hilly 2012 Recap

I rode the 2012 Chilly Hilly on Bainbridge Island, WA yesterday. I did this ride the first time in 2010.

I/we went over on the 8:45AM WS Ferry and started the ride by 9:30-9:45 or so. It was about 32-34 miles. [Note: I don't know exactly how far or how long because my cycle speedometer got flattened by a taxi when it slipped out of the mounting bracket in Sodo part of Seattle on the way to the ferry docks. I was ticked off about that since I had been using this speedo for about 4 years and tracked about 2,000 miles of my rides on it.]

The loaded-up ferry with many bikes.


I went over with friends Adam, Rob, and Paul. I don't have pics of Adam and Rob, once we hit the BI dock, they were gone far ahead of us. Paul was also far ahead initially (until first hill where he says he threw his chain), but I eventually weeded my way through the crowds and Paul and I stayed together pretty much through most of the ride.

Here is an uphill and downhill view of one of several killer hills on Bainbridge Island:

Uphill


Downhill


Paul and I midway through the ride.


The larger food stop mid-ride.


Paul (R) and I at the finish line.


The bicyclists' line for the return ferry trip.


The bikes on board.


I think overall the ride was a good one. There were a few snow flakes along the way, but temps were reasonable for February (50s?) and there were many sun breaks with little wind. I think the most brutal aspects of the ride are (interestingly) not the hills. In my experience, I think the more difficult portions are the gauntlet of the ferry unloading (bogged down as folks struggle to connect or reconnect with their riding buddies or tend to various bike and gear adjustments) and the fact that there isn't a long warm-up section prior to hitting some hills.

I'm looking forward to more training rides this year (I got my ticket for this summer's STP too - my 2nd).

oops CBC

Earlier this week, Cascade Bicycle Club tried a new online registration system for their rides.

They probably planned it out well, I know they made announcements well in advance about trying out a new online system and also had people do test runs (I participated in that effort) to "beta test" the new system.

But still problems happened. The Executive Director, Chuck Ayers, posted this statement about the situation.

Of course, the past few months have been tough for CBC, which has been hammered by ill will after the CBC Board fired Mr. Ayers, who has many supporters amongst the ranks.

I'm not leaping into the politics of it all, but I hope they got the kinks out of the registration process so I can sign up for some rides this year.