Steve Frey blocking wind (somewhat, he needs to gain a few pounds)

Between cooking and eating and cooking and eating some more, I occasionally confuse my body with some exercising. I can only imagine what my muscles must think when I neglect them for weeks on end (up to a month) and then jump on a bike for 10 or so hours in a lump sum of punishment. Thankfully, I don’t much care what my body thinks of it. I’m always happy to get out on the road.

I left the warmth of my bed to drive out at 6am for a 7am start of the 3 Rivers Cruise 200K in Arlington, WA. We could have started later, but I was happy to minimize the amount of night time riding we might be doing towards the end of the ride. Chris and I were joined by Steve Frey, John Whitenack, Jeff Loomis  and Alan Bell. It ended up being a perfect group since we were all riding at about the same pace for the day, and we were all happy to enjoy a sit down lunch mid-ride.

The view from Marblemount

Concrete, WA - We get lumped in with the roller-bladers

The temperature was in the low 30′s from the start. I had all of my usual winter riding layers of wool on, but I forgot a couple of pieces that I meant to bring to keep my face and hands a bit warmer. It didn’t seem to matter at first. We clicked out the initial 30 miles in no time. I even felt comfortable enough to take off my jacket and just stick with the arm warmers and wind vest (along with my wool jersey and base layer). This was a combination that proved unreliable though. We gained a bit more elevation and it kept getting colder. There was snow on the ground at a point and I started to get numb hands. My vision was blurring and I was slurring when I tried to hold a conversation. Thankfully, everyone stopped with me while I attempted to pull my jacket on through cold hands. I kept the windvest on underneath the jacket for the rest of the ride. It was the most layers I’ve ever comfortably worn for the length of a 200K. This extra layer seemed to do the trick. It warmed my core and, in turn, kept my joints comfortable.

By the time we got to Marblemount (55 miles or so), I was starting to come back around. I treated myself to some Doritos and juice. One of those food combos that I would never actually eat outside of a bike ride. It was incredible.

The town is interesting because it is a stop on the way through the North Cascades Highway. Since the pass is shut down for the winter, there is no reason to drive through the area unless you live there. The convenience store owner knew the drill of making sure we had receipts and seemed to be more than happy to have the business. He was quite pleasant actually.

Some of the group expressed an interest in a hot meal so we decided to have a sit down in the town Concrete (around 75 miles). The downtown area was tucked away off of the freeway. The only place with food that was open was a bar. The food were pretty delicious though, and our waitress was attentive and pleasant. I managed to sneak in probably 3 or 4 cups of coffee before we left along with a great tuna sandwich.

Snow levels are falling

Jeff and Steve

The stretch of roads out of town were among the most beautiful on the ride. They hugged a wide river to our right with some snow dusted mountains on our left. There was no real climbing to speak of so we were pretty free to enjoy ourselves and the company. If anyone ever wants to dip their toe in the randonneuring waters, this would be an excellent first ride candidate.

Cinnamon Donut

Once we started heading back south towards Arlington, there was a 4 or 5 mile stretch of road that was much less pleasant than the rest of the ride. It had little to no shoulder and relatively high traffic. The locals didn’t seemed too pleased to have us their either. Eventually the shoulder widened and we were given a little more breathing room.

Somewhere near Arlington, Steve got hit with a plastic… something or other… from a passing motorist. I really hate people like that. Thankfully, it was small and didn’t hurt anything other than our tempers.

We cruised in at around the average finish time of somewhere around 10 hours. Despite the last minute annoyances and the cold weather, it was a fantastic ride and a good way to spend a Saturday.

Chibi helped me warm up when I got home.