SmokedDeathDog

The ride was this weekend and it was a complete blast! My wife and I rode this together, there were 1400 people starting the ride on Saturday. The first day was 104 miles, Seattle to Bellingham, WA. I can't believe how beautiful this part of the ride was, very different than the Seattle to Portland Ride I did a month or so earlier. The second day was 84 miles into Vancouver, BC, most of it beautiful until you get into the city (the country was much nicer).

The first day we took us some nice places like Bothell, Woodinville, Snohomish, Lake Stevens, Arlington, Mount Vernon and Bow. We even got to ride along side a lake named "Big Lake". Yea, I thought that it was a funny name as well, but it is name appropriately. The tough part of the first day was at the end when we went up Legg Rd where the last set of hills started, around mile 90. Really, who puts hills at the end of a long ride Actually it wasn't as bad as it could have been since I just started to get my second wind. The view over Samish Bay was just spectacular, not to mention that I was able to share this part of the ride with my wife. She made it up the hill faster than I did, but the great news was that I wasn't last and I didn't have to stop to get up the hills!

The second day didn't seem to have as many hills so it was easier and shorter, only 84 miles. When I rode the STP, the last 2 hours were really hard, this time it seemed like the ride was shorter and I was not as tired, even though this is a much harder ride. The first day took a little over 7 hours to ride and the second day was a little under 6 hours. The last hour or so of the ride was in the city which was very slow going. I am very glad to say that my legs didn't hurt very much at all and my butt could have stayed on the bike longer. I will not get back on my bike until tomorrow.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that this is really a great ride to do if you ever want to do a scenic double century. I enjoyed it much more than the STP (Seattle to Portland) but it is a little harder. Here is the info on the ride if you are interested.


https://shop.cascade.org/content/events/rsvp-details

Ron

PhotoJoe 

OK, that's it. I'm quitting my job and going to travel the country doing these awesome rides!

Sounds awesome. Thanks for the writeup!

Beachgrad05

Ok...this is NOW on my bucket list. Place to stay in Seattle area - check, place to stay in Bellingham - check....

I was born in Mount Vernon and lived in that area until I was in 4th grade. My mom grew up in Bow and my Grandpa donated land to the school district to build an elementary school on and my grandma worked there as a playground supervisor well into old age. Have family in "Big Lake" and loved 4th of July's there as they would shoot fireworks off barges on the lake.

I may need to renew my passport ASAP so I can do this next year!!!!

magohn

Nice job Ron!

I trained all year for the ride and then pulled a muscle in my back. Ive been off the bike for two weeks now trying to 'recover'. I was pretty bummed out about not riding but Im over it. As we had already paid for camping at Larabee State Park, we camped there and handed out 'frozen otterpops' to the riders on Chuckanut Drive. What a bunch of great people.

I had a blast comparing the level of bike and body geometry as the day wore on. Early guys were on Bianchi road bikes etc and then the end of day guys were on MTBs etc I still maintain the true extreme-athlete was the guy we cheered on at 7pm on Saturday night! He had that 1000-mile stare and was literally running on empty - but he kept pedaling! He must have been in the saddle 12 hours at that point.

Maybe next year for me but congrats to you!

SmokedDeathDog

I am sorry to hear that you weren't able to do the ride. I was really worried about doing this ride since it had more hills and you know, big guy, hills don't work well together. Anyway, this is the best ride I have ever done, and I will definitely do it again next year. My wife wants me to reserve rooms already for this so we can do it next year

I started riding again in October of last year and have been slowly working my way up to riding this far. I have lost some weight and feel much better. My goal next year is do this ride 30lbs lighter than I did this year.

Hope to see you next year!

Ron

magohn

Thanks Ron.

So would you say the Chuckanut Drive portion was the toughest for a clyde? What was day 2 like and "The Wall". Was day 2 harder than day 1?

I would love an expanded report on the difficulty of the ride because there really isnt that much out there. Just how hilly is it? I can find reports of elevation but they really dont put it into perspective.

We drove to the Holiday Inn "half way point" and that seemed a little disappointing compared to the STP - Chehalis mid-way. Perhaps we were late.

Thanks!