Photo by Kazuki Sawanoi
Although I've participated in six or seven Chilly Hilly bicycle rides in my 10 years in the Seattle area, I'm always one of those in the last-minute registration line near the ferry terminal.
Not this year, however. I registered early and received my packet in the mail well before Sunday.
It was still sitting there, unopened, on the kitchen table when I returned from the airport Sunday night. My wife's father died after a long illness last week, and we had flown back East. That's why there were so few updates on this blog lately.
I soon learned that I had missed one of the worst — or best — Chilly Hilly bike rides in recent memory. My biking buddy Kazuki told me he ran into snow, rain and fierce headwinds on this year's ride.
Kick-off
The event kicks off the recreational cycling season in western Washington with a 33-mile counterclockwise loop around Bainbridge Island. Year in and year out the hills are always there — 2,600 feet of elevation gain — but the weather has been fairly pleasant.
Sunny skies and pleasant temperatures have greeted the cyclists disembarking from the ferry the past two years. In fact, last year's weather is credited for luring a record-breaking 6,028 cyclists out for the ride.
This year, however, registration lagged at 3,700 cyclists. I'm amazed at how few cyclists are seen climbing the hill in his photo above; usually those hills are jammed with people struggling up the hills.
Salute
I'm sure that most cyclists who planned on registering at the last minute had a change of heart when they poked their heads outside Sunday morning. I salute the steadfast cyclists who braved the weather this year. They faced high winds and rain, sleet and snow. Temperatures didn't get above 40 for most of the day.
Kazuki and I were going to ride our bikes from Bellevue over to the ferry terminal for Chilly Hilly to get in some extra miles and avoid burning gasoline to attend a bike ride.
He was running late and started to drive over, but parked on Mercer Island when he saw another cyclist with a Chilly Hilly bib making the trek.
Kazuki said he ran into rain and snow during the ride, and fierce headwinds on the open coastlines.
“Despite all that, I enjoyed the ride. It was nice to feel being part of the bicycle community.”
Also, Rami Grunbaum writes about his Chilly Hilly experiences at the Seattle Times.
More rides
Bike rides in Washington get off to a slow start through the rest of the late winter rainy season with the McClinchy Mile scheduled as the next big recreational ride on March 19. That's followed by the spring flower tours commemorating tulips, daffodils, lilacs and wildflowers in April.
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