@Cyclops has taken it upon himself to organize North America’s first official Cogal right in the backyard of where it all started: Seattle, Wa. @Scaler911 and @McSqueak have confirmed that they will be driving up from Portland, OR to attend and we hereby invite any and all Velominati to attend.
We’ll be doing a no-drop ride on Whidbey Island, following a route that is not terribly hilly and easily accommodates varying distances, though I myself will be planning on a 100k or more. We’ll leave the Coffeehouse Bookstore in Langley at V minutes past 10 to give everyone plenty of time to find their way up to the island and into Langley. Route details will be published in the posts below when it is confirmed. (I have to do some research as I’ve not done the ride in it’s entirety myself.) Hope to see you there.
UPDATE: The route has been posted on MapMyRide. It is a 160km ride with the option to cut section off for those who are getting tired.
UPDATE: Those who are interested are invited to dinner Friday Evening at Quinn’s Pub on Capital Hill in Seattle. Please arrive as close to 6:30 as possible; late-comers will not be guaranteed a seat at the table if the place is full.
Yours in Cycling,
Frank
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Though there are two 2011 U.S. National Champions about 30 minutes down the interstate from me – southeast Idaho isn’t exactly a road bike Mecca. And I wear the V-Shirt whenever I’m traveling in the area to races (whether to participate or spectate) but I’ve only had one person recognize the Sign of the “V”. So the chances of running into or riding with a fellow Velominati are pretty slim. Let alone the demented brainchild of all this nonsense – Darth Strack. What’s a boy to do? Take the bull by the horns and make it happen my own self, that’s what. I figure that anywhere that I can drive to in a day is not too far to go for a ride so I’m off to Seattle to see whether this “Frank” character is indeed worthy to be praised or if he’s just some guy behind a curtain pulling levers and turning dials.
The plan is for a meet and greet (and eat and drink) Friday night Oct. 14 and a ride on Saturday the 15th. A few blokes from Portland way are planning on coming up as well so it looks like it is going to turn into a little Gran Fronkdo. Anyone that can make it is invited. We haven’t sorted out the details of the route or meeting place or time or anything important like that but we should have all that set in cobbles by early this week, so stay tuned.
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@sgt
agreed, some video clips as well would be nice. I want to see you guys on turbo trainers, hooked up to the ferry and powering it over to the island also, just for warm up of course.
@mcsqueak
Correct. You can also drive up and around via deception pass if ferry's aren't your thing.
@frank
Third option is parking in the little town that the ferry takes off from, and just riding across as a passenger + bike, which is cheaper and less likely to not have tickets available. It's only about 8 km from the landing at Clinton to the coffee shop.
Damnnnnn, wish I was closer! Have fun lads, sounds awesome!
@McSqueak - Harvest Century?
@Gerard
Yes sir. I don't do a lot of organized rides but I want to push myself to do a lengthy ride at least once this year, and knowing I will have food/water every 30 kms will make it a bit easier (most of my rides are usually solo 40-80 km affairs, so I don't generally carry more than a bar and some water).
Are you going to be there? I have a black Felt bike, say hi if you're out there and see me.
Am planning on attending the events.
The link to the starting Island Coffee Shop is broken, so not sure where the start point is. The Mukiteo/Clinton ferry should provide transport, but heed: the WA state ferry system is notoriously unreliable, in that the state is broke, and the ferry service simply has no money for operations. Boats are scheduled, but that schedule is often interrupted when boats need repair. Which is often, since they have no preventative maintenance. Lines on weekends can be long, and a boat may be full if you are trying to take a car. Walk on with a bike is much cheaper and reliable. No cleats on the passenger deck, so bring some of those rediculous slippers @Frank had on.
That said, the experience of being out on the waters of the Sound on a nice NW day to experience a bike ride is unrivaled. Unultegraed. And Unrecorded. Ark.
I wish I could make it but since Iowa is a bit more than a days drive for me I simply can't make it. It would be great to meet some of you hot rods and see if I could at least keep you in my site.
Frank I do have favor to ask of you if I may? I would be more than happy to pay for your time and trouble. A goodwill store in Seattle has what appears to be a nice Cannondale MTB that is on Ebay cheap right now. Only problem is they require local pickup only. I would like to drop some cash in your Pay Pal account to pay for your gas and time to go look at the bike and tell me if it something worth buying. If I could win the auction I would like to throw more cash at you to box up the bike and ship it to me. Please however if this is something you have no desire to do don't hesitate to say no and I'll just mark that one off my list.
Might I suggest Hale's Ales in Fremont for the Friday eats and Good Belgian Style Beer?
@eightzero
I was a bit worried about the same thing, i.e. getting to the ferry and having a long queue. I guess you can buy tickets online ahead of time, which may be smart.
Regarding no cleats on the deck, and idea of cleat covers will satisfy them, or are they so anal as to not believe those will protect the deck from damage?