Pacific Northwest - Flying Wheels

This Saturday!

Who's going?
What route are you riding?



I'm riding the century, and maybe the 25mi loop as some extra mileage to pile on top of riding to/from the event.

I am planning on the century. Plus gonna ride there from my house for a little extra mileage and the climb up Woodinville-Duvall going home :twitchy:

I'm signed up, riding the century route.

Hey woodway, what route are you taking to the start? I've got some friends out past Lake of the Woods, and I'm trying to convince them to ride to/from with me. Maybe we can all meet up along the way to the start.

Hey woodway, what route are you taking to the start? I've got some friends out past Lake of the Woods, and I'm trying to convince them to ride to/from with me. Maybe we can all meet up along the way to the start.

I was going to come down 156th to Woodinville-Duvall and jump on the SRT in Woodinville and then mosey down to Marymoor. Let me know what it looks like on your end.

I was going to come down 156th to Woodinville-Duvall and jump on the SRT in Woodinville and then mosey down to Marymoor. Let me know what it looks like on your end.

We usually head down 133rd to Avondale, and head straight down to the park. If I'm riding solo, I might meet you along the SRT, though. Gives me a chance to get in a trip over Education Hill on my way to the trail.

We usually head down 133rd to Avondale, and head straight down to the park. If I'm riding solo, I might meet you along the SRT, though. Gives me a chance to get in a trip over Education Hill on my way to the trail.

You definitely won't be riding solo ;)

Kasia & I are doing the century again, and we plan to start from our house. The extra distance should make it pretty close to a 200K.

You definitely won't be riding solo ;)

Kasia & I are doing the century again, and we plan to start from our house. The extra distance should make it pretty close to a 200K.

WooooooooHoooooooooo!

OK. I'll meet you at your place, and we'll meet woodway down at Wilmot Gateway. That will make it a 200k even if we head out W'ville-Duvall to the park, and then back up 133rd on the way home.
Plus it will give me close to 140mi for the day if I meet you at your place, ride home, and do a couple laps around the block.


woodway, keithm0
what time do you want to meet at Wilmot Gateway Park? The official start is at 8am. I figure meeting at W-G Park at 7 - 7:15am gives us time to make it to the park and get registered/pick up maps.

I'll be riding with my STP team mates & doing the century. I'm also going to ride to & from the event from N. bothell to get the extra training for STP. I figure 140miles should be good.

100 mile, riding to and from event.
I will be on my recumbent lowracer so I will be easy to spot.

I'm saving up my very low amount of potential wattitude for the Native Planet Classic next Saturday (June 20).

So on Saturday the 13th I am doing only the 65 mile route at Flying Wheels as a warmup, and making sure everything is ready for next week.

woodway, keithm0
what time do you want to meet at Wilmot Gateway Park? The official start is at 8am. I figure meeting at W-G Park at 7 - 7:15am gives us time to make it to the park and get registered/pick up maps.

Kewl...

I'll arrive at Wilmot Gateway @ 7:00.

I'll be the guy dressed in black wearing Mountain Bike riding shorts :thumb:

Hey BengeBoy, looks like I may be doing the opposite as you...century at FW, and then the 60 mile ride at Native Planet the following week.

I will be doing the century. This will by my first one ever so i am a little nervous. Pretty sure i can do it but am worried about the closing time of the event. I only average about 15-16 mph but the hills have me a little concerned. I am going to pick up a map but can any of you tell me if i really need it or do i just follow the mass of people. Also, any hidden surprises i should know about? Hope all of you have a great ride.

I will be doing the century. This will by my first one ever so i am a little nervous. Pretty sure i can do it but am worried about the closing time of the event. I only average about 15-16 mph but the hills have me a little concerned. I am going to pick up a map but can any of you tell me if i really need it or do i just follow the mass of people. Also, any hidden surprises i should know about? Hope all of you have a great ride.

Pick up the cue sheet just in case, but the route is really well marked. The hills aren't that bad, actually. Inglewood Hill is 5 miles into the ride, and that one is a big climb, then there's Dulthie/Black Nugget at the end of the route, so save some energy for that one.
It's not like the 7 Hills century, where you're just climbing and climbing forever. I think FW is under 4000 total gain.

WooooooooHoooooooooo!

OK. I'll meet you at your place, and we'll meet woodway down at Wilmot Gateway. That will make it a 200k even if we head out W'ville-Duvall to the park, and then back up 133rd on the way home.
Plus it will give me close to 140mi for the day if I meet you at your place, ride home, and do a couple laps around the block.


woodway, keithm0
what time do you want to meet at Wilmot Gateway Park? The official start is at 8am. I figure meeting at W-G Park at 7 - 7:15am gives us time to make it to the park and get registered/pick up maps.

7:00 @ Wilmot Gateway sounds like a good plan. IIRC it's about 7.5 miles from our house to the park. Want to meet us here about 6:15-ish for a leisurely warm-up ride along Woodinville-Duvall?

Call my cell before you leave the house, just in case. I promise I won't screw around with my bike the day of the ride this time ;).

7:00 @ Wilmot Gateway sounds like a good plan. IIRC it's about 7.5 miles from our house to the park. Want to meet us here about 6:15-ish for a leisurely warm-up ride along Woodinville-Duvall?

Call my cell before you leave the house, just in case. I promise I won't screw around with my bike the day of the ride this time ;).

Well, we still have 2 more weeks where it's a short ride from your place to the park... Then they shut down 212th from Woodinville-Duvall to 165th for almost 2 months, and it's a 5 mile detour to get around it.

Dude, I'm coming over and locking your bike in the shed tomorrow! :lol:
Which are you riding: The flat bars or the CoMotions? Seriously, if you haven't gone down to SVC and seen Rick, come to my place and bring the bikes, we'll nail down the fit and get you ready for Saturday. Those bikes are too nice to just have them in the garage; I really want to see you two on them!

I'm riding with some STP rookies, so we're only doing the 65. I am however riding to Seattle afterward for the Sounders FC game.

Anyone know the approximate distance along the trail from Marymoor to Belltown?

I'm sooo jealous! I wanna ride too! Just not enough rides over here. I'm gonna need to put an ad in the paper for riding buddies, maybe get somthing going one of these days.
Have fun saturday!

Anyone know the approximate distance along the trail from Marymoor to Belltown?

It's about 30mi from Marymoor to the Bainbridge ferry dock, if that helps.

It's about 30mi from Marymoor to the Bainbridge ferry dock, if that helps.

That works about to a century in my book :)

Do I need to bring my bike lock? My wife is dropping me off and picking me up. Any need for it at the rest stops? Not riding with any buddies.

Do I need to bring my bike lock? My wife is dropping me off and picking me up. Any need for it at the rest stops? Not riding with any buddies.

I don't think so. When I'm in that situation, I set my bike alongside something absurdly more expensive. My thinking is they won't steal a $1000 LeMond when it's next to a $5000 Cervelo. :)

That said I will be carrying a light duty lock because I need to run some errands while on the bike after the event.

As stated before, this will be my first century. One last question after reading some of these posts. Do most people bring a lock with them on these rides. I will probably be solo both for the FW and STP. I kind of thought that with that many people riding, that it would be safe to leave your bike to use the bathroom. If people do use locks could you tell me what type. I am assuming something light weight. Thanks.

I've never carried a bike lock on an organized ride. I don't believe I've ever seen anyone lock a bike up on an organized ride.


If you are really nervous about this, get one of these very light, very cheap cable locks like people use for locking up skis/snowboards at a ski resort. They would slow a thief down for 30 seconds or so, and don't weigh very much. Really, they're not hard to defeat, but perhaps offer enough deterrance to motivate a thief to move onto the next bike.

I sometimes use those just for ducking into a Starbucks.

Thanks for the info. I don't think i am really nervous about it. I just started to read some of the previous posts and they started me thinking. Thanks again.

Thanks for the info. I don't think i am really nervous about it. I just started to read some of the previous posts and they started me thinking. Thanks again.

Have a great ride! Should be fun.

Do I need to bring my bike lock? My wife is dropping me off and picking me up. Any need for it at the rest stops? Not riding with any buddies.

Nah. Everyone pretty much just leaves their bikes leaned around and laying on the ground. No one is going to try anything with it.

Think about it: At an event with 1000's of cyclists, many of whom are undoubtedly faster than you (if you're a thief,) would you dare try swiping someone's ride? You'd get stomped and some Clyde would lash you to the rack of his bike like a trohpy buck. :D

I am really looking forward to FW. It will be my first organized Century ride though I have done solo centuries before. The route looks fun too.

keithm0, his wife and I got some great pix last year on this ride.

Me and him (both Clydes) standing by the "Heavy Cyclists on Road" sign on Inglewood Hill, and her flipping off the handmade "bicycle free zone" sign on High Bridge Road.

Hey Clifton & co. - the wife has informed me that I need to be home 2-3ish saturday afternoon for a niece graduation party. So, I think I am going to head out from my house around 6, and get onto the course early so that I can be assured of finishing early enough to ensure "domestic tranquility".

You guys have a good ride, and if you see a guy in MTB shorts on a K2 Enemy CX bike with a big reflective triangle on the back, make sure to introduce yourself!

IIRC, most of the rest stops at FW are small enough that you can keep an eye on your bike (except of course whilst in the port-o-let).

Hey Clifton & co. - the wife has informed me that I need to be home 2-3ish saturday afternoon for a niece graduation party. So, I think I am going to head out from my house around 6, and get onto the course early so that I can be assured of finishing early enough to ensure "domestic tranquility".

You guys have a good ride, and if you see a guy in MTB shorts on a K2 Enemy CX bike with a big reflective triangle on the back, make sure to introduce yourself!

Sure thing! You have a great ride, and we'll look for you out there. I'll probably be the only one wearing a blue Seattle Randonneurs jersey, (since many of the crew are doing the 600k this weekend,) so if you see bearded guy in a blue Randos jersey riding a black Cross-Check, holler at me.

keithm0, his wife and I got some great pix last year on this ride.

Me and him (both Clydes) standing by the "Heavy Cyclists on Road" sign on Inglewood Hill, and her flipping off the handmade "bicycle free zone" sign on High Bridge Road.

You gotta get those pics posted, love to see em! Gonna do any video on saturday?

I know that the "heavy cyclists" pic is somewhere on the Clydesdale forum.

I will most certainly be rolling some video this weekend.

You gotta get those pics posted, love to see em! Gonna do any video on saturday?

http://keithmo.blogspot.com/2008/06/flying-wheels-summer-century.html

Keith,
Re-read the last sentence of that blog post!

Which ones are you riding on Saturday? (Please be the Co-Mo's...)

:D great pics!

I love the pictures. The blog post was a nice link as well, I am really looking forward to FW now.

What if any differences are there between Snohomish Co. rednecks and Pierce Co. rednecks with regards to their treatment of cyclists? I have my own opinions and experiences, just curious about others.

Last time I rode FW, I had a 1/2 drank McDonald's softdrink thrown at me.

What if any differences are there between Snohomish Co. rednecks and Pierce Co. rednecks with regards to their treatment of cyclists? I have my own opinions and experiences, just curious about others.

Last time I rode FW, I had a 1/2 drank McDonald's softdrink thrown at me.

I think the ghost of Ronnie Van Zant convened the redneck council of elders and made the decision that Snohomish Co. would back off on throwing soft-drinks this year, while the Pierce Co. contingent would take to throwing spare change.

(No problems in 4 rides through Snohomish this year, but I'm 2 for 2 in Pierce for being hit with coins.)

I've been riding around Enumclaw and neighboring cities regularly each weekend this spring. So far so good. I even got waves from Harley riders going up HWY 165 up past Carbonado. If Flying Wheels through Snoho is without incident, perhaps driver-cyclist relations, and even humanity as a whole have changed course for the better... Nah!

How did the ride go for everyone?

I left my house around 6:15am and rode down to Marymoor. Arrived just before 7:00 and just headed out onto the course. Course was great with two exceptions - that crazy construction on East Lk. Sammamish, I got buzzed by a huge dump truck, scared the bejesus out of me, and those crazy chipseal patches on NB 203 after the first camp korey stop.

Clifton, I think I saw you leaving the water stop on Woodinville-Duvall Rd., I was coming back from Snohomish and you were heading up that way. You were gone before I could yell and wave. You probably would have thought it was some crazy guy anyway :)

This is by far the biggest ride I have ever done (longtime Mountain Biker who took up road biking last October), and I was pretty happy that I felt strong the whole way. No chafing, no hotspots, nothing went numb. I think I am ready for a one day STP.

The ride itself was great. Weather was perfect and the scenery is interesting. I would say that the only bummer was coming back down from Snohomish and getting on the course with the 45 and 65 mile riders. Not that those riders where bad or doing anything wrong, but the century course was pretty empty and then all of a sudden the course got really crowded...

That last climb where you cross 202 and head up to Duthie Hill was interesting. Lot's of craziness, people weaving, suddenly stopping, riding in the opposite lane, etc. Just gotta take your time through that section.

I pretty much rode by myself the whole way. Never joined any pacelines, just kept my cadence and enjoyed the ride. Riding home from Marymoor was probably the worst part of the day, because I was tired. That last hill climbing up out of Woodinville to the White Stallion was going fine until I flatted right at the top. The injustice...

I've attached my stats for the day.

I rode my fixed gear bike on the century route mostly alone even though I saw alot of folks I knew before and along the way. My pace on a fixed gear is different and trying to ride with those with gears just didn't work out. All about momentum. I'd usually find myself passing riders on the uphills then seeing them whiz by me on the downhills. Anyways, the day was perfect and I felt pretty good about being able to finish in under 6hrs including stops - my longest ride on a fixed so far.

I had a blast. It was my first FW and my first organized century ride. Overall I found it great, the construction wasn't too bad and I appreciated the police presence there. I posted my pictures of it to flick (http://www.flickr.com/photos/watson_house/sets/72157619706385824/).

Thanks for the great ride.

AWESOME Day!!! Did the 65 which was my longest ride to date and I feel ready for two-day STP next month. Lots of compliments on my Fat Cyclist jersey and much praise/incredulousness for my MTB with road tires set-up. And a few people asking to borrow the low gears on that three-mile hill.

I did manage to inadvertently and unnoticed knock my front quick release loose during hike-a-bike on that hill. Good thing I finally did notice on the flat at the top of the hill. I hit 41 MPH (land speed record for me) about a mile later on the down and that would not have been pretty.

Not to hijack, but anyone want to weigh-in on how the FW 3-mile hill at roughly Mile 48 of the 65 (assume high 70s/low 80s for the century) compares to The Hill in Puyallup for STP. Seems like it'd be a good comparison for the 65 given similar distances from the start.

I started at 7:30, and did the 65-mile route as planned. Nice weather, safe riders (for the most part - I still don't get racing teams/clubs that show up at these events and ride 3 abreast).

I passed a group of riders huddled around a downed rider in Issaquah between 10:30 and 11 - I heard at the next rest step that a rider had been hit by a car at a crosswalk. Hope that was just a rumor...

I had a blast. It was my first FW and my first organized century ride. Overall I found it great, the construction wasn't too bad and I appreciated the police presence there. I posted my pictures of it to flick (http://www.flickr.com/photos/watson_house/sets/72157619706385824/).

Thanks for the great ride.

You were leaving the start just as I was at the packet pickup, and I didn't holler at you soon enough before you had left. Sweet 'bent, BTW. Looks fast as hell!

keithm0 and I did a little over 120 miles today, with riding to and from the event from the top of Redmond Ridge.

You were leaving the start just as I was at the packet pickup, and I didn't holler at you soon enough before you had left. Sweet 'bent, BTW. Looks fast as hell!

keithm0 and I did a little over 120 miles today, with riding to and from the event from the top of Redmond Ridge.
I had a lot of fun. I wandered over to the pinnacle to meet some people from COGS and started with them when they arrived. I was looking for a bio-rad shirt but didn't see you Clifton.

The 'bent is pretty fast downhill and I was moving pretty well on the flats. I averaged 15.4 mph for the FW part of my ride which is a big improvement for me. If I can keep that pace on the STP 2-day that I have planned I will probably be in Longview by 5:30pm, which is my overnight stay.

I am sure I will see you another time, maybe at the SIR summer 100k or 200k.

I had a lot of fun. I wandered over to the pinnacle to meet some people from COGS and started with them when they arrived. I was looking for a bio-rad shirt but didn't see you Clifton.
The 'bent is pretty fast downhill and I was moving pretty well on the flats. I averaged 15.4 mph for the FW part of my ride which is a big improvement for me. If I can keep that pace on the STP 2-day that I have planned I will probably be in Longview by 5:30pm, which is my overnight stay.

I am sure I will see you another time, maybe at the SIR summer 100k or 200k.

I was wearing my SiR jersey today, thinking good thoughts for the crew out on the 600k.

I had a great ride today. I rode with my team (HPC with CycleU) and we managed a 19mph average for the 100 mile course. It was my first time doing FW and it was a nice course overall, except as noted above. Only bad thing was an incident with a rider in the faster HPC group. She crashed and broke her clavicle. :( Last I heard she was doing ok but it still sucks.