Seattle Forrest

There are a lot of Pacific Northwest Clydes on Bike Forums, and the Chilly Hilly is next month. Are you going to ride? Registration opens up to the public on Feb 1, so it's a good time to start training.

For those from out of state, the Chilly Hilly is the start of the riding season - for people who stop in the winter. Hordes of people catch a ferry across Puget Sound and ring Bainbridge Island on their bikes. The ride is 33 miles long, with about 2,700 feet of elevation gain. About 6,000 riders showed up last year.

Here is a map.



A small pack of riders climb a hill in front of Puget Sound, with downtown Seattle, the Space Needle, and the Cascade range in the background.

magohn

I'm hoping to take a crack at it. Im itching to start doing longer rides but we've been zonked in with sheet ice for the last week (Woodinville Convergence Zone). I tried to do a 10 mile warm-up yesterday on my MTB and turned back after 2 miles. The neighborhood is pure ice and going up a short hill the back wheel spun out and almost floored me. Fingers crossed for rain on Tuesday to get rid of this white stuff. Holidays are gone - lets get to Spring riding

P.S. How hilly is the Chilly Hilly? Im pretty good on endurance (did the STP) but so-so on hills.
P.P.S Because your wheels cant grip - Have you ever walked up a sheet-iced hill in cycling cleats? Now there's an experience.

Seattle Forrest

The snow and ice should be gone tonight, and the rain is supposed to bring things back up into the 40s. Who ever thought people would be happy for the rains to come back?

It's a kind of hilly ride. There are about 2,700 feet of climbing, mostly in rollers. The worst of them is about an 8 % grade for half a mile, which really isn't terrible. Do you have a GPS to see what your rides are like today? I do about 2,000 on a typical weekend ride, so I'm not expecting that much from the Chilly Hilly.

There's a short cut to knock about 10 miles off the total, but I'm not sure how many hills you remove this way.

CliftonGK1

I'm planning on it, and I hope to have my CX kit by that time so I can rock the Chilly Hilly representing my team.

MagsPaws

My husband (Magohn) will be out there and my daughter and I will be cheering him and the rest of you on from the side lines! I suppose we might have to pack two bikes over to see if the roads require the studded tires on the mountain bike. My daughter is very excited to bring Girl Scout cookies over to you all, hopefully she is able to sell a few. For those that like to support but don't like the calories, you can donate them to Operation Cookie Drop - cookies for our hard working men and women in the military. $4.00 a box.

Ride safe, stay warm and enjoy!

Positively,
Margaret