puppypilgrim

This past weekend, I participated in the 2011 Ride to Conquer Cancer which takes the riders from Cloverdale (aka Vancouver area, to Snohomish aka Seattle) a ride which covers approximately 240 kilometers over 2 days.

I decided to do it on my fixed gear bike at 48 x 18 = 72 gear inches using the same Mercier Kilo TT Chrome which was shown in the thread here.

There were about 3,000 cyclists doing the ride who all had to be at the departure point by 7 a.m. on Saturday morning. After the welcome speeches, we starting off in the pouring rain from 176th Street to the Peace Arch border with the USA.

At the border, we were divided into 3 chutes to wait for customs to clear the 3,000 cyclists. They had special lanes to deal with our traffic.



The chute I was in seemed to take forever and I ended waiting just under an 1 hour in the rain. People were shivering to 1980s disco music being played by the DJ as we waited.

After crossing the border, the route took us past Birch Bay, Blaine and Bellingham before stopping for lunch at Lake Padden.





Prior to this there were pit stops spaced every 25-30 km offering a medical tent, porta potties, water and snacks of bananas, apples, granola bars and bagels with peanut butter.

Every time we stopped, the ground would be littered with Cervelos, Pinarellos, Treks, Specialized and other less expensive bikes. I saw a few titaniums, but by far the majority of the bikes were aluminum and carbon fibre. Among the more unusual wheeled vehicles making the ride were:

- unicycle
- 2 x tandems
- 2 x handcycles (disabled persons)
- 2 x recumbents
- 1 x Bike Friday
- 1 x Softride

I saw one other fixed gear: a red Cramerotti.

This was the final pit stop before the final destination of the overnight camp from Day 1.



Riding in Bellingham. I'm the Asian guy with black glasses.







It rained on both days making the mornings cold, wet and dirty. But whatever doesn't kill you....

puppypilgrim

Here are the ride profiles for both days. There were more hills on Day 2.

Day 1 Ride Profile
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/35596554

Day 2 Ride Profile
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/35597336

I was able to ride all the hills on Day 1. On Day 2, I cycled up all the hills except for one which I had to walk up as the gradient was too steep for my 72 gear inches.

Overall, I truly enjoyed doing this ride on fixed gear. I had no mechanical issues, no traction issues and having changed to new tires for this ride, no punctures either. 72 gear inches meant I could cruise from 28-33 km/h on the flats and be able to attack all but the steepest inclines.

Tent city at the camp site.



Trucks which carried out luggage from Vancouver.



Mobile showers and porta potties.



My team ended up staying in a hotel for comfort.

Wet and dirt splattered chainring.



Filthy seat tube.



She ain't no garage queen.





The legs to prove it.



The bike BEFORE the ride.



While I was there, had the pleasure of meeting forum members jdjesus and sc700.

Cheers,
Victor

Squirrelli

Next trip: Lake Padden!!!! Ken was talking how nice it would be if it wasn't raining.

You really put the Vic in Victor.






and hi Adrian.

puppypilgrim

My backpack contents:

- pump
- 2 x 700c x 23 tubes
- patch kit
- Park Tools multitool (allen wrenches and screwdrivers)
- tire levers
- 15mm wrench
- cone wrench and adjustable wrench for dealing with axle cups and cones
- spare axle nuts
- 1 x bottle water
- tissues
- spare eye glasses
- Advil, Immodium and anti-histamine allergy pills
- dental floss
- passport, cash and ID in sandwich bag
- yellow windbreaker\rain jacket
- snacks
- 1 x small Swiss knife
- 1 x cellphone in sandwich bag
- 1 x pair disposable plastic gloves

If I were to do more of these rides, I would zip tie a bottle cage to the downtube so I could drink without stopping.

I choose to use ordinary sneakers and toe cages with straps for riding because this saves me from needing to bring an additional pair of shoes for walking.

TheBikeRollsOn 

I can't imagine riding that long of a ride without having hoods.

elemental

That looks like an amazing ride. There's something about big groups. I would really like to do one of these fixed. Perhaps if the donor for my townie comes in by then, I'll swap the fixed wheel back on and use that for the long ride I'm planning to do in August. Or ride it kickback/coaster brake. That would perhaps be even more ridiculous. Either way, great ride. Looks like you had fun.

carleton

Simply Amazing!

jdgesus 

as a cancer survivor, im wondering if the check will be made out to me directly?

srsly tho, really f'n great work and for a great cause

HardyWeinberg

Nice work. I am gearing up, so to speak, for something like that myself in a month.

tFUnK

Excellent ride report. Looks like a fun (but also miserable, due to the rain) ride for a good cause. Some bottle cages and some brake hoods probably would've been nice. And next time, you probably don't need to carry a bag on a supported ride.

puppypilgrim

I don't miss the hoods on my setup. Will prob. zip tie some bottle cages next long trip. Short city rides are fine. I would still use a bag of sorts for my tools and the stuff I need.

dookie

+1...and clipless.

OP, have you seen the behind-the-saddle bottle carriers? tri oriented i think, but they might work for you too.