A Courage Classic Adventure Weekend

Photo by Monologue Photography

My oldest child Gwen (10) and I had an amazing overnight biking adventure over the Cascade mountains as part of the 25th annual Courage Classic bike ride. The ride is the primary source of funding for the Child Abuse Intervention Department at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, WA, our hometown. The CAID center provides free services to children who may otherwise never seek help from all types of abuse. I've participated in this event more than a few times and Gwen was thrilled when the organizers created a one-day all-trail option of the ride in 2015, for beginners and families.

Last summer my then 9 yo daughter pushed herself to the limits by pedaling her folding bike 30 miles to the summit of Snoqualmie Pass. The ride was a struggle - the gravel trails and relentless uphill grade was an emotional and physical battle that she only just barely won. But as soon a we finished, she was talking about how she'd be back for more next year. The kid is a badass.

So for 2016, Gwen decided we should try and form a team to encourage other kids and parents to ride with us. Kids riding for kids! We only found two teammates, but you can read about their awesome adventure with a bicycle bungee here.

We then plotted our own two-day, partially self-supported ride up and over Snoqualmie Pass. Day 1 we would be Courage Classic Lite riders, letting volunteers from UPS carry our camping gear over the mountains as we joined the Fat Tire First Day riders on the gravel trails from North Bend to Cle Elum using a tandem we borrowed from Tom, a fellow Courage rider. Then on Day 2 we would pack all of our own gear back over the pass on the tandem self-supported. This ended up being a bumpy 136-mile overnight adventure that I hope we never forget.

If you haven't had a chance to donate, or need to make good on a pledge, you can still #StandWithCourage and contribute to Gwen's fundraising efforts until Sept 30, 2016 using this link:

http://courageclassic.kintera.org/2016/gwennewport

She's trying to reach $1000 and is so close to meeting her goal. I had never done anything like this at her age and more than once shed a few proud parent tears on the trail. Here's a quick photo montage to show you the highs and lows of our journey.

Day 1: 67.4 mi, 2841 ft up, 1145 ft down
North Bend to Cle Elum
https://goo.gl/maps/bTqNoQhwWE12

Starting on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail

Dance Break or Break Dance?

Made it to the John Wayne Pioneer Trail. 10 miles in.

I caught her pulling a fast one but she was shocked when I told her this would be allowed. Periodically.

More stopping and stretching, because it's hard to get out of the saddle for a butt break on the tandem when the entire ride is uphill.

West entrance of the Snoqualmie Tunnel, 2.5 miles long. It's freakin' dark in there and she couldn't see anything because I was in the way the whole time. Try closing your eyes and pedaling for 15 minutes...

Summit lunch! We found volunteer Mark here shadowing the director. Last year he was the trail sweeper and zen master who helped get Gwen to the summit, so it was fitting that we got to see him here again. Riding high, making good time.

Keechelus Lake heading east. Downhill, but the gravel makes it feel flat.

Rails to Trails! This used to be the Milwaukee Line from Chicago. She still excited, right?

About 50 miles in and hitting the wall, we stopped to watch some trains. We really needed to find that afternoon rest stop.

OMG. We finally found the ice cream...an entire chest freezer full of it. Thanks Rotarians! Biggest save of the weekend.

Made it. Post-dinner smiles of exhaustion. Photo by Tom, who loaned us his tandem. We tent camped at Sundacia with the main pack of riders and had a cold night's sleep. I had underpacked knowing we'd pay for every extra pound of gear on Day 2.

Day 2: 68.9 mi, 1624 ft up, 3320 ft down

Cle Elum to North Bend
https://goo.gl/maps/rYMUu8urR7y

Rolling through Cle Elum on our way out of town. G wearing all of her layers. Photo by Monologue Photography.

Back on the John Wayne Trail. Own it, Kid. You are a badass. This is hard.

Gates to ride around at most road crossings. NBD.

Stopped at a stream to make good on a promise I hadn't been able to keep on Day 1. That water was coooold.

Looking west, near Easton Trailhead. Gwen had lost her gloves in here somewhere on Day 1, but I found them on Day 2: one was trailside and the other was 4 miles away at the trailhead!

Yo TWBC, I got your back.

Tunnel selfeez!!

Lake Easton. Ok, yeah, dads take selfies, too.

Getting tired again. These old rail mile markers show how far away you are from Chicago. We deduced that the Hyak Trailhead at the summit was around Mile 2115. Still 13 miles to go! This was about the point where we started binge eating Swedish Fish candies and making up songs. Delirium was setting in...

Our friend Gene was doing the same thing we were: riding back with his gear on Day 2. We told him to meet us at the summit for lunch, not realizing that the restaurant was about 500 vertical feet up from the Snoqualmie Tunnel trailhead. It was a brutal 2.5 mile climb on the tandem, but lunch at The Commonwealth Cafe was worth it. We also loaded up on treats and got ice cream at the gas station across the street. 

Snoqualmie Tunnel, east entrance.

View from one of many enormous trestle bridges.

Bombing down the western slope, we nearly didn't recognize our friend Madi as she was pedaling up the slope, heading out on a bike camping trip, too. We stopped to chat and she captured this photo at one of our emotional high points. Seeing friends on the trail was a huge spirit booster after a long weekend in the saddle.

Boom! Back in North Bend, still standing, still smiling, tired but stronger. So good.

Totals: 136.3 miles, 4465 feet up & down, 6 tunnels, 2 days, 1 dad, 1 daughter, 1 bike, and tons of Courage.

 

Kids Pedaling for Kids

My daughter Gwen (10) has twisted my tiny bike rider arm and we're pedaling Courage Classic Lite again on  August 6. This year we're going to double-down in every way: riding a tandem together and riding 60 miles to the summit and back.

The "Lite" version is the shorter one-day all-trail version of the amazing 3-day Courage Classic ride over the Cascade Mountains. Both rides raise money to directly fund the Child Abuse Intervention Department at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, WA, our hometown. We're pedaling to stop the cycle of child abuse in Pierce County. 

Last year Gwen pushed herself to the limits on this ride, pedaling her little folding bike 30 miles to the summit of Snoqualmie Pass. It was an extremely emotional and physical journey for her. 

You can donate to Gwen's fundraising efforts here, but she's also looking for other kids, parents, and kids-at-heart to join her Kidical Mass Tacoma team as Courage Classic Lite riders and fundraisers. Join us! 

The "Lite" route takes you up the Snoqualimie Valley Trail and John Wayne Pioneer Trail, which are closed to motorized vehicles.  The trails offer some stunning views as you cross old trestle bridges on your way up, up, up to the Snoqualmie Tunnel, the nation's longest people-only rail tunnel. It's 2 miles long and completely dark inside - you have to bring lights! Once through the tunnel you'll be treated to a great lunch, a shuttle back to the start point (for 30 mile riders), or go back through the tunnel and enjoy the descent you've earned (60 mile riders.) We may even drive over to Cle Elum and camp with the 3-day riders to show our support for them. It's gonna be a long day in the saddle, but I know it will be worth it.

So Donate! Join our Team! And THANKS!

More DIY Rain Covers: Recumbent Tandem Edition!

Back in September we spotted this cool three-person bike parked outside our school. It's a tandem with a front recumbent stoker seat as well as a trail-a-bike. Pretty sweet.

This morning I had a chance to talk with Todd about his super cool bike. Not only has his trail-a-bike rider moved on to her own geared 2-wheeler, but the tandem stoker now has a DIY weather cover made from coroplast campaign signs and a repurposed stroller cover. 

Todd said it's worked great in more than a few heavy rains. On this 35°F morning I'm going to guess his stoker was much warmer than her sister, too!

Fiets of Parenthood - Seattle Style!

We finally made it to one of the many community bike events in Seattle!  The good folks at Car Free Days and Totcycle organized Fiets of Parenthood, a huge gathering of family cyclists of every age who rode in on nearly every kind of bike and bike-combo you could imagine. The Xtracycle went in the minivan for the first time and we still had plenty of room for my sister and her borrowed Peugeot folder.

FoP was nothing short of awesome!  There was something for everyone and we stayed busy for a solid three hours with the bicycle decoration station, a huge walk-thru/bike-thru sprinkler, slow bike race, family bike obstacle course, helmet fitters, and the kids' favorite: a Madsen bucket bike full of free gelato.  The playground was a cargo bike explosion of Xtracycles, Big Dummies, tandems, trail-a-bikes, kick bikes, trailers, bakfietsen, a tall bike and even a Larry vs. Harry Bullitt.  One lucky attendee won a Globe Haul 1 through a raffle benefitting Bike Works.

Not only were there tons of cool bikes, but there were many enthusiastic parents and kids, eager to show off their cycling skills and talk about how they use these bikes in their daily lives.  Many thanks to Julian, Tim, Anne, Chris and everyone else who helped to make this event a fun time for the rest of us.

If you'd like to see more, there's another write-up here, a great video here, a bit of press here, and a Flickr group here.  The wheels are already in motion for a TBR Family Fiets event in Tacoma next summer.  Who wants to help?!

Pump the Pool

Former Tacoma resident Karl, booze-croozin-bike-wrenchin-frame-builder extraordinaire, sends this update of his new life back east:

"The Church of Higher Flow was in session last Sunday at 8 AM as usual.  This time the pump was not the location.  Check the commitment on Dan's face.  That pool is at least 10' deep and we got the speed daemon on the vert!"

Glad to see things are going swimmingly for you, Karl!  Gives new meaning to "ridden hard, put-away wet." (ok ok, that's enough of that...)


Not knowing of this correspondence, my wife walked in this morning and asked if I knew where a tandem could be rented in Tacoma.  WOW...the stars are aligned today, my friends.  Harness your opportunities and pedal hard.