At least it was hilly
I rode the Chilly Hilly solo last Sunday. It was far from chilly with a high someplace in the mid 50’s and the sun shining down on the island. It all added up to a record crowd – I heard something over 6,000 people. Seeing the Bainbridge Island ferry full of bikes rather than cars was a sight to behold:
Once the ride started it was hard to work through all the riders to a place where I could set my own pace. I trust this was exacerbated by having to make a pit stop right off the ferry. Once there was enough of an opening I was able to settle in and only get stuck when we had to crunch into smaller packs for hills, intersections or car encounters. I had my video camera mounted on the handlebar drop so I’ll cut together some footage from the ride later this week. In the mean time here are the stats as recorded by my computer:
- Distance: 33.5 miles
- Average Speed: 15.8 mph
- Top Speed: 45.7 mph
- Average Cadence: 87 rpm
Not a bad way to kick off the season. I’ll definitely be back next year if nothing else for the chili feed at the finish.
