The day started out rough, with a flat tube, a puncture in my tire and worry about rain. But it quickly got better with a giant mocha on the way to the ride. The start of the Tulip Pedal was probably my most favorite part of the whole ride; a very talented jazz band played for us while we got our registration and things. There were also free tulips being handed out, which I wasn't quite sure what to do with on a bike ride. But, an awesome setup. The jazz band really got me into the groove, and I had jazz music going in my head for miles. This would have been a prize ride if the weather were just a little better. First off, it started in LaConner, which has to be one of the cutest, most quaint little touristy art towns in all of the Northwest. Then we rode through all the highlights of the Tulip Festival. Pancake flat, quiet roads, beautiful colors in the endless fields of tulips and daffodils on both sides of me (and they photograph horribly! Sorry, no good pictures on this ride!). The coordinators of the ride were impeccably friendly. They managed to keep that low-key, chill feeling even though the ride was pretty well attended and people came from all around to participate. I would have enjoyed riding with a buddy and taken the time to stop and wander through the fields of flowers, grab clam chowder at the stops, taste cheese samples from the dairy, wine from the wineries and wander through the endless farmer's markets.The second best highlight of the day was driving through the darling town of Edison. It seemed so odd to pedal through such a delightful town in the middle of nowhere. Where did this town come from? How does it manage to have the economy to be this cute? I just wanted to eat it up. And then stay there for a weekend. Or live there. Or something. The rest stop there served us truly amazing BreadFarm Bread (a name which cracks me up, but is a bread to be reckoned with!). Trying to find a link for this page on Edison proved unfruitful, and it isn't even on the map. But Wikipedia tells me it was settled by a utopian socialist. No wonder I feel so drawn to it!

Most of the roads were chip sealed, which wouldn't have been so annoying had I been more used to my bike or the weather not been so poor. The headwinds were strong and fierce. I grimaced and tucked in and pedaled with all my might to go 8mph on level roads. The most distinctive part of this ride was the burn my legs felt early on. The burn continued to progress until by mile 50 I was singing songs to myself and pulling every coping mechanism from the deep pocket of years of grueling training. I knew I'd make it, but it was rough. By the time I got to the finish I wasn't sure I would be able to walk. My whole body shuddered with every step. My eyes fought back tears. I wasn't sure it was possible to feel so much burn in your legs just standing there. I tried to avoid the very scary thought of what my legs would feel like the next day.

But then the boy came to get me. He had a fresh bottle of water, salty potato chips and a great attitude. With pride he took me to a public shower he found for me at the nearby marina in LaConner. He even bought me a pair of plushy socks (green ones to boot!) so I could wear the ones I had in the shower. The shower helped the burn in my legs a lot. By the time I got out I wasn't shaking at all and walking felt...doable. We then wandered the streets of LaConner and found ourselves in the delightful Calico Cafe. We ordered salads, which would have been pretty tasty in their own right, but they came with surprise slices of bread! It was a cafe after all, and these generous slices of bread, while totally different from Breadfarm Bread, was quite tasty. It came with a dollop of fluffy raspberry jam. I don't even like raspberry jam and it was good. And no, that's not just starving-post-ride me talking. Afterwards we walked to find and ice cream shop, but the town was already rolling up it's roads for the night and the tourists were heading to their rooms for the night.

It was a challenging ride, more challenge than I wanted. But I would totally do this ride again.

Ride Stats:

67.8 miles
4:42 hours
14.4mph average speed
27.2mph max speed
69 average cadence
930 ft climb
285 max altitude
146bpm average pulse
169bpm max pulse
45-58 degrees temp
2307 calories burned