@Cyclops has taken it upon himself to organize North America’s first official Cogal right in the backyard of where it all started: Seattle, Wa. @Scaler911 and @McSqueak have confirmed that they will be driving up from Portland, OR to attend and we hereby invite any and all Velominati to attend.
We’ll be doing a no-drop ride on Whidbey Island, following a route that is not terribly hilly and easily accommodates varying distances, though I myself will be planning on a 100k or more. We’ll leave the Coffeehouse Bookstore in Langley at V minutes past 10 to give everyone plenty of time to find their way up to the island and into Langley. Route details will be published in the posts below when it is confirmed. (I have to do some research as I’ve not done the ride in it’s entirety myself.) Hope to see you there.
UPDATE: The route has been posted on MapMyRide. It is a 160km ride with the option to cut section off for those who are getting tired.
UPDATE: Those who are interested are invited to dinner Friday Evening at Quinn’s Pub on Capital Hill in Seattle. Please arrive as close to 6:30 as possible; late-comers will not be guaranteed a seat at the table if the place is full.
Yours in Cycling,
Frank
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Though there are two 2011 U.S. National Champions about 30 minutes down the interstate from me – southeast Idaho isn’t exactly a road bike Mecca. And I wear the V-Shirt whenever I’m traveling in the area to races (whether to participate or spectate) but I’ve only had one person recognize the Sign of the “V”. So the chances of running into or riding with a fellow Velominati are pretty slim. Let alone the demented brainchild of all this nonsense – Darth Strack. What’s a boy to do? Take the bull by the horns and make it happen my own self, that’s what. I figure that anywhere that I can drive to in a day is not too far to go for a ride so I’m off to Seattle to see whether this “Frank” character is indeed worthy to be praised or if he’s just some guy behind a curtain pulling levers and turning dials.
The plan is for a meet and greet (and eat and drink) Friday night Oct. 14 and a ride on Saturday the 15th. A few blokes from Portland way are planning on coming up as well so it looks like it is going to turn into a little Gran Fronkdo. Anyone that can make it is invited. We haven’t sorted out the details of the route or meeting place or time or anything important like that but we should have all that set in cobbles by early this week, so stay tuned.
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Thanks for your work Frank! I think Don and I should plan a cogal in PDX for this spring or summer, where we do the planning work and you can sit back, relax, and just show up for a sweet ride.
The Route has been posted on MapMyRide. See below for details.
@mcsqueak
That would be great. I've heard amazing things about the riding down there.
@frank
That looks an awesome route Frank, I am so jealous of you guys but flying from the UK may be a little hard to get past the financial controller.
Just one question, miles ? Km surely are the unit of choice for our leader?
@frank
Ohhh....170s, hunh? A full century. Rule V. I remember the part of Joe Parkin's book when he showed up for a training ride in Belgium with a new riding buddy. Joe had 2 water bottles, and the belgian looked askanse. "Thirsty? You know...we can stop and pick up more along the way." Joe ditched the second bottle.
I'll be fooding up at every opportunity. Weather is looking up too.
Wow, a bit longer than I expected! Alright then, I'll just have to man up.
@Eightzero
Yeah, the nice thing about riding with a group as you can pop into places for food/water while someone watches the bikes. I'll for sure have to eat and refill the bottles along the way.
Very jealous. Have tried to work out an affordable flight out, but I can't make it work"”largely because I have to be back in Toronto on the Sunday morning. Happy riding, y'all.
A couple of future group-ride suggestions:
1. Madison, WI, March 30, 2012
2. Liège, Belgium, April 22, 2012
@Steampunk
What? For a football match? RFC De Liege vsRRCc Hamoir? Although for a moment I thought it was a rugby match.
There's also a bike race on the same day. Sounds like the sportive is the day before the race. That I could probably get to.
@Steampunk
Mad-town would be fun. Wiscot would probably be down for that one. I'll be working though.
Take lots of pictures. I loom forward to hearing about this.