Obliteride 2022

I as originally going to attend the Gigantic Bicycle Festival (GBF), but once I saw that Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research was holding Obliteride that same weekend, I decided to roll over my registration to the GBF until 2023. I felt strongly that I was wanted to raise money and ride in Obliteride since my friend, Tora, passed away in February after a five-year battle with ovarian cancer.

The evening before the ride, Obliteride had a buffet dinner for riders and walkers at Gas Works Park. They had a bike corral so I rode from my house to the park (and back).

Other PNW Cycling Sisters were supposed to show up and have a group photo taken, but it ended up only being me.

The next morning, I rode my bike to Husky Stadium where the start was being held. There was a buffet breakfast before the ride, but I didn’t eat very much (I have trouble eating early in the morning).

There was quite a large group of riders for the event, and it was broken up into total distance for the start time. I was doing the 50-mile route. Before leaving I snapped a photo to try to show how many people were participating.

The route went over the I-90 bridge and around Mercer Island. I had never ridden around Mercer Island before – it was very hilly and lots of curves, but quite fun.

Even though I drank plenty of water with electrolytes, I woke up about 30 minutes after going to bed with very painful cramps that ran up my inner thighs (both sides) to my groin. When I jumped out of bed, I also got them on the outside of my thighs. The pain brought tears to my eyes as I literally had to crawl up the stairs to my bathroom. There, I filled the tub with hot water and soaked, knowing from experience that it was help ease the cramps. After the soak, I downed a bottle of Gatorade and that seemed to help me get through the rest of the night.

I think the cramps were because my bike seat was too low (which I didn’t notice until the next day) and I was riding differently than what I usually did.