Tour de Whatcom

I was supposed to ride in the Tour de Whatcom last year, but a week before the event I had a terrible bike accident. Luckily, the event organizers allowed me to roll over my registration to this year. I was really looking forward to the ride after hearing from friends who had ridden it.

I drove up to Bellingham the night before and stay at a hotel. This was preferable to getting up early the next day and have to drive two hours and be there by 8am.

The morning started out a tad chilly causing me to wear my jacket during the first 10 miles of the ride (which was mostly in shade). Once I was riding in the sun, I warmed up, shed my jacket and got into the grove of riding.

About halfway through the ride, I helped some Canadians fix a flat by supplying them with my compressor pump to fill their tire back up. It gave me a little break and it was great talking to them and telling them about other bike events.

As I rode by one of the farm fields, I saw the official event photographer and thought to do something kooky. I can’t ride hands-free, so putting my arms in the air wasn’t going to work. Instead, I kicked my legs out to the sides.

Most of the ride was fun, but there were a few sections along a busy highway that I didn’t care for. But it felt good riding almost 64 miles.

After the ride, I had a beer and talked to some other riders before heading back home.