Seattle to Portland

How many way are there to say fabulous?  Fabuleux, fabelhaft, legendinio, fabuloso, favoloso, no matter what language Seattle to Portland was all that and more!

We left home at 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday headed for Eugene Oregon, where Kathy's daughter lives.   We arrived in Eugene around 6 p.m. that night.  We stayed at a beautiful VRBO cottage in Eugene.  http://www.vrbo.com/476264  

This cottage was a great start to our  Northwest adventure!  

Had dinner with Kathy's daughter and her soon to be husband at a great little place in Eugene called the Laboratory.  

Loved celebrating Kaley's birthday,even if it was a little late. 

The next day we left our car with Kaley & Max and took a rental to Seattle.  Portland is a beautiful city.  We enjoyed the view of Mt Hood from the freeway. 

  
As we were driving through Portland, we couldn't help but think of how far it was to Seattle.  We were excited by the prospect of everything we would see on the bike.  The beautiful thing about riding is we see so much more of the world.    At least Kathy sees more of it, since she's the one looking around.  Usually she points it out to Keith, but he is busy making sure no one runs us over. 

First stop in Seattle was Pike Place Market.  We love this place! The setting is beautiful, the food awesome and the people watching is a lot of fun.  This place gives "one stop shopping" new meaning.  The fruits and vegetables here always look amazing and who doesn't love fresh salmon?  Regret for the trip, not being able to take any fish home. One day we will put a whole salmon on the grill.

It wouldn't be Seattle without a visit to the original Starbuck's.

Coffee just tastes better here! 

Here we are in the park next to the Market.  A little cool that morning but it warmed up nicely. 

The night before the ride was a little crazy.  We needed to eat dinner, drop off our bags to the start so they would make it to our mid point lodging, and drop off the rental car. 

First dinner, we ate at Bizzarro.  This restaurant was featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins' and Dives.  We arrived before they opened and we weren't the first in line, surprising how many people were in line after us, before it opened.  This was a hot spot for people riding STP.  We met two woman in their 70's who were riding and one of their mother's was driving their SAG wagon.  Inspirational! 

The people at Bizzarro were so nice and so excited for us to ride in STP.  The decor was eclectic and the food amazing! We would definitely go back! 

The best part of the night was driving in our cycling clothes with flip flops on to drop off our bags, return the car and take a cab back from downtown Seattle.  We might have looked a little odd but we looked odd together. 

Saturday morning and we were excited to go.  We rode about three miles, from where we stayed to the University of Washington Husky Stadium to start.  It was a beautiful but cool morning.  We found 10,000 new friends at the start and we were off! 

Here's the route map. 

Some of our new friends

 Here we are waiting to start

Thanks to the Seattle Police for blocking lanes, roads and traffic. It took us a few hours to get out of Seattle, along the way we rode around Lake Washington.  Beautiful view of Mt Ranier and the lake.  (we actually stopped to take this picture)

It's easy to forget to be "in the moment" when you have an end point.  We both worked hard to remember the moments of this once in a life time ride.  

Our half way point came at Centralia College 5 hrs and 21 minutes after we started.  What a great moment, a PR on our longest ride ever!  We enjoyed the vendors there.  Keith had street tacos and Kathy had tofu stir fry, so good and just what we needed after a fun but long ride!

Fourteen miles later we found ourselves in the home of our host family.  Jerry & Jane, two of the nicest people we have ever met!  They housed us and three other riders as a fund raiser for their son who graduated from high school in June. 

What a wonderful time! 

Staying with Jane & Jerry made this ride truly special! Awesome food, a comfortable bed, a hot shower, two alpaca and a beautiful yellow lab, we couldn't have asked for anything more.  

We like to think with every ride we learn something.  This ride taught us that you really can extend yourself past where you thought you could go, we are all so much more capable then we think we are.  We also learned that anything is possible if you just keep peddling. 

Here's a picture of us crossing the Willamette River. So close to the finish and an amazing view as we made our way into Portland. 

It would be hard to beat the finish line of STP, tons of people lining the route, truly a moment to be cherished! 

 We are already looking forward to the next ride! 

Thanks for your support! 

Onward we roll! 

Keith & Kathy

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride

One week ago today marked our sixth century of 2013.  We drove up to Keith's parents on Friday and enjoyed Friday and Saturday with them before heading to Tahoe.   What a great place to be before a ride, fabulous food, awesome drinks and a whole lot of love! Thank you Jack & Charlene! 




Here are a few pictures from the day before the ride. 

The view from dinner  Saturday night

Driving into Tahoe on Saturday  

We considered riding this bike but changed our minds when we noticed there was only one seat. 





 This one was far more meaningful than the others.  This is the ride we dedicated to Kathy's Uncle and raising money for City of Hope.  If you're new to our blog City of Hope is a premier cancer treatment center, where Kathy's Uncle is receiving care for Mantle Cell Lymphoma.


Mantle cell lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a B-cell lymphoma previously called diffuse small-cleaved cell lymphoma, intermediate differentiation lymphoma, or centrocytic lymphoma. Despite all these names, it is not common.
Presentation - MCL primarily afflicts men over 50, who almost always present with advanced Stage III or IV disease. Bone marrow involvement is seen in 60% to 90% of patients. Four histologic subtypes have been noted: nodular, diffuse, mantle zone and blastic
Blastic MCL appears to have the worst prognosis, with nodular and diffuse subtypes having longer average survival times.
Treatment - Mantle cell lymphoma is an aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that has historically been resistant to current standard chemotherapeutic approaches. Despite response rates to many regimens of 50% to 70%, the disease typically progresses after chemotherapy, with a median survival time of approximately 2.5 to 4 years.

High-dose therapy with autologous stem cell transplantation may provide longer time to progression. For young patients with matched donors, allogeneic transplant is promising in the limited numbers of patients treated.

Immunotherapy treatments under development may be the best answer to mantle cell treatment. Rituxan® in combination with CHOP (CHOP-R) has a 96% response rate. Use of this treatment provides a prolonged response compared to chemotherapy alone.

One experimental protocol involves treatment with CHOP-R followed by stem cell transplant using etoposide (VP-16) and total body irradiation. Although this is an intense protocol, lasting remission rates have been very high.

As mantle cells may remain after treatment, researchers are looking at use of Rituxan® as a maintenance therapy.

Other studies employ Velcade (bortezomib); another promising therapy is Genasense - a Bcl-2 protein blocker.

Finally, researchers are investigating vaccine therapy for mantle cell lymphoma.

We were honored to ride to raise funds that were ear marked for Mantle Cell Lymphoma research. 

Morning came early and our first task of the day was getting the tandem to the lobby.  We were told that, "Stairs are only for emergency's"  If that's they way you want it, we will take the elevator. 

About the ride, what a ride, it truly was the most beautiful bike ride we have ever been on.  It rivaled our trip to Yosemite and Sequoia.  

This is a Team in Training Ride, hundreds of people riding had raised funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  We loved seeing their helmets decorated with something that represented their state or region of the state they were from.  Wisconsin had cheese heads, Massachusetts lobsters, Minnesota had a can of Spam.  Who knew Spam was made in Minnesota!  They were a fun bunch of people, very friendly and polite riders.  Many of them shared with us that they had only been riding since January of this year!  

This picture is just some of the Team In Training participants at the start line.  I have to say this was the first ride where not one person commented to Keith about Kathy's pedaling or lack there of. 

We took a counter clockwise route around the lake, then headed out and back to Truckee, continued counter clockwise back to where we started.   

You can see the elevation at the different mile markers, the most difficult climbing was in the last twenty miles. 


43 was the starting temperature.  In addition to our regular clothes we wore leg warmers and jackets.  We wish we had full finger gloves, it took awhile for the fingers to thaw out.  Starting out we had beautiful blue sky's, green trees and snow capped mountains in the distance.  Our first stop  at Emerald Bay gave us a view of Cascade Creek Falls.   It was at this stop that we took off our leg warmers and jackets.  We were provided with a bag with our bib number so we could easily retrieve the bag after the ride. 

How many adjectives are there to describe Tahoe?  Majestic and breathtaking come to mind.   We couldn't get over how lucky we were to be there to experience it.  Yes, Kathy did take many of these pictures as we were riding. 

The ride to Truckee offered two choices.  We could ride the highway to Truckee or we could take the road less traveled and ride the bike path.  On the way to Truckee we opted for the highway.  We had a great pace line going with some other riders and  our time reflected it.  On the way back we decided to see if the ride could live up to it's "Most Beautiful" moniker.  We chose the bike path.  We were not the least bit disappointed by our decision. 

The meadow was beyond beautiful.  We wish you could smell the fresh clean air, the  pines and experience what we did.  

The last rest stop we used was at Glenbrook.  Below is the incredible picture of the view.  

Here we are at Glenbrook.  We knew we were making good time but weren't sure we could manage a PR. 

We finished the ride with our best time ever at 5:42!  We're not sure what moved us to ride so quickly, Kathy's inspirational Uncle or 

Kathy and her Uncle at our wedding 

the thought of an Absolutely Perfect Jack when we arrived back at Keith's parents house after the ride.  

Keith's Dad Jack, holding a "Perfect Jack" at our wedding.

What ever the reason, we thank you for your support. 

Onward we roll! 

Kathy & Keith

2,505 miles and 119,857 have lead us to Sunday June 2nd in Tahoe!

2,505 miles. 119,857 feet elevation gain. That's how far (and how high) we've ridden our tandem bicycle since our wedding in July 2012. For those of you who were there, you know that our goal was to train for a 100-mile ride around Lake Tahoe (America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride) to raise  funds for City of Hope's Mantle Cell Lymphoma research program.

Many of you met Kathy's uncle, David Parrish, at the wedding. David is alive today because of City of Hope. He underwent a stem cell transplant in January 2012, and is now participating in a clinical trial at City of Hope. He is doing well, and he continues to play an important role in our lives. We hope that you will help us honor David and City of Hope by contributing to the continued success of their Mantle Cell Lymphoma research program. 

Thank you!

-Kathy & Keith Williamson

How To Donate  to City of Hope

Please call 866-683-HOPE (4673), and be sure to mention "David Parrish" and indicate that your donation should go specifically to Mantle Cell Lymphoma research. Unfortunately, City of Hope's online donation site does not support this type of targeted donation. You may also send a check to the following address:

1055 Wilshire Blvd. #1200
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Please write "David Parrish / Mantle Cell Lymphoma research" in the memo area of the check.  

About Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Mantle Cell Lymphoma is a rare type of blood cancer, for which fewer than 15,000 people in the US are currently receiving treatment. Because it is so rare, it receives less research funding than other types of lymphomas. 

We invite you to join us as we celebrate Uncle David! 

Onward we roll!

Kathy & Keith

Two rides in two weeks!

Where to begin... first let's play a little catch up!

Wildflower Century was April 27th.  This is the first century of the year that didn't require us to wear layers and layers of clothes.  The starting temperature was 56, hotter than the temperature when we finished some of the rides earlier in the year.  

The first half of the ride is among the most scenic we have done.  Beautiful oak trees, shady roads with very little traffic.  Unfortunately we didn't see much in the way of wildflowers.  The last half of the ride is not nearly as beautiful or shady.  At the finish it was 93 degrees.  We saw a few other tandems but less than we normally do.  

That kind of heat just zaps the energy out of you.  Lucky for us we were very close to Paso Robles and one of our favorite wineries Starr Ranch.  http://www.starr-ranch.com/index.php

We highly recommend Judy's hospitality and her wine!  We followed up our visit to Starr Ranch by enjoying dinner with our friends Dina and Patty in Morro Bay. Patty made a fabulous dinner and we enjoyed a night of laughing and fun!   

Stats for Wildflower 

5,371 ft of climbing

6:06:49 of pedaling time

14.3 mph average

45.9 mph maximum speed 

We finished 23/156 people that post their rides to Strava

Two weeks later we rode Cruisin' the Conejo Century on May 11th

Yes, really two weeks later! What were we thinking when we signed up to do our April and May Century rides just two weeks apart? 

We can't say enough about this ride.  Very well organized and well marked.  It started out in Newbury Park.  We went over Encinal Canyon to Pacific Coast Highway and headed north to Camarillo.  The weather was near perfect. We enjoyed running a pace line as we were going north on PCH to Freedom Park.   We saw some really beautiful wildflowers as well as the devastating effects the recent fire had on coast line.  

All the rest stops on this ride are organized by a local Boy Scout Troop.  Can't say enough good things about the job these young men did.  They were there to hold bikes at the rest stops and the food was some of the best we've had.  The Scouts had lots of questions about the tandem, we were amazed at how well so many of them understood the science and engineering of carbon fiber.  This is a ride we will consider doing again.  

Stats for Cruisin' the Conejo

5,987 ft of climbing

6:10:55 of pedaling time

16.1 mph average

45.4 mph maximum speed

You'll notice our top speed is about the same on these rides.  There's an easy explanation for that, Kathy's threshold of pain is around 45mph.  We try to keep our speed under that for a more enjoyable ride for both of us! 

Our next ride is America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride http://www.bikethewest.com/americas-most-beautiful-bike-ride/  This will be our most important ride of the year because we won't just be riding for ourselves but we're riding to support City of Hope and the research they are doing to treat Mantle Cell Lymphoma.  

Kathy's Uncle is being treated at City of Hope for this rare lymphoma. 

( Less than 15,000 people are presently affected by this type of lymphoma in the US. )  We invite you to support our ride by donating to the City of Hope  call 866.683.4673 to donate.  Please mention Kathy's Uncle David Parrish and ask that the funds be directed to Mantle Cell Lymphoma Research.  We thank you for your support!  

Onward we roll! 

Solvang 3/09/2013

We're happy to say that we saw NO snow driving to Solvang.  Guess that wouldn't be a big deal but it's the first Century we've done this year where snow wasn't falling on the way to the ride.  

The morning started out much warmer than anticipated.  The temps at the start were in the high 30's.  Funny how that felt warm.  We actually didn't wear all the layers we'd brought with us!  We must be toughening up after Ocotillo and Palm Springs. 

Solvang is known for wind,  it didn't disappoint last Sunday.  If we were Winnie the Pooh we would insert the dialog where he describes "a blustery day".   The first 50 miles were slow going.  No matter which way we turned it seemed there was a head wind.  Miles 50-75 were probably the toughest 25 miles we have ever ridden.  We're usually pretty good about taking turns being tired, not so much after the 50 miles headwind.  Luckily we found our second winds around miles 75 and finished strong.   

103.4 miles with 6019 feet of climbing. 

You'll notice that the ride went through Vandenberg Air Force Base.  We saw several of the young men and women who have chosen to serve, marking the course.  It was a great opportunity to thank them for their service.  (As parents of a young man in the military, this is close to our hearts. )

Tandems are loved by single riders, especially in a Century ride and the windier the ride the more the singles love us.  We are always happy to pull people and we generally find them to be very appreciative, not so for this ride.  There were plenty of sandbaggers. (A cyclist who sits on your wheel taking the pull but, never offers to pull.   In the case of Solvang they don't bother to say thank you when they leave your wheel feeling refreshed from the break you've just provided.) We can't tell you how many people took advantage of the wind break we provided.  Our favorite was the guy who sat on our wheel up a hill for about 4 miles.  His friend goes by and says "You found a great place to sit."  He replied, "It's great here, I don't want to leave."  At the top of the hill, he powered past us without so much as a smile. One rider actually took turns pulling with us.  Given that the wind was moving us around, the chance to sit on a wheel was a welcome respite from the elements. 

Seeing people riding a tandem is such a rare occurrence.  The comments we get run the gamut from curiosity to rude.  (Most come from male riders.)  We've heard, "I would NEVER try that with my wife." "My wife would NEVER do that." "I wish my wife would do that." "At least she can't complain you're not home if she's riding with you."   The rude comments typically are said regarding what  Kathy is or isn't doing while sitting on the bike.  Before we had even crossed the start line in Solvang, one guy asked "What does she do back there? I don't think she pedals."  Then there was the guy that said, "You know she's back there texting."  (We're in the market for some humorous responses, if you have one please leave us a comment.)

We're not sure why people feel compelled to make these comments or to act like they're the only person who has ever said them.   We're sure they are trying to be funny but at the same time it implies that Kathy's role on our team is somehow less significant because she is not the Captain.  The truth is like the rest of our life it's a partnership.  It requires the same level of trust, respect communication and humor that is the foundation of our off the bike relationship. 

We wish you safe riding and a tailwind! 
Onward we roll!

Tour de Palm Springs 2/9/2013

Driving into Palm Springs on the 8th and it was snowing in Beaumont.  We looked at each other and said, "Wouldn't it be nice to NOT see snow on the way to a ride?"   If we said it was cold when we arrived in Palm Springs that would be understatement.  We found our way to the street fair and packet pick up.  It was amazing to see so many people buying warm clothes for the ride.  The idea that the desert is a warm and welcoming place is only true in summer, in winter it's warmer than other places but it is still very cold in the mornings.  

After an excellent dinner at Fisherman's Market and Grill (http://www.fishermans.com)  fish tacos for Kathy and fish and chips for Keith, we headed back to the hotel to warm up and get some rest.   (We recommend the Fisherman's Market and Grill, excellent fresh fish!)

Saturday mornings temperature was 39 with a feels like of 35.  Adrenaline is your friend with those temps!  We bundled up like we did last month and rode the half mile to the 6:30 start.  

The start line was full of like minded Century riders, some in shorts! (Yes, we were wondering what the hell they were thinking!)  The High School Band played us out to the Theme from Rocky.  Thanks to the Palm Springs Police Department for directing traffic or more to the point stopping traffic so we didn't have to.   (Sorry the picture is blurry, shaking hands from the cold) 

Here's the route we took

It started out cold and once we made it out of town the wind picked up to be about 7-10 knots.  7-10 doesn't seem like much but it  was strong enough to push the bike and it made standing while climbing not the safest choice. The biggest challenge in cold and wind is staying hydrated.  It's not like it's hot and you're thirsty, you're not.   In the first 48 miles we went through 3 bottles, not great but not bad.  (Our only SAG stop was at the mid point to refill and refuel, nothing like a PB & J to get you to 100 miles!)  The good news is it warmed up enough for us switch to lighter weight full finger gloves around mile 75. 

The Tour is actually several rides. 100, 55, 25, 15, 10, 5, 1.  We saw a lot of disabled athletes including many blind stokers riding with the sited captains on tandems, athletes with mobility issues on recumbent cycles,  families out with their young kids all having a great time.  There were also more tandems on this ride then the other rides we've participated in.   When we were near the end all of these rides converged and that was a bit challenging.  Nothing like saying, "On your left" and having riders move left and come way too close to knocking you off your bike.  

The great thing about Tour de Palm Springs is the volunteers! Enthusiastic beyond words.  They actually thanked us for riding!  The school bands were at every SAG stop, even when we didn't stop we could hear them playing.  The High School cheerleaders were at the finish line cheering us on.  

5 hours and 45 minutes after we started we finished! If you're keeping track, like we are that's 30 minutes faster than last month in Ocotillo! 

Next month it's Solvang!

Onward we roll! 

Stagecoach Jan. 12, 2013

Century #1 January 12, 2013 Stagecoach Ocotillo California

First a little geography, Ocotillo is about 80 miles east of San Diego, that puts it about 3 hours from home.  We stayed the night in San Diego in anticipation of waking up and heading out at a ridiculously early time on an even more ridiculously cold morning.  

To get to Ocotillo you have to go over the mountains and back down into the desert.  On the way up there was snow on the ground.  Snow?!  Keith's exact words were "I didn't sign on for this shit."  Then we passed a rolled over car with 6 boarder patrol agents. Next up was a bird that we saw miss the windshield and then we heard a thump.  Hmm, was that bird bouncing off the bike, more on that later.  About 5 miles from Ocotillo our phones ping from a text message.  How thoughtful of AT&T to let us know we are in Mexico now and subject to international rates.  Are you kidding?  Were we supposed to bring passports for this century? 

No question it was cold when we arrived in Ocotillo.  We started by taking the bike down off the top of the car.  Remember the bird? It's feather were embedded in the bra for the bike.  Thankfully there was no blood.  

We've never worn so many clothes to ride before.  Long tights, arm warmers, wool socks, two undershirts, jersey, wind breakers, sunglasses,  shoe covers, cold weather gloves and even cold weather face masks.  In addition to all these clothes we had toe warmers and hand warmers.  We hoped that at some point some of these clothes would come off.  We even carried thinner full finger gloves in case the heavy gloves became too much.   We were happily warmer then we were in Solvang a couple of months ago.   We picked up our timing chip and off we went.  Start time was roughly 8a.m., we could have started sooner but we thought we'd let it warm up to 36 before we went out.  We want to note that we ALWAYS ALWAYS wear helmets.  We wouldn't dream of heading out with them and Kathy has a mirror attached to hers. 

Unlike most century rides this was an out and back course.  Rest stops were about 14 miles apart.  

The wind picked up off and on for the day.  There were five hill climbs for a total of 4500ft of climbing.  One boarder patrol crossing station, where they offered a wave as we rode through.  We are most proud of the fact that only three riders passed us the entire day! We are happy to say we passed a ton of people.  Who knew a timing chip could be so motivating?   

We stopped at two rest stops, filled up the water bottles, had a couple of fig newtons and got out of the saddle for a few minutes.  The hard part when riding is you're warm but if you stop for too long you are cold and it's really difficult to warm back up again.  

If you can appreciate the beauty of the desert you can understand the scenery.  This well organized ride had incredibly nice people at the rest stops.   Volunteers were standing pointing the way, shouting encouragement and even one guy playing his guitar and making up songs about the riders as they cruised by. 

We like to think we learn something from every century we ride. When we did Cool Breeze last year we learned that eating too much for lunch is not good.  Solvang taught us to dress even warmer then we think is necessary, you can always take clothes off.  Stagecoach showed us that while we need to bring our own electrolyte replacement we should limit the snacks we bring.  Next month in Palm Springs we will bring shot blocks, and sport beans.  

(At some point we will post our time, it has not been posted on the Stagecoach site yet.) 

UPDATE OFFICIAL TIME 6hrs 14 minutes including Sag stops. 

Onward we roll!