The 2007 Chilly Hilly
"Hey, you know we could just call my hubby to come pick us up!" said the rider ahead of me, as she struggled up another hill. As I slid by her, I suggested that was a fine idea. And we both laughed. "Yeah, you could come along too..." This is one reason I like the Chilly Hilly. There's a lot of suffering out there this early in the season and most everyone is totally out to have a good time.
Better this year to call it "The Horrid Soggy", the Chilly Hilly started in a cool rain that turned to wind by the end of the ride. Counterbalancing the pain though, there's kids hawking bake sales every mile or two. It is totally calo-rific! I love rice krispy treats and never make them at home, so kids of Bainbridge, you know what to do in 2008!
Speaking of the future, it's been a few years since I've done this ride, and I'm going to call out two new trends that I am against.
1. Wearing iPods or other headphones to a ride with hundreds of riders of mixed abilities. What idiots. "ON YOUR LEFT!" "ON YOUR LEFT!!!!" The only one who couldn't hear me was at a full stop, thank God.
2. Hipster Bike Clubs using the hard work that the Cascade Club does to organize this ride and all the volunteers out supporting the paying (and "donating") riders to tack on a "Pirate" bike race. What the hell? Racing along a course of with hundreds of mixed skills riders, and using messenger skills on the Chilly Hilly: stupid, classless, and rude. Nice job promoting cycling! Here's an idea for you hipster anti-society types: use the fresh Dan Henry's and run it the following weekend or in the middle of the dark and daring night. And a big hiss to their sponsors who probably "don't get it"...
If you've not done this ride, there's a reason it's always profiled as one of the best organized rides in the country. It's a great scenic time and tons of fun. Kudos to Cascade!
The 2007 Chilly Hilly
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20 comments:
Sorry I missed it.
Sort of.
Pirate racing? That's more than rude. That's nyekulturni.
there are other groups out there promoting cycling in their own special way. we dont see having to pay large cycling groups for the right to ride a bike as a positive way to get more people on two wheels.
the FHR is just one of many many free rides that point83 puts on every year. one of a few hundred rides. and you dont have to pay money for 95 percent of them.
good job on being a total asshat and sending "shame shame" emails to the point83 FHR sponsors though. they called you a fuddy duddy no fun geezer. in fact, the companies that went out of their way to support us are all great people, great companies, and they enjoy sponsoring underground events like this one.
see you out there, dont forget how much FUN it is to ride a bike, without having to pay to do so.
Just because we don't support some of what Kascade supports (like mandatory helmet laws and bike paths instead of full traffic integration) doesn't mean that we don't agree about other things. For some of us "Pirating" a Kascade ride is the only form of protest against their policies that seems to get any attention. And many of us paid for both rides because we support bike clubs in general.
You should get all the facts about our group before you liable us with our sponsors; the only way you will get that is to ride with us. So show up on any Thursday or Tuesday and stop taking it upon yourself to be the "official" spokesperson for Kascade, I do believe that they already have one.
Trying to subvert sponsors... we all have our opinions about cyclists... there are people I don't care for... but I tend to voice my opinions directly to the cyclists, or to friends over beer. I do not attempt to start undermining their cycling organization.
Calling people in .83 jerks or idiots is fine... and maybe accurate...(if so, they do it with style) but they get people on bikes... and they get people on bikes that cascade alienates.
From your view I take it that you don't want those people on bikes. People who do not fit your criteria... those rule breakers... non-conformists.
You could try to humor them.
instead you try to undermine them.
that is incredibly offensive and it is an embarrassment to cascade.
I thought we wanted more people on bikes...
but maybe only the people that obey your rules and don't have their little quirky outlaw events.
Did their "fucking hillls race" really harm the chilly hilly... is the event that fragile? Do 40 some riders going against the flow pose that much of a threat to you that you have to threaten the people who sponsor them?
Is that what the cascade cyclist is focused upon?
That sir is at the least poor sportsmanship, at the worst a hate crime.
It definitely make you a jerk.
I've been riding and racing bikes all over the world for the past 20 years. Ive ridden with many different groups of cyclists, clubs, and teams on almost every continent. There are guys like you on just about all of them. I'm not feeling the need to rain on your parade, so I won't; only you know what your real problem is. I will say this, being new to Seattle, I have felt most welcome by Point83, and feel that they grasp the heart of cycling; fun, friendship and bikes. Little story, and this is not to toot my on horn, but to make a point. During the course of "your ride" I changed flats for two of your "supported" riders. Not only did no one stop before I rolled up(one of these guys was pushing his bike up the road), but rider after rider passed by while we were standing there on the side of the road. Why did I stop? Because we all have something in common, the bikes we ride. I don't know all of the point83 riders that well, but I'd bet money they would even stop for the likes of you. Lastly, the Jolly Roger flag you see, does not denote "pirate racer". Not only did we each pay an entrance fee(given back to us in the form of prizes), but we were not riding the Chilly Hilly at all. We did not eat your food, drink your water, or utilize your support. We did however get pretty good seats on the ferry, but you will have to take that up with the Transportation Authority(I'm sure they would read your email). I just can't believe that you would waste your time and effort on on something so trivial as calling a sponsor, when there are so many more important things that you could be doing with your time. My comments are my own, do not represent point83, and are directed towards you and you alone. I know your ashamed of yourself, heck, I am ashamed for you. No need to fret though, I will forget all about you the next time I'm sitting on my bike. I suppose most of the people who know you regularly do the same. I for one do not know you, and truly hope that I never do. Until that day, grab some sak, and just go ride your bike, nerd. Chaung Man ter, kun bpen kwaai dtua uan leei, mung uh
Get a life, lighten up.
.83 does more to promote both casual bicycling and bicycle commuting, especially among the young, than your group of stodgy old men. Just saying.
my big question is what you mean by "using messenger skills". i can't think of anything concrete that that would describe. skid stops? what? it seems to me more like you're trying to create a reason to imply that we're causing an unsafe environment when nothing could be further from the truth.
and for the record, we're not messengers by any means.
Wait so... what you like about a ride is the thought that you could get picked up by a car?
I'm impressed with your dedication to cycling, but i'm more impressed with your laziness and reliance on oil for transportation.
Derrick, et al.
If you ask me there seems to be a credibility problem over at Point83. Your group appears to be loose federation of riders, so who knows where that breakdown is.
It seems to me that you are demanding that riders along the Chilly Hilly respect your group's decision to stage a race concurrently during this event. And that, if nothing else, we should accept that for many of you it is a form of protest against the folks who are making it possible for 4000 riders of mixed ability to get out on their bikes and ride without much hassle. Furthermore, by labeling it a protest, you get a carte blanche pass to ride as you see fit.
I don't belong to Cascade, I just like riding my bike and think the Chilly Hilly is lots of fun. I'd never even heard of your group and just thought that at the beginning of the ride several of the mysterious FHR riders were overly aggressive given the number of riders on the course. It's that simple. I came home, looked you up, thought it classless to stage a race over such a huge event full of inexperienced cyclists, and a fundraiser for another bicycle club at that. On my blog, I made a suggestion, like obviously many others have: run your race at some other time.
What form of "protest" do I have? I can't write Cascade as they've got nothing to do with your event. Your club seems quite happy with how things turned out. That just leaves your sponsors. It's that simple. If your sponsors are getting what they want out of your event, then what the heck does my email mean to them? Not a thing. They throw it away, because I'm just some dude writing an email.
You can look at that letter again and maybe read it slowly. Do I ever suggest your club doesn't have a place on the road? Nope. Do I ever suggest your sponsors aren't cool and aren't supporting the bicycle community? Nope. Do I ever say that I am a member of the Cascade club or somehow a spokesman for some great bicycling movement? Nope to that, too.
I say quite plainly that in my opinion sponsoring this particular event is misguided and I list two reasons: it’s not cool to take advantage of the work of another bicycling group during one of its major fundraisers, and it’s not cool to stage a race on a course packed with mixed-ability riders who are not racing.
So what's with all the hate? What's up with the personal name-calling? What's with personal threats?
Derrik, you quote my original letter to BikeJerseys.com on your forums but you don't include the reply to Hank’s mail stating that I don't have an issue with Point83 as a club, but only this particular event. You also leave off his claim to only be a paid printer and not a "sponsor" before he asks for his logo to be removed from your site.
If your sponsors are being represented as they want to be and to the folks they want to be, why would they bother with such a request?
While I have not received responses from all of your sponsors (nor would I expect to), it perhaps should concern you and your membership, however, that one wrote back to say they had never even heard of the FHR and one wrote back saying “that we are unimpressed with their candor about the nature of their event.” These replies seem to indicate someone in your group is using the names and brands of other companies to add legitimacy to your group’s event in a way that is not truthful.
So, where’s the credibility? I really don’t see it. And how can you demand my respect, or that of other cyclists, without that credibility?
You ask what's with the hate and personal name-calling, when you start off by calling .83 'hipster' and 'anti-society'? Seems pretty hypocritical to me. You start the mud-slinging, then back off and get all defensive when some mud gets splashed back on you.
Oh, and you ask 'what form of protest do I have'? Well, you could actually talk to the offenders yourself, in the .83 forums. I personally think your observations about FHR racers performing overly aggressive maneuvers are worth hearing. But instead, you started off by going behind the backs of the people who pissed you off, and complaining to the sponsors you thought could do something about it. This is passive-aggressive behavior of the worst kind.
Hey Bike Nerd, hi.
I read on the .83 forum a note you sent to one of the sponsors of the FHR; sorry that the "pirates" (of whom I was one, but I'm not a "hipster," far from from it--I rode the FHR on a tandem with my 9 year-old daughter) harshed your Chilly Hilly mellow, man.
Anyway, I think cycling is a big tent with room for anyone on two wheels.
To that end, let me invite you to a ride I'm putting together later this month. Here's the link to info:
http://327words.blogspot.com/2007/02/327-words-half-century-ralleycat.html
See you there or see you around.
Rubber side down!
Dave
P.S. You can even "pirate" it; I'll waive the 5 bucks entry fee for ya.
it’s not cool to take advantage of the work of another bicycling group during one of its major fundraisers...
I'm sorry, but exactly what "work" was .83 taking advantage of? The FHR was organized and funded separately, ridden by folks who would not have ridden the CH, and used exactly none of Cascade's resources. The only thing shared was the road.
Hey Dashap!
Thanks for the invite to your Birthday Rally. It sounds like a numeroligist's sweet dream. It's cool that you are tracking down all those buildings. There's no way I could finish it because undoubtedly I'd be taking pictures.
You are posting the route sheet? I'd love a copy of it for any after work ride if nothing else.
I'll think on it, though man, there's still lots of snow left for Saturday skiing!
Oh, and Dashap,
Thanks for the offer, but I'll pay if I run it. I am sure your club could use the money, and it would not be my style to run it arrrgghh, "pirate".
jeez knox, isn't mailing the jersey co a little over the top?! i mean, why not approach .83 directly? are we (you) back in pre-school or something?
i'm not a member of cascade or point83, but i feel sorry for the pirates, why you gotta give 'em such a hard time?
last time i checked cascade doesn't own:
* the ferries
* that particular sunday
* bainbridge island, or the roads on it
so how can they complain if other peeps ride on the same day?
at any rate, stay safe out there on the oft-dangerous seattle streets..
I'm a Cascade member and proud. I don't see any issue with an organized ride using the same public streets and route as another as long as they aren't using their resources (mechanics, etc). Contacting .83 sponsors!?! Where I come from.... you'd have to tape your chin to your shoulder after pulling some granny act like that.
You pirates are hilarious! Bitch and moan and whine! What Kascade "policies" get your panties in a wedge? "I just can't believe that you would waste your time and effort on on something so trivial as" pirating a Kascade ride!! No, you're not messengers... they laugh at you guys! Just like I am right now.
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