Ride Around Mount Raineer in One Day (RAMROD)-July 31 2008

The ride of the season, RAMROD, came the last day in July. To get into this ride, riders are chosen by a lottery system in order to limit the ride to 800 people. Needless to say, Randy was selected and then dove into training. His day of cycling started at 3:30 A.M. (yes, A.M.!) when the alarm went off. He worked his way to the Enumclaw High School for a waffle (legos) breakfast and some coffee! By 5:15, with the dawn light, Randy started peddling the sixty miles to Mount Raineer. The path would take the cyclist through small towns and highways to the south entrance of the Mt. Raineer National Park. Once in the park, the cyclists had a gradual climb. From what Randy has said, this climb was not super steep but it was long which made him slow down at the end of it. The cyclists bypassed Paradise Lodge and went to the rest stop to summons up energy for the remaining ups and downs of Raineer and Cayuse Pass. Cayuse pass was not only steep, but there was road construction before it. Cyclists consistently reported that this was the toughest stretch of RAMROD! It was ten miles in the extreme heat and more than half way through the 154 mile course. Once Randy reached the top of Cayuse pass, it was downhill and some flats all the way back Enumclaw High School.

Statistics from the ride: Randy finished cycling around 7:00pm. His actual peddling time was about eleven hours.

Seattle to Portland (STP)

As a training ride for RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Raineer in One Day), Randy chose to cycle in the STP ride in one day. Overall, the ride was 202 miles and had some big hills. The route took the cyclists through the backroads and some not so backroads of Washington. One town near Chehalis had the Egg Festival. Randy cycled on the Longview Bridge over the Columbia River into Oregon.
Timewise, Randy started from University of Washington at 5:00am and finished at the Lloyd Center at 9:35pm. His total cycling time was about 11 hours.
Randy never saw his friend, Earl, until the finish line in Portland but probably cycled within a couple of miles of eachother for most of the second half of the ride. They even traded places who was in front and still did not see eachother.
Towards the end of the ride, Randy was getting super hot as the temperature in Oregon was in the high 90s. One bank sign showed 97 degrees. To cool off the cooler became a dunking tank for hot feet.

Tour de Blast or Pain knows no beauty!

Team Carver once again found itself peddling into beautiful country to meet a goal of reaching the viewpoint of Mt. St. Helens. The scenery was spectacular and the weather was perfect! We started our morning ride at Toutle High School and rode 40 miles (according to our odometer but 41 according to the maps and signs). Right from the start, the grade was uphill although it was slight the first ten miles. The second stretch after the water stop was in no uncertain terms "brutal". Fifteen straight miles of grueling climbing to the second rest stop. Many stretching breaks were taken to meet our destination. After refueling there was a little bit of a decent before climbing the last consecutive mile climb to the top.

We were one of five tandem teams to ride this tour. More than a handful of single riders commented on how it must be hard to peddle a tandem to the top. We would have to agree that this was a tough ride. It felt more difficult than the day rides of Cycle Oregon. In retrospect, that might not be a fair comparison as this ride was earlier in the cycling season and we have not had as much opportunity to train for it as we did Cycle Oregon. However, with Randy cycling in RAMROD (Ride Around Mt. Raineer in One Day) we are hoping this ride better prepares him for that event. Several of the riders from Tour de Blast indicated they were using the ride as a training opportunity for RAMROD.

All I know is that we reached about 4000 feet in elevation and spectacular rugged mountain scenery which made the pain in the saddle endurable. Randy and I were amongst the last 30 riders to reach camp which was great as it gave us quiet times on the path and time to talk as we rode.

The return back to the high school parking lot was a blast as it was the reverse...all those miles flying down the mountains!

Joke for the day: Back at the high school Randy stated he need to stretch... I declared I needed a stretcher! :-)

More flowers

We returned from a weekend trip to find our rosebush in full bloom!

Flowers at last!

Last year, Randy and I replanted parts of our backyard with the hopes that the trees, bushes and shrubs will eventually cover up the fence and grow tall enough to give us privacy. To our delight, the large rhodie bloomed this year. According to Randy, this wonder has not bloomed in years. We were so delighted by the buds, we went a little picture happy. Maybe it does pay to have crazy winter weather!

Up, Up and Away

Randy's friend from work invited us to go flying with him. We were surprised to find out that Greg is a flying instructor and so Randy was allowed to fly the plane on our first trip up! What a wonderful adventure we had flying down to Seattle and over lakes and communities before we turned around to return to Payne Field. The addiction to flying we now understand! What a blast!

Sun to Snow to Sun

We are a little behind in our posting of pictures. This spring has been crazy with sunny and snowy weather. One week it was in the 70s and then the next weekend it was snowing. The week after that it was mild but the baseball game we went to had sun and then rain after the 7th. Hard to plan.

Dogs versus rodent

A friend sent me a picture of her two dogs this spring. The photo should win a contest! It really cracks me up and dialogs between the dogs and squirrel just pop through my head.

A walk in the park

Randy and I enjoy going to the Seattle Arboretum several times a year. This year we were able to go when the cherry trees were blooming. It was beautiful. However, with allergy season super strong this year, we had to careful how long we stayed by certain blooming trees.

Park visits

In the mornings when the family was visiting from Oregon, we went to the park for about an hour to let Arthur run around. He literally ran around for a solid hour and played and explored the slide at the park and the water. We were thankful for the sunshine and the chance to get outside for these park excursions.

Mystery Months and Magnum

For the last couple of months, we have been planning a trip of my (Julie's) family to come to visit over the three day weekend. I thought this was going to be just a casual visit but instead it was a front for a surprise party for my 40th birthday which as I am writing this has not yet happened!
Last Friday, my brother John and his son Arthur rode up with Mom and Dad in a 6 hour + car ride from Oregon. They arrived later than I expected but in time to make pizza for dinner and watch the Sound of Music before crashing on the couches. It is always funny to watch this well loved movie with the entire family as all the commentaries and quoting happen through the 3 hour epic. Saturday, I woke up at 6am not able to breathe out of my nose. So without waking anyone, I jumped into the steaming hot showing trying to open breathing passages. Afterwards, I headed for coffee to wake me up and heat up my throat. I did not want to be sick for a family visit.
After breakfast and a neighborhood coffee time, we all ventured to the park to give Arthur a chance to run. And run for an entire hour he did...nonstop. All of us went to the park except Randy. No doubt he was plotting or planning or emailing or phoning the rest of party clan.
When we arrived home, Randy announced that we had to wait until 3pm to catch the ferry in Edmonds. At the time I thought this was weird because I thought the ferries ran every hour. Being that it was noon and that I did not feel great, I was hoping to drink more herbal tea and take a nap until we got on the ferry. I announce my nap plan to Randy who insisted I take cold medicine and take a nap. He even went so far to tuck me in to bed. The medication made me super drowsy and I would have slept soundly but a bird flew in to the window and then I could not fall back to sleep. So, instead I went downstair and joined the rest of the family for lunch.
We caught the 3pm ferry from Edmonds to Kingston and cruised around a quilt shop. It was a good thing for our pocketbook that I was not feeling well or i would have been tempted into buying beautiful fabrics. I am sure they would have jumped into my arms.
When we got to the house, I forgot my house key and had to go in through the garage. Upon opening the door I noted grass skirt type decorations on the stair rail and said "What are the decorations for?" and then "SURPRISE!" Randy's mom, my neighbor, my cousin, and lots of friends and family members were in our living room! Not only that but several had on Hawaiian shirts. Being that I was not feeling grand, I was wearing a fleece jacket to keep warm. Several minutes into the party I was redirected to go put on a Hawaiian shirt.

So at the party my dad dressed up as Higgins with the mustache and all and Randy looked like a clean shaven Magnum. In the background someone put in the first season of Magnum which was surprisingly watched by many during different times of the party. My brother and friend, Julie and I did our version of hula dancing and laughed.

I felt extremely honored that so many people came and sent cards and called to wish me a happy birthday. Randy, John, Joyce, my parents, my neighbor, family and friends had all coordinated to make this a special day. When you think about that, having those type of relationships is the best blessing of all!

Another snowy January birthday

For the last few years, we have had snow on Julie's dad's birthday. This year was no exception. We drove to Corvallis for an early celebration and had a family dinner on Saturday. Sunday morning we awoke to a light dusting of snow. Farther south of Corvallis, Oregon received lots of snow and most schools were closed for days. The start of the small storm was right on Dad's birthday. At his party Randy and I played our annual game of chess followed by a tournament of "Stack Em".