Tour de Whidbey: The Captain is always the last to leave the ship

That was the theme behind Tour de Whidbey, a ride organized by a Viet Velo NW Co-Captain and Blue Rooster Team racer, Tri C. Tran. I usually don't fully name friends on our blog, but I nicknamed him Tri Colnago Tran for his trademark Italian bike; so the joke is only funny if you realize that's not really his middle name. I dare you to ask him what the "C" really stands for. 

The coordination effort was a massive feat, so I'm giving him props for putting together a pretty epic ride that involved bikers from two different teams, a ferry crossing, 80 hilly miles around Whidbey Island, and a birthday boy. Our fellow Viet Velo teammate, Lam, drove 210 miles up from Portland just to complete this Gran Fondo on his birthday. That's some serious dedication! 

L to R: Tri, Lum, Phu, Nhan, Tammy, Hung, Di (holding Thu's bike)

Tri Colnago takes it pretty damn seriously when leading rides as Captain. He stepped up and played the leadership card in order to coordinate an inclusive ride with his Blue Rooster racers and his Viet Velo NW teammates, who had never met or biked with each other before. He went all old-school on us and even printed out route maps and cue sheets for us on paper. 

Tri declared that seeing his two teams intermix on this day gave his old heart the warm fuzzies. This was a no-drop touring ride, meaning that no rider gets left behind, no matter how slow you go. <Cue the music for Di>

L to R: Lum, Hung, Nhan, Tammy, Thu, Lam

It all started out innocently enough. Here we are at the Mukilteo Ferry Dock, shooting the breeze, doing a little trash talking, and getting our gear together before the next scheduled ferry.

These guys are very strong riders, every one of them. Tri rides with both teams, and he himself is a CAT 4 racer. The Blue Roosters ride cyclocross in the off-season, so their legs and lungs are never out of shape. 

L to R: Nhan, Tammy, Thu, Lam, Tri

Team Viet Velo NW just finished the Passport to Pain ride on Vashon Island the month before, a tough 80-mile course with 10,000 ft elevation gain. 

To say I was terrified of riding with these guys was putting it mildly. I tried to beg out of this ride many times, but Tri held my feet to the fire. He sold this ride to everyone as the Passport to Pleasure, so he told me to HTFU (look it up on Urban Dictionary). 

Ouch! Harshness from the same guy who obviously recovered quickly from a temporary case of fuzzy heart! This chicken was nervous to ride with the Roosters.

When I heard that my biker chick Tammy, her husband Nhan (a different one), and the usual VVNW suspects would be there, I just couldn't say no. He baited me with my own friends. 

My riding partner, Nhan N, couldn't join this ride due to a road trip to Vancouver with his buddies on this weekend. So I had to get an action stunt double for him...Nhan T. Hehe Nhan N said it was weird meeting another Nhan, "We don't really look alike." But I said, "Oh, I can always tell you and Nhan T apart-- he's the one who showed up! Ha!" Aggravated by my joke, Nhan N shot back, "Whatever! Next time I see him, I'll pay him $5 to change his name." Somehow, I don't think Tammy would go for that....

Lum, aka Megatron or The Road Runner (meep! meep!)

I brought along my friend, Lum. He started as the odd man out, but fell in with this posse pretty easily. He's the unofficial ride leader of a group I affectionately call "Cambo Velo", a play on Viet Velo, because he and his crew are mostly Cambodian. Lum completed RAMROD (Ride Around Mt Rainier in One Day) this year, a 168-mile ride with 10,000 ft elevation gain up and around Mt. Rainier. 

L to R: Tri, Tammy, Jason (Viet Velo Sandwich)

Tri dazzled me with the added bonus of getting to hang out with some other famous Blue Roosters, one of whom is also a female rider named Kelly who is married to fellow Rooster, Jason. This superstar husband and wife riding team just conquered Mount Haleakala on Maui this summer, a ride that featured 10,000 ft elevation gain over only 35 miles. Holy Volcano! 


With resumes like this, I knew I would get my ass kicked hard-- but I shut up, suited up, and showed up anyway. In other words, I had to HTFU. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment as long as my buddies are there having fun with me! 

Tri and Thu, "bench pressing"

There was a general feeling of excitement in the air. It was a crisp fall day, but the rain we so dreaded was held in check. Many of these guys have never biked on Whidbey Island before. Everyone was relaxed, socializing, stretching, checking out their gear as we prepared to walk onto the ferry through the passenger loading area. 


We caught our ferry, tied up our bikes on deck, and headed up to the passenger lounge for the short 15 minute ferry ride over to Whidbey Island.

The Birthday Boy, Lam

Nhan and Tammy

One of my absolute favorite pics from the ride! 

Nhan and Tammy are a dynamite husband and wife biking team. The numbers on their helmets are left over from the Passport to Pain event on Vashon Island.

They both look laser-focused, like they can't wait to roll off the boat and attack the island. 

Nhan later told me he was just "sucking it in and exhaling". Look at the sheer intensity on Tammy's face! Did I mention that I love this photo??

L to R: Thu, Tammy, Di, Nhan, Tri. Getting ready to disembark the ferry

L to R: Tri, Lam, Hung

So many things to love about riding on Whidbey. The roads are wide open, devoid of the kind of traffic you see on the mainland, the scenery is mostly pastoral with many ocean vistas opening up between the trees and farms; even the air smells clean, and there are lots of rolling hills to tickle your legs. We hit several small hills right off the ferry. This group laughs a lot together, and I felt so enthusiastic to be rolling and socializing with this gang. 

But I also knew I was kind of in trouble already. I had taken a 3-week hiatus from biking, and could already feel leaden legs and diminished cardio as we did some long, sustained hill climbs. These guys are fast on the flats too, and I found myself pushing hard to keep their brisk pace. It was a leisurely ride for them, but work for me. We had many co-captains on this ride, and each of them coached me a bit as they rolled along, passing along their collective wisdom. Another reason I love riding with these guys.

Jason  and Kelly

The husband and wife teams are living the dream, cycling and touring together. Nhan and Tammy are an extraordinarily athletic couple, evenly matched in sass and class. They are super supportive and always bring the fun.

Jason and Kelly looked like a force to be reckoned with in their matching Rooster kits. Many times, Kelly would yell back at me to draft off both of them, so I was the caboose to their Rooster train on several short stretches. 

Captain Tri and his "other" shadow

We rolled through Langley and mostly stayed together as a group for a while, but when the route took us back onto Hwy 525, I suddenly realized that all our riders were scattered. Tri had to babysit me and somehow get a hold of the other riders too. 

He simply pointed one finger to his back wheel without a glance or a word at me, which meant, "Hang on, here we go!" I kept pace for a little while, but it was exhausting work for this hen to keep up with a Rooster. I'm not a spring chicken anymore, so I have drumsticks instead of legs. 

We pulled off on Honeymoon Bay Road and waited for the others in front of a farm stand. Captain Tri pulled out his trusty cue sheet and made some calls to get everyone to re-group. He's on his phone, multi-tasking, trying to contact the others. I'm just trying to catch my breath during this brief respite in riding. The other guys must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Nhan aptly pointed out,  "Captain lost half his troop!"

Jason won the "caption this photo" contest:

 "Woodchuck to Grey Squirrel, Woodchuck to Grey Squirrel, over!"

Soon, our team rolled in, one-by-one. Everyone asked how I managed to stay ahead of the group. I told them I had no choice but to keep up with Tri, otherwise I would get lost or left behind! 

Without missing a beat, Tri pointed out that it wasn't so much that Di was keeping up with Tri, but more like he was hanging back for me. He was right, can't argue with that. Ego, checked! 

John and Tri making sense of the madness on the map

John was the elder statesman of our group today, but don't let the salt-and-pepper fool you. This Blue Rooster is an exceptionally strong rider, and he pulled me for most of the last 20 miles of the route with a single-speed bike! He was minus his Rooster kit today, but believe me, he still represented! 

We finally made it to Greenbank Farms, our first official ride stop. The iconic red barn made for a good backdrop for our group photos. We stopped in for water, coffee, and a bio-break. Once I took off my helmet, John said, "So that's what you look like!"

L to R: Nhan, Tri, Lum, Phu, Tammy, Hung, Thu

Biker Chicks, Tammy and Di

L to R: Thu, Tammy, Nhan, Hung

Mr. Viet Velo NW, Anh Hung

Sculpture Garden at Greenbank Farms

L to R: Phu aka The Diesel Engine, Lum, and Thu

Lam, the birthday boy, took off ahead of us because he wanted to do the full 80-miles today. He drove a long way to ride here, and he wanted it to count for something. It was decided that he would meet up with us in Coupeville for lunch. 

There was some mild confusion since there was a Lum and a Lam riding with us today. Tri clarified that the muscle-bound, body-builder Lum was "Lum-py" and the slender, birthday Lam was just "Limp".  I don't want to speculate on how he came up with that, but it gave everyone a good belly laugh. 

We finally made it to Coupeville for lunch. But not without some major fallout first.

Not even going to sugarcoat this-- I got straight up wasted on this ride. That's what a moderate pace girl gets for thinking she can keep up with a brisk pace group. I kept telling myself that I get credit for at least showing up, but the truth is, I probably shouldn't have shown up at all..... 

I totally choked out there trying to keep pace with these guys. I murdered my legs on some of those hill climbs, and even had to clip out and walk up a long 12% grade hill. Nhan is a Co-Captain of VVNW, and I felt fortunate that he hung back with me as I flagged on some of those strenuous climbs. These hills would typically be a piece of cake for him. 

The grades were so steep, and my legs were on strike. I couldn't get them to move, no matter how much swearing I did under my heavy breath. At first, I tried to zig-zag across the road to mitigate the steepness as opposed to climbing straight up. It's a technique I learned from Captain John Nguyen on the I-90 hill, and applied successfully before, but even that failed me today. 

My legs started cramping badly, and in the weirdest places! Freakish pain shot up through muscles I couldn't even name, and I finally had to clip out to keep from falling over less than halfway up the hill. Nhan told me to take off my shoes to spare my cleats from wearing down as I walked up. By now, Lum had circled back to see what happened to us. 

Nhan kindly walked both our bikes up, as I soft-footed it in my socks, with Lum also walking at my side in solidarity (good sport that he is). I felt utterly dejected, thankful that the rest of the group wasn't here to see the shit show. 

I haven't had to walk up a hill in a good long while, but you always remember which ones you had to walk, and curse their memory forever after. The walk really destroyed my confidence. I felt so utterly discouraged, but I tried not to let it show. And then suddenly, this....

Someone had painted the words, "Shut up, Legs!" right on the roadside. I managed something like a pitiful smile, and the guys laughed along with me as Lum snapped this pic.

At the top of the hill, we paused to rest as a pit bull barked furiously at us from behind his wire fence. My legs still felt shaky, but I attempted to at least put my shoes back on and try to re-mount my bike. At this point, two leg cramps flared up with a vengeance! I sat down on the side of the road, yelping with pain as Lum had me stretch out my leg against his knee for relief. Any car driving by at that moment would think that Lum was delivering a baby by the roadside, it was such a scene!

I finally felt equal to hopping back on my bike. I thanked both Nhan and Lum for sticking with me during that whole episode. Nhan pulled ahead to catch up with the group and give them an update. I felt bad that I was making us late for lunch, since I know everyone must be starving by now. I figured that by the time I got to Coupeville, the gang would be all done with lunch, and I would only show up in time to pick up the bill. 

I turned to Lum and said, "I think I confused the hell out of my Strava with that long, slow walk up the hill." Lum let out a big, booming laugh.

You know what I love most about the pic below? The three Blue Rooster team members in their instantly recognizable blue/yellow/white kits, perfectly reflected and framed in the restaurant window!

The Gang at Front St Grill in Coupeville (Thanks for the pic, Anh Hung!

Bike Parking at Front St Grill in Coupeville

Nhan & Tammy, deer in the headlights

We squeezed into the small tables at Front Street Grill and fell to our burgers and beer with great aplomb! By now, the Seattle Seahawks game played prominently on the big screen TVs in the bar, and our group cheered loudly, making some of the other bar patrons jump in their seats. Lam tried to make some snarky comment, and was immediately shut down by Nhan, who said, "Hey, enough out of you, Portland Guy!"

I ate very little, fearing that a big meal would slow me down even more. Tri tried to tell me that pickles are a secret weapon against leg cramps. The look of skepticism on my face showed him that I was hardly convinced.

After lunch, we rolled out for the final 30 miles back to the ferry. Heavy hamburgers, cold beers, and a chilly wind contributed to a sluggish start for everyone. But this group perked right up at Ebey Island Beach where Lum raced up the hill first, assumed a human tripod position, and took video of the rest of the team climbing up. Tri can be heard yelling triumphantly as he blasted up ahead of the pack, "I'm on big chain ring, buddy! When there's a camera..." This video clip perfectly captures the energy and enthusiasm of this group. Now my heart is getting a little of the warm fuzzies....Damn it, Tri! It's contagious!

L to R at Fort Casey: Thu, John, Kelly, Jason, Phu, Tri, Hung, Tammy, Nhan, Lum, Di, (Lam took the photo)

This is the last time I felt strong. The final 20 miles or so back to the ferry passed in slow motion like a dizzy dream. I didn't have much left in the tank, and was running purely on fumes. My legs were still turning the cranks, but slowly, arduously. I felt a kind of delirium creep over me, and I tracked the debris on the shoulder to make time pass faster, because looking at the endless road ahead seemed terribly daunting and pointless. 

So many times, several of the guys took turns pulling me-- Tri, Lum, Jason, John. I stared blankly at their haunches and wheels, trying to mindlessly spin my way back without quitting. Jason even got right next to me at one point and gently pushed me up the hill with this hand on the small of my back. He later joked that he wasn't pushing me-- he was trying to get the goodies out of my jersey pockets. 

I've done plenty of 80+ mile bike rides before, but today broke me. In my mind played a cannonade of personal excuses on repeat: Girl, you didn't eat enough, you haven't biked for 3 weeks, you wasted too much energy, you have a heavy bike, you're not as strong, you lack experience, blah, blah, blah.....it's a bunch of B.S. 

The biggest competition out there is with your own self. Biking long distances is a mental battle. My mind started messing with me. I had so many thoughts about quitting. I really just wanted to lay down on the side of the road and die quietly, but my teammates wouldn't hear of it. They tried to rally me along the way, they waited, they pulled, they cheered-- whatever it took to keep me going.

At one of the last few stops, Tri coaxed me into drinking more water. I shook my head numbly, not feeling up to any more drinking or eating. In a feeble attempt to cheer me up, he announced, "The good news is that it's 4 more miles to the ferry. The bad news is that it's 4 more miles to the ferry." I wanted to laugh, really. At that point, my face might have looked like I had murder on my mind, but my legs just wanted mercy. 

True to his word that he would not drop me on this ride, Tri pulled me all the way into the homestretch to the ferry dock and finally yelled, "Go! Go! Go!" as I coasted in behind Kelly, with Jason, John, and Tri following closely behind. 

The Captain is always the last to leave the ship

When I finally pulled into the Clinton Ferry Dock, our group erupted into hoots and cheers. I was mortified by the unwarranted attention, but I felt a deep gratitude for their unending support during a very tough ride for me. They promised not to drop me, and they didn't. In fact, they went above and beyond to make sure I made it all the way.

Tri later explained the likely reason I choked out there. Usually by going at 10% faster speeds, you sacrifice 40% of the distance in terms of endurance. In other words, I was out of my league with this brisk group. 

Aside from the obvious adventure, some of our friends and family have frankly said that we're #&*@%$ nuts, and ask why we do it at all. They have no idea why we spend an inordinate amount of time, money and energy to put our bodies through what they perceive as physical torture. And you know what? Sometimes, they're absolutely right....

But our love of biking overpowers all other senses. It is just as much about our mental well-being as it is about our physical exertion. Screaming legs, sore back, watering eyes, chafed ass, heat and cold, thirst and hunger, and heaven forbid, the crashes-- and yet, we keep on coming back for more, like gluttons for punishment. It's a way to mentally decompress, even as we're under physical stress. At some point, it becomes a need for biking. As in, our legs get restless if we don't. Or we feel the stress of daily life mounting, and just want to ride it out. Then there's the social component of wanting to spend quality time with friends we might not otherwise get to see as frequently. 

The point being, cycling is very much both a mental and a physical sport. Endurance and stamina will keep you going for a long time, but you've got to get your head in the game as well. 

As we boarded the ferry to go home, I reflected on this ride. Yeah, my legs are going to hurt like hell tomorrow, but my heart was full of love and appreciation for my teammates and for the new friends I made today. Maybe my ride was more "soul-crushing" than "crushing it", but I still had the time of my life with the best kind of people I know. No regrets! 

The only small victory I can claim on this day despite all the pitfalls is that I did not actually fall off or over on my bike. No regrets, and no clunking!

Blue Roosters Rock: Kelly, John, Jason

RATS (Ride Around The Sound)

RATS (Ride Around The Sound) is an annual ride in September hosted by the American Lung Association as their fundraiser. Unofficially, riders call it "The Lungbuster". The full route is a total of 92 very hilly miles that starts in Seattle, loops all the way around the Puget Sound, and finally ends at the Bremerton Ferry Terminal, where riders take their bikes on the ferry back to Seattle. Our group did a shorter, modified route that was approximately 76 miles with about 5,000 ft of elevation gain, and we would catch the Vashon/Fauntleroy Ferry back to West Seattle instead.

Last year, Nhan and I attempted this ride with a different group of friends, and it was the most fun disaster ever. We attempted a self-supported ride, and were supposed to end at his cousins' house in Port Orchard where a giant pot of homemade chicken curry was awaiting us. But along the way I had a blown tire, we took a few missed cues, the group got separated, one guy missed a wedding he was supposed to attend, we all ran out of water and food, and we miscalculated our distances and time to reach our destination. Disaster....but fun, nevertheless.

We were so ill-prepared for the super-strenuous hill climbs last year since we had only been road biking a few months at that point. We were so dog-tired, hungry and thirsty that we were picking wild blackberries and apples to eat at the side of the road, as desperate as we were. We had to get rescued twice before the night was over, but when we finally got to that pot of chicken curry, we annihilated it along with a half a dozen loaves of bread, a whole watermelon, and two carafes of orange juice. Stick your hand in at the table at the wrong moment, it would have been cleaned down to the bone the way piranhas feed-- that's how hungry we were!

This year would be different, right? We were more experienced, better prepared, and now familiar with the route. Nhan and I were the only returners from last year's group, the rest were new friends who would be doing the RATS route for the very first time.  

L to R: Chinh, Van, Di, Nhan, Phonsy, Aaron, Phal

Chinh Grin

We all met in West Seattle in the early morning, and right off the bat, three guys say they need to be back by 4pm to go to different birthday parties, grrrr. When you factor in 80 hilly miles and a ferry ride, they were cutting it close. I'm slow enough, and I don't like to be rushed on these touring rides.

Fun Nhan

Our first stop was at the Des Moines Marina and farmers market. Since this was the first time this particular combination of bikers ever rode together, we were already out of sync. Three of the speediest riders raced ahead, missed cues, and got separated from the group for 2 hours. In their defense, the road had tons of markings after a full season of event rides. They just weren't familiar with them. 

Nhan, Chinh, and I naturally stayed together since we rode together before at STP and RSVP, and knew each other's riding habits. Ever reliable, Phal hung back to try to look for Aaron, Phonsy, and Van. 

Since we had time to kill at the marina waiting for the others, we took a bunch of photos. A spectacular day like this should be immortalized in digital.

Chillin' Like Villains

Boats, Bikes, and Blue Skies

"Sealed" with a Kiss

Art Installation & Meditation

Nhan trying to call Van to get his 20

Nhan and Chinh were really tempted to eat something at the farmers market, but we were only a few miles into the ride. Finally, we see Van roll into the market and wave him down. Phal, Phonsy, and Aaron were still out there somewhere, but we decided to roll on after waiting almost an hour with no word from the others.  

Brain Freeze!

We stopped in at Starbucks to re-fuel. Last year, Nhan kept goading us on with the pot of chicken curry, so we didn't stop anywhere to eat. That was our first rookie mistake. This time, Nhan ordered a Venti green tea frappe, which he sucked down so fast that it gave him brain freeze!

Van is the young gun of our group. A newbie rider with really strong sprinting legs. He takes off so fast that he's lost our group on two separate rides now. But I think he is learning that if you want to sprint, you have to re-group at some point if you want to finish out the ride with your buddies.

Nhan made a comment about how Van's hair is always perfectly coiffed even after he removes his helmet!

Somehow, after all the separate misadventures, our group finally found each other again on the road!


Here we are at Brown's Point Lighthouse, happy to be re-united again.

The guys were getting hungry, and we weren't planning to have lunch until we hit Tacoma, the mid-point. Chinh somehow managed to talk Van into lifting him up on his shoulders so we could reach the apples in the tree. Van only relented because he was hungry, and because Chinh looked to be the lightest of the guys. Naturally, I didn't volunteer.

Best quote of the day from Van: "Chinh, your nuts are touching the back of my neck, man!"

Chinh grabbed a few apples and tossed them to Phal, who passed them out to the rest of us like rations. They were tart, but the only real food we had until Tacoma.

Apples + Nuts = Trail Mix
L to R: Chinh, Phal, Phonsy, Nhan, Van, Aaron

Nhan & Van, Apples to Apples

I tried to flex my arms as big as Phal's...fail

Anxious to get to Tacoma, and with some of the guys nervous about the timeline, we started rolling again. I remember these hill climbs last year that seemed so much more devastating. This year, I surprised myself by climbing some of them with more ease and enjoyment. We struggled badly last year, especially with all the climbs, myriad twists, steep descents on this challenging route. But my legs felt strong and I kept up. 

I first rode with Phonsy last year during one of his "recovery" rides. His usual riding group includes Phal and his brother, Lum, all very strong riders who regularly do 80-100 mile weekly rides at brisk on the hills to strenuous pace on the flats, no kidding. I affectionately call them "Cambo Velo", even though Phonsy is half-Viet and Laotian. He said I improved a lot since last year, which I know means, "You don't suck nearly as much now." Haha

As we climbed the steep urban hills into Tacoma, we hit a short but nasty hill with a 15% grade. I remembered this ugly bastard of a hill from last year, so I shifted into my lowest gear and stood up to grind up. My legs were burning as I neared the top, but I let out a belligerent yell and reached the top without clipping out or falling over like I did last year. Hell yeah! Phal laughed and cheered me on like he always does. The hill took out Aaron and Van, who both didn't anticipate the steepness and had to clip out suddenly and walk their bikes up. Can't blame them, this hill took out 3/4 of our group last year.

Feeling gassed out, we vowed to stop at the first food joint we saw, so we coasted into The Rock for lunch. They had a pizza on their menu called "The Slow Ride", which had andouille sausage and shrimp. Had my name written all over it, so I split it with Nhan since it called out his name too. The rest of the guys ordered enormous fatso burgers for themselves. I ate the two smallest slices of pizza and didn't lecture the guys about their meal choice-- they earned it. As for me, I learned my lesson once about eating a big meal in the middle of a ride. We were only halfway through 80-miles..... 

L to R: Aaron, Phonsy, Phal, Van, Chinh, Di & Nhan
You can see the reflection of Mt. Rainier in the window behind  us!

After a too long and leisurely lunch, it was nearly 3pm and there was no chance to finish the ride out in time for the three guys to make it to their parties on time. We still had 40 or so miles to go. So Aaron decided to ride home directly from Tacoma since he lives in Federal Way, and Nhan & Van decided to take the bus home to Seatac, where they would bike back to Nhan's house and get their cars later. So, not exactly the disaster of last year, but still a bust up of sorts. 

So, that left the cool kids (Phal, Phonsy, Chinh, and me) to see this thing through! Not gonna lie, it was now the hottest part of the day, and Chinh and I were feeling super tired after the long lunch stop. Felt like we were biking in slow-motion. I hate when my legs feel like this! I purposely did not eat a lot because I always tend to bonk out when I eat too much, or too little, or get too hot on rides. We had so far to go, so I just hung my head and dug deep to keep my legs going. 

We passed through a neighborhood where one house had their lawn sprinkler going. I got my bike up on the sidewalk and rode through that sprinkler like it was rain in the Sahara! The guys laughed at me, but I didn't care. That little refresher cooled me off and kept me going until we reached the Tacoma Narrows.

This would be the very first time that these guys would ride across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and they were flippin' excited about it!

L to R: Chinh, Phal, Phonsy

I love riding across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge because the bike lane is very wide and well-protected from traffic, and the bridge is suspended at a breath-taking height above the strait of Puget Sound, connecting the City of Tacoma to the Kitsap Peninsula. It really is a different experience than riding the I-90 Bridge across Lake Washington.


The guys were blown away by the stunning views of the water and sky as we biked across. 

Phonsy chose this moment to tell me he was scared of heights as he passed me in the bike lane, haha.

L to R: Phonsy, Phal, Chinh

Out of the urban and concrete jungles of Tacoma, we rode past some quiet suburban subdivisions, onto the quaint waterfront hamlet of Gig Harbor.


The view of the marina itself presented like a stunning postcard, showcasing Mt. Rainier in all its glory on a beautiful sunny day such as this. It's hard to see in the photo below, but a migratory flock of birds alighted on the water briefly, then scattered in perfect unison. 

I never understood how birds can fly in such close proximity, rapidly changing directions, but never colliding. I guess bikers can learn a few things from birds about how to migrate in an orderly fashion. After all, didn't we learn to draft from ducks flying in perfect V-formation to take advantage of drafting?

More Chinh Grin

We briefly lost our direction on the route in front of Peacock Hill in Gig Harbor. We started out climbing it, but I didn't recognize it from last year. I called out to Phal, who had to consult his Garmin. We finally found our way out of Gig Harbor 

We rode leisurely through some pastoral scenes on the peninsula, past farms, cows, apple trees, deteriorating barns, and past charming rural homes on acreage. 

Nhan texted me a few times to see where we were on the road. He and Van managed to make it back home after a 45-minute ride on the bus.

By now, we reached the elementary school in Olalla. We stopped briefly where this picture of the guys was taken. No, I'm not a creeper, and no, they weren't really taking a group piss. They just thought it would be a funny photo.

It was getting late, we still had to catch the ferry back. We were about 70 miles in, and I was starting to bonk again. I was middle of the pack before in our big group, now I was starting to fall behind. I hate being the girl who is last. 

I ate my last gel shot, kicked my ass into gear, and started sprinting. I flew past Chinh and said "howdy" to Phal as I passed him too. Now I was chasing Phonsy who held the lead for most of this second leg. 

Phonsy looked around, I'm sure, expecting to see Phal and Chinh as he has for the last 10 miles or so. The look on his face was priceless when he saw it was me on his wheel instead. I had a BIG smile on my face, and Phonsy laughed at my sheer gumption! 


We hauled ass through Olalla and Port Orchard, and finally arrived at the Southworth Ferry terminal by about 6pm. We had just missed the boat! It would be another hour or so before the next one came. This ferry also stops at Vashon Island first before heading back to Fauntleroy in West Seattle. 

This made me think of my Viet Velo friends who were riding the Passport to Pain event on Vashon Island today. It's an 80-mile ride with 10,000 ft of elevation gain. There's a reason I skipped out on that ride and did RATS instead. Both are approximately the same distance, but ours was only half the elevation gain over the same 80 miles!

As we waited for our ferry, we had a chance to reflect on our amazing ride today. Phal took off his helmet and discovered he had "hair horns". 

Phonsy told me he can't remember when he last enjoyed a bike ride so much. He and his friends usually hammer it on their training rides, so this leisurely touring ride opened up a whole new world for him. He said they never stop for food and photos the way we do. He asked me when the next one would be, because he was all in!

After we tied up our bikes on the ferry, and after we settled in on the passenger deck for the long ride back, we started to dream about the food we would order once we got back to the "mainland". We only had one meal today, so the thought of consuming pho or Chinese food consumed us!

The promise of food was the only motivator left as we climbed one last 7-10% grade hill in the dark from the ferry dock in Fauntleroy back to our cars in West Seattle. I followed the blinking red lights on Phal and Phonsy's bikes like a beacon. Chinh was right there with me, climbing that beastly hill. 

We shared the best Chinese meal of roast duck, salt & pepper spare ribs, crisp sauteed green beans, and hot white rice after the ride. It was a fitting end to another epic ride. If I can keep recruiting new riders, I will never be short of riding buddies or good memories like this!