Summer Roars In
Posted by Ryan Rickerts
It’s currently at least 70 degrees in Bellingham. Just a few days ago I said I was boycotting 50 degree weather because it had been so cold for so long. Now we are headed to Wenatchee where the forecast calls for 94 tomorrow! Can we survive it?
If you live in the Northwest (and most of our fan club does), I don’t need to tell you Winter took its bitter-sweet time going away this year. I’ve done about a dozen bike races so far this year, and I’ve yet to race without knee warmers on. I don’t even have the slightest hint of a biker’s tan line. That’s pretty sad.
But that’s all changing starting tomorrow! The racing will be hot, but I guess you have to be careful what you ask for. You can bet we’ll be poolside whenever I’m not racing. The crit downtown will be 7:30 at night, so maybe it will cool off a bit. My mom is coming over just to watch that event. The road race on Sunday promises to be pretty sapping, with unseasonable temps and a giant climb. Susie hasn’t attended many of my races this year, so I don’t have many pictures to post just yet. Perhaps after this weekend there will be a new gallery to show off.
In the meantime, enjoy the shot below, courtesy of Amara Boursaw. It was one of my few moments of glory in the Tour of Walla Walla back in April. That weekend was my only sunny race so far, but still almost cold enough to snow. Here you can see me attacking the group in the criterium, with race leader Brian Williams (and the crit winner, and a WWU Cycling alumni, and our motel roommate) keeping a close eye from behind (in the top right corner). It was a good race for me, finishing 29th overall, but I didn’t do anything special other than race hard, stay with the group, stay upright, and enjoy the sun.
See you under the sun – finally!
