Because of the crowds I’m not a frequent participant in event rides, but the awesome Autumn weather motivated me to wander into the fray with some High Performance Cycling teammates. Cascade Bicycle Club‘s annual season-ending event is the Kitsap Color Classic (KCC), comprised of three loops at the north end of the Kitsap peninsula. The loops range in length from 14 to 36 miles in a cloverleaf configuration, and can be combined to form rides of up to 64+ miles:
We rode all three loops and maybe even some bonus miles since we all ended up with about 68 miles total.
Our group was at the front of the pack when everyone rolled off the ferry in Kingston. As we started to pedal it dawned on me that I didn’t know where I was going, and didn’t have a route map. I glanced back and saw hundreds of riders behind me. For a few blocks I desperately looked for dan henrys and tried to act like I knew what I was doing. Fortunately a teammate with a map rolled up alongside and after a short rolling conference we were pacelining northbound on the 25-mile Hansville loop. This loop was uneventful until about mile 18 where we encountered a tricky left hand turn followed by what we thought was the hardest climb of the day.
After a snack and some socializing at the food stop, we pedaled the 14-mile Indianola loop, which was billed as being very hilly and having narrow roads. The routefinding on this loop was a bit tricky as there were multiple dan henrys going in opposite directions, and our map didn’t have enough resolution to help us. We eventually made our way to the metropolis of Indianola. The exit out of Indianola required climbing a steep pitch followed by some wonderful rolling country terrain.
We finished our ride with the 36-mile Poulsbo/Port Gamble loop which was my favorite loop of the day. It was early afternoon by now and the temperature was perfect, and the terrain was mostly rolling on country roads. We found the best Fall colors of the ride in Port Gamble, and the food stop at the park in Poulsbo was so pleasant it was hard to leave. The only bit of a bummer on the final loop was that as we got closer to Kingston the crowds picked up as riders made their way back to the ferry.
Back in rainy mid-July who could have predicted that we’d be having such an amazing Autumn? I hope you are taking advantage of the extended weather window and riding your bike!
Kitsap Color Classic 2012 from David Longdon on Vimeo.
