Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule this Fall, this Saturday’s Meet the Team ride with Team Native Planet was the first one I could attend. As a newcomer to Seattle, this was also my first visit to the weekly Saturday morning Leschi lycra show.
Team Native Planet is a cycling-specific offshoot of the Native Planet Outdoor Club, and is just in its second year. Current members are category 4 and 5 riders (on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is expert and 5 is beginner). While team manager Bart Hawkinson would love to have a couple cat 3’s join the team, he says that his team will appeal to riders looking for more than just racing. As evidence, the team only requires members to participate in four races each season, and there was frequent talk of team meetings at some of the team’s favorite pubs. I gather that the “apres ride” is an important component of this team’s group dynamic. As a new team, they are in the process of securing sponsors, and they recently established a relationship with Nuun hydration.
Team manager Bart Hawkinson and first-year member Chris Nelson of Team Native Planet after a miserable, soggy ride.
In contrast to many other local teams, the Native Planet cyclists are keen on applying their shared interest in competitive cycling to raise awareness about their charity, Native Planet. During a mid-ride regroup, members spent time brainstorming ways to generate funds for the charity.
Next season, they’ll host the third year of the Native Planet Classic, on June 21, 2008. The Native Planet Classic starts in Winthrop and offers three courses over Hwy 20 at 28, 61 and 127 miles. This event ride sounds like a scenic alternative to Flying Wheels, and something riders training for STP might want to consider. They will also be hosting a WSBA time trial near Winthrop: A 3+ mile hill-climb that sounds absolutely puke-inducing.
The ride:
The rain got serious just as we rolled out of Leschi. The team leaders toured us around Mercer Island on what would normally be a pleasant, benign ride, but the downpour made the excursion hazardous at times. Everyone was thoroughly soaked at the end of the Mercer lap. (I apologize for not getting a team picture when we parted ways.)
Despite being borderline hypothermic, Bart and first-year member Chris Nelson and I craved more mileage, so Chris led us southward down the east side of the lake for a Tour de Boeing and a total of ~38 miles. On the way back to Leschi I realized yet another benefit of cycling: Whiter teeth due to the watery road grit you swallow on rainy days like this.
Team Native Planet is actively recruiting new members, and is a great match for riders who are new to racing, interested in supporting the Native Planet charity, or for riders who might not feel comfortable in the ambitious aura that some of the other teams exude.
