Cascade 1200

Chapeau – a tribute to Don and the Seattle volunteers

Every ride has a theme – this one was all about volunteers. They made the heat bearable, the climbs manageable, the nights shorter, they filled our stomachs, water bottles and socks, fixed our bikes and most importantly, they made me smile THANK YOU!

Randonneurs are peregrine by nature, typically traveling to distant destinations in pursuit of happiness. On June 27th, 2008 Randonneurs and Randoneusses from 4 continents descended on Monroe, just north of Seattle, to take on a heated adventure – tackling the Cascades. Among them were four DC Randonneurs, Carol Bell, Maile Neel, Bill Olson (from NJ) and Lothar Hennighausen. Carol and Maile needed to ride the 1000k as part of their R5000 requirement (they topped it off with a 260k Permanent on day 4), while Bill (also known as Wheelsucker Willie) and Lothar were foolish enough to tackle the 1200k.

Day 1
0600, Mark Roehrig sent off 70+ riders. Over the next 90 hours I got to know the faces of the volunteers, their kind words and their help, although their names eluded me in many cases (however, I noticed that the most common name was MARK).



Eamon saved my day! Early into the ride I noticed that my right sandal had excessive lateral movement and I was unable to unclick, resulting almost in a crash. Upon closer inspection I noticed a missing screw in the right cleat. At the first control I was pointed to a fellow named EAMON for help. Eamon told me that had everything in his toolbox, except this kind of screw and he started calling bike shops on the route. Another, rather scruffy, fellow named DON overheard our conversation and came up with an altruistic solution rarely observed in the wild. He retrieved his cycling shoes from his beaten up truck and Eamon (note, he is on the phone while working – don’t try this at home) salvaged the screw for me. This was certainly not the last time I ran into Eamon and Don and benefited from their skills and generosity.