Riding in the Capitol SHIT

Its December. Almost winter solstice. Wind. Rain. DARK. All the fucking time. Oh, and its cold to boot. All that adds up to make it hard to work up the motivation to ride.

Earlier this month we really challenged all those seasonal obstacles at the Evergreen Grinder 2018. With the 100 mile course a little on the masochistic side for me, we rode the 60 mile option, essentially circumnavigating the Capitol State Forest, west of Olympia. There is some saying about the importance of the first step in a long journey. In the five thirty am dark, without any coffee in my system, that first pedal stroke seemed insurmountable. The group depart left a few minutes to six, but a few of us delayed long enough for the coffee mermaid (sorry Stick) to open up and provide some motivation.

We finally rolled out for the day, all our needs loaded tightly, with lights blazing the way. After a short bit of pavement to get out of town, we suddenly found ourselves struggling up steep-ass gravel. IN THE DARK. IN A SLIGHT DRIZZLE. IN THE COLD. We knew it would happen like this from the map elevations and the ride organizer’s warnings, but that didn’t make it any easier to handle. What to do though? We signed up for this so on we rode.

The light came, slowly, and through the mist, first silhouetting the trees. Soon enough we could see the quintisenntial green hills with clouds solidly obscuring their higher slopes and drifting through the valley. With the light our spirits rose some, one less obstacle. It still wasn’t warm, at least when we weren’t climbing steeply, but we signed up for this so on we rode.

There were ups, and downs, and more ups. The fact that the downs went by so quickly compared to the climbs up, made the ride feel mostly uphill. By the middle point of the ride, a proper stop was needed.

Out of our packs came loads of snacks and drinks. A loaf of homemade apple cake with cheese to top, nuts, fruit, meat, and more, all washed down with delicious hot toddies. This might seem over the top to carry all this on a long, steep ride, but that is mostly how we roll. I mean, why go without good food and drink? And its the best way to make friends. This biking thing is really about friends anyway, so when some other riders who were about our pace came along, we forced some treats on them. They brought out the chocolate. Perfect! Once we started riding again, there wasn’t any real reason not to all ride together then. We all signed up for this, so lets make it fun.

Occassionally stopping to wait for everyone to gather back up left lots of opportunity to chat and laugh and commiserate about the seemingly endless uphills. Eventually, there were some amazing downhills to cruise. And the rain had stopped. The temperature had warmed up a bit. After some great vistas of the Chehalis River valley a little earlier, the showstopper view really came part way down the longest downhill late in the ride as Mt. Ranier came out for a bit of sun. Leaving that view behind, we flew downhill, smiles filling with grit and mud. The route eventually turned off the cobbly, high use roads most of the day had traversed, and quietly sidehilled on a bed of maple leaves. Now THIS is what I wanted when I signed up for this. Capitol FUN.

We crowned the ride off with a short bit of fun trail that dropped us back on the pavement for the tired finish back in to Olympia proper. Bye for now Capitol State Forest. The grocery store parking lot became our impromptu celebration site, with cold ciders and leftover snacks. Plans were laid for the post-ride pizza and beer refuel at a local favorite spot. Soon all the uphills and wet and darkness and tiredness shit were forgotten. I’ll probably sign up for this again next year.