RTCC 2010 Wrap-up

A few post-ride pics from the Children's museum in Seattle - so fun!!

Despite ominous weather forecasts, when my alarm rang at 5am on Saturday morning the skies were mostly blue as we sailed out to Guildford Mall in Surrey in record time (save for the RTCC traffic jam on 156th St). After a short opening ceremony the gun sounded and we were off - an amazing 2252 riders! As a team we had decided to start and end the ride together so we were pretty much the last ones to leave the mall, but it was quite the sight to see the "sea of pink" roll out and it was nice to feel like a rock star for a day or two with all the positive attention. Thanks to the Surrey RCMP we had rolling road closures all the way to the border and thanks to some excellent planning (and a NEXUS card), Tanis and I managed to make it through the border in a about 10 mins flat. Tan and I had also promised eachother to ride together the entire way (almost!), which meant a leisurely pace to save poor Tan's knee, but was great for me as well to absorb some of my surroundings and just enjoy being out on such a gorgeous day. As I mentioned in an earlier email, I have travelled the I-5 hundreds of times but never really stopped to appreciate or explore the small towns that dot the highway. Who knew Blaine has such a cute waterfront and main street. And who knew that Bellingham had such a historic town centre? 80% of the route was also pretty much flat, or as close to flat as you can get which was amazing planning by the ride organizers. We had one long climb in Bellingham headed to lunch, but the thought of a break from the saddle and some good grub (and a few extra strength advil) was enough to help me push through. I have to give major props to the entire ride committee and the volunteer crew for putting on such an well run event. Every pit stop was well manned, with food/drinks/bike mechanics/medical/honeybuckets and the ever cheery "cheering squad" - there was not one moment that I felt unsafe or insecure while on the road which was amazing. Camp was in Mount Vernon and was also a great experience, especially rehydrating with free vino blanco from Barefoot Wines!! Tanis and I chose not to rough it (thank GOD!) but soon discovered the drawback was that the 2 taxi-cabs that service the Mt Vernon area were runing on overdrive and we had to wait and wait and wait and wait.....ah, but the soft beds were sooooo worth it in the end! Day 2 started out a tad soggy and cool, and progressively became more soggy as the day wore on. This made for a very short and chilly lunch stop, and one blessedly looonnnggg stop at a coffee shop by a large percentage of Team Finn to warm up and get set for the final few legs of the journey. One of the best things about soggy day two though was the last half of the route. Basically we entered a long paved trail system (ala Seymour Demo Forest) which must have been an old train line at some point as it stretched through beautiful woods for over 40ish K or so, give or take. Last pit stop was a mere 14K from the finish at Marymoor Park in Snohomish county and most of TF gathered so we could journey the final leg together, led of course by our fearless leader Pat Sullivan. It was quite a sight to see a long sea of pink stretched out for half a kilometer as we wound through the narrow trails surrounding the park, and then, finally the finish. A few tears were shed, and my beautiful family was there to greet me (except Griffin didn't recognize me avec helmet/glasses and really bad hair). We spent the night in Lynnwood with a bunch of fellow Finnsters and their families and had a chance to kick back, have a few beers and a great # of calories and talk about the hilite reel from the weekend together. Can't wait for 2011!!

This is what I know from RTCC 2010:
- That 2252 riders all rode 250+ K over 2 days through sun/wind/rain and collectively raised over 9.2 million dollars
- That the 125 amazing riders on Team Finn raised over 514K and counting
- That when times got tough (in the cold and rain on day 2 with everything hurting) I just had to think of the courage and strength of one amazing little boy named Finn Sullivan who in the week before he passed away even in so much pain from tumours all throughout his little body, and an epidural to numb his body from the waist down still had the strength and determination to get up and walk the steps he so desperately wanted to walk.
- That thanks to your generosity, all the money raised goes directly to the BC Cancer Foundation and will provide the funds for important research projects, clinical trials and medical equipment such as a new PET scan
- That this money and this equipment will save lives
- That I really, really, really dislike wearing spandex
- That no matter how many miles of training rides you log, nothing will prepare your butt for 250+K of pain
- That all those little towns you drive thru at 100K on the I5 actually have charming little main streets and city centers, take the time to slow down and see them sometime
- That the volunteers, crew, police and RTCC staff were absolutely AMAZING - we were well fed, well looked after and I never worried for one second
- That extra strength advil really, really, really is a wonder drug!
- That I am a lot stronger than I give myself credit for
- That I will run, jump, bounce, sing, dance, love and ride again in 2011