Ellensburg Cycling: Another successful Manastash Metric

The drier ride is how it's advertised. No rain in the past 15 years of the ride, except for the year that there was no ride due to a lack of sponsorship. Even in the 1980's when the Manastash Metric Century was first started it was advertised as one where western Washington cyclists could escape the October rains for a nice day of fall riding. I think I was hit by 15 raindrops on this years ride in the Cle Elum area so the "drier ride" reputation should not be considered sullied.

In contrast to the 2010 ride there was no fog or mist at the start. Temperatures were in the high 40 degree F range to maybe low 50's. Overcast skies with thick gray clouds were in the sky with the most threatening ones west toward Cle Elum but most riders were probably not too worried.

I had been looking forward to the 2011 Manastash Metric since I missed the hill climb race I normally do in June and had only done th 24 hour mountain bike race in Spokane in May. The summer was short with a boy playing baseball through the middle of July. I just didn't feel ready for the ride until the week before when I was able to get in a 73 mile ride to the top of Blewett Pass. Finally, the conditioning seemed to be coming around.

As I wrote back in August the Internet has shrunk this world we're in. If you've read this blog much you know I'm interested in classic and vintage bikes - primarily road bikes of the 1970's and 1980's. There's a rich history in the old steel bikes of those days from their design, simplicity in components and durability. They are fascinating and fun to work on and ride.

I participate in the Classic and Vintage (C&V) forum on Bikeforums.net on a daily basis. Most of the users are cordial and helpful in offering advice, locating hard to find parts, identifying bike makes and models, etc. It's a fairly close knit and friendly community. The funny thing is how an like posting on an Internet forum can start moving toward the realm of friendship. In June, I was able to meet up with two other members of the forum that I had corresponded with for a couple of years and we did a 35-40 mile ride. We have stayed in touch always hoping to do more rides. Fortunately, for me one of those guys was able to make it to Ellensburg this past weekend for his first ride in the Manastash Metric. I had ridden it alone the past couple of years and was looking forward to having someone with common interests to socialize with while we rode. We first met in person this past February at the Cascade Bicycle Club swap meet in Seattle and then for the ride in June.

Thanks to having a scheduled "appointment" with the CWU football game that afternoon and taking four boys to the game we decided to load up my "bus" with the bikes and try for an earlier start. That didn't necessarily work as we still hit the road sometime after 8:00am. I have to say the one advantage to the ride having an early start time is cylists could get the choice parking spots at West Ellensburg park before the soccer parents arrived for the full slate of Saturday games.

Not knowing what the weather would be like throughout the ride and after much debating I decided to go with a polypropylene base layer under the jersey and leg warmers for the knees. Jeff figured he'd warm up quickly and went with a jersey and knicker style cycling shorts. It was a little brisk at the start but not nearly as bad as the year before. 10 miles in we stopped at the Thorp Mill rest stop so Jeff could adjust his shoes and I decided to shed the base layer. This is when I realized the extra water bottle was a stupid idea since it took up one pocket and the base layer shirt filled up another one. The fig newtons we had to eat were quickly crumbling under the pressure of all the junk in my pockets.

About three miles into the ride we were welcomed by the abrupt arrival of the Ellensburg 15-20 mph wind from the northwest. Frankly, riding in it is great for training on shorter rides but sucks when you have 30 miles or so to ride in it. We fought it up the hills and down being especially shocked when we could only muster 18 mph on some of the smaller downhills into the winds. And, that was while pedaling. We finally arrived in Cle Elum, a little over two hours after we had started the ride, glad to be out of the wind briefly and able to catch a quick snack. A quick photo opportunity with about ten other riders and a brief conversation with a reporter and we were on our way.

Suddenly we found ourselves travelling 23-25 mph on the flat streets through town with very little effort. That is the one major benefit of the normal Kittitas County wind - the ride back from Cle Elum is fast and fun. Highway 10 is gorgeous this time of year even with the few drivers that, for some reason, are can't figure out how to drive around cyclists. That one side mirror that missed us by a foot or two was just too close for comfort. A quick hamburger at the finish at it was off to the game.

I have to say it was another great job by the RSVP group and thankfully CWU won the football game so it was a awesome day!

Nothing is complete without a picture of the bus that transported our bikes

The parking lot was quickly filling with cyclists by 7:45am

Our two vintage bikes - my 1984 Gitane Sprint (yellow bar tape) and Jeff's 1971 (or so) Swiss Mondia Special. The Mondia has been restored beginning with a repaint at Elliot Bay Cycles in Seattle and then outfitted with full Campagnolo drivetrain that is period correct. Jeff has added some detailing of the lugs and components that makes the bike a stunning example of history.

We spotted this bike before we even started. An early 1980's Team Fuji with the original owner who actually raced it back in the day. He had kept it mostly original and had no intentions of getting rid of it. The black anodized Ukai wheels were a nice touch.

Arriving in Cle Elum we were met by this excellent 1974 Raleigh International, owned by another Ellensburg resident since 1984. He's the second owner. Again full Campagnolo drivetrain with Suntour Superbe non-aero levers and rare Super Champion 700c clincher wheels.