Tour de Gulch Hits Max Ridership

May 21, 2009 on 1:00 pm | In Mountain Biking | 6 Comments

Sign-up Hits 60
The 12th Annual Tour de Gulch has reached max ridership of 60, or – if you’re talking to my wife – 50. Sign-up is now closed.

If you or a friend would like to be added to the waiting list, let me know ASAP. I will notify you if we have a cancellation.

If you are on the current sign-up list and are forced to cancel, please notify me immediately so that someone else can have a shot at that spot.

Start Time
We will leave from 465 at 9:00 (I promise not to set the race clock). If you park at the top of the hill, we will probably be up there by 9:05. Plan on being out for about 3.5 hours.

Plan on arriving between 8:30 and 8:45 with a bike that is ready to roll.

Ride Groups
We will do our best to accommodate the entire range of riding abilities. Dara “Hardball” Hartman will be heading up a ride for women. I will hang with those in my advanced age group, along with anyone else who enjoys a plodding pace. Eric is going to put together a route for the DH crowd. We’ll also have one or two groups traveling at a snappy pace and a couple in between.

Let me know by emailing me or commenting at the bottom of this post if you have a preference, either in terms of pace or which people on the ride list you want to hang with. If you don’t ride much at Growlers, I definitely would like to hear what pace you prefer and if you have ride partners you want to hang with.

If I don’t hear from you, I’ll toss you in with Lance. He’ll see if you can maintain a heart rate of 180 for three hours. Don’t worry – he’s a doctor.

Parking
Please try to carpool. If the weather is decent and the ground is dry, there is some parking along the side of my driveway. Parking is also available at the corner where the spur road goes right and at the top of the hill.

Food and Beverages
With 60 people – plus a few spouses – planning to attend, we will need assistance with food. Salads, desserts and casseroles all welcome.

Fort George Brewery, which is sponsoring this year’s event, will be sending 15 gallons of brew with Al Hansen, including the always great Vortex IPA and perhaps the Cavatica Stout. If you require bottled water, Buckhorn, etc., that is a Bring Your Own Beverage situation.

Donation
$5 donation requested from all attendees. Payment entitles you to Fort George beer and multiple opportunities to win raffle prizes from both Fort George Brewery and Boone Dog Bikes.

Dave has once again won election to the prestigious position of Porta Potty Chairman. He has guaranteed a clean, comfortable unit. Decoration theme still being discussed at this time.

Tour de Gulch History
If you’re a newbie, you need to quickly familiarize yourself with  TDG history. It’s possible that a TDG board member may put you on the spot with a trick question when you arrive. Failure to answer correctly means automatic entry in the Ride ‘em All, with the requirement that you either finish or die trying.

To help you get ready, I will lob you a couple of softballs:

1. Who earned the moniker “Egg McMuffin” at the 2005 Tour and how did he get this title?
2. Who are the only two people to ride in every Tour de Gulch?
3. Two riders showed up for the 2007 TDG but did not participate. Why?

Answers at the bottom of this post.

TDG history tutorial  at http://writeteknorthwest.com/archives/11/tour-de-gulch

2009 Riders

• Cage Aaron
• Aaron Althauser
• Jack Berry
• Bongo
• Rob Boursaw
• Chris Brannen
• Lance Brigman
• Matt Bruce
• Adam Bryan
• Brad Burger
• Paul Butcher
• Erik Carlson
• Casey Cox
• Hayley Cox
• Andy Crump
• Mark Crump
• Andrea DeRuyter
• Jerry DeRuyter
• Greg Dimick
• Todd Edwards
• Marcus Farber
• Steve George
• Al Hansen
• Nick Hansen
• Ryan Hicks
• Jade Holsan
• Chase Jamieson
• Darrell Jamieson
• Drew Jamieson
• Silent Bob Juntenen
• Cody Krippner
• Laurie Larsen
• Rob Larsen
• D. LeMonds
• J. LeMonds
• Jeff Lipton
• Denise Livingston
• Eric Loney
• Sam Loney
• Brian Mahon
• Susan Martin
• Vaughn Martin
• Carol Mathre
• Ryan McMaster
• Jason Moon
• Ksenia Mueller
• Thomas Mueller
• Dara Muldoon
• Jeff Muldoon
• Dave Norbury
• Averie Norris
• Melanie Norris
• Paul Norris
• Ken Pearson
• Geo Smith
• Lloyd Smith
• Randy Toney
• Seattle Fred
• Ed Strong
• Jim Swanson
• Mike Van Hoose
• Dennis Veatch

Waiting List

• Paul Prouxl
• Rick Xavier
• Amy Swick
• Brian Swick
• Ed Jones
• Jeff Lebo
• Randy Goode

Answers:

1. Andy “Egg McMuffin” Crump ate breakfast at McD’s before the ride but ended up hurling on Mr. T, prompting his brother to say, “You should ask for your money back, Andy. You didn’t have that Egg McMuffin long enough to have to pay for it.”
2. Jeff Lipton and Jeep
3. It was raining. They said, “We don’t like riding with wet saddles,” loaded up their bikes, and went home. They were immediately removed from the email list and declared persona non grata (look it up) at Growlers.