What do Bagels, Logging Roads, and 8,000 feet of elevation have in Common? Port Townsend’s Hardest (and Most Secret) Bike Race
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Garrett Mercator, from Hood River, Oregon, is this year’s Townsend to Townsend Winner. Photo by Nhatt Nichols [/caption]
News by Nhatt Nichols
The smell of coffee and freshly baked goods drifted out of Bob’s Bagels at 6 AM on Saturday, Aug 9, but the small group of cyclists that were gathered outside weren’t just there for the food. Every August for the past 13 years, Bob Larsen, affectionately known as Bagel Bob, has thrown an unsanctioned bike “race” of such epic proportions that it makes the R2AK look like just another boat race.
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Bagel Bob gets ready to start the Townsend to Townsend off. Photo by Nhatt Nichols [/caption]
The Townsend to Townsend (T2T) takes bike riders from Port Townsend to Mount Townsend via Jefferson County’s dirt roads and trails, then once they get to the trailhead, racers abandon their bikes to hike to the top.
And if that isn’t hard enough, everyone then hikes back down the hill and rides to the Pourhouse back in Port Townsend with the hopes of getting a pint in before last call. Riders can expect to ride roughly 100 miles, most of them off-road, and climb over 8,000 feet in elevation.
Though the race itself is bonkers, it is entirely unsurprising that it came out of Larsen’s mind, a man known for delivering his sourdough bagels all over the county by bike. Creating an event like this aligns with the way he conducts all his business; the hard way, but also the way that brings the most amount of fun. Starting the T2T was a natural extension for Larson.
“It started in 2006 when I realized I could ride from here to the Mount Townsend Trailhead on 27 and back in a day,” Larsen explained. He spent a few years trying it as a ski run before a friend encouraged him to skip the skiing and have it be just a ride and a hike. In 2013, the T2T was officially born.
Larsen sets the route each year using his encyclopedic knowledge of the logging roads of Jefferson County. Racers aren’t following the route with a GPS app; in fact, they’re encouraged to turn GPS off, at least in areas sensitive to potential tourist traffic.
Instead, Larsen draws the route with a highlighter pen on a photocopied county map, leaving a batch under a rock at 5 PM the day before the T2T. He also hands them out on the day as each rider comes in to grab a bagel, a coffee, or a pump. In most years, the maps are slightly superfluous; most folk enjoy suffering together and riding with Larsen, who is filled with an infectious mirth.
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The infamous T2T Saddle has space for one last set of initials, which will be filled with this year’s winner. Photo by Nhatt Nichols [/caption]
Spirits are high outside of the bakery as a combination of returning riders and first-timers chat, pack snacks and stretch. Garrett Mercator, from Hood River, Oregon, is riding this for the first time. “I'm really excited. I've heard legends, and may or may not get up all the way, but we're gonna have a good time,” Mercator said.
Aaron Steege-Jackson, a friend of Mercator’s from Poulsbo, was last year’s winner, though that term doesn’t always refer to the fastest rider. Steege-Jackson explained that the best way to prepare for an event like this is to spend a lot of time riding and to focus on your mindset. “It's more about being comfortable with the uncomfortable,” Steege Jackson said, “it's gonna be hard.”
This year definitely brought the discomfort; in the end, only five of the 12 riders who started made it back to Port Townsend without dropping out. This year was the first year they made it back to the Pourhouse before last call, not counting the year Bagel Bob broke his collarbone and the race ended early.
With all of the riders who finished sticking together, there was no clear “fastest” rider to award the coveted Townsend to Townsend saddle to. Over pizza and beer, the five who finished put it to a vote and chose Mercator as this year’s winner, since he had stopped to help someone who had needed it on the route. Mercator’s initials will be carved into the saddle, joining the initials of the other 13 riders who have won the T2T.
Feel like getting in the saddle and giving it your best? Though this race is unadvertised, Larsen is happy to encourage cyclists who want to have an uncomfortable day out to join him for the T2T next year. Just pop your head into his Washington Street bakery sometime when the door is open and say hi. The rewards are minimal, but as Port Townsend rider Gene Kraft said, “It makes a lot of other things you do seem easier,” and there is definitely something to be said for that.
