The 11.05.09 hustle was the first hustle I had attended. I heard about the hustles through Elisabeth and it sounded like a blast, but after a summer of feeling particularly shy and slightly socially awkward, the idea of competing with a bunch of strangers sounded a little intimidating. I also generally go through life in the mind-set of "Why Rush? I ain't out to win any races..." which does NOT make me an ideal candidate in an actual RACE. But I always love me an adventure so after a shot of gin at Lis's beforehand, I felt sufficiently calmed down.



The meeting place was at Re-Cycled Bike Shop.



There were around twenty of us and we were each given spoke cards and were told that the race would actually start in Antelope Park. After leaving our bikes on the ground and waiting behind a tree, we were told our goal was to collect the colored, sticky dots at each checkpoint. We had no idea where, nor how many checkpoints there were total. Each destination would be revealed upon collection of said sticky dot at the previous checkpoint.




Checkpoint 1: Pedestrian bridge in Haymarket Park.
2: Archways in Wilderness Park
3: Tierra Skatepark off of Highway 2 and 27th street
4: Ramos Pizza on 48th and Normal

I ended up going up the opposite side of the pedestrian bridge as the colored dots in Haymarket park and not wanting to lose too much time I was forced to lift my heavy bike and climb over the middle barrier with some help from Tim and some other sportsmanly riders (thanks guys!). I also got stuck with a handful of others waiting for a train on the way to Wilderness Park, so I did not exactly choose the best route. I was one of the last to make it to Ramos on Bulen (my slow, yet trusty and reliable Kona Smoke. We've been through a lot together), but I had a great time on the ride and a lot of fun getting to know a few riders a little bit better. Thanks to Patrick for the invite and to Tyler for organization of the hustle!

-Kimberly