On Saturday, Sept. 13, Vashon hosted the 15th annual Passport2Pain bicycle ride, with 360 cyclists converging on Vashon-Maury Island to ride the grueling event’s routes: the 80-mile Idiot, the 50-mile Weasel, the 30-mile Weenie and the 12-mile Tourist route.
This year’s raucous theme was Monty Python, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” — a theme that took the event’s penchant for cosplay and tomfoolery to the next level. At some of the ride’s 17 checkpoints, riders encountered dark knights, cows, coconuts, spam and killer rabbits.
The morning dawned cool and misty, with a promise of sunshine that gloriously emerged by 9 a.m. — with pleasant breezes and 65-degree temperatures ensuring ideal atmospheric conditions for the riders.
One local rider, Jeremy Su, of Burn Design Lab, completed what is presently referred to by fellow riders in hushed tones of awe as a Double Idiot, in which he rode the full 80 mile course twice in one sitting.
Passport2Pain welcomed back at least 165 returning riders, and 20 riders over 70 years old. Riders came from as far away as Maine and Los Angeles, with a small posse making the scene from Colorado.
The event finished at Jensen Point, where riders chowed down on a taco feast provided by La Isla.
The event, a fundraiser, raised over $30,00 for the junior rowing program at the Vashon Island Rowing Club, the Vashon Food Bank, Vashon Youth and Family Services and One Village/Journeymen.
Find out more about the ride in a recap from Pat Call, the chair of this year’s Passport2Pain and a regular Beachcomber contributor, at vashonbeachcomber.com/opinion/under-blue-skies-passport2pain-turns-15.
To learn more, visit passport2pain.org.
James Cottrell and Pat Call contributed reporting to this article.
P2P riders get into the spirit of the Monty Python theme. (Jim Diers Photo)
Jim Marsh in his familiar P2P role as the devil, is seen here “helping” a rider up the tortuous Burma Road. (Jim Diers Photo)
