Two weeks ago today, I was rolling through the countryside of northern Washington and into the dazzling B.C. city of Vancouver along with 1,200 other cycling aficionados. We were part of the annual phenomenon known as “RSVP” -- Ride from Seattle to Vancouver & Party.
Sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club, the event sells out in the first few hours of on-line registration each January. Last Christmas my son gave me a membership to the Club and suggested we do the ride together this year. Oh, yeah. Did I mention that it’s a 200-mile route? Covered in two days? Or that the most I’ve ever ridden a bike in one day was 80 miles, and that one-and-only experience was a few weeks ago?
On August 5th we joined a highly enthusiastic group in the University of Washington’s parking lot at 6 a.m. under a threatening, heavily overcast sky. Riding across the Start line was indescribably thrilling. In spite of some cold drizzle and a last-minute route detour that necessitated a one-mile climb smack at the beginning of the ride, the first couple hours were a piece of cake.
Then came the piece of pie.
I had heard about the great bakeries along the route, and we encountered the first batch in the picturesque little town of Snohomish, 28.7 miles from the starting gate. Now, I don’t normally go for big slabs of pie before 9 in the morning, but the bumpy, well burnished pies lined up on counters and racks at the Snohomish Pie Company were too tempting to resist. The selection was awesome – fresh rhubarb and strawberry-rhubarb, peach, blueberry, and a lot of other berries native to this part of the world. I opted for strawberry-rhubarb and was blown away by the oodles of sweet tender fruit and the flaky, crisp-edged crust. We also appreciated the comfie seating in the spacious café, and the pleasant servers who seemed unfazed by dozens of wet bikers lined up for a sugar or caffeine jolt.
There’s no Website for Snohomish Pie Co. (though they do have a Facebook page). But you can check out Yelp.com (where I found these mouth-watering photos) or SnohomishCountyBlogGirl to read more about this detour-worthy spot. You can learn more about the totally fabulous RSVP ride at Cascade.org.
By the way, I grew up hating rhubarb. During rhubarb season, my maternal grandparents, born and raised in Nova Scotia, turned out handsome homemade rhubarb pies for every Sunday dinner. Though I loved most of the veggies my Grandpa pulled from his little garden, I wouldn’t touch the rhubarb, or parsnips. Then, in 1981, my adored Nana died, and my cousin Wendy brought her own homemade strawberry-rhubarb pies to the house following the funeral service. Maybe it was out of respect to my grandmother…maybe it was being polite to my cousin….for some reason, I had a piece of that delicious pie and I’ve been a huge rhubarb fan ever since.
For the record, I still don’t like parsnips.
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