It started off on less than 4 hours of sleep. I was antsy Friday night and talked Jane in to helping me beat on our Rock Band drums for a while. I got it out of my system, and I managed to fall asleep around 10:30. Once the alarm hit around 2:00, I knew I was in trouble. My mom was in town to support the ride, and she was able to help prepare some much needed coffee and snacks before we headed out the door.

I was just finishing off my check list (thanks Dr. Codfish) when Chris rolled up to the door and loaded his bicycle on to the back of my mom’s Nissan. We all drove out to Capitol Hill and grabbed Matt (looking as tired as the rest of us). There was a weird tension that morning from the mixture of sleeplessness, the threat of being late, and the heavy bikes not quite looking supported off the back of the trunk.

We arrived at the start in North Bend just in time to hear the opening statements and prepare our gear for the ride ahead. Nothing quite seemed real yet. The morning was still dark (as it was around 5am) and we had a monster of a climb directly in front of us.

Chris, Matt and I hopped on to Interstate 90 for our first true freeway ride experience. As far as interstates go, it was quite a beautiful one. There were wide shoulders and relatively low traffic. There was a slow and steady climb averaging around 5% or so for miles. Matt dropped us early on the climb. He packed light and looked very strong. We both knew that we wouldn’t be seeing him again.

Despite the threat of high temperatures, the arm warmers were a godsend. There was snow pack starting to show up on the ground as we neared the summit. Since the snow was finally starting to melt in areas, there were waterfalls everywhere. Each time we would pass one, the temperature would drop 10 to 20 degrees. I couldn’t shake the thought of just how unbelievable it all was. We live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country I’ve ever been to.

Chris and I made steady work of getting to the summit. It was a challenge for sure, but we have been training so hard to get this far. It felt very good.
The ride down from Snoqualmie Pass was miles and miles of downhill. I can’t begin to describe how breathtaking it all was. I hope this picture does it justice.
I felt like I was floating on air at this point. The 30 or so miles in to Cle Elum were a snap.

We stopped at the Safeway in town and got some pretty vicious stares from the colorful locals. I don’t think the tights were doing me any favors in their eyes.

Leaving the store, it was finally starting to warm up. The highway leading towards the second mountain pass of the day was pleasant. The climb started very gradual and never really strayed much beyond 4 or 5%. The sun was really starting to do its work though. Chris and I pulled over for a sunscreen break.

The summit held a much needed water refueling control. Mom and Jane were there cheering us on and snapping photos. I could tell they were having a good time.

Dan (Warner, I believe?) was also at the summit and ended up being a regular rider with us off and on for most of the day. He built his own frame for this series and had a monster bag on the front for his gear.

We grouped up with some others and pulled in to Leavenworth making amazing time. Once again, Jane and my mother were cheering us on. We grabbed a quick bite and set back out. Our planned “real food” stop was going to be in Skykomish at around 150 miles.

I had no plans at stopping along the pass, but the temperature and climbing started to get to Chris and I. I had a hard time drinking my warm water so the gas station about 18 miles away looked very good. I tanked a Gatorade and ate some more food. It was a much needed rest.A local (meth addict) pulled up along side of us resting.

“You guys from Seattle?!?”

“Well yeah, but we started in North Bend,” we replied.

“Damn.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long day.”

“Today!?! Watch out for the ’sketers. They’re as big as an eagle.”

Despite the warning, the mosquitoes weren’t quite that big. We set back on to the road with a climb ahead of us.

Stevens Pass seemed to take forever. It was easily the most difficult climb of the day on my legs.
“What is our elevation right now?” Chris asked me.
“2700 feet,” I said.
Twenty minutes later, after rolling hills… “What is our elevation right now?”
“2700 feet,” I said.

Going downhill on climbs that you know you haven’t completed is like a sick joke. You know you are going to have to make up that loss eventually. The temperature was spastic, ranging 20 degrees up and down over the space of mere yards. Once again, Jane and my mother were at the top, snapping photos and cheering us on. It was pretty awesome to have the little push. They were on a mission to drive the whole route and get some great photos along the way. It was as close to the experience as you can get without getting on a bike.
The ride down Steven’s Pass was unreal. It was 7 miles of 6% grade. We averaged 37 mph just about the whole time. The ladies passed by in the car a series of times and snapped pictures. It was one of the most beautiful areas of the ride. Chris and I had huge grins on our faces the entire way down.

The ride into Skykomish was uneventful. We were starting to hit our mid ride wall. Every large ride has a point where you question lots of things. What is the meaning of life? Wouldn’t it be nice to be home right now? Is my ass going to be permanently harmed from this ride?The food stop was exactly what we needed to get over the hump though. There was a lot of talk about how difficult the next section was from other riders. Jan Heine said before the ride that the 3 Passes were “the easy part”. Nothing quite disturbs my mind like the thought of “only 100 miles left”. I knew that we had come a long way, but I was pushing my limits at this point. Still, I had a sandwich and some pasta in my stomach to push my fighting spirit.

The weather was starting to cool down on our ride in to Sultan. This stretch of Highway 2 had a very narrow shoulder at times, and traffic going at or around 60mph. They seemed to give us plenty of room, but it wasn’t the most pleasant point on the ride. We kept a brisk pace all the way in to town to grab some more water.

Sultan on a Saturday evening is a happening place. All the kids seemed to be out in packs. The boys had their shirts off and were looking for trouble. The girls managed to score some cigarettes at the age of 13 to 14. It was just classy. We managed to get through town without anyone throwing a beer bottle at us.

At the start of a tough climb outside of town, Chris got his first and only flat of the day. I laid out in the grass for a while and he had it changed out pretty quickly. Some of the others that we left back at the gas station in Sultan caught up and we regrouped off and on through the rolling (sometimes monster) hills of Old Pipeline Road and on through Dubuque.

There was a much needed secret control around the 200 mile mark. It was one of those controls that was a little too comfortable. They had hot food, chips, sandwiches… just the works. It was tough to get back up out of the chair, but we had to move on.

Our group held together pretty well all the way up to the set control run by Mark Thomas. My mom and Jane were there with hugs and cookies. I was still feeling great, though obviously tired. We had 35 miles left. I went into my mental calculator mode and started to spit out finishing times in my head. As usual, none of them would turn out to be correct.

My old stomach issue cropped up on this last stretch. I tried to keep eating and drinking, but it wouldn’t let me get much down. I was keeping up with the group, but not by much. Dan was hanging off the back of the pack with me. He looked really tired. We all were. I was debating whether or not I should slow down for a long time. I knew I should stay with the group because I had it in my legs, but my stomach and my weak will wanted to drop the pace.

We finally got to Snoqualmie Falls and climbed that hill (my second time now) in my granny. It was slow but steady. The pack regrouped at the top and kept moving. We were so close now. Still, I kept thinking about slowing down. It was completely mental too. I know that I had it in me to keep pace.

I finally caved in and asked Chris if he would hang back with me. He was nice enough to give me some of his Gatorade and hung back with me for a bit. We were literally 8 miles away from the finish. I was kind of mad at myself actually.

Once we hit the last road, Chris took off for the finish. I don’t blame him one bit. I kept a pretty pathetic pace into the finish. The last road took a lifetime to complete. North Bend seemed like the longest town on the planet.

Jane did a banana dance for me at the finish. There was kissing and hugging and pizza waiting for me.

It seems like every ride tops the last. This one was completely epic.

Thanks to Mom, Jane, Chris, Matt and everyone that supported. My butt hurts.

I put up most of the pictures taken on my flickr account.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 10:00 am and is filed under bicycling, sir. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.