It should be noted that 25 out of the 30 total pictures I took of this ride are in the first 50 miles of this 374 mile ride. I went into the ride with two goals; Finish the ride and take lots of pictures. At a certain point, I lost the will to do either one of those things.

Our journey started in Auburn with promises of a pancake flat route and tailwinds both directions. We’ve been in SIR long enough to know that neither would be true, but it was still promising to hear that we might have an easier 600K than “normal”.

The paceline head out at a brisk pace and I felt pretty loose. I knew I wasn’t the strongest I’ve ever been once we hit a couple of early hills near Military Road… so much for the flat ride. The bunch split up very early and stayed that way throughout the weekend. I hung with Chris for a while through some beautiful roads in Tacoma that pushed us up and over Ruston and across the newly expanded Tacoma Narrows bridges. It was quite a pleasant ride across.

I lost Chris at some point between Tacoma and our 2nd control at Waterman Point (mile 52). He managed to find a nice double paceline with Dan Boxer that I hear they held for most of the day.

I rode with Matt for a while and we eventually caught up with a group including the always entertaining Andy Speier and Joe Platzner. They both can hold a conversation for longer than any bike ride will ever take. Andy can whistle like a radio and it seems to turn on while descending. It is always pleasant to ride with them.

We rode along the water front on the South end of the Hood Canal and generally enjoyed the beautiful scenery and pleasant weather. My legs weren’t quite there though. I never felt like I could pace with anyone all day. It was frustrating because I think I finally got my nutrition right, but it didn’t seem to matter.

The course took us on some of the roads that Joe, Matt and I did a few month back on our Fleche ride. I was starting to really hate the ride at that point though. I lost pace with Andy and Joe’s group. Matt was nice enough to hang back with me, but I couldn’t even keep up with up on the small inclines.

We were maybe a hundred miles in to the ride and I actually considered the strength it might take to get me back to my car. There were headwinds all the way to the coast that weren’t helping my outlook any. Hell, if I turned around, I would probably be able to ride even faster! I seriously considered whether or not I was actually cut out for this type of ride. It put everything in to perspective, including PBP and the 1000K I wanted to take on this year. The fact that I was 1 for 2 in the 600K department helped push me along. I’ve said over and over that it is a mental game.

The funny thing is, at just about every control people were asking about how I was feeling. I gave them a general “so-so” response and they would usually follow it up with questions about my stomach issues. I appreciate that people actually read this BS. Thankfully, I never had a single stomach issue on this ride.

Another rider in a white sleeveless jersey caught up with us and traded some pulls in to Cosmopolis. I am terrible with names, so I apologize if you are reading this! He was quite nice and let me sit on his wheel for probably longer than I deserved to.

We caught up again with Andy and Joe’s group at the Cosmopolis control. They were in good spirits and I wanted to try and latch back on to their group. We ate some mystery foods and tried to get back on the road. I felt bad for leaving the rider that had come in with us, but I really wanted to keep pedaling.

The route had us ride along Grays Harbor to the Pacific Ocean (a first for me) and a town called Westport. It was probably the most redneck coastal community I’ve ever been to. They had a Subway inside of the mini mart and the guy at the register looked very angry that we were giving him our money. There was a junkie trying to chat everyone up while buying some beer. He seemed pretty excited on life, for the moment. Still, the control filled my calorie and water requirements.

We rode the coast south for a while, happy to be rid of the headwinds. Joe seemed to get great pleasure from the city sign that read “Tokeland”. We rode along an amazing water side road that had a beach as the sun was starting to set. I finally pulled my phone back out to snap a couple of crappy pictures. This was the start of my turn around. It was damn beautiful and I was happy to be there for the moment. I still wasn’t strong physically, but I wanted to win the mental game.

After a number of pretty flat miles, there was finally some climbing near Pe Ell. It felt pretty good to use a different muscle group to slog up a few hills. I got dropped a number of times, but they wouldn’t let me go. Andy mentioned the next day that they wouldn’t have let me ride alone at night. It was very much appreciated.

Near Rainbow Falls State Park, Paul Johnson (Dr. Codfish) had a control set up with all the goods including coffee, Cup O’ Noodles, sandwiches, chips, etc. We thankfully didn’t sit too long. It was a little too comfortable with the space heaters at our feet. I grabbed a couple of cookies for the road and stuffed them and the rest of my sandwich into my jersey pockets.

We picked up Ian Shopland for the final section in to the overnight control. He was good company and joked (sort of) about how close he was to his home in Olympia by that point. The final miles were mercifully quick somehow. We rolled in to Centralia around 2am.

The overnight control was a major operation. It was run by Peter Beeson, Vincent Muoneke and others (again… terrible with the names). They had salmon, chili with rice and/or noodles, breakfast burritos cooking and pretty much any drink you could want (including beer). Peter Beeson was nice enough to take an Ensure order for me so I could stock up in the morning. I ate what I could, but I really just wanted to get some sleep. We asked for a 6am wake up call.

I was out like a rock, but Joe had a tougher time sleeping. My eyes cracked open and saw Andy up and getting dressed. He said it was 20 until six so I figured it wasn’t a big rush. I closed my eyes for a couple of minutes and then checked again. Ian was up and getting ready. Joe and Andy were both gone from the room. I was pretty confused so I just got up and gathered my things. Joe had left half an hour earlier and Andy was out getting some breakfast. We managed to leave a little before 6:30 that morning. There were promises of climbing ahead.

Day two had almost all of the 10,000 total feet of climbing in it. Somehow I managed to regain the strength in my legs though. I felt really great and was pushing the hills well. I split off from the morning group that I left with pretty much at the first major hill out of Centralia. I didn’t see most of them until the end of the ride.

There were tons of ups and downs (mostly up) for the next 50 miles topping out at around 1,800 feet. That isn’t a massive elevation, but it really made you work for it. There were plenty of times where it would dip back in to a valley and you would lose your gains. I had a rider in front of me dangling a carrot for me to reach. I was slowly catching up to him, but was in no hurry to push myself. I stopped for a photo op on a great uphill switchback that looked down on some trees. Unfortunately, my phone was all foggy from my back sweat, so they didn’t come out quite right.

I finally caught the rider ahead of me right before Morton. I was buying a morning snack and he was already back out on the road. I saw him a few more times that day, but he kept his stops very short.

Going up Highway 7, I had to go to the bathroom pretty bad. There was a tight shoulder and open roads. If I were to go, it would be pretty obvious what I was doing and there was a decent amount of traffic. I finally saw a little forest road shoulder and started to pull off. Amazingly, both Matt and Joe were there taking a little break.

Joe and I rolled out together but Matt took another minute and said he would catch up. The cue sheet confused Joe and I several miles later into Elbe. We started to go the wrong direction but saw Matt sweep in behind us going the other way. We pushed and caught up to him riding in to Eatonville as a trio.

A Subway sandwich was thoroughly enjoyed at this point, with only 50 miles left to go. It wasn’t an official control, but we all wanted the rest and calories by then. Subway is apparently a very popular lunch destination in Eatonville, because the place exploded with customers while we were eating.

The journey north took us along Lake Kapowsin and through southern Orting. Large trucks and angry drivers were in full swing. We had a number of drivers swing around us on blind corners, a few almost hitting opposing traffic. It would have been comical if it weren’t so dangerous.

We spent a few minute in Enumclaw making sure we were prepared for the final 20 or so miles in to the finish. It was a pretty amazing feeling to be so close to a ride that looked so uncertain at points.

Joe, Matt and I stuck together until the finish. We even started a little paceline pushing 18-20 through Green Valley Road. I was pretty amazed that I felt so good. It wasn’t until Joe asked if we could slow it down a bit that the pain hit my legs. It is funny what you can block out sometimes.

The final stop in Auburn was welcomed with high fives, pizza and soda. I can’t ask for much more than that. The finish of a ride truly puts everything in to perspective. You suffer for that singular moment sometimes. It makes everything you just went through completely worth it.
Stats:
Miles ridden – 375ish
Total Time – 34 ½ hours
Sleeping – 3 ½ hours
Feet climbed – 10,000
Flat tires – 0
Avg. Speed (with stops) – 10.9 mph
Road kill – Lost track
Dogs chasing – 3
Touring cyclists met – 4

Check out the map here. See the results here.

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