SIR Fall 2019 Dart Pop - Team Shaodach

Friend Susan noted at some point this summer that I’d better cross over my Mondial distance while the weather was still nice, if I wanted people to ride with me. She did have a point.  Looking at the calendar, I couldn’t find a good weekend to invite folks to join in, but the SIR Fall Dart Populaire was at about the right time/distance point, and there would surely be a lot of folks I had ridden with over the last 12 years at the finish.

I mentioned this to Ray.  He secured approval (and transportation) for the venture, so I set about recruiting some others to fill out our team.  Michal, of course, because we did a lot of riding together before he decided to be fast and longer distance and I got slower.  And RB, because we’ve been riding together with Ray.  Mind you, I met Ray on my Very First 200k back in 2007 (The Birkie, original route).  We rode along together for awhile, and have been riding together off and on since then.  Michal became a riding partner in early 2011, when he rode up to Cecil and me and asked to follow along, because we looked like we knew where we were going.  He encouraged me to go for the Super Randonneur, something I thought I’d not be able to accomplish.

So.  Foraged around for something to create a route from, shortest viable distance of course.  I borrowed Michal’s fleche route, trimmed off the ends, moved the finish to the event finish point, and started casting around for a start.  Found the Carnival Market, a convenience store in the Westside Hwy, sitting all by itself, and, on Susan O’s advice, moved the route to Military Rd, rather than going through Vader.  Something about Pleasant Hill Rd, Berry Rd, and loose dogs.  There was a steep climb at the start of Military Rd, but it wasn’t long.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31059576

Haunting Epic Ride Weather, the forecast finally settled on a very small chance of very light rain and a tailwind or quartering tailwind the whole way.  Doesn’t get much better than that.

Michal and Cyndi drove up the night before, RB showed up bright and early on the day, and we were loaded and on the road by 7am, arriving at the Carnival Market before 8am.  Ray and Barb pulled in right after us.  As we could not start riding until 8:30, there was a lot of standing around, kicking the tires, some spirited discussion on tubeless tires, clipless pedals vs flat pedals (me, aside to Barb: “gonna be a long 8 hr ride”), clothing rearrangements (warmer? Need the rain gear?) and such. (For the record, three riders with flat pedals, one with clipless pedals and hotfoot issues, one rider with tubeless tires and a slow leak).  Michal, who holds that there is never a wrong time for ice cream, bought and consumed an ice cream sandwich.

By Cyndi Wenks

Finally, time to go.  Starting photo taken and off we went, into the light fog and mist.  First stop was 1.5 miles along, for a bathroom break, as the Carnival Market does not allow use of their bathroom.  The Westside Hwy rolls along, and the traffic can’t said to be light.  However, just about everyone was respecting everyone’s right to a relatively unstressful use of the public right of way.  We followed the Cowlitz River for most of the way, skirting around the west side of Castle Rock, and, just after 18 miles in, started the steep climb onto Military Rd. I did walk, but it wasn’t long.  Military Rd was wonderfully wide open, the mist had cleared away, and the views were fabulous.  On my first STP I’d ridden the northern stretch from Napavine to Winlock HS in 2003, but I was really tired at that point and not properly appreciating the view.

Ray: “Do we get a trinket for this ride?”  Me: “I get a trinket!”

Eventually we ended up in Napavine, where we briefly paused at the convenience store for snacks and beverages.  Continued on north, arriving at our first info/photo control at the corner of Rush Rd and Newaukum Valley Rd.  We took a selfie, not without a lot of snarking from Ray and RB.

Newaukum Valley Rd and Rogers Rd was another super peaceful bucolic section of the route.

We then merged onto Shorey Rd, which led us onto Riverside Dr/Louisiana Rd, just south of Chehalis, which was not nearly as pleasant, to put it mildly. We were to go around the back of the airport.  I was last in line at this point, and everyone else went straight, rather than turning left.  I couldn’t even see them ahead, and certainly couldn’t chase them down.  Called Michal’s cell (and HE was riding with a GPS, go figure), left a message.  Called Ray’s cell, and surprisingly, he picked up.  He reported that Michal and RB were headed back, and he’d be right along.

After regrouping, we proceeded along the supremely peaceful and untrafficked Airport Rd, to our second info/photo control at the golf course.  By now, Michal’s tire was making him a very bad ambassador for tubeless tires; it had a slow leak and he had to keep pumping it up. Ray and I offered him tubes, but he thought he’d keep on the same path unless it got rather worse.  (see earlier note about flat vs clipless pedals and tubes vs tubeless.  Post ride note: a week later, it did seal up.)

We then had to turn left onto Airport Rd, which was very high traffic and no signal.  Michal noted a bike path on our side of Airport Rd, and “let’s take THAT.”  We did, and it was much nicer.  However, we were entering Centralia, graveyard of empires (as in, I'm not sure I've ever ridden through it without getting a bit confused), and the bike path took us up to Mellen, which was past where we wanted to turn to be on the other side of I-5.  They’ve rearranged the roads into one-way streets, so, technically, we couldn’t turn right into Centralia and get onto Ellsbury.  However, there were several handy crosswalks and a sidewalk, so we did work our way over to Ellsbury with less trouble than we might have had.  I’ll remember this for the future.  Maybe the Airport Rd routing is good in the middle of the night, but not midday on a weekend.

Misplaced RB; he eventually showed up.  By now we were headed through Centralia, and Factory Outlet Row, home of many fast food establishments.  I wouldn’t have minded pausing at the Burgerville, but it was now only 12 miles to our 6 hour control, and we all had enough food with us to get there.

Riding past the Factory Outlets was rather not fun, too many entrances and exits and junk on the road, but once past that, it wasn’t too bad.  I have a fairly high tolerance for heavier traffic, but don’t like debris on the road.

Again, falling off the back, found RB at the Great Wolf Lodge with a flat.  Michal and Ray were stopped a long block ahead; we waved them back, and had a bit of a break while RB fixed the flat.

We ended up on Case Rd, which is just not a favorite stretch of pavement for me.  Riding it in a downpour, wearing all my wool gloves and hats, in the middle of the night, staving off hypothermia, solo.... yeah.  This was the first time ever I’d ridden it with company.

However, right around mile 57.1, I did roll over 40000 cumulative RUSA km; all of us but for Ray, who was ahead, stopped for a commemorative picture.

A few miles later we were at our 6 hr control, with 15 minutes before we could depart.  Michal had tweaked the cue sheet to show time checks at each cue, and according to that, we could leave at 6:20 elapsed and, riding at minimum pace, still finish in time.  Which was good, because the Farm Boy service seemed a bit overwhelmed. Michal and I split a burger and fries.  I also had a Pepsi (the blue ambulance), and inhaled my half of the cheeseburger in about 2 minutes.  Six minutes after the control opened, we were back on the road.

There was a brief discussion on “we have to stay together now”, “together” being defined as we can see each other.  So we did stick together more than we had earlier, although we really hadn’t spread out all that much before.  There was also actual navigation required, so we definitely had to stick together because not everyone had a cue sheet visible.

The tailwind decided to make itself noticeable and useful, and we zipped along at a consistently higher pace (for me, anyway).  Once we got into Tumwater/Olympia proper, and I realized we had less than 10 miles to go, and a lot of time left, I relaxed.  We rode into downtown along the Deschutes Parkway, which was a better and more scenic entry than on Capitol Blvd/Capitol Way, and then proceeded to hit just about every red light through downtown.

One last hill (Puget St), and a bit more go to (by now, out of downtown), and there we were, at 4pm.

By Cyndi Wenks

Several teams were already there.  I promptly scored a beer and chips, and eventually started in on the food.  And visiting.  Found many people to catch up with, and met several new riders.

Victorious!

Flèche Flop

I honestly wasn't thinking much on riding a Flèche this year, but Jason K, the Montana RBA said he wanted to be on my team.  Ok then.

Team composition was a bit fluid there for awhile, but we ended up with me (ORR), Keith and Fatima (SIR), Steve (ORR), and Jason (Montana).  Wonder if we had the most rando clubs represented on one team?  Should there be an "award" for that? :-)

The past couple years, our route has been out to Astoria on the coast, then up through Naselle, South Bend, Raymond, Montesano, Elma, and McCleary to finish in Olympia.  On paper, not so difficult a route.  In reality, if it is going to be raining anywhere, it will be there, all the rain in the world is in Raymond, the terrain is constantly undulating, and the four climbs out of Raymond will totally remove your will to live. (yeah, it will take a few years more for me to forget this).

So I thought I'd borrow Susan O's Ladies Tea and Crumpet Society route, and adjust it as necessary.  Her version started in Albany, but, given that the team members were coming from the Seattle area, Montana, and Vancouver, WA, getting us all there would be problematic.  So I planned a loop from a coffee shop near my house, coming back BY my house for one of the controls, and adding a control at the Skyline Tavern, to verify that we went into North Portland that way.  And then we were on the original route, with only two more intermediate controls.  And EXACTLY 360.0km.  I always aim for the Lowball award, and have won it the past two years.

I was also on the SIR Flèche committee, reviewing many other routes.  And it was still Passover, which meant a little more advance planning on what to eat.  I don't avoid kitniyot, so it was not an unsolvable problem, but it did eliminate pop tarts and other pastries as a calorie source.

Then a last minute review of our cue sheet revealed that many turns had not been cued by the mapping app I used.  Ack!  Much line by line review and update of the cue sheet.

Oh yeah, it was going to rain, starting Friday night.  Heavily.

Keith and Fatima took the train down on Thursday from Olympia and caught the MAX out to the closest transit station, where I met them, and we coasted back down to my house.  Jason's kids were delivering him on Friday morning; we'd meet Steve at the start; he was taking the MAX from the Expo Center just over the bridge in Oregon.

(With any luck, the pre-event stress would evaporate the next morning)

We planned to start at 10am, which was a sensible hour.  Since we have to ride for 24 hours, there is no advantage to start early.  Leisurely wakeup, tasty breakfast and coffee, and a coast down to Jim and Patty's Coffee.



Steve was there, so introductions all around.  Then someone came up to me... "Lynne?  Is that you?" It was Tess from our last Errandonnee!  We immediately handed her all our cameras.



And, at 10am, off we went.  Our first control was at St Francis Church, in Roy.  We could have invaded the school office, but that might be construed as creepy.  Fitz offered to drive out and meet us there.  My schedule had us there at 11:45, so I suggested he be there by 11:30, park at the church end, and don't bring any puppies..  It was sunny and clear; the winds were light, and we got there just as he was driving up, a bit before 11:30.  I told everyone "15 minutes!", and we were signed and away.  Fitz went off to taste some wine.







Now into the headwind portion of the ride, but it really wasn't bad at all.  South to Forest Grove, then along the bike path on the north side of Hwy 47.  It got us most of the way to our Old Hwy 47 turnoff, but there are a lot of roots at the beginning.  Another control at the Lake Store; 15 minutes. I had some rice pudding along, and consumed it there, along with a V-8.



More of a headwind until we turned east on North Valley; up and down the rollers, and through Newberg onto Hwy 219.  Traffic on 219 during the week is awful.  Crossing the Willamette River... Ick.  Then we turned east again to get to Champoeg Park, our next control, which verified we were on the south side of the Willamette River (no way back over until Wilsonville).  We were up on time, and would only have a crosswind for a bit, and then a tailwind for the balance of the ride.







I was optimistic.



One troll driving a dump truck on Arndt Rd.  Then NORTH (cheers all around), over the Willamette River again, on the Boone Bridge (I-5 shoulder).  Getting over to turn left on the offramp was a bit challenging, but then we were in the relative quiet of the Wilsonville Industrial Park.  Paused at the gas station at the other end; I called to say we were 13 miles out.

The stretch on Boones Ferry through Tualatin was possibly the best I'd ever ridden it.  Not to say there weren't traffic lights and traffic, but the bit where one really wants a bike lane and it goes away was pretty good this day.

We pulled in 45 minutes ahead of the original schedule.  I was starting to think that we'd need to scrub some time in Centralia. (Hubris)

Yummy dinner all around.  We picked up our food supplies for the second part of the ride. I changed, because my jersey developed a hole in one pocket.  Pulling it off, I discovered it also had developed a big hole in the arm!  Fabric on both arms is threadbare, so I guess it will go onto a second life as a cycling cap.



Maybe we spent a little too long there - I had budgeted 45 minutes, but we used up another 15 or so.

Time for the one real climb of the route. I ride up there, I swear.  Yes, a climb but not killer.  Hah.  I never realized NW 119th was so very freaking steep.  (Of course, I ride it from home; only a couple of miles with fresh legs!) I was never so happy to see the stop sign for Skyline as I was that night.  We rollered west to the tavern.  Passing the cemetery, I told Jason this was the highest point on the ride.  So there went all our time cushion.

Keith sped our stop though there by plopping $5 on the bar and asking the bartender if she wanted to make the quickest, easiest tip ever.



Cards signed, off we went.  Time to descend NW Germantown.  This is a technical descent - steep, with sharp turns.  I cautioned everyone.  It was dusk, but not full dark.  Oh, was that rain I felt?

What with all that, I had fun.  We regrouped at the bottom, crossed the St John's Bridge (pretty!), and worked our way through St Johns and the industrial areas to get to the I-5 Bridge crossing approach.  From the south, crossing the bridge is a bit of a maze, with a lot of stupid crosswalk action.  If only we could just directly cross over Tomahawk Island Dr to the bike path...

Crossing accomplished, we were now in Vancouver, WA, and in Steve's territory.  We got to the Vancouver control at the Muchas Gracias drive through, and had our cards signed by a patron and bike racer in the line for something to drink.  Stood outside in the rain, polished off our drinks, ate a bit and pressed on.  There was an unplanned stop at a Minit Mart, so some could stock up on food items.



We had made up a bit of time, but were still behind.  Then we entered into the neverending up and down section, which none of us knew was coming.  Except maybe Steve.  Sharp little climbs, short descents, and up again.  It didn't let up.  The rain was quite well established by now.  I just couldn't get any speed up those climbs.  Slow progress.  Somewhere in LaCenter I thought to look at my tires.  The front was definitely squashy.  I pumped it up and we set off again.

There was a bit of bonus riding in Woodland, but, given all the time I had spent with the cue sheet, we didn't get too far before I allowed that this was not the correct way to go.  Another c-store pause, and off again.

We then had our 4+ miles on the I-5 shoulder leg of the route.  It was either that or climb Green Mountain.  We did have a big, wide shoulder.  So, of course, the rain increased.  I noticed that all the semis were moving over a lane before passing us.  That was so thoughtful of them!  This was the flattest part of the route from Vancouver!

Sadly, we had to exit, and return to the undulating terrain.  Through Kalama.  Another 10 miles to Kelso, our next control and 24 hr restaurant stop.  I was pretty sure Kelso was mythical and imaginary by this point.  Finally, pulled into the Shari's, contemplated my now-flat front tire, and realized I wasn't coherent enough to deal with it at that exact moment.  Went inside and sat.  And shook.  Yes indeed, had a great bonk going on.  Everyone else got something to eat.

Looking at the time (2:30am), I had realized that if everyone stayed with me, there wouldn't be enough time.  So I proposed they go on without me.  I'd catch the morning train from Kelso to Olympia.  It would be ok, really.  Jason fixed my flat.  With more forceful urging on my part "would you all get GOING please!!!", they finally left.

I finally ordered something to eat, and managed about half of it.  After some discussion and negotiation with the night manager, I brought my bike inside.  He didn't think it was secure anywhere else, but perhaps some rules were bent.  I remain very appreciative of that.

There was a dry base layer in my bag, so I pulled that on, wrapped myself in my mylar blanket, and passed the next 5 hours dozing off and on, drinking some coffee, and picking at my food.  The day manager came in, and it was still ok that I was there.  Nice folks.

Friend Cyndi, who was driving northward to meet her husband's team in Olympia texted me at 5am(!), offering a pickup, but I already had the train ticket.

At 8am, I packed up, and relocated to the train station.  It was warm in there, and they had many magazines to leaf through.  The train was supposed to be there at 9:10.  At 9:10, they announced a delay.  And another delay.  And another.  And finally:"we don't know when exactly it will get here". There had been an accident on the tracks; a freight train had killed someone :-(

On the off chance that I might get lucky, I called Cyndi.  She was in Longview, a couple miles away, having breakfast with the team, and would be right over as soon as they left.

I was so lucky.  And Cyndi was happy, because she wanted company for the rest of the drive!  We stopped for lunch in Centralia, and arrived at 1:30 or so.  I didn't see my team, or anyone else in the lobby, so checked in, and got a shower and nap.

Through Facebook, I did know that my team finished with 7 minutes to spare, with Keith keeping everyone moving along.

I went down just before 4, to find folks in the lobby, waiting for more teams to finish.  Teams finished, cards signed, and, at 5pm, I decided it was sundown somewhere, and rummaged around in Josh's cooler for a non-hopped beer.  Alaskan White.  Tasty.  Visited with Sherri L (I know your husband and son!), Cyndi and Steve (when he wasn't dozing).



Michal's team appeared before 6pm, having ridden ALL THE WAY FROM EUGENE.  They were happily toasted.  Signed cards.

Then some of us started thinking about dinner.  My team and Joe L's team joined forces and invaded a pizza restaurant.  The usual jokes about everyone ordering one column of the menu were made, but seriously, everyone except for Steve and me ordered and consumed an ENTIRE PIZZA.  We split one, and that was plenty.  I also enjoyed a hard cider. Our pizza was really late arriving.  It finally arrived, and we got it comped, because it was forgotten.

Back to the hotel, teasing Jason about crossing a street without waiting for the pedestrian cross signal, because he is from Montana, and they don't have traffic lights there.

At which point, we all just went up to our rooms and crashed.

Wandered down the next morning for the hotel's continental breakfast, which mutated into many tables shoved together with many riders visiting.

Then the banquet, which, as always is lots of fun.  There were more than a few teams which abandoned in the cold and wet :-(  There were also many more teams which persevered through challenging conditions (snow, mountain passes, cold, wet, headwinds, cancelled ferries, OMG reroute!) and finished.

Best quote: ""do you want to do a ride long enough that you will briefly wish you'd never been born? YES!" from the Cutters.



Lowball (shortest legal distance) was again achieved.

I came away with a short sleeved SIR wool jersey, after a couple years of jersey supplier fail.

And, silly me, I have already drafted up a route which is also 360km exactly, and 2300 fewer vertical feet, avoiding much of the undulating stretch.  I am sure it needs more work, but it is a good start.

Failure analysis: I didn't eat enough.  What with the terrain, I didn't feel confident in removing a hand from the handlebars to even drink.  And the tire should have been changed the first time it went squashy.

Jason's writeup
All my pictures

SIR Watery Olympic Peninsula 600k Brevet

Fair warning: very long ride.  So's this posting

In preparation for this ride, I had a new rear wheel built (Velocity A23 rims, existing White H3 hub, new spokes), and retaped the handlebars with gel padding underneath.



The weather was going to be iffy - packed shorts, both OrRando jerseys (needed to represent!), leg warmers, Shebeest loose knickers to wear over that, booties just in case, PI Softshell Pro gloves...

This ride would ALSO be the first ride of any length with food in the bottle.  Made up a bunch of ziplocs of Carbo-Pro/EFS for both days, plus tossed in some Inari Sushi (didn't work) and Trail Putty (must get VBC's recipe.  Mine softens up.)

Planned to drive up with Bill A.  Theo joined us as well.  I had a room in Kingston with two beds, that would do.

Theo arrived about 2pm.  I marveled at his tiny drop bag.  Bill appeared shortly thereafter; we loaded up and headed north.  We went by way of Tacoma, and drove over the Narrows Bridge.  As we pulled into the hotel, we saw at LEAST one other rando bike in the motel lot.  We found Bill G, who was registering riders staying on the Kingston side.  Forms signed, cards handed over, and he decided to join us for dinner.  We walked a few blocks down and had a great dinner in a pub/restaurant.  My bike was all ready to go, as was Theo's.  Bill had a bit more organizing to do.



Up the next morning, ate Greek yogurt with berries and Cheerios, and coasted down the street to the start point.  At about 6am, the ferry arrived, and we were treated to the sight of a seemingly-endless stream of cyclists riding off the ferry.



Found Chris W, Albert M ("oh, you are going to ride with your OTHER club!"), Narayan, Peg, and Jan H.  Visiting around, and then the route rap from Kole.  Someone from the back yelled out that he should tell us that Klaylock is spelled Kalaloch :-)  Good thing.  I wouldn't have known.  I'd have to send them off to Pulashis, Texas (spelled Palacios.  Go figure.)

So, 6:15am, and off we went.  I rode along with Narayan for awhile; we caught up.  I think Peg came along somewhere in there.  Eventually we ended up in Bremerton, and I got to ride over the Manette Bridge, and then briefly onto SR-3.  It started drizzling, but not enough to make me want to pull on my jacket or booties.  That was pretty much it for the rain all weekend.





Bit of a squeeze by a minivan getting onto SR-3.  Then out Belfair Rd, eventually finding a QFC at mile 39.  Not a control, but I went in and got more water.  Albert, Bill A, and Bill G were also there.

Bill A and I rode together out WA-106, through Union and out to the Skokomish Mudflats, the first control.  Lots of nice riding right along Hood Canal.  Looked like a lot of clam diggers out there.





The control had camp chairs, tasty food (potatoes, bananas, and excellent big cookies) and... HOT COFFEE!  I hadn't had any yet, so it was very, very welcome.  Narayan: "I'm leaving... Wait, they have coffee?"  One control worker said "hi Lynne!", and he had to remind me he was Dan J.  Well, you know, he wasn't in riding gear, and had gone off and grown a beard. We are both UH Cougars, and there aren't many of us in the PNW.  :-)



Tire discussion underway; I mentioned that I had the Hutchinson 650Bs, with 3500 miles on them.  Immediate inspection of tires by some of the control workers :-)



Back off into the headwind, which was one of the major themes of the day.  More riding in the flats (this whole section from Belfair to Matlock was the "flat" bit of the ride).  Nothing remarkable about it.  Arrived at the next control (Matlock General Store 80.2 mi), to find Bill G patching another flat.  Got more water.  I was drinking calories in a bottle and making up new bottles as I needed them.  Bill G offered up a packet of Spiz.  I'll try it, but not on such a high-stakes ride. Bill A and Narayan eventually appeared, just as I was leaving.





There was some promised gravel on the next stretch.  The road eventually started going up and down.  Cougar Smith Rd was quite enjoyable, but then I crossed a bridge and found the gravel.  Hard pack, not a problem.  There was one pitch, were the grade got to 11% and I had to walk it (the grade kept increasing for awhile) until it got down to 8%.  Not long.  Then I was at the top and riding along the ridge for a few miles.  My bike computer went stupid here.  This would not be good.





Got onto the pavement and fiddled with the pickup positioning, and it came back; no erratic readings for the balance of the ride.  Albert and Peg came along as I was stopped, and they stopped, so we continued on together.





Fun descents, lots of conversation.  Peg eventually pulled ahead on one steepish long climb, and I was riding solo again.  Somewhere in there Albert and I converged, and rode together to the Humptulips store.  Or maybe he was there already?  Anyway, more water, chatting with the storekeeper, enjoying the interchange with the two German tourists trying to buy gas.



Next control (20 miles further) was the Quinault Rainforest General Store at 145 miles.  Albert and Bill G were there, Bill patching another flat.  I needed something, and eventually settled on a can of condensed Chicken Noodle Soup.  Cold.  Straight from the can.  The shopkeeper said she was really glad to see me, because it was so cool that I was 1 of 4 women total on the ride, out of 60+ riders.  I noted that the women generally had more sense.



Off again, solo, and back onto Hwy 101 for the next 68 miles, the overnight control in Forks.  As the sun started setting, I started getting dopey.  Eventually I did pull off for a short nap.



Then, a mile or so down the road, who should I find but Vinnie and John and Vinnie's friend!  With sandwiches!  And (what I REALLY NEEDED), frappucinos!



Then off to Kalaloch, which, with everything closed, was now an info control.  Stopped and got a picture of the ocean (Ocian in view! Oh! Joy!)



Last 34 miles until Forks.  All on Hwy 101.  Dark.  Solo.  I have never before ridden solo at night.  Tried singing 99 bottles of beer, made it to 97 before I decided that wasn't helping.  It was chilly, so I was very happy to have more layers and warm gloves to pull on.  Took a few more naps.  Had the road to myself, pretty much.  I was on that road forever.  Getting a bit foggy, and even more chilly.  I was sure Forks was there somewhere.

And finally... Forks!  Just after 2am.  Drunk teenagers walking around.  A few big pickups with the occupants yelling encouragement.  No vampires.  No werewolves.  Finally found the hotel, and found Dan at the control.  He checked me in, gave me a room key, and took me over to the food room.  Hot soup.  I knew that I wouldn't get very much sleep :-(



Off to my room, which the only other female rider was just vacating.  Peg had DNFed.  Sad.  Shower, half hour nap, then back to the food room for some souffle.  Found a very nice note from Theo in my handlebar bag.  Pushed off about 4:45am for the out and back to La Push.

The out was fast, with great pavement.  Waved at Theo and several other returning riders.  Sea stacks are cool, but I didn't feel that I had a lot of time to properly explore.



The ride back was somewhat less fast.  And I was sleepy.  Started to worry about a possible DNF, because I could not stay awake.  No naps, but I did find myself on places of the road that I couldn't remember riding to.  Just before arriving back at Hwy 101, there was enough sunlight that I did wake up.  Whew.

From here to the Lake Crescent control was all uphill.  I had checked the elevations, and it didn't seem like it would be particularly difficult, just a long, gentle grade.  Stopped at a store past Forks for water; visited with Andy S a bit.  After consideration of what was ahead, I turned both my bottles into calories in a bottle.   Mike J and John D (2 more of the 5 OrRandos on this ride) rode up, and we rode together for awhile.  Then they moved on.  Pulled over to remove all sorts of extra layers.  Except my leg warmers.  They stayed on the entire ride.  Kept on going.  Arrived at the control  (268+ mi) with just over 2 hours in the bank.  Ace control workers got me a Coke and a hard boiled egg.  Heard that Narayan and Duane had DNFed :-( There was some inspection of my new A23 rim.



As a descent was now looming, pulled the layers back on.  Didn't help much, I shook the entire way down.  So did the bike.  Lots of knee on the top tube and slowing down.  I rode completely solo from here to the end.

Lake Crescent was gorgeous.  So much so that I took pictures of the lake, as well as stopping to get a few waterfall pictures.  Faffed away some time in the bank, there.





Then onto East Beach Rd.  My, my. Homage to Tahuya - inconsistent pavement, uphill, STEEP uphill, remote :-)  Finally got to the top, and rode through Joyce (info control!) and another 10+ miles into Port Angeles (303 mi).

My phone thought it was in Canada.  I could SEE Canada, but I am pretty sure I never left the US.  Brief stop to get more water, a banana, and a Payday bar.  Lest you all think I hadn't been eating all along - I surely had - bananas, trail putty, some snacks at controls, and all that food in the bottle.

By now, you might be wondering... Lynne, where's the bonk?  No bonks.  Not one.

Port Angeles was a series of evil, steep, nasty ramps, eventually dumping me back onto Hwy 101.  From there, a turn onto the Old Olympic Hwy, and thence to the Dungeness Spit (322 mi) for an info control.



Also mouthful of Trail Putty control.  Admired the view, and then pressed on.  From there, off to Sequim (pronounced Skwim), for the last on-course control.  Quiet riding.  Towne Rd did have a few ramps (ouch).  There might have been 3 bonus miles in there somewhere.  Did get to the Sequim Safeway (329 mi), where I consumed a mocha, and topped off the bottles.

Last stretch, all on Hwy 101, and then SR-104.  Hwy 101 (18+ miles) was notable for its nice wide shoulders, and big pickups pulling bigger boats.  And RVs pulling bigger boats.  Noisy.  A bit scary.  Climbing up, then fast descents.  I was hoping for better on SR-104, took the exit and... was faced with a ramp that went on forever.  I couldn't see the cars dropping off at the top, either.  I think I wanted to stop and cry right there, but that wouldn't get me to Kingston.  Worked my way up, alternating sitting and standing.  It was about 2.5 miles long.  A descent then another ramp.  And another ramp.  And so on.  Started to wonder if I'd ever get to the Hood Canal Bridge.  Endless.  I'd get warm climbing, then freeze on the descents.  Lots of zipping and unzipping.  After 14 miles of this, finally, the bridge.

This was kind of fun.  I had never ridden on this bridge (heck, I'd never ridden on most of this route!).  I got one picture.



Across, into Port Gamble (hey, I've been HERE), where I stopped to pull on the night riding gear.  Didn't know if I'd finish on the right side of sunset and wanted to be prepared.  Albert zipped by here; first rider I'd seen since Lake Crescent.

Still on SR-104, but not nearly as hilly.  There was a set of short ramps leading into Kingston, including the last 5% one just before the finish.  Normally 5% isn't a big deal, but after so many miles it can be rather more of a challenge.

Hey!  There's the Blue Water Inn!  I'm done!  Big hug from Jennifer (ace ride co-organizer)!  Pizza!  Soda!  Pictures!  Visiting!  Then getting into our room (Theo had arrived much earlier and had the key), and a wonderful shower.  More visiting.  I even drank a beer.



Me at the finish (photo by Mike J)



Next day ate all the leftover SIR control food :-), took the Kingston ferry across and drove back home.  We'd still be asleep, but for Theo waking us up at 10am...



Aftermath:
38:32 total time
384 miles (a few bonus miles in there)
12.4 avg mph
16,223 vertical feet
6.5 hours off the bike, 30 minutes sleeping
No bonks.  Not one!
No mechanicals or flats.  Tires now have 3900 miles on them.
No post-ride migraine
No numb extremeties - hands and feet are both fine
Miles ridden on Hwy 101 145
Lots of solo riding, including at night.

All the pictures (lots more) here