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

Nonsensical, Yes Indeed

I had posted in the Oregon Randonneur and Seattle Randonneur Facebook pages, looking for riders interested in participating in Fleche Northwest.  Narayan promptly signed on, followed quickly by Geoff, Keith, and Paul.  As they were all from Seattle, I'd be wearing the blue jersey for this one.

Route profile - not flat by any definition

I planned to re-use last year's route, with one change - we'd go around in Astoria, rather than over.  That was painful.  The route got .1 km longer, 360.1 km total, but I still figured we'd be a shoo-in for the Lowball Award.  The team name, by a vote of the 5 team members, was Nonsense Prevails.

The weather looked to be not bad, and there would even be a tailwind.  Oh my.  Shipped a box of clothes off to the hotel in Olympia.  Bicycle cleaned.  Previous saddle pulled out of the closet and reinstalled.

Day of, did the last food preparations (lox and bagel is a tasty ride snack), and dozed for about an hour in the afternoon.  I can't say I slept, but I didn't do anything else.

The guys all drove to Olympia and caught the train there.  Then they hopped the MAX train, and I met them at the transit center, where we coasted back down to the house.  They all had a pre-dinner beer, then dinner all around.  Then it was time to ride over to the start (7 minutes tops), and have our pre-ride pie and coffee.  Fitz joined us there and took our only team picture.  Keith thanked me for organizing and all.  Me: "you say that NOW."





Given that the first 32 turns of our 78 turn cue sheet were getting us 12.1 miles to the edge of the Urban Growth Boundary, I took the lead.  We had an amazing sunset as we headed towards Banks, our first control.

Banks Thriftway control - Paul, Geoff, Lynne.  Photo by Keith Moore

It was dark as we emerged from the control and started towards Vernonia on the Banks Vernonia Trail.  I love my Luxos U headlight - it lit up the trail from edge to edge and illuminated well forward.  Nice views of the stars and crescent moon at the road crossings.



Popped out into Vernonia, and had a brief discussion as to whether we should use the Cedar Side Inn or the bar across the street for a control.  I suggested we go into the Cedar Side Inn, in case anyone wanted food.  It was QUITE lively and loud in there.  Blacklights, too, so we lit up the place in our neon/reflective vests.  There was a birthday party going on, and Birthday Girl was completely entranced with our adventure.  She ended up buying a round of coffee for us, and would have gotten us drinks, if we'd wanted them.

It was starting to get cold, so we all pulled on more layers.  Not raining, so I didn't go so far as to add booties and RainLegs.

A couple of locals warned us about rude and/or drunk drivers on the road to Astoria.  We thanked them and headed out.  (For the record, until we got close to Astoria, we saw only three cars)

Given my spectacular bonk on the 300k a couple weeks ago, Narayan made it a point to make sure I was eating.  My timer watch had given it up on the 300k, so I bought a countdown timer app for the phone.  I had food.  Also lots of Perpetuem.  So I was, indeed, eating.

My plan, at least, was to take a short rest stop at the Jewell Elk Refuge.  There is water, and the bathrooms are heated.  We could conk out in one of them.  Randos know the classiest places to stop.  We arrived with plenty of time - no need to be to Astoria before 6am - so filled up bottles, took care of other business, then sat down and dozed for about 20 minutes.

Napping.  photo by Keith Moore

The coffee from Vernonia was making my stomach quite unhappy.  I kept sipping liquids and eating quiet food, but it wasn't helping much.

Then, a couple miles out from the stop, at mile 82, the rain started.  Darn.  Pause while some of us added rain gear.  Spun our way up to the Coast Range summit at mile 86.  The rain got more insistent, and then even more so as we descended 11 miles. Brrr.  The headlight was just wonderful, though.

Somewhere along there (Olney?) we pulled over and ended up doing a glove handout - one rider who shall remain nameless had only shortfinger gloves, so I loaned him my extra wool gloves.  Keith shared some gloves with another rider.  By this point I was wearing shortfinger gloves, Smartwool liner gloves, and ragg gloves with grippy palms over those.  The outer two layers of gloves were worn intermittently for the balance of the ride.

Then there was a not really flat 11 mile stretch to Astoria, where we could see the Astoria airport and Warrenton as we rode by.  The sky gradually lightened.  What with the clouds and rain, I am sure the sun was there somewhere, but not yet seen.  There was one really evil metal grid bridge.  I was riding with Paul at this point, and we worked our way around the peninsula Astoria sits on, passing the bridge, and ending up at the Pig and Pancake.  We found the other three inside, wet helmets and gloves and jackets draped everywhere.

Food and beverages were ordered; some attempted a nap.

Narayan, Paul, and Geoff.  Photo by Keith Moore

This year I managed to eat all my hashbrowns, two eggs and almost a half a piece of toast.  Antacids were produced to settle my stomach.  Keith consumed a massive plate of biscuits and gravy.  I am in awe.

Breakfast over, we then crossed over the Astoria Megler Bridge (4 miles long!) into Washington.  The rain had let up some, but not stopped entirely.  We wandered upriver a bit, and then rode up and over a ridge, heading inland.





Brief pause in Naselle for someone to buy food, but nothing was open yet.  We were behind time, but this was expected; I knew we'd make it up.  And now, there was nothing but riding between here and Raymond.  We did have our tailwind.  We also had the seemingly endless little climbs.  And rain.  And more rain.  Heavy rain. I think all the rain in the universe was concentrated in the area around South Bend/Raymond as we were passing through.  Munched on some more antacids; they were settling my stomach.

So that we wouldn't lose time there, I made the call to pull into a c-store in South Bend, and then we'd ride through Raymond, and the looming 4 hills.  The first is a 400 foot climb, with a not particularly good shoulder, followed by three more 150-200 feet climbs.  The road got much better.  The other riders pulled ahead, and I didn't see anyone until the last climb, where I found Narayan.   We all regrouped briefly, planning to stop at the Chevron in Montesano.  I fell off the back again, and rode the 8 miles to Montesano solo.

Found everyone in the store.  My first order of business was to swap the batteries in the SPOT, because it was telling me the batteries were low.  Then I bought some peanut butter crackers; I was pretty tired of sweet stuff.  We were almost an hour ahead of where I had been last year; looking good!

Then we headed off to McCleary, our 22 hour control.  It looked like we'd get to take an actual break there.  But wait!  What was this headwind?  Ack.  So, slogging eastward, again riding solo after awhile.  Bad, negative thoughts going through my head, along the lines of "I will never do this again, ever".  I am sure this is partly because every single brevet I have ridden this year, and a fair number of permanents have been in very suboptimal weather.

The shoulder improves greatly once in Elma, but after awhile, one gets the feeling that McCleary is a myth, never to be found.  But eventually it was, and there were bicycles parked outside the Subway, and many "wet floor" signs on the floor :-)

There was plenty of time to get a bowl of soup, a flatizza, and a Coke.  We spread out on the booths, and left massive puddles wherever we stood or sat.  I only wish I had not been so thoroughly saturated, because it really wasn't very warm in there.  Well, it may have been warm enough if I had been dry.

Just before 5pm, we started reassembling for the final push.  We had to ride together for the last two hours, so Narayan suggested I lead.  Into the pouring rain, out of town, and over the hill to get onto Hwy 8.  Lots of fast traffic, but also wonderfully wide shoulders; no worries.  So there we were, and Keith rides up to tell me the other three are off the back. ???  Slowed down for the others to catch up.

Gentle uphill for about 10 miles, but it really didn't seem that far.  Then downhill, off Hwy 8, and downhill some more, at which point there was only the climb just past the Blue Heron Bakery, and a couple of miles navigating through Olympia.

By now I was not considering finding a spot to wait until just before 7pm to finish right at 24 hours (tradition).  Too cold and wet.  The suggested route in to the finish location was a bit weird.  I had scoped it out on Google Street View, but still made the gps-equipped team members lead us in.  And there was still confusion at the bridge.  But finish we did, at 6:48pm.

Dripped our way into the hotel, to be welcomed by riders who had finished earlier and taken hot showers and were wearing dry clothing :-)

Geoff and Paul changed and took themselves right back to Seattle, but Narayan, Keith, and I went out for some tasty Thai food.  More random visiting back at the hotel, back to the room to chat with Susan and Asta, and then oblivion.



The next morning Susan got me some coffee (thank you!) while I packed up and organized.  Looked like I'd be wearing yesterday's riding clothes for the trip to the train station - didn't want to be sitting on the train in wet clothes.  Ewww.

But anyway, first there was first breakfast (hotel's continental breakfast) with many of the riders, and then we all adjourned to second breakfast (the after-ride banquet).  Much fun, hearing about the other rides.  Except possibly the team that didn't get rained on until the last 10 miles, and had warm sunny skies.

As planned, we took the Lowball Award.  The route was even .1km longer than last year. :-)

Then it was time to change into the still damp jersey and shorts, and head off to the train station.  Susan had concocted a route, but Andy S suggested we go a different way, involving some of the local bike trails.  I know we ended up on the Chehalis-Western trail, but am not entirely sure how we got there.  And coming off the trail, the development we rode through looked very familiar.  Once we popped out on the Yelm Highway, I recognized the RAPsody route.  Just a bit of riding there, and we were at the train station.

James was there as well :-)  The train pulled in, we handed up our bikes, and went to find some seats.  Shortly after departing, I changed my clothes, which was much better for everyone around me.  The train arrived about 20 minutes early; Fitz was there very soon thereafter to collect us.



What went right?  Surprisingly, a lot of things.  Alert readers will note that I said nothing about falling asleep on the bike, bonking, having saddle issues or shoe issues.

What I wore - started out with a LS wool jersey, Louis Garneau Neo Power shorts, wool sports bra (very important), wool quarter socks, Assos gloves, stripey homemade cycling cap, and Gore Visibility Vest.  In Vernonia I swapped on a wool beanie, and added a short sleeve wool jersey and wool armwarmers underneath.  Also my Showers Pass jacket, venerable PI kneewarmers, some toe covers.  When the rain set in, on went the helmet cover, wool longfinger gloves, RainLegs and Endura rain booties.  Before the end (LONG before the end), I was completely saturated, but not cold, as long as I was moving.  Stops weren't so very relaxing, because I'd start to shiver.

Randonesia is setting in, even.

All the pictures (not many, too wet to pull the camera out very much) here

Let the Grey Geese Fly! Fleche 2013

Last fleche I participated in was back in 2008. At the time, and for several years after, I was pretty darn sure I did not want to do it again.  Last year, I wanted to, but the timing was sub-optimal.

This year, I found myself designing a route in November, assuming an Olympia finish.  There were two of us, and we quickly recruited two more.  Then one more.  And an alternate.  I continued refining the route, hunting for control locations, and getting the distance as short as I could.

The route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2235322

Things can change quickly before a fleche.  Two teammates withdrew to go ride some dirt.  The alternate suggested "next year".  Another person joined us out of the blue, which was good, because someone one got injured.

By now, you might be wondering about the origin of the team name?  It indeed has to do with arrows.  I am a fan of the S. M. Stirling Dies the Fire alternate future history, which is set in mostly in the Willamette Valley.  We are all from the Willamette Valley.  Seemed to fit.

By now, the route was finalized - EXACTLY 223.7 miles (360km).  Somehow I did not get as much done before the ride as I would have wanted, but the bike was cleaned (and wow, did it need it!), and I did a lot of mental packing.  Late Thursday, I did some, but not all, real packing.

Michal, Cyndi (Mrs. Michal, ace driver and cheering squad), and Keith all appeared later Friday afternoon.  Cyndi and I made the Coconut-Blueberry-Chocolate Chip rice cakes for the ride and dinner (Chicken and Spinach with Rice and Lentils).  Michal tried to get a nap.



After dinner we filled up bottles, did last minute faffing, answered the door ("Lynne, there is someone here giving away money! - I love in-person paycheck delivery :-) ), and then coasted over to the Village Inn, our official start point.  Fitz and Cyndi drove over, and we all had pie.  The riders also had some coffee.



And, at 7pm, we started out.  The cue sheet was only 2 pages long, and most of the first page was going the first 24 miles to Banks.  A couple of short stops along the way, to add clothes and such.

Michal had gotten a new GPS, had loaded the route, and was trying to get it to prompt him for turns.  The key word here is trying.  Some badmouthing of the GPS user experience ensured.

But wait!  Heading west on Meek Rd, we spotted three cyclists approaching!  It was The Ladies' Tea and Crumpet Society, the OrRando women's team which started in Albany at 1pm.  A short visit, and a round of pictures and we were off again.



Got a look inside Keith's windsock on his recumbent. - big storage compartment in back, and a nice storage arrangement in the front.  I think he had a microwave, video game console, fold-out bed and hot tub in there.

Onto the Banks-Vernonia trail.  It felt a little more claustrophobic in the dark.  I couldn't ride next to or close to anyone.  Michal and Keith found a cyclist sleeping off to the side of the trail; no blanket or anything.  He said he was ok.  Perhaps alcohol was involved.

Our control in Vernonia was the Cedar Side Tavern (nothing else open just before midnight.)  We got our cards signed, and were apparently very entertaining to the very relaxed crowd.  One woman assured us that she could not ride the length of Vernonia (!) without getting exhausted and told us to watch out for log trucks (note: no log truck sightings).  Ate a savory rice cake.



Then north, with the next maybe stop the Birkenfeld Store.  We did stop briefly and snack, but they were very closed.  Guess the late night is Saturday.  We pulled on some more clothes.  It was about 43 degrees and just downright chilly.  By now I was wearing shorts, knee warmers, short socks, shoes (you know, those toe covers would not have been a bad thing to bring along), ss wool jersey, wool armwarmers, ls wool jersey over that, windbreaker and my Windstopper reflective vest.  A wool cap and shortfinger gloves with the DeFeet wool gloves over those.  In other words, all the clothes I had with me.





I mentioned to Michal that I had forgotten to put Mr. Happyface in my bag, and it might have come in handy.  Michal: "well, I wasn't going to tell you, unless your neck really started hurting, but I've got ours along." :-)

Water stop was at the Elk Refuge, 13 miles down the road.  Before we got there, I had to pull over and close my eyes for 10 minutes.  Oh, this isn't going to be good...

The bathrooms were unlocked, and joy of joys, heated!  Keith headed into one, I went into the other.  I finished, Michal came in and left.  I went in to fill bottles, came out, and found Michal sitting on the ground with his shoes off.  Keith was apparently still in the bathroom; Michal was beginning to wonder if everything was ok.  At which point Keith poked his head out and cheerfully informed us that they were heated!  We all went inside for a few.  The SMART rider (clearly not me) would have brought a snack along and eaten it.  Need to get into the "if you stop, stuff something in your mouth!" mode.

Now we were starting the climb over the Coast Range.  It was dark and chill.  And I kept needing to nap.  Passed over the summit, and it seemed way too easy to get there.  Perhaps because of the stops and not entirely speedy pace.  Much zipping of jackets and such (we were all wearing everything we had), and the long-ish downhill to Olney.  The store wasn't open yet there, but it was just before 6am.

What with all the stops, Michal finally figured out how to get his new GPS to prompt him on turns.

A few more naps, including one at the big Hood-to-Coast/Portland-to-Coast Relay camping field ("hey, I've slept here before!"), and it started to get lighter.  No need for headlights to see.  But still no actual sun.  Just before Astoria, the sun did put in an appearance and I looked right at it, in the hope that it would perk me up.  It actually did.

Route planning note.  I routed us the shortest way to the Pig 'n' Pancake, because I didn't want another control.  So Michal and I rode that way, which meant UP (4 stair-step climbs) and then DOOOOWWWWWN (that was very, very steep, with a stop sign, and then gravel).  We found Keith at the Pig 'n' Pancake, sucking down coffee.  He had ridden around, which is flat. Keith had no cue sheet - "hey, I am just going to ride along with you all!"   Breakfast ordered all around; I didn't do a great job eating all of mine.  The waitress and adjacent diners were a bit amazed at our riding plans.  We were outside our time window, but the slowest time was way slower than we would be riding in the daylight.  I was positive we'd get back on time.  Michal was a bit stressed.  Keith was cheerful and continuing to crack bad jokes.

Then up and over the Astoria-Megler Bridge - 4 miles long.  And we were in Washington.  A pause to peel off extra layers - we kept them on because it was windy up on the bridge, but now, with the sun up, it was already over 60 degrees!  With a stiff NNE headwind.





Long stretch headed north to Raymond, via Naselle.  Lots of sloughs adjoining the river which feeds into Willapa Bay, and a set of relentless little climbs.  Eventually we popped out on the flats, and headed into Raymond.









After a bit of discussion we decided to stop at McDonalds - they did have coffee.  I got a mocha frappe, with chcolate and whipped cream in addition to the coffee.  Ice cream headache!  It was right before noon, and we were back within our time window.

Then Raymond to Montesano.  Discussions on the proper pronounciation ensued.  I pronounce it like everyone else in Huntsville, Alabama pronounced it, which isn't anywhere near the proper Italian pronounciation.

Mr. Happyface made an appearance at least once.

Marcello had warned us that it was surprisingly hilly between Raymond and Montesano.  The route profile had 5 little lumps, and, indeed, starting right out of Raymond, there they were.  Slog up, pedal down.  I was counting, and was happy to leave #5 behind us.  Lots of logging through there.

Into Montesano, quick stop for water and a sweet rice cake.  Water in the bottles, water dumped on heads...  Off to McCleary.  The road between Montesano and Elma is possibly the worst chipseal job ever, with 3 levels on the shoulder.  The furthest right was original smooth pavement, but it varied in width and had loose bits of gravel on it.  Once we got to Elma the road improved some.  Michal tried to pull me, but I was not mentally alert enough to draft.

I kept apologizing for being slow and kept being told to quit apologizing.

Some up and down, and FINALLY into McCleary, our 22 hour control.  About 15 minutes before the 22 hours.  My toes had been killing me, so Michal told me to take off my shoes first thing.  I did that, and then stretched out on the sidewalk for a 5 minute rest (not to be confused with a nap).  Cold water appeared, bottles topped up, various potions mixed in.  Cold water dumped on heads.

On to SR-8, and the nicest pavement of the entire ride.  Big wide smooth shoulder bounded by a rumble strip.  Noisy, but I didn't care.  The headwind didn't seem quite as fierce.  Mostly.  There was a gentle climb for about 10 miles, then a wonderful downhill all the way to our exit.  Michal's GPS was confused, but I knew where I was.  A few more miles then into Olympia, where we stopped and checked maps.  And, at 6:50pm, rolled up to the front door of the Governor Hotel, where the Ladies' Tea and Crumpet society, Cyndi (volunteering!) and another volunteer came out to applaud.



Pictures.  Soda.  Beer. Chips.  Strategizing on dinner.  Asta and Susan recommended a BBQ place a few blocks away.  So, after some sitting and eating and talking, we all went and got showers, then came downstairs to find Susan and Asta and Lesli ready for another dinner :-)  Tasty beef BBQ.  Walk back through downtown Olympia - pretty lively place!  Early bed.

Wandered down for coffee and first breakfast at 8am, knowing we'd have a nice banquet at 9am.  Found many riders in the breakfast room, with the same plan.  At 9am we all drifted into the banquet room.  Mass quantities of very good breakfast and fun people.

Each team got up and described their ride.  One team went for a serious amount of off-road.  While there was a cue sheet, there as also Ian, who knew where to go.  The serious distance team did, well, serious distance with serious vertical feet.  The Ladies' Tea and Crumpet Society had a strict schedule and stuck to it.  We finished in time, which is all, really, which is required.  360km, 3 machines finish together.

While there were no official awards,  we obviously got Lowball (shortest distance) and Slackers (least climbing).

Keith was planning on riding back.  So was Asta, so they joined forces.  With no arm-twisting at all, Susan joined them.  They finished somewhere around midnight.



And all the pics

Flèche Planning

As I was the first (and thus, only) one of the two original team members to propose a route, I somehow found myself as captain.

Obsessing over finalizing the route (at the moment, EXACTLY 360km), figuring out the controls, finding places to eat, estimating about when we'd arrive at the 22hr control, and back out from there to figure out when to start.

Lots of email exchanges with local riders.  Some have been asking me about our roads as well.

Figuring out a team name.

Recruiting a new team member when two members and one alternate bow out.  We are back up to four.

Getting the forms filled out and signed.  Lots of scanned signatures flowing up and down the internets.

(yes, there are a couple of brevet routes which need attention.  They'll be approved soon...)

Pro tip:
Figure out your slowest possible pace to get to the 22hr control at 22hr, with no pause there.
Figure out your slightly more optimistic pace to get to the 22hr control at 20hr, so you get to pause.
(If you have Excel superpowers, and/or know how to exploit online hints and help, you are golden.  Doing real arithmetic with time in Excel can sometimes be tricky)

In our case, we are leaving Beaverton at 7pm, arriving Astoria right around 6am, when the Pig and Pancake opens.  22 hour control is in McCleary, then we've got 2 hours to go 20 miles; 10 gently uphill.

Fun.  Oh, you betcha!

Fleche Bling!

Way back in May, I participated in a Fleche.



The trophy showed up in the summer some time, but this week, I got my control card back, along with the official certificate from the Audax Club Parisien!

What was I thinking on the fleche anyway?

At the beginning:




This would have been it from Wilsonville till we were done:

Fleche Ouragan

Last November, friend Rickey said, "I've signed you up on my Fleche team". All I knew about a Fleche was that it lasted 24 hours, and had minimum distance requirement. I didn't know I wanted to do a Fleche...



Cecil was going to do one; her team was, at that point, undetermined. And as it worked out, neither person organized a team. So Cecil became team captain for "the women's team". She had Peg, Lesli, and, eventually, with some trepidation, me. Our RBA contributed her route, which we changed slightly to make the Corvallis control be Brian's apartment ("Brian, would it be okay if three of my friends and I knocked on your apartment door at about 5am on Saturday? We'd like to make a hot breakfast and maybe take a little nap..."). He's a sweet boy.

The plan was for a 9pm Friday night departure - we'd get the dark parts done while we were still vaguely alert. I myself was worried about the 1am to 5am stretch - that's when I do my heaviest sleeping.

Put the generator hub wheel and lighting back on Bleriot. Decided what to wear (low of 45 Friday night, probable sprinkles, high in the mid 50's, rain clearing off on Saturday). Packed. Planned food. Made Molasses Marbles (molasses, dried milk, peanut butter, toasted wheat germ, rolled in any of toasted sesame seed, coconut, chopped nuts) for munching at night; I wanted something that was easy to eat. I made a whole batch and divided it into 4 little baggies for everyone.





Went home after lunch on Friday, and took a nap. After dinner I drove out to the Grand Lodge to find Cecil, Lesli, and Peg already unloading. It was about 8pm, so we had awhile to loaf before riding over the few blocks to our start in Cornelius. Some inebriated folks leaned out of an upstairs window and asked how far we'd gone. Not very far yet. They promised they'd welcome us back on Saturday night at 9pm.



We got a cooperative bystander to take a pre-start photo, then cruised over to the Cornelius Plaid Pantry. Eventually it was 9pm, and the cheerful clerk signed our cards and wished us a good ride.



West, then south, quickly getting onto the familiar Fern Hill/Spring Hill/North Valley/Ribbon Ridge/Kuehne/Abbey stretch (I just reeled off about 24 miles of riding there), through Lafayette, and off to Dayton. The store clerk in the Dayton market sold us some water and initialed our cards. Interesting folks hang around the Dayton market after 11pm, yes indeed.

Leaving Dayton, it did commence to spit for awhile, but nothing major. We were chatting the whole way. We all had high-powered generator lighting, so seeing the road was not a problem. We also had a slight tailwind. Nice.

South, south, south. Into Salem, and the wonders of Doaks Ferry Rd. It goes up. But it also goes down, and it has streetlights and amazing pavement. (Bleriot downhill speed record, 37.5 mph)Then onto Independence, where the public restrooms were open, there was an ATM for proof of passage (it is after 2am now), and the bar across the street had amazingly bad karaoke going. We sang along for a bit.

Another long run in the dark, heading for Albany, where we found another ATM. Cecil was hunting around for a blue room, so Lesli and I sat down and dozed for a few moments. Lesli shared around some more chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Lots of riding around on roads with no car traffic whatsoever. We could take up the whole lane, pretty much secure that nothing would sneak up on us.

Then off to Corvallis. It was around here that I caught myself dozing off while pedaling. This is bad. Fastest way I know of to end up in a ditch or something. So Lesli and Peg promptly subjected me to the third degree about the kids, so I'd keep talking and not fall asleep. It worked wonderfully. Then we were in Corvallis, and I had to get them to Brian's apartment.

5:30am. We carried our bikes up the stairs to leave them on the walkway, and I tapped on Brian's window. A hand waved, and then, shortly thereafter, the door opened. We invaded.





He pointed us at the bathroom and groceries. Cecil cooked up her oatmeal, and Lesli made breakfast burritos (scrambled eggs, cheese and salsa in a flour tortilla). I was in charge of tortilla-warming (microwave, EZ). After eating, Lesli set up the coffee, and we all crashed until 6:30. I got the futon chair, and was instantly out. Almost 30 minutes of sleep.



Then coffee, and we were off again. It was now daylight (yay!). Lots of wandering around in Willamette Valley farmland south, and then east of Corvallis, heading for Shedd.





The Shedd Market is a happening place, yes indeed. Lots of folks in there enjoying breakfast.



Then off again, to Waterloo. We crossed I-5, and headed into that interesting landscape with all the abrupt humpy little hills. Wandered around those, then into Waterloo. Now, Waterloo has a market. I called, it opens 9-ish. We were there 10-ish. Closed. Ack. We found the across the street neighbor, who after deciding we were not selling anything, cheerfully signed our control cards.







At this point, Cecil started stressing about time. As in, we'd run out before we got to 360km. Peg figured it would be fine. I figured we'd get back on schedule, because SURELY we'd cover more than 10 miles an hour. At this point, we ran into the Headwind, which was with us the entire rest of the ride.

Up to Jefferson, which involved a long run on US 20, directly into the headwind and some climbing. Cecil was starting to flag, so I asked her all about her latest case. The Jefferson Market had jo-jos and string cheese, and cheerful, friendly people. We sat down in front and ate.

Off to Aumsville, passing some of the roads we visited in January on the Covered Bridges Perm. Talked to Fitz to let him know we'd be finishing right around 9, but it was slow going. Then onto the special 17 miles that is Howell Prairie Rd. It is pretty. But we were headed right into that headwind. Lesli and Peg stopped for a moment at Silverton Rd; Cecil and I kept going; we knew they'd catch us. I looked NW and noted that it looked very, very wet. We grabbed out jackets and pulled them on, and were shortly in a toadstrangler of a shower. It didn't last too long, and my shorts and kneewarmers dried out very quickly. Lesli and Peg did catch us right before Gervais, where Cecil and I put on dry socks (aaaaaah) and I put on a dry cap.

Then off to Wilsonville, the last bit where we get onto I-5 to cross the Willamette River. Dang that's loud. We did find the secret spot where one hops off the freeway well before the offramp, cautiously stepping over the downed fence (enhanced w/two strands of barbed wire). We endeavored to spend practically no time at the control (ha). At this point, my local road knowledge came into play, as we headed north, back over I-5, and into Sherwood and a control. The guys behind the counter were rendered speechless when it became obvious that a 24 hour ride means one rides all night...

Still pressing on, and querying Peg about the rules. At 22 hours we were 2-3 miles short of the "22 hour control", on Roy Rogers Rd. We stopped, recorded distance and time, pulled on our reflective gear, and signed each others cards. Peg told us that cards filled out and signed in pencil weren't valid. Cecil and I had heart failure right there. "I was JOKING!" said Peg.



Somewhere on Roy Rogers, I rolled over my personal distance record, which had been 206 miles in a day. I figured after Seattle to Portland three years ago that was a record that would never be superseded...

Then off to the Starbucks at Scholls Ferry and Murray, got our cards signed again, then back up the hill on Scholls Ferry, heading west.

Turned right onto Tile Flat. I have not ridden that particular stretch of the road. It is very pretty, farms, animals, peacocks... Riding, riding, riding, headwind, headwind, headwind. By this point, my right tricep had given it up. I could only ride with my right hand on the tops, which my hand was not liking - my wrists and palms were very sore.

We rolled over 360km distance. Then, a few km later, it was 9pm, right in front of Forest Hills Lutheran Church (aka the rest stop for many, many local event bike rides). Stopped again, recorded distance, and signed each other's cards. In pen.

Finished the last bit of the route, got to the Grand Lodge (our inebriated well-wishers of the night before were nowhere to be seen), checked in, (Fitz found me), got cleaned up and had dinner. Except the booth was incredibly uncomfortable. I could not sit comfortably at all. My legs were very twitchy. Cecil kept falling asleep, too. Fitz finally told us to go away, and he'd take care of the check :-)

Ceremonial breakfast the next morning. We sat with Dave Read's team. They had a headwind-filled experience, as well.





Pictures afterward. We were standing around outside, and one rando, name fortunately not known, asks: "Is this your whole team? How did the four of you manage without any guys along?". I sincerely hope he was joking :-)

Ride mileage 24hrs, 226 miles, whole ride, 230 miles.



All the other pics here
Cecil's pics here
Lesli's pics here