Even though someone completed the 210 mile ride from Seattle to Portland on a unicycle and a couple of long board, it was still a pretty tough bike ride for us. We started early Saturday morning (Scott and 5:20 and me at 6:40) among the massive amount of bikers (near 9k people registered). It was leisurely riding around Lake Washington and down through Renton. The first stop at the Kent REI was so packed that I just swooped some supplies and kept on rolling.
After REI, at about mile 35, I was able to get in a good pace line keeping a pace of about 40kph. This turned disastrous after someone got a flat tire and brakes went down the line until people were skidding. I clipped the rider in front of me which caused my bike to slip out from under me. I was able to get up quick and surveyed my bike and found only a twisted handle bar. As I was back riding I realized that I'd bent my front wheel, twisted my knee, and twisted my ankle. Such is life and I kept pushing on.
I was able to catch up with Scott right after Puyallup just before the Big Hill. I've found out that I actually am really good at hill climbs and powered past a ton of riders. Shortly after I came up to a pretty bad car accident with fire engines and ambulances just on the scene. Glass was everywhere so the entire pack walked their bikes past the site. Apparently they eventually changed the route to detour around it. Finally hit the 50 mile stop and got my body and bike fixed up.
From there on out it was just good steady riding all the way to Centralia except 10 or so miles on a bike path that has lots of roots and people to get in your way but was rewarded with cookies and a Mountain Dew at the end. The common overnight stop and middle of the ride is Centralia College, but I was staying in Vader that night which I thought was 10 miles further. After hanging out on the campus with Scott I marched on. Apparently I was mistaken and found out that Vader was another 27 miles further. After 100 miles of riding that's not something you want to hear. I was able to get there though with the help of some lemonade, banana bread, and a taco truck.
I woke up on day 2 to a flat tire in the storage room of the Vader Lions Club where I stayed. I got that fixed up and hung around town waiting for Scott to catch up but got tired of waiting around and headed out. My knee was definitely worse the second day and the rolling hills all the way to Longview didn't help. Seemed to make pretty good time to the Longview Bridge though and received a police escort across. The heat really started to catch up with everyone from here on out and I made the grueling ride to St. Helens where I was anxiously awaiting a stop at the Burgerville there. I put down a ridiculous amount of food and found the nearest willow tree for a shaded nap.
I woke up wore out and hot, but had to make the last 30 miles to Portland so I just kept my feet moving. Luckily there was a definite downhill slope almost all the way into Portland and allowed me to keep about the same pace, despite being extremely wore out. I finally rolled into the finish line around 3pm wore out and looking for water.
Our first year was a success considering we both made it across the finish line. Next year we need to get a big crew together, possibly involving a tandem bike. I'm considering actually making it a one day trip if I can get my act together.
