A light drizzle saw our group of 36 riders take off at 7am on Saturday morning from the start just outside Starbucks. The “fast” riders promptly took off into the distance, finishing eventually in 11:37 hours (exactly 4 hours ahead of me). I rode with the second group for the first couple of hours but eventually had to drop off the back as we hit our first climbs at Chuckanut Drive. The pace was a little faster than my body was feeling up to so I decided to continue at my own tempo along the 8 mile rolling climb.
Got a bit of everything on this ride with rain, hail, wind and, if not sun, at least glimpses of blue sky. I was even tempted to take off some of my rain gear at some points.
The middle stretch was a bit of a slog into the wind and I wasn’t feeling particularly fast. Hopefully the spring camp in Wenatchee and a series of back to back days will get my legs faster for the longer rides ahead.
An unfortunate incident in the final stretch back along Highway 20. It was dark at this stage and three of us were riding in a pace line in the wide shoulder alongside the road. The lead rider didn’t spot a curb jutting out into the shoulder until the last moment and swerved very late. The rider behind him went down and I had no where to go and went down as well. There’s a sinking feeling when you know there’s nothing you can do to avoid a crash and just hope for the best. I hit the ground on my left side but all my rain gear protected me from any real road rash. I quickly got up to get the bike, and myself off the road, and then checked for damage. I’d scraped up my elbow a bit and bruised my hip. The front wheel wasn’t turning but I was able to straighten it out in the lights of a concerned car full of people who had stopped to see if any assistance was needed. Fortunately the other rider was OK as well.
Then it was back on the bike for the final 25 miles before I could seize up. It would have sucked to DNF that close to the finish after over 160 miles.
Ultimately finished in 15:37 near the back of the field.
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