One sure thing about weather in the Pacific Northwest is that it's unpredictable in June. So no amount of wishing helped, and it turned into one of the wettest and coldest weekends that I can remember to usher in the beginning of summer. It was so wet throughout the ride that I didn't even take my camera, as I didn't think it would survive the soaking. So the only pictures available are the ones Elaine took at beginning and end points - and the end of both days had breaks in the rain for which we were grateful.
My investment in good rain gear really paid off, since I really wouldn't have made it without this time. The crowd at the opening ceremonies was mostly well prepared, and the well wishers had umbrellas. However, one fellow next to us was shaking - not shivering - so hard by the time the bikes were moving, that I'm sure he was hypothermic before he even mounted his bike. In any event, the heavy rain only continued part way to the border, by which time it turned into a steady drizzle which continued all day. The pit stops, as last year, were nicely spaced and very welcome, although with the cold and wet they were very brief. I caught up to Sarah at the border because they had a biker Nexus line which moved twice as fast as the two regular lines, and no back up I.D. was required.
On the way through downtown Bellingham, once we peeled off from the spectacular harbor front and started the gentle uphill climb there was a traffic light every block, and I think we stopped at every one. Once across the interstate and a little way out of town the lunch break was at Lake Padden, where Sarah and Dave were waiting for me. We set off together after lunch, but it didn't take long for me to fall behind. They like to keep up a faster pace than I can handle.
The drizzle became intermittent in the afternoon, and by the time we reached camp it had tapered off altogether. The line up for beer in camp was daunting, so we packed Sarah up and took her to our hotel in Burlington for a shower, and the hot water and dry clothes after sure felt good. The hotel was crowded with riders, so I think a fair proportion opted out of the tenting. This time the hotel was about twice the distance from camp as previously, and all accommodation in the vicinity was booked solid.
The following morning was not quite as miserable as Saturday's start, but it was certainly not encouraging, with fairly persistent light drizzle, and as cold as before. By the time we arrived at camp just after seven, the first riders were already on their way, and included with them was Sarah, who had been up early and took off rather than get cold waiting for us.
After leaving the mid morning pit stop on Sunday, I was starting to feel rather fatigued, and wondering if I could keep up a reasonable pace on the second day. Then I was passed by a group of riders going a bit faster than me, so I decided to try and keep up with them for a bit to break the monotony of riding alone at my own pace. That was when I discovered the magic of drafting. I had been keeping track of my speed, and on the flat I was managing only 20 - 21 kph because there was a persistent headwind. Going any faster I would start breathing too hard and run out of steam. On the downslope stretches 30 or better was no problem, but the long flat portions were just that slow. Suddenly, on the tail of this group I was keeping up a steady 26 - 27 kph and not feeling fatigued. In fact, if I happened to drop back because of traffic or passing someone, I had no trouble making the spurt to catch up. It was like I had a new set of legs. I had not tried this technique before because I considered it too dangerous, but being close behind another rider I had to stay alert and very conscious of what the group was doing. I had to be on the brakes quite a bit, but the saving in energy was a revelation.
Elaine had just arrived at the lunch stop at Lake Stevens when I pulled in, so she had no trouble finding me, and we had lunch together watching all the cold riders getting space blankets from the medical support group. It turned out that Sarah was there at lunch not far from us, but we had stopped actively looking for each other, so we missed her. She had two of the foil blankets and even kept one on under her vest to stay warm for the rest of the ride. Anyway, we didn't linger and actually left ahead of her. So when she came up from behind and greeted me, I damn near fell off the bike.
With the wet and cold conditions there were a few incidents with riders needing patching up, but I don't think there were any really serious accidents, although the sweep vehicles always seemed to have a few bikes in their carriers. One notable difference from last year was the number of flats. There seemed to be someone with a flat tire every couple of kilometers. I was particularly careful on railway crossings this time, and even so felt my rear tire sliding sideways on one of them. There was one particularly badly angled one where the ride monitors were stopping riders and making them walk across. I think that saved a lot of mayhem.
Sarah and I stayed fairly close together for the rest of the ride, and for the last stretch we skipped the final pit stop and kept going for the last 12 km. I was drafting her for much of this part, but it was not as good as drafting a group, and in the end I dropped behind and was several hundred meters behind near the end when a group of girls we had passed went by me. At that point Sarah had slowed down to allow me to catch up, but I wasn't closing the gap, until I attached myself to the young ladies, and suddenly I was right back up with her. There was the usual hoopla at the finish line, with deafening music and announcements of who was crossing.
We were too pooped to take up an offer of a wine tour and dinner with a friend who came to the finish, and we took off for home as soon as we changed into dry clothes and had our mandatory beer to celebrate completion. With no hitches heading home, we were faced with a 45 minute border crossing in the regular lines. However, Sarah with no Nexus card, offered to ride her bike across. We decided that we had nothing to lose, and stopped a few hundred meters short of the border (by this time in the Nexus lane) and let her out with her bike and pack. We breezed across the border with no delay, and Sarah was over to join us in a few minutes, since the bikes avoid the automobile lineup. So there's another plug for Nexus, it really is the only way to deal with border (and airport) security!
Back home, I'm certainly not wanting to ride another 120 km today, but I still did 20 or so to a medical appointment that had been canceled by mail during the mail strike. In any event, the legs ache, but once more, I'm happy to have survived, and I might just be up to it again next year.
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