Sarah picked me up, and we headed south. This year the ride started south of Chehalis at a church on the Jackson Hwy. We met up with Ginny at the church. Chris Brewer and his doppelgänger, Sam Loska were also there. Chris was gathering a bunch of us together to roll out at the same time. All but two other guys (Dave and Mark) were doing the 70 mile route. Dave and Mike were doing the 50. We were ready to roll shortly after 8:00.
The “Twins” (Sam and Chris), Ginny, me, and Sarah.
Ginny and Chris
Sarah, Dave and Mike.
At the first rest stop (which is barely 10 miles in), we had lost Mike and Dave (their choosing). Even though it seemed we had just started, we still took advantage of the rest stop offerings. I had a banana and a cookie (homemade). We all rolled out together.
This year there was a last minute route diversion due to the Toledo/Vader overpass over I-5 being closed because an over-height truck having slammed into it. No problem…we just went down the other side of the freeway, and under the bridge at the bottom of the hill. That was the only road of the entire ride that I had never been on.
At Vader we got stopped by a train.
This break made possible by Burlington Northern!
In Winlock, Chris was looking at the weather while we waited for the rest to catch up. He was saying he had no problems cutting it short if it was going to be rainy. We decided we would go on to the next rest stop at Evaline School and decide there. It had started to rain before we got to the school. Once there, we enjoyed the homemade cookie selection, and various other goodies.
Gu, bars, potatoes, hard boiled eggs, cheese sticks, and homemade cookies galore!
Chris and Sarah decided they would take a short cut back (advantage of Chris knowing the area very well). Ginny wanted to keep riding, and I wanted to keep riding, but Sarah was my ride home. I asked Sam if he wanted to keep riding. He did. Then I asked if he could carry two bikes. He could! And, he lives fairly close to me! So, it was settled. Sam, Ginny, and I would continue on. Sarah would just put my bag in the church at the end. As we went our separate ways, I thanked Chris and Sarah because, by them turning back, Sam, Ginny, and I were guaranteed good weather (it’s Karma you know)!
Sure enough, the rain stopped, and the sun came out! At least for awhile. Then it would rain for a short bit. The sun would come out again, and we would dry off. This intermittent rain showers would continue the rest of the ride, but there was more dry than wet.
We pulled up to rest stop #3 at the historic Claquato Church. A woman started walking toward me with her bike. She said, “Are you Colleen?” I said to her, “Are you Sue?” It was Sue Doolittle who I had sold Betsy my Bike Friday to several years ago. And, the last time I had ridden with her was on this very ride!
Claquato Church (that’s Sue in the red jacket).
Also, Debbie Thomas was there. Debbie and I have ridden and raced together many times. She was doing the 50 mile route. She was pretty tired as she hasn’t been able to ride as much as she would like lately (the J-O-B gets in the way). She joined our little posse, and we rode on together. Gave me a little time to catch up with what she’s been doing.
We made our way into Centralia, and onto the bike path along the freeway (I’ll be doing this path again on June 10th…our first day heading to the Trans Am Route). Of course, we went around the airport (it’s shorter to just keep straight). The wind really picked up, and another rain squall passed over. But, by the time we got into Chehalis, the rain had stopped.
Out of Chehalis we rode by Stan Hedwall Park which was where the ride used to start. We did the squiggly La Brea Rd, and passed back over I-5. Two race team guys rode by Sam and I. We caught up to them when we crossed the freeway. They were not too far ahead, and Sam asked if we should bridge to them. I said, “Let’s do it!” We caught up to them, but I didn’t have the legs to keep up. As we made a turn, Sam said we should wait for Debbie and Ginny anyway. We waited, but they didn’t come. Sam rode back a bit, but came back, and said he didn’t see them. He messaged Ginny, but no response (not surprised). We continued on, but after we turned onto another road, Sarah sent Sam Ginny’s number. As he was calling her, we could see someone coming. It was Ginny. Debbie wasn’t with her because it turns out the 50 mile route did not go the exact same way as the 70 for the rest of the way. Debbie followed the 50. So, we were back to our posse of three.
With what we thought was 6 miles to go, Sam had a flat. His tires are tubeless, so he put a plug in. He pumped up the tire, but it wasn’t holding air. He put another plug in beside the other one, and as he was pumping it up again, he noticed another puncture that was leaking sealant. He plugged that one, and once again pumped up the tire. It still wouldn’t hold air. He put a tube in, and I gave him CO2. He said it seemed like it took an eternity to fix the flat, but it was really only about 20 minutes or so. Plus it had stopped raining, so no big deal.
Trying, but not successful with the tire plugs.
We had the second of two climbs that initiated the climb profile. We finished the climb, then before we knew it, we were back to the start! Seriously, we almost rode past it! We had only come 68.4 miles! The route was advertised as 70 (they round up), and the RWGPS route said it was 72.3. So, we were a bit surprised when all of a sudden we were back! Mind you, we weren’t disappointed as it was just starting to rain again.
They had fresh grilled cheeseburgers, chips, cake, and more cookies! Debbie was still there, and my bag was waiting for me!
Sam brought me home. We were really glad we didn’t cut the ride short. The weather wasn’t really that bad, and Sam and I agreed that it’s good to prove to ourselves that we can ride in inclement weather (I mean, really…we do it ALL WINTER LONG!!!).
The next post will be from Oregon in a couple of days!
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