Reach the Beach Play By Play

I was a little distracted on Saturday and didn't get a whole lot of pictures, not even one at the finish line. So this will have to do. I don't remember which stop this was, but it was in the first half of the ride. I still look pretty fresh, don't I?

It turned out to be a great day. We got to the start at 6:30, picked up our packets, and were on the road by 7:15. It was already nearly 80 degrees, I'd wager. As fate would have it, a very rare heat wave rolled into Oregon 2 days before the race. Saturday broke records.

The crowd was not what I'd call typical Portland. Few costumes or crazy bikes. This was the spandex contingent all the way, all geared up with fancy road bikes. I did see a handful of recumbents, 3 tandems, and two crazy guys on unicycles. We passed them at mile 10, and again at mile 60 where they were resting uncomfortably in a ditch. They rolled into the finish line about 6:30 that evening.

The ride was very well supported, with rest stops every 12-15 miles that offered food, water, gatorade, and sunscreen. I used my new bike computer to monitor our pace. We started out strong, averaging 17 mph to the first rest stop. The next leg saw some hills, but as it turned out, there wasn't anything nearly as daunting as what I'd been training on. In fact, I barely felt the climbs, and found myself rolling comfortably past a number of road bikes. Harrison said nothing gave him greater joy than to watch me blow past them on my mountain bike with pink fenders. When he caught up to me, he tried to flash me the hardcore sign. Unfortunately, he has a brain disorder which appears to keep him from straightening his index finger and pinky at the same time, so he settled on the "Peace" sign instead.

Harrison started struggling early due to the heat. He drank plenty of water, but lost lots of salt and didn't start using electrolytes until it was too late. He cramped up, and we slowed down a bit. Still, we completed the first 50 miles in 4 hours, and on the road we were averaging well over 15mph. We took an hour's break in Amity to allow Harrison to recover, and got back on the road about 12:30.

I rode behind Harrison most of the day, and it definitely reduced the work I had to do. I nicknamed him "Easy Draft".

Around mile 70, we ended up on a miserable stretch of highway. There were lane closures, and cars were backed up for miles. Bikers had a narrow strip of road to the right to ride in, and passing was nearly impossible. We ended up behind a group of 5 that was doing 10mph, and we weren't able to get around them until just before the course turned onto a quieter road.

Mile 75 is when I really started to feel it. I was losing steam, and the open countryside was giving off some demoralizing headwinds. We had a second lunch at Grand Ronde at mile 76, and I continued to struggle up some hills for the next nine miles. Then it flattened out and started descending toward the coast.

Much of this part was forested, with a river running beside us. But when we got into the open, the headwinds were powerful. We stopped briefly at mile 98, and I checked my bike computer. We were averaging exactly 15mph. But the winds were so strong at that point, we knew we couldn't keep it up. And to add to that, the course didn't end at 100 miles. Or 101. The actual length was 104.3 miles!

The bikers were so spread out by then that they were trickling in at the finish line, and the fanfare the early arrivers must have enjoyed had mostly been spent. A woman did congratulate us and put leis around our necks. It was almost exactly 5:00. Our overall average speed - 14.9mph. Max speed for me: 36mph. Actual time spent on a bike, just a few seconds under 7 hours.

We headed pretty quickly for the beach party buffet. I barely remember what I ate, only that I ate a lot of it. After that, I went to the Porta-Potty to peel the spandex off. I'd gotten a heat rash around my legs from the elastic. Next we hit the bar for a beer and a shot while Harrison's wife Haley ate dinner. She drove us back to Portland, and we quickly passed out for the ride.

My plan yesterday was to do absolutely nothing. But after so many weeks of training, it was hard to sit still. I did leave my bike alone for the day though, and took a walk instead to the waffle stand 1/2 mile from my house. Oddly enough, I'm not sore from the experience. But I'm glad I didn't have to do it again the next day!

Thanks to everyone who donated to the cause or sent words of encouragement during my training. It was a really fabulous experience, and I expect I'll be doing something like it again soon.