Wishing you nuttin but Tailwinds, Megs ~

[yvonne]

have a wonderful time this weekend! You've done the work, so now it's time to enjoy the ride! We'll be thinking of you and, and texting you with stage updates, lol!

when it gets tough; just take it one pedal stroke at a time ~

Y.

[megale3]

Thanks Y! You are the best team mate a guy could have and I wait with anticipation till the day when we can ride together and amongst many friends. And soon I am off to Performance Bicycles to get some last minute sham lube :D
Meg

[RaffCycles]

Mike, have a great time and good luck.

[BFSpin]

Have a blast, Mike! Here's hoping for dry pavements, cool temps, and the wind at your back :D

I'll be in touch . . .

Beth

[SpinBob]

Have a great ride Meg, can't wait to hear the details...

[lizardbiker]

Yeah Megs!
Can't wait to read your ride report prose - always pure poetry! Hope I was able to suck all the headwinds and rain away from your area so you could have a great ride!

[megale3]

Hey guys here it is.
We left town Friday afternoon to get dropped off on our heads at the U of W in Seattle. When we hit Tacoma the traffic was bad and that was just at 3 PM. Seems someone decide to exchange insurance information with another in the middle of interstate 1-5. We stopped at a local Starbucks got coffee and also bought the Willie Nelson CD and listened to many of the songs he made famous for the rest of the trip. We got to the dorm room at nearly 7 o’clock . It was a warm seattle night so went site seeing down in the university area and got a chicken burger and watched bikes and people drift by the windows of the cafee. There were Pinerellos, Treks , Torelli's, Giants, Specialized and Cannondales. Occasionally a old steel thrill would go by and we'd look as if we were looking at a classic Mustang or Camero. After that we walked to the local Performance Bike store that was going to be open all night. Let me tell you that is the biggest store:o It dwarfed any in Oregon and the amount of offerings that they had we never see on our side of the Columbia -Washington you are spoiled.:D Made it to our rooms and set up the kit for the next day’s festive beginnings. We were awoken up early by the sounds of car horns at 4:30 am looked out from the balcony and saw the line of traffic going into the stadium field. We were tired but the excitement of the ride drove us to shower and get on with it. Not wasting time we donned or kit and went down the elevator for the express ride to the field where we met the rest of the team that were already there and waiting for or 6 o’clock start time. Warm morning weather we made it without fail and off into the city we went at a whooping 10 mph:mad:
People were rude and doing crazy things which led to someone doing a face plant and they were not moving or responding afterward :( We managed to get out of Seattle with no scrape or scratch and leaving the majority of our 8999 closet friends to deal with the road behind. Our first 4 hours in the saddle summed up the priorities of the 6 man team that we had assembled from work and the gym and it looked like 22's were the mph that we were all comfy with. Some steep hills exploded our group but we got back together shortly after acheiving it. Puyallup was one such hill with a false summit and a twisty bit in the middle it proved to be a lactic one indeed. Once we reached the actual summit our pay for work preformed was a speedy decent into the wooded area of Napavine and the 30 mile pace line work that was to come in the bike path that was in its second year after completion. People started hopping on the back of our line as we past and soon the single line turned to double and this kept up for miles until some tired and feel off the back. A team with full kit passed us at one point and they looked strong -all of a sudden I heard the sound of clacking gears, and I knew we were going to be pushing as the front two guys did not like being passed. For the next 10 miles we were in a 26 mph chase. We finally made it to the other teams rear wheel and then only a few more miles away we actually came to a rest stop and the whole drama stopped to the beat of protein, carbs and hydration. The stories flung and the laughter commenced. A few more frozen grapes (do this do this now yummm) and I was ready noting that large groups of riders started showing up .Back on the bikes and off for our last 30 miles to go to Vader Washington where we hooked up with a tandem and was pulled the rest of the way. OMG they were fast. I stayed at my brothers house with Noah ,a friend from work, my family showed up and we BQ’d and drank large quantities of beers (Black Butte Porter Mat) and then got to bed -the next day which was only 80 miles and it starts with a big climb to rollers (YAY!) I got to the top of the climb first and enjoyed the free wheel down the first 2 sets when the guys caught up. Milt took the lead since he’s got the weight of the bunch and has no fear - we kept up the pace until we reached the Longview bridge and cruised back into Oregon at 40 mph to HW 30 which is Gods way of laughing at us. It’s a miserable ride that is a constant 3% with a turn up hill of 4% to the next 3% grade which stays constant for 20 miles to St Helens, Oregon. In St Hellens we were just ahead of a group of three that got hit by a drunk driver and were sent to the hospital- This at around 10 o’clock in the morning too.
Just 20 more miles and we reached Holiday park at 11:20am and were done happy and with beer. Someone in the group has pictures some one will send then I’ll share. Legs are hollow today did not commute to work by bike. I will tomorrow.
Mike

[lizardbiker]

Sounds like there was an awesome turnout! Great report, as always!

[Pink]

Very, very nice!

[Mark M]

How many miles in this ride? It sounds almost "lizard-like." A 20 mile chase at 26 mph is a little draining. Don't you think?:D

[megale3]

How many miles in this ride? It sounds almost "lizard-like." A 20 mile chase at 26 mph is a little draining. Don't you think?:D
It was only 10 miles and tongues were a wagging :D
Its fun to be riding with a group of people with nothing better to do:) I wouldn't have been able to do it alone you can save 30% of your effort in a slip stream while drafting. Hey did you get your email Mark?
Mike

[Mark M]

It was only 10 miles and tongues were a wagging :D
Its fun to be riding with a group of people with nothing better to do:) I wouldn't have been able to do it alone you can save 30% of your effort in a slip stream while drafting. Hey did you get your email Mark?
Mike

Yes, I got the file. Thanks so very much. Riding fast is fun. It will be even more fun when my Garmin comes in that I ordered. I can't wait to look at 6 cycling indicators while I'm on someone's wheel just a drafting. Life is good.;)

[Moonsavvy]

Wow sounds like you had a blast!

[megale3]

It was fun! What I did not mention is that 2 different times I got dropped for what ever reasonand and had to fight my way back to the group. I was most proud of regaining the draft. Sometimes its not leading its just catching up :D
Meg

[BFSpin]

Mike, awesome as ever :D

Someday, someday . . . I'm gonna head west, young(?) woman, head west and ride out there with you (i.e. wheel-suck). No really - I'm not afraid of doing my share of work in the front. Really. Even though I've been told that I suck at it because I need to be wider/taller.

Now where are those pictures?

Excellent as always!

B

[megale3]

Mike, awesome as ever :D

Someday, someday . . . I'm gonna head west, young(?) woman, head west and ride out there with you (i.e. wheel-suck). No really - I'm not afraid of doing my share of work in the front. Really. Even though I've been told that I suck at it because I need to be wider/taller.

Now where are those pictures?

Excellent as always!

B
One of the guys should be coughing them up soon other wise they will be the ugly ones that the marathon photo people take :D Have fun on the MS 150 you knwo those back 2 backs are a fun gig and a lil taste of what the tour is like
M