Deal completed, PR released

St. Helens gets my award for the best rest stop. There was a huge amount of food, attractively presented and continuously replenished, cut into convenient sized bits. They had tents set up over the food. And best of all, they had sun. There were clouds, but the sun was warm enough that I took off my tights and leg warmers, took off my soaked shoes and socks and laid them on sunny concrete. The sky around the sun was a deep blue contrasting with the white and grey of the clouds. We must have sat there for 45 minutes absorbing the warmth and the food before heading out for the last 30 miles. Now I was really ready to hammer, I was warm, my feet were dry, I was well fed, and the end was in sight. One final stop to replenish the gatorade supply and we were rolling towards the promised land, Portland State University. We were rolling fast. "We've ridden 90 miles, and we're doing 23 mph, uphill, against a headwind. What's wrong?" Nothing as it turns out. I was just feeling frisky. We had a brief sprinkle as we flanked a rain shower. I picked up the pace to get out of it faster. We were still passing people (left, left, on your left) but we gained a couple of hangers on. I was past the point of caring, since I had basically pulled for the last 50 miles, Matt's uphill speed being the limiting factor. The Wind actually turned into a tailwind for a little while, so I picked up the pace even farther. I've determined that I have much more fun when I'm going fast, and that big ring touring is definitely the way to go. doing stoplight sprints with a guy on a trek 9500 for the last mile or two in to the finish. Matt and I were passing people like they were standing still. I don't know why I had that much energy, I just did. I did smell a finish though. There was a lane, there were people cheering, a finish line. Time to SPRINT. That is what racing teaches you. Finish lines are where you put in the effort. I was somewhat disappointed when they kept saying Slow Down for the finish. That was about the one time that I've had a crowd cheering at a finish. Usually they are just interest in the first finishers. Bike check area in Portland. We could leave our bikes and not have to be continually worried about them. In fact, I think Bike Check/ Bike Valet parking should be part of more events, cycling and non cycling. Hot showers in Portland. Lots of hot water with enough pressure to massage aching muscles. I hate to say it, but the water was almost too hot... The three people who pulled through in the pacelines. It was very nice of you. I am impressed at the efficiency of the return trip. Loading bikes in to a moving van and people into a bus for the trip back worked very well. We had something of an exuberant group in the bus. Due to a 16 mile backup on I-5, we went back along the STP route for the bus trip. Lou "the man", our driver was cheered very well for this intrepid routing decision. Plus, it let us watch for people still on the bike. The farthest one out was 40 miles to go at 8pm. I don't know if he made it. I certainly hope those we passed were the one day riders, since they were out rather late. Lou also mentioned something about seat cushions being flotation devices in the unlikely event of a water landing. We passed another bus with cries of "Show them what you can do", and "On your right". the inhabitants of that bus didn't look like they were enjoying their ride as much as we were. And now for the Best and Worst, Cheers and Jeers.

Last time a murder timeline, this time a bike race. And off a website, too! Go read!

By the way, I was thrown by the bit about taking tights off, but this was actually written by a bloke called Eric.