May 22nd, Cesar and I rode the SIR "Fear is the Mind Killer" 400k out of Bothel, north of Seattle. This time I splurged for a hotel 3 miles from the start; Cesar stayed at a relative's house. Again the start was casual and Cesar was late, so we rolled out at 6:08, when everyone else was gone. The forecast said virtually zero chance of rain, so I decided to YOLO it and leave the rain gear at home. We were never more than a few miles from a town, so I chanced it. From Bothel we headed toward the West Point Lighthouse for the first of many info controls. From there we rode along Puget Sound waterfront, hitting points for controls, all the way to Tacoma. Somewhere in this stretch Cesar is asking me what kind of person would ride a 400k, sleep a few hours, then ride a 200k. I have no answer. The run out from Tacoma to Port Defiance for an info control was a bit trafficy, as was the return. This first segment from Bothel to Tacoma had numerous short, sharp climbs as we rose 500 ft above sea level and back down again and again and again. Once or twice, my front wheel rose off the pavement on sharp climbs. Leg zapping stuff. We had a leisurely lunch at Pie and Pint in Tacoma, burning an hour dining outdoors in the sunshine. The segment from Tacoma for the next few hours was a bit unpleasant with aggressive traffic; a few motorists in particular expressed their displeasure with our existence. Around sunset the traffic died down, the world shrunk down to what our headlights illuminated, and the riding got a bit more pleasant. Somewhere along here we stopped and lay down in the grass for 5 minutes for a much needed break. The highest elevation was 1300 ft at mile 155; the next 50 miles was almost all downhill. Subway for dinner at mile 160 was quick, followed by a staffed control at mile 187 with hot soup and coffee. The run in into Seattle is a blur of climbs, complicated trail navigations, long bridge crossings, again sharp climbs. I was so down on power it was ridiculous. With 9 miles to go, stopped for a road crossing, I got off the bike and sat on a concrete wall to contemplate things. Cesar looking at me like, what, dude? And I said "you know what I need?" "What", he answered. "To be done", I said. So we got on our bikes and TT'd it to the finish at 18-20 mph. For real. I have no idea where that came from. 251 miles, 11,900 ft, 21:56. Oh, it never rained.
Edit: I think I got some things out of sequence, but that's rando.
