Seattle to Portland: Whew! That was a tough ride this year. We had intermittent rain the first day, which was pleasant to me since it did gently wash the salts off my face and skin, but the second day was miserable - throughout most of the morning, from 6AM to noon, a continual rain, declining temps, and slick roads, made this a tough ride. There is nothing quite as dangerous as riding over angled wet railroads tracks. A few riders wiped out on those. Thankfully the rains stopped so the ride up and over the metal deck of the Lewis and Clark bridge over the Columbia Gorge was a tad safer.
I did very well overall; my time was considerably shorter than last year, and I did not have to stop as often. I still need to work out my indigestion problem. It seems though I maintained good hydration, I simply could not keep down the food, which led to bonking near the end of each day. Ah well, I started at 186 (carbo-loaded before the start) and ended up at 174 pounds. Now to keep this slim weight, that's a nice goal...
This is the 6:45AM wave waiting at the starting line.
This is a nice self photo at the start line.
