The day
started out a bit iffy: I turned on the Garmin … and the course was NOT
there. Turns out I had merely downloaded
it to my computer, but not to the Garmin device itself. Sigh.
Oh well, the cue sheet looked pretty impressive … so HOW could anything
go wrong?
My other
issue was lack of training. I’d actually
been riding frequently, of late, but had kind of omitted the distance
thing. My longest ride this year was the
previous Saturday: 38 whopping miles.
Somewhat to
my relief, things were going OK. It was
a fairly flat course and there is a LOT to be said for that. My cruising speed, which has started to suck
in recent years, had not improved, but it hadn’t got much worse, either. I was staying ahead of Rando pace.
All of this
changed at mile 52 when I arrived at a T and encountered these cues:
| 0.4 | 52.0 | Continue straight onto Sweet Rd |
| 1.7 | 53.7 | Continue onto Hughes Ave |
| 0.2 | 53.9 | Turn left onto Bell Rd |
| 0.4 | 54.3 | Continue onto US-99/WA-548 S/Blaine Rd |
“Continue” –
an interesting choice of words. Left
FELT correct; right made more geographical sense.
I opted for
left. I crossed I-5 without seeing any
signs for Hughes. Immediately after I-5
was the correct turn. I don’t recall
noticing it, however, nor any sign for Bell Rd.
I continued on, shortly arriving at US-99/WA-548 S/Blaine Rd. Sadly, it WAS signed: Peace Portal Dr. Sigh-o-rama.
All of this
convinced me that I had turned the WRONG way at the T. So, I biked all of the way back (uphill) and
continued in the other direction (very STEEP uphill). Then the road turned left (unsigned) and
continued UP. I wondered about doing
THIS in the big ring.
Eventually
the road Teed at H Street, which was a big descent into the heart of
Blaine. This did NOT do my morale much
good, especially because it had now started to rain. I continued west until I hit the water. I knew I need to be south, so I turned that
direction. I stopped at a store and
asked directions. They told me to
continue south.
I came
across Hughes, I came across Bell. I
arrived at the control: 10 extra miles (and not FLAT ones, either, sigh).
I was ~25
minutes in the hole. I had a quick snack
and continued.
By the next
control, to my disappointment, I had only gained TWO minutes. My legs were feeling tired, and my cruising
speed was not what it needed to be to overcome the deficit.
A bit
before Ferndale it was time to turn lights on and put on rain gear.
At the
Loomis Trail Road info control it was time to advance to the last page of my
cue sheet. But wait: somehow that page
was gone! I phoned Dan Turner,
explaining I was going to be the big Hors but could he please dictate the cues
for me and I would write them down. Dan
graciously complied, then suggested he come and get me.
I pondered
his offered … especially thinking about having to drive home, get a little bit
of sleep, and get myself to Mercer Island for the half marathon. I accepted!
I biked on
and Dan and I encountered each other in Lynden. I had put in 122 miles and felt OK.
I got home
at 00:20.
The next morning I made it
to Mercer Island OK, having taken two buses (getting to the start of this run, by ANY mode, truly sucks, so busing isn't too bad).
My legs were tired, at the gun, but they were moving. It wasn’t until ~ mile 10.5 that they seemed
to have turned into lead weights. But, I
finished. And, it was a gorgeous day.
And a
pretty good weekend!
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