Jane and I managed to snag a couple of colds on Wednesday or so. We were both pounding vitamins and drinking tons of water in hope that we could shake the major effects. It worked for me, but not so well for her. Regardless, she was awesome enough to stand out in the cold with Emily to volunteer for the SIR 300k on Saturday.

We got up at 4am to eat and get prepared for about an hour drive to Lacey for the start. Matt rode down from Capitol Hill to catch a ride, and we all met Chris, Joby and Emily so they could follow. I kept my cruise control on since I’ve been paranoid about tickets lately. The ladies grabbed us some pre-ride coffee and we all felt pretty good. It wasn’t raining like was expected, and we were all excited about what was ahead of us.

The first part of the trip took us north up to Johnson Point for some pleasant rolling hills and some expensive looking houses. The sun peaked out for a while and it was looking like it was going to be a really nice day. We were chatty and kept a really brisk pace up to the first control.

The route took us through Olympia and past the capitol building. The SIR photographer got a really epic shot of our group here. That is me up front, Chris in the olive green, Matt just behind him and Joby following up on the rear. That picture brings a tear to my eye.

We were happily surprised around mile 35 by a secret control manned by the super sexy wife duo. They fed us cookies, water and support. We were towards the front of the group at that point. It isn’t a big concern of mine how fast we finish, but it is nice to know that you have it in you to do well. We fueled up and rolled out in to some beautiful back country roads that are apparently also popular with ATVs and dirt bikes. My favorite road of the whole ride was here. I can’t seem to remember if it was “D-Line” or the road before it, but it was smooth paved, had a river rolling along the whole length of it, and no traffic.

Shortly after the secret control was the start of my problems though. I heard a really bad squeal coming from my bike. I knew that it was fender related, but I couldn’t pinpoint the problem. Another rider pointed out that the bracket holding my rear fender snapped off. We spent what felt like an eternity trying to rig zip ties in a position that would a) hold up my fender and b) not rub on my tires for the remaining 150+ miles. We MacGyver‘d a solution that seem to work, but was probably shaky at best.

We passed a building that was on fire and almost burnt to the ground. Fire crews were standing around waiting for it to finish. It was pretty surreal.

Around the 60 mile mark we ended up at a control in a town called Porter. It was in a little “grocery and deli” store that had some awesome tater tots. The place had a very… country feel to it. There was lots of hunting memorabilia on the walls including children holding severed deer heads. On our way out of there, it started to rain. It was never a heavy rain, but it continued to rain for the rest of the ride almost non stop.

Somewhere after Porter, my rear fender decided to collapse beyond repair. Luckily Matt had some pliers on hand or else I would have been in real trouble. I took off the new taillight that I just recently mounted (:() and re-routed the wiring to flow up the top tube so we could (ahem) zip tie the tail light to my saddlebag rack. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. I was forced to ditch the fender all together in a ditch somewhere. I feel bad, I’m not the type to litter like that… but it was a long day.

No rear fender + 120 miles of rain = filthy back and legs. I was skunk striped for the remainder of the ride. It was pretty brutal.

By this point we were towards the back of the pack and desperate for some real food. The kind that can’t be stuffed in to a packet that I open with my teeth. We figured that since the next control was a “grocery” store, they would have some food. It made sense right? We got there and it was like a wasteland. The seedy gas station in my neighborhood has a better food selection. I picked up an overpriced turkey Lunchables and seriously considered it for a minute or two. The other guys were kicking around soup that they wouldn’t be able to warm up. We all decided to stop at a restaurant nearby and get something substantial, regardless of how long it would take.

We commandeered the space heater and set up 2 chairs to dry off various pieces of clothing. I just did my best to not get mud on anything that couldn’t be wiped off. Everyone in the place was very chatty and were amazed at how stupid we must have looked ridding for so long in the rain. The food was pretty damn good and the waitress was sweet. Joby later said that he was going to send her a “thank you” card. We ended up there for well over an hour though, and I was getting antsy that we might not make the next few controls.

Most of us felt better once we hit the road again but I could tell that a few of us were having a rough time getting the food to settle properly, and all of the endless hills didn’t really help the situation. There was a turn missed in Vader and it ate up a little more time getting back on track. We were all pumping to make it to the mini mart in Chehalis that held the next time cut off. We managed to make it in with 30 minutes to spare. The woman at the counter claimed to have no idea what the deal was with the SIR control cards. We talked her in to signing them with the time anyways.

It was pretty dark by this point and our lights were guiding us through the unlit roads. We must have looked like a really slow motorcycle gang to oncoming cars. There were moments where I felt like I was on hallucinogens as deer ran along side of the road next to us and we dodged frogs crossing. Nothing quite seemed real but everything was beautiful. We were all exhausted buy excited by the possibility that we could really finish this thing… and on time.

There was a hill top control manned by the ladies and it was really damn good to see them. They had chairs ready and some heaters for the feet. We stuffed down as much food as possible but wanted to keep it short. I could have probably fallen asleep if given long enough there. Jane just kept saying how proud she was and it was nice to have them there. I kept thinking about a conversation we had with a guy manning a secret control on the 200k. He said that he called his wife and said, “Don’t ever let me do this again.” Two weeks later he was prepping for the 400k. I knew exactly how he was feeling.

We grinded the next 20 miles at a brisk pace. There were a few other riders that we caught up with and they grabbed our wheel for awhile. They kept a little distance from me though. I was forced on to the back of the pack since my wheel was spraying so much water all day.

The last 20 miles netted Chris 2 more flats, including one 2 1/2 miles from the finish. Still, I’ve never been so happy to see strip malls and chain hotels. There was pizza and chips and soda waiting for us. Oh, and coffee was there too. God I love coffee.

Thanks to everyone that helped and supported. You are all amazing.