We hit the road bumps early on in this ride.

Chris and I set out at 7am from a gas station in Bellevue on our way to the first control in Index. We were chatting and catching up, riding towards the farms out past Fall City, when we hit our first road block. The road was closed until mid October. We decided to chance it and ride through. Local construction workers forced us back on a detour through local back roads. All the signs said that the detour went through the neighborhood. We followed for miles and miles. There was about 20 minutes until the control would be “closed” and we had about 3 or 4 miles to cover… no problem. At the very end of the road is when we finally hit another road closure sign. The only way back was out to the main road, about 6 miles back. Between the two detours, we lost 15 miles and rolled in to our first control 30 minutes late.

Chris and I have been working towards a R-12 award, and he needed this ride for the month. I started to get pretty onery about the whole situation. Not making a control isn’t exactly how I wanted our day to roll out. We accepted facts, debated a bit about whether or not they would take an exception, and decided to push on to make the next control. A bad day on a bike always beats a great day at work.

We rolled through quite a few familiar roads much like on the start of the 600k. I took note at how much slower it seemed to go this time. I don’t think that my pace was much slower, time just seemed to move at a different speed. It is funny how these rides can unfold on me. Certain moments of each ride will really stand out while others are lost to an icy glaze and a bit of day dreaming. I do my best to keep safe, but it is hard to not shut out your surroundings once in awhile on a 12-24 hour bike ride.

One of the real highlights of the ride was between the first and second control on the lead in to the tiny town of Index, Washington. The roads got us off of US-2 quickly and on to some back roads headed toward the pass. I think we were passed by exactly 3 cars in 15 miles, one of them a gravel truck working in the area, and another a garbage truck doing its rounds.

There was a (seemingly) long climb with some gravel sections on a windy road into Index. It was really beautiful and peaceful. We rode side by side and talked about whether or not we would lose all of the elevation we were gaining before we got to town.

Surprisingly, we didn’t lose too much. Index is hidden just a mile off of US-2 and has maybe a couple of dozen houses and a general store. The locals were very friendly and quizzed us down about our bicycles and destination.

Shortly after leaving, we finally got to ride on the Old Cascade Highway. It held some pleasant, low traffic roads that snaked around US-2. It was a wonderful alternative to the slow steady (and very high traffic) course on the highway.

Eventually we were dumped back on to the highway to complete the climb. My legs were aching and I was almost out of water. There aren’t any services between the base of the climb and the peak. I knew from experience that the nearest store or rest stop was 15-20 miles downhill. Yes, it is downhill, but it still takes time to get to. Chris helped us find a water fountain tap at the Steven’s Pass ski lodge and we were good to go.

Thankfully, we had enough foresight to put on some jackets and heavy gloves before starting the always fun bomb down the mountain. The second we hit the road, the rain started to pelt us hard. When you are going 40 mph downhill, the rain can almost start to hurt. It seemed to be hitting my eyes directly between my hat and glasses. I had trouble seeing anything, but made it safely down the first steep section. It is always an amazing rush.

Coming down the east side of the pass is more of a slog than it should be, thanks to a few steep inclines and a good portion of hot, flat roads. Chris helped me by setting a respectable pace that forced me to push myself a bit. There is always a section of every ride that my body just wants to slow down. It usually takes about 10 or 15 miles to get over it. Thankfully, I didn’t lose his wheel though.

Chris commented that this portion of US-2 has some of the most beautiful views of the Cascades. There is a wall of mountains right next to you, and a river follows most of the road in to Leavenworth. We pushed on through some bad headwinds to finally turn that last beautiful corner in to town. Chris’ wife Emily was nice enough to pick us up (and drop us off earlier). It would have been a long ride home otherwise.

We clocked almost 150 miles in 11 hours (including stops of course). It didn’t shatter my slow 200k streak, but it put a good dent into those times.

I need to take time off work to ride a bike more often.