Around this time last year, Jane and I were preparing for the biggest ride of our lives – Seattle to Portland. I got out of the hospital around the start of April and only had three goals for the year.
1) Get married
2) Stay healthy
3) Seattle to Portland

They all looked equally daunting at the time.

The second my blood counts were up, I was back on the bike. It had been months and months since I was able to ride and it was one of the things that I missed the most. There is no worse feeling than a sunny day that you can’t get outside into.

Neither of us were in any shape to ride that kind of distance, but we got to work on training for it. The ride is infamous for not being “that hilly” for a 200 mile ride. With that in mind, we spent most of our time working on getting our butts in shape for the distance itself. The problem with this logic was that we never really got in shape for the hills that are there. Compared to SIR rides, STP is a Saturday stroll, but to a couple of couch potatoes, we were in for trouble.

Around this time last year, one of our few rides with an actual climb was a 70 mile loop from home to Black Diamond. The elevation gain only gets to about 800 feet and it is spread out over about 9 miles. SIR runs the hill the opposite direction to cover the same elevation gain in under 2 miles. When we were going up the hill last year, Jane was whimpering and cursing me for making her go up the hill. We had a number of stops for a water/butt break along the way. There is a little last hill at the top just to make sure you are feeling the burn before you get to the bakery.

This Sunday, Jane, Chris’ wife Emily, our friend Boo and I set out around 11am to conquer Black Diamond again to train for this year’s Seattle to Portland. It is nice to ride with these ladies for a number of reasons. First, I don’t feel like I am going to collapse a lung trying to keep on their wheel. Second, they always have some entertaining conversations going for most of the ride. Joby, Chris and I tend to keep fairly quiet on our rides in general.

I wanted to keep this ride generally a training ride though, so I took the single speed IF with me.

It was a beautiful day for a ride. The clouds were looming overhead but they never let the rain loose. There was quite a bit of wind, but not enough to make pedaling a pain. Boo and Emily chatted while Jane and I practiced our no hands riding skills. We seemed to get to Auburn very quickly and were at the base of the climb in no time.

I am happy to report that everyone crushed Black Diamond yesterday. There was no stopping and everyone looked fresh. The idea of a big tuna sandwich at Black Diamond Bakery was sounding lovely.

We got the usual negative energy “city folk” stares from various bakery patrons, but we ate like animals anyways.

The return part of the loop back to Auburn is one of my favorites because it starts with a couple of rollers to get you warmed up, then drops you (very quickly) down into the farmlands of the adjacent valley. There is a decent shoulder, accommodating traffic, and plenty of animals to wave at. It seemed to pass by all too quickly back to the …. shall we say… less scenic, downtown Auburn.

We practiced our pace lines up the Interurban trail most of the ride home. All in all, it was a beautiful day and a great ride. I am very proud of all of the ladies. They are going to kill STP this year.