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On Thursday July 1st, I took my restored 1960 Flying Scot up to Fort Langley to ride in the BC Randonneur's "Canada Day 137 Populaire". The Canada Day Populaire celebrates the birthday of the Canadian federation of provinces and the length of the ride increases by one kilometer each year to coincide with the increase in age of the confederation. This being the 137th anniversary of the birth of Canada, the 2004 ride distance was 137 kilometers.

The randonee was a West - to- East - and - back ride, going east on a route on the north side of the Trans-Canada Highway through Clayburn and then up, up, and up to a control point at Straiton. From there we plunged down a very steep hill, before turning east and zig-zagging our way to Vedder. We returned from Vedder to Fort Langley, via Yarrow, Huntingdon, and Aldergrove on the south side of the highway. The whole ride was on good and mostly quiet roads. We had 9 railroad crossings to pay attention to, some of them multi-track, but they were all relatively smooth and easy to negotiate.

It was a beautiful ride. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the views of the foothills east of Mission and Abbottsford, and the Mount Baker region were spectacular. In addition, in the flat sections where there are acres and acres ( shouldn't that be "hectares and hectares") of raspberry farms , the air was permeated with the smell of raspberries for many kilometers. On the other hand, as we rode through the areas where there are cattle farms, the smells were reminiscent of those we encounter on the West Snoqualmie Valley road.

For me, the toughest part was on the flat section from Yarrow to Huntington. It should have been a breeze, but turned out to be a blast! The blast was a very strong south-west wind that was blowing. It seemed that no matter which direction I went, the wind was in my face. The harder I pedaled, the stronger the wind became.

Every aspect of the ride was very well organized. From sign-up in the morning to the finish in the afternoon, it went like clockwork, and included a wide range of different kinds of great snacks at the controls

The Flying Scot did great. It looked and worked as great at the end of the ride as it did in the beginning (Can't say the same for the rider!) For the last few kilometers of the ride, the new B17 saddle began to make its presence felt, but not enough to be any problem. I guess my body was pre-programmed for a 137K ride and since (as you will read below), I actually did 148 K, my rear end was protesting against the additional distance that it had not contracted for.

Just to make the day complete, when I arrived back at Fort Langley, and was approaching the finish line, a Pipe Band started up playing "Scotland the Brave". I thanked the BC Randonneurs at the finish for going to all that bother to hire a band just to greet me. None of them had the heart to burst my bubble, and let me know that the Pipe Band was part of the Canada Day celebration and would have been playing, regardless of my presence or absence.

There was great interest in, and admiration for, the Flying Scot and the beautiful restoration job. At the start, at the finish, and at every control point people were inspecting it and asking questions. It was nice to be among a group of people who had empathy for the tradition, and could relate to the workmanship that went into the original build, and into the restoration. When I told people that Bob Freeman and the people at Elliott Bay Cycles had done most of the restoration work, I was quite surprised at number of people who already knew about the great work that they do. I should already have known that would happen.

My elapsed time for the ride was not too good because of several actions on my part.

The first action was really stupid. The day before the ride, I got myself fully hydrated, and totally waterlogged. Then, on the day of the ride I got up, got my breakfast at 4:00am. Without even thinking, I did what I do every day before going to work, I took my blood-pressure tablet. Then I began the early morning drive to Fort Langley. Well, the tablet did it's thing, and as a result, I had to stop at a couple of Freeway Rest Stops on the way up (Three to be precise, north of Marysville, south of Lake Sammish, and just before the Border crossing). By the time I got to Fort Langley, I was dehydrated to the max, and was as dry as the Gobi Desert. It is nice to know that the tablet does what it is supposed to do. But, starting out on a long ride in a dehydrated condition is not a good idea, as I found out later on. The irony of this situation was that the BC Randonneurs had thoughtfully arranged that there would be Restroom facilities at all the control points, and here was me, unable take advantage of their hospitality. I felt so bad about not being able to make a contribution, after all their effort.

The second thing that affected my elapsed time was that somehow while looking for a shop that purportedly sells absolutely super ice cream, I missed a vital turn, before the Huntingdon control point and screwed around for about thirty minutes before I got going in the right direction. Every time I stopped to ask someone for directions, it turned out they were visitors from somewhere else, out celebrating Canada Day and had no idea. So I earned a few bonus kilometers as a reward for not paying attention. I rode 148K rather than 137K. Which raises the question, "Since I have already done 148K, am I exempt until the year 2016?" I cannot tell you whether the ice cream was as-good-as-advertised, because I never found the ice cream shop.

The last and happy reason for the long elapsed time was that the BC Randonnuers who operated the control points were so friendly, and interesting to talk too, I spent much more time talking at the various control points than I should. But, it wasn't a race, so it was worth it. I met a lot of very nice and interesting people.

I enjoyed the ride. I hope to be able to do it again next year. All birthday celebrations should be as good as this one.

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Twelve riders started out from Mark's house at 6am on a pleasant Friday morning. I managed to hang on to the tail of the fast moving group until we started the rise out of Issaquah. It was a nice way to quickly cover the first 25km but I knew it wouldn't last. An unexpected rain shower began just after Hobart and I indulged in a little grumbling to myself but it was fairly half-hearted as I was feeling good and glad to be setting off on my big goal for the year.

Mike Richeson caught up with me and we rode together into the Cumberland control and most of the day after that. The skies cleared after Cumberland and all we had then to contend with were the logging trucks that didn't seem to be in any mood to share the road with cyclists. I had several pass uncomfortably close. Crossing a bridge as we left Enumclaw Mike's map holder jumped ship and we had to make a quick stop and turn around to rescue it. The familiar roads through Buckley, Eatonville, and Elbe were quiet and rolling and drenched in sunshine. I was surprised to see the fast group just heading out of the Eatonville control as we came in but that would be my last sighting of them as the serious hills were awaiting.

Mike and I joined forces with John Kramer in Randle and started the long but beautiful climb up to Elk Summit. Being a Friday the roads again were quiet and we could peacefully ride side by side and talk (or pant) as desired. Mark's secret control brought the news that the fast group was now an hour ahead of us. The long descent from Elk Summit was great. A little to windy for me to let it all out and I didn't want to miss too much of the great views of Mt. St. Helens. The Burger Buggy in Northwoods was still open so we all enjoyed a nice meal before the last climb of the day.

Curly Creek Road was beautiful as the sun was setting behind me. John, Mike, and I had started out together but Mike realized he had left his mirror and turned back saying he would ride with Ray who had come in to the control not long before we left. John patiently waited for me to slog up the long hill and announced he had seen an elk. Very cool. Great views all the way too. It was time for lights before we hit the descent and I had to stop to adjust the angle of mine several times. Robin had given me the handy setup of the light on the skewer so that any wheel removal did not require unplugging the light. It does however mean that anytime you take the wheel off the light swings free. I had not thought to adjust it before we started off for the day's adventure. The day ended on a high note with a nice easy roll into Carson and an earlier than expected arrival for me at 11:15. Mark was cheerfully slinging hash in his little cabin so I ate then headed off to a shower and bed.

I woke up as Debbie was getting ready to head out at about 3:30am and decided I may as well get going too. I managed to mess around long enough though to not get rolling until around 5am. Another gorgeous day awaited and Mt. Hood was pink-lit by the rising sun as I zoomed along Highway 14. I heard there was a climb up to Goldendale and I was surprised by how steep it was but by then I had company so the miles passed easily. I managed to lose my control card in Goldendale but luckily Mark Thomas was there and gave me another as he said he knew where I had been up to that point. After Goldendale I fell off the back of the bunch on the climb up Satus Pass as the day warmed. I refilled water at the park part way up the pass and also got out my bandana, soaked it, and put it on my head under my helmet to keep me cool and protect the back of my neck from the sun. Wow -the descent was GREAT! Nice wide double lane road with gentle curves, I don't think I even touched the brakes. Then the hot and sage covered rollers that seemed to go on forever. I was getting very hot and wishing that I had brought my camelbak instead of relying solely on water bottles. Another hot climb had me crawling along before Toppenish and the famed café where I found Mike and John just getting ready to order a meal. We all had shakes with our food while Ray and Peg opted for frosty rootbeers down the road.

Touring through the residential outskirts of Toppenish was really nice. Folks were friendly and the terrain was gently rolling and interesting. Every other yard seemed to contain cute pygmy goats. Suddenly it seemed we were barely crawling along again and I couldn't figure out why until I stopped to apply some chamois butter and looking down the road realized what an incline it was. On the bike it didn't seem to be climbing. We were in the Rattlesnake Hills! Once we got out of the orchards there was no shade to be found during the late afternoon and I was running low on water. Fortunately I found a friendly homeowner before the final climb who let me fill up from his garden hose while his basset hound happily licked the salt, dirt, and sunscreen from my leg. A win-win situation. Ray took advantage of the water there too. Headed to the oasis of the Vernita rest area we began to encounter some pretty stiff winds but were happy to find some shade, water, and nice grass for a short rest.

Heading out from Vernita to Desert Aire things began to get serious. The wind was unbelievable and with such a narrow shoulder and somewhat heavy traffic it was hard to help each other out. We struggled into Desert Aire around 9:30 or 10pm. I talked to some folks staying there for the weekend and asked if the wind died down once the sun went down. They shook their heads firmly and said it usually just got wilder! Yikes! In Desert Aire I could feel I was a bit dehydrated and made a mental note to drink more often during the next leg. That wasn't to be. The cross wind was like nothing I have ever ridden against before. It took all my concentration and strength just to hold the bike on the road and not get blown into the ditch. The less than 20km section took more than 3 hours to cover and we all got split up. Again I was the caboose and cursing the wind and myself for being in this very scary situation. I didn't drink at all as I could not take my hands off the bike. Even stopping didn't help as the wind would throw me off balance and try to tear the bike away from me. By the time I got to I-90 and thankfully out of the wind for a bit I was pretty worn out and feeling sorry for myself. I had 3 bottles of water and drank 2 of them in the next 12km thinking I could refill in George. I found Peg waiting for me about half way there which was a great feeling. In George at about 2:30am everything was closed up. I walked around looking for an outdoor spigot but no luck. I wasn't feeling well and was dizzy when walking. I tried to start out to the finish with Peg but only got about 1km down the road before I was getting very dizzy and double vision. I told her to continue on and I turned back to the store in George to try to rest a bit. I had some of my small store of water, ate, and got out my space blanket for a power nap. Unfortunately when I woke I didn't feel any better and it was after 3am. I called Mark and he offered to come pick me up which I gratefully accepted.

Even if I had had water I would have been getting very short on time and would not have had much of a rest in Ephrata. My biggest mistake was not taking my camelbak as I could have carried more water and probably been able to continue drinking even in the crosswind area. As it is I have to accept my first DNF and now figure out how to get this monkey off my back by aiming for another 1000km!

Thanks to Mark, Terry, Adam, and Mark's long-suffering family for all the great support. Thanks too to Robin for always watching out for me and keeping my bike running well. He has already offered to ride another 1000km along with me to try to make sure I finish.

From Duane Wright
Best quote: Christof Irran: "I've got white helmet strap syndrome."
Most flats: Niles Burton
Most ice cubes stuffed in bra: Max Maxon (Contact Max, directly, for actual count.)
Longest ice water shower: Allison
Most generosity with spare tubes: 3 way tie: Christof Irran, Cindy Yates, Georges Yates
Longest time spent in beer cooler at store in Little Rock: 2 way tie: Max Maxon, Duane Wright
Best organizers: The whole gang from Olympia. They rock!
Biggest show of generosity with a Starbucks sandwich: Niles Burton (Niles, I'm sorry I ate your sandwich, really I am)
Longest swim in creek in Capitol Forest: Max Maxon
Highest decibel adult word when learning the route involved climbing back up Delphi Road from the Mud Bay control: Christof Irran
Longest 200k in SIR history: Oly Town 200k: 17 extra kilometers at absolutely NO additional charge!

From James Sprague
Most depressing quote of the day: "Bucoda, that's 5-6 miles back that way, sorry."
Most times off route after that: 4
Most number of people asked for directions: 6
Most bizarre one of those to my cooked brain: the stuttering man in front of the church, holding a really big bible dressed in really short shorts
Approximate number of kilometers per water bottle: 15K
Best food combo of the day: frozen fruit bar and a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips
Number of people who commented that it was to hot to ride a bike: 2 to 4 per stop
Most number of controls missed: 1
Gutsiest finish: Christof, I'm going to throwup, Irran
Most number of kilometers on odometer at finish: 246K
Best quote about that: "You're on your way to a 300K" Paul Johnson
Time it took for amnesia to kick in: 24 hours

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