As I begin this post - it's 1:25 pm - I'm sitting in our motel room in Aberdeen. Tracy arrived, grabbed a sandwich and headed south on 101. Jerry & Tom arrived a short bit ago, just finished lunch - and are getting ready to head south, following Tracy - Well, let me back up to this morning!
The sign on the morning cafe next to the hotel said "Open at 7:00". Alarms set for 6:00am, bags ready to load in cars - at 7:03, we trucked up the hill to the cafe. After Tom pounded on the door of a dark coffee shop, a woman arrived and said "Sorry, not open till 8:00" Tom pointed to the sign that said 7:00 - she said - oops, I'll change the sign, then closed the door.
All riders ready, they headed out to ride an hour - with instructions for the support crew to pick them up along 101 in about an hour to return to the cafe for breakfast.
Nothing like starting out on a cool 42 degree, cloudy morning without breakfast.
Breakfast was great - and riders got back into the support cars and headed down 101 to get back on the road again.
Dropped off the riders at 10 miles down the road and we were all off - heading south.
Tracy was so far ahead that he missed the morning photo shoot.
Kathi found a great place to let the dogs run - down an old logging road. I joined her for a short walk while the dogs checked out all the great smells.
Dogs loaded, I drove on towards Aberdeen, the intended "next stop" for a morning snack. A few miles down the road - this is what I came across
POP Quiz: Is this a picture of a) Tom supervising while Jerry fixes Tom's flat tire OR b) Tom providing helpful advise while Jerry fixes his flat tire? To the rescue - the Dudley Do-Right support staff was on the scene. I pulled in behind them - flashers on - while they worked on replacing a flat tire on Jerry's bike. After replacing the 3rd tube and the second tire - avoiding logging trucks, motor homes and cars zooming down the highway - we were ready to once again head south!
So - now, we are back to the present. All three are somewhere along 101 South. The support crew has their driving instructions for pick up at 3:45 so we can make it to the bike shop back in Aberdeen before they close. Whew, busy day and it's only 2:00. Oh, and there is laundry to do.
Stats for the day from Tom:
Due to some operator induced malfunctions of both Jerry's and my GPS units, the stats today are not as precise as most days. Since we spent an hour on the VO tire and tube caper, nothing should surprise you. We rode 70.6 miles, from Amanda Park to a few miles past the town of Raymond. Our average speed was about 15 again, but the climbing and descending numbers are not even accurate enough to report. We'll try to make the technology work better tomorrow.
Riding notes from Tracy:
Wow! How strange. To be out in front is something completely foreign to me. I got dropped off in front of Tom and Jerry and was doing well over relatively flat ground when I heard Fry's voice from behind, "Hey Vining, Stop. Jerry's got a flat." (Just waiting for someone to comment that all it took was getting into the vicinity of Calamity.)
I stopped but what is an old tire guy supposed to do? After all, they are both engineers and experienced bike riders. One guy is enough to replace a tube and they ride so much faster. I said, "I'll just keep going and you'll pass me in 15 minutes." So I rolled into Aberdeen and found the gals at the motel and got the update. One of the engineers managed to blow up 3 tubes and 1 tire, How do you manage to do that? Back in the old tire days I would have fired an employee that inept.
I felt good rolling into Aberdeen, grabbed a quick sandwich and headed out. Payback time. Just south of Aberdeen is another hill, Cosmos Hill. 2.5 miles of 6% grade. Kicked my butt. Forget about making Raymond.
2:00 the phone rings and Kathi says, "Do you want me to pick you up yet?" I told her to come and get me and bring along a scraper to get me off the road. Fortunately I had passed a tavern just a mile back. I turned around (downhill) and went to the Arctic Tavern and enjoyed a Ridge Runner Stout until Kathi retrieved me. On the way down hill I encountered Tom and Jerry going uphill and they went on for another eighteen miles. Total animals.
I was in the shower and the tub with water as hot as I could stand it while they were still out there sweating.
Notes for the tourist:
We are staying in Aberdeen - did you know that Aberdeen was named for the Scottish city, Aberdeen? The settlement grew up around a sawmill established in 1884 and by 1910 there were dozens of lumber and shingle mills.
Another town along the route today is the town of Raymond - also a lumber town. It is also well known as the Wildlife Heritage Sculpture Corridor featuring cast iron representations of local wildlife.
The things your learn along the route!
I did not know you got to have spa treatments along the route Tracy! What a wimp! Glad you are having so much fun.
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