Bert Karp Memorial Populaire

All of Clay Karp and family's photos here      Results here 

On July 4, 2015 my family organized the 4th annual Bert Karp Memorial Populaire. This little event continues to bring a lot of joy and great memories for all of us as we ride in honor of my mom who passed away from cancer in 2012.

We had 20 riders in 2015, our best turnout of riders not related to me. We were down a few family members riding this year, but all were on hand to provide incredible support at each of the checkpoints.

The peloton riding  through Bozeman

The weather was nearly perfect. Not much wind, no rain, and it didn't start getting hot until everyone was close to being finished.

Brother Travis leading the fast group up Springhill Road

My brother Clay and his family were on hand to take lots of great pictures. They were also on hand in case anyone had any trouble, which fortunately, no one did.

Roberta Ennis and Denise Muzynoski cruising along

Fellow randonneur and Paris-Brest-Paris participant Karel Stroethoff rode to Bozeman from Missoula via the Pintler Highway and Pipestone Pass the day before. He then rode the populaire. After some lunch and a little nap, he headed back to Missoula on his bicycle. He got home safely the next afternoon. PBP will be no problem for Karel!

Karel Stroethoff on Highline Road

It was a wonderful day. Thanks to all of my family who helped out, and thanks to all the riders for riding. See you next year!

Helena-Great Falls-Double Divide 600K: PBP QUALIFIED!

More Photos Here    Results Here

For our 600k brevet, the final ride in the series to qualify for PBP, I chose to use the Helena-Great Falls-Double Divide route that we last rode in 2013. It is a very hard route, with two Continental Divide crossings on the second day, but it is also very scenic and fairly convenient using Helena as the base of operations.

We had Ken Baker from Bozeman, Ken Billingsley from Molt, Karel Stroethoff from Missoula, Sam Collins from Jackson, WY, and myself at the start at 5 AM. It was a wonderfully pleasant morning as the sun rose as we climbed over the north hills past the Gates of the Mountains and the Sleeping Giant on the winding journey to Great Falls.

Square Butte-taken between Fairfield and Simms

I should call the first day segment the Thunderbolt and Lightfoot loop. The 1970's caper film starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges was filmed in many of the locations we were passing through. It's just that now there are few more paved roads than back then. Anyway it's always been one of my favorite movies and this is probably one reason why this route is so appealing to me.

Ken Billingsley, Karel, and I got to Great Falls in good order and got a sandwich at the Subway in the big new Town Pump off I-15. Ken Baker and Sam were a ways back. We later learned that Ken Baker had flat-tire-itis which really made his day tough.

Brenda met us in Wolf Creek as the sun was setting and temperatures started dropping. Ken, Karel and I were refueled and ready to make the final hump back over the hill to Helena for a short sleep break before continuing on the Double Divide loop the next day. I was a little slower than Ken and Karel and made an extra stop to put on my helmet light. I saw their taillights way in the distance, but made no effort to try to catch up. It was a wonderful evening and even the light, high speed traffic on I-15 posed no bother. I got to my sister and brother-in-law's house at 12:15 AM.

Rest stop in Wolf Creek with nephew Colby Scott

Brenda caught up to me on the downhill ride into Helena. She had Ken Baker with her as he had to call it a ride at Wolf Creek, which was about mile 200, because of knee issues-and all those pesky flats. Ken was in good spirits though and he should be-he rode wonderfully the entire series and still has all summer to find another 600K to finish off the series if he wants to.  Brenda also reported that Sam was riding out of Wolf Creek, maybe 2 hours behind me and doing fine.

I left the house at 4AM, after a short 2 hour nap, and found Karel at the Town Pump on North Montana just getting ready to leave. I also texted Ken and let him know I was on my way, knowing he climbs much faster than me so we'd be seeing each other later on.

The ride out of Helena on US 12 starts at a pretty gentle uphill grade for several miles then hits the foot of MacDonald Pass. Grades get up to about 8% and it's pretty steady all the way. Unlike two years ago, I managed to ride the entire thing without walking and found Karel at the top getting ready for the descent. Karel climbed very well and passed me after fixing a flat tire near the base.

We dropped like a rock to Elliston and then cruised to Avon where there is a cafe. I was seriously starving and craving some bacon and eggs. Thankfully the restaurant was open, despite this being Sunday, and we happily went inside. Brenda joined a few minutes later. She was going to set up a secret control after Avon, but since we were already here she bought us all breakfast!  Ken was also along before our food arrived so we had a grand 'ol time getting refueled.  Only 100 miles to go!

Brenda reported that Sam was just starting the climb up MacDonald pass. She waited for him at the cafe and bought him breakfast too.

The ride from Avon to Lincoln was the least pleasant of the trip. Traffic was moving fast and unyielding, the wind was in our face or blowing us sideways, and my butt really started to hurt. We got to Lincoln in the early afternoon and cooled off in their nice Cenex C-store. 55 miles and one mountain pass to go.

The climb up Flesher Pass looks very intimidating. You can see the road cut going up into the sky in front of you, but it's one of those climbs that looks worse than it is and it was over sooner than I was expecting. Again I managed to ride up the whole thing instead of walking half of it like last time-though there's no shame in walking, which is almost as fast. But it was a goal of mine to ride all the way. Karel disappeared off the front out of Lincoln, obviously feeling good having a geared bike instead of his single speed fixed gear he used on the other brevets, but Ken sacrificed a faster time to ride slow with me. He encouraged me all the way and it really helped.

Over the top and it was 30 some mostly downhill miles back to Helena. My backside was absolutely killing me. Not sure why that is, I haven't any saddle issues all spring. But in any case, we rolled into the Town Pump parking lot to find Karel and Brenda cheering us in.

Finish Line Greeting

Sam was struggling with a broken hub and really feeling the ride, but once he got to the top of Flesher Pass he also found the going a lot easier and finished with plenty of time to spare.

So with that Ken, Sam, and I acheived PBP qualification. Karel, who already has a 600K under his belt this season was already qualified. Sam, now that he is qualified, is rethinking his decision to forgo PBP this time-sounds like he's going back. The lure is just too strong.

Congrats to all the guys. It was a hard route and finishing it is an accomplishment worthy of being proud. Brenda deserves a ton of credit for registering us at 0:dark 30 in the morning, meeting up with us late on Saturday night in Wolf Creek, and buying us breakfast in Avon along with being there to see all of us finish. I'm very lucky to have her helping us with these brevets.

Glaciers to Geysers 1023K RUSA Brevet June 30-July 3, 2015

View from the Going to the Sun Highway on a 300K brevet in 2012

What started out as a permanent has morphed into a RUSA 1023K brevet.

The Glaciers to Geysers 1023K permanent was the brainchild of Seattle Randonneur John Pearch who wanted to continue riding after completing the Portland to Glacier 1000K Brevet. The Portland-Glacier 1000K will be run from June 26-29 from Portland, Oregon to Whitefish, Montana.

The Glaciers to Geysers 1023K takes off from Whitefish, MT on June 30 at 5AM. The route takes the Going to the Sun Highway through Glacier National Park and then passes through Great Falls and Livingston, Montana on the way to the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The route through Yellowstone takes in all the major attractions including the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone Lake and Old Faithful before exiting the park at West Yellowstone, Montana. The ride finishes in Big Sky, Montana with time running out at 9:44 AM on Friday, July 3.

If you are interested in this ride feel free to contact me and I will put you in touch with John.

The cue sheet is HERE  The entry form and waiver are HERE

Profile info is HERE

The Route Map-broken into three segments is here:

Day 1: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7967398

Day 2: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7967513

Day 3: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7967656

Gallatin-Jefferson 400K-Home Road Advantage

Ken Baker, Barb Kuhlemeier, Sam Collins, Ken Billingsley, Jason Karp, Karel Stroethoff

More photos HERE

As the rides get longer, my ride reports get shorter, but that's more because I've got a lot of blogging to do and I'm way behind.

On Saturday, June 6, 2015 I got to host our third brevet of the season from my driveway in Belgrade as we rode the Gallatin-Jefferson 400K. We had the same cast of characters as the last two brevets with the exception of Layne Coddington, who had another commitment, but we were joined by Barb Kuhlemeier from Bozeman who wanted to get a first hand view of what randonneuring was all about on our first loop throught the Gallatin Valley.

We had perfect weather for the 86 mile loop that brought us back to my house where Brenda and Jackson had a huge lunch set out.  Then it was a more flat as we headed due west to Whitehall and Silver Star as the day was heating up, relatively speaking. We said good bye to Barb near Manhattan as she headed back to Belgrade on Dry Creek Road completing about 100 miles for the day. A 400K is a pretty tough distance for a first brevet, but she is a very strong cyclist who would have no trouble excelling at our sport. She helped set a steady quick pace throughout the morning that helped us bank a ton of time.

We found Brenda at the junction of Hwy's 41 and 55 south of Whitehall with a "secret" control and a post card for each of us to mail at Silver Star four miles away. Brenda's rest stop would have been amazing, except the mosquitoes were so thick and ravenous that we had no choice but to choke back a few groceries and then get moving before being eaten alive. We saw Brenda again in Whitehall, but the mosquitoes were just as thick there so again, no long rest stop. Perhaps for the best.

Ken, Karel, and I got in in under 20 hours-only the second time I've done that on a 400K. Karel doing so on a one-gear bike. Sam Collins, and Ken Baker got in not much later so all finishers were done in under 21 hours! We can probably attribute that to nearly perfect weather with little wind, quick stops except for our much needed lunch at my house, and because we're all rounding into shape.

The fast pace did cook me pretty good though. I was pretty stiff and sore on Sunday. I have to remember to take it a bit easier on the first day of our 600K in two weeks in Helena. Can't be burning those matches too quickly.

Many thanks to Brenda and Jackson for the awesome support, and many thanks to this great bunch of riders I've gotten to randonneur with this season. It's a lot of fun so far with much more to come.

Fishtail 300K...forecast, schmore-cast!

The weather forecast in Fishtail-our first control of the day

More Photos Here   Results Here

The countdown to the Fishtail 300K Brevet starting and finishing in Laurel on May 9, 2015 saw the weather forecast go from nice, to rainy, to rainy and snowy, to just plain awful rainy and snowy. What do you do here? Brevets are rarely rescheduled. We're randonnuers-we ride through anything, but there was the safety of myself, the other riders, and our volunteers to consider. Road bikes don't do well on snow and ice. Plus this is a PBP qualifier-and I only have one of each of the four required qualifiers scheduled. RUSA does allow for a brevet to be rescheduled for up to one week after the planned date, but with travel plans made, motel rooms secured, and no guaranty that the next day or next week would be any better, we just decided to go for it. The final forecast called for pretty much a 100% chance of rain in the lower elevations, and 1 to 3 inches of snow in the higher elevations. A snow detour was planned to get us around the ice and snow in the highest elevations, but we resigned ourselves to being wet and uncomfortable all day.

So I was completely shocked and elated when at the start we had all the same guys that started in Missoula two weeks ago. Lane Coddington drove over from Missoula for his second brevet, Sam Collins was there all the way from Jackson, Wyoming, Ken Baker drove over from Bozeman in the wee hours of the morning to get there for the 6AM start, and Ken Billingsley and Karel Stroethoff were there as well, with Karel coming from Missoula even though he already has a his 300K PBP qualifier done. We also had Sam's wife Karen again for support, and my wife Brenda was there too to relieve me from the paperwork duties and with a car load full of goodies for later down the road.

Karel, Ken, Sam, Lane, Jason, and Ken-ready to go!

As we pulled onto the streets of Laurel-headed for Columbus the roads were soaking wet, but the rain had miraculously stopped and the wind was at our backs. I forgot my water bottles, but Brenda came along soon to remedy that (thanks hun), and I was already peeling off a layer even though temps were only in the high 30's. The ride to Fishtail was a piece of cake.

Karen met us at the Fishtail Store to sign our cards and we went inside and restocked. I wish I had this store on all my brevets. It's the perfect stop for randonneurs, with all the goodies we could ever want, including a killer breakfast burrito. After the store we had a five more miles on the road toward Nye to an info control. The rain started feeling solid and the vehicles we met were covered with snow. The turn around was right at the snow line, but it wasn't sticking on the highway so no problem for us.

We took our planned snow detour and headed over the road to Joliet instead of Red Lodge, which was looking to be pretty socked in. Temperatures were just into the 40's and now that lovely tailwind was a cross headwind. The road to Joliet is very rolling with three short 7% climbs mixed amongst the smaller hills. It was also very blustery on the bluffs we were crossing. We rolled into a "secret" control in Joliet that Brenda had set up for us, complete with hot chocolate and cup-o-noodles. It was perfect!

The perfect blend of calories!

Road construction at Rockvale Junction gave us a muddy half mile or so, but everybody got through it. It was a tailwind from Rockvale to Bridger on a wide debris strewn shoulder. Karel and I got to Bridger first and were soon followed by Lane and Sam. Ken Billingsley came later after having to fix a flat. Ken has had terrible luck on this stretch of road as he flatted in almost the same location last year on our 600K. As I rode out of Bridger and back toward Joliet into a stiff headwind, I met Ken Baker walking his bike. He had just flatted and was walking to the control which was only a few hundred yards away. Later on Lane, Karel, and Sam would all flat (Lane twice), but for some unknown lucky reason I didn't. 

So with no flat problems, I ended up pulling ahead. I was feeling good and really, really just wanted to be done so I didn't stop at the store in Joliet and only stopped at the Columbus McDonald's long enough to inhale two cheese burgers. I cruised into Laurel to find Ken's wife Heath and Brenda cheering for me. That was really, really cool. Most of these rides end rather unceremoniously it some parking lot, so to have someone there to give you a clap as you come in really feels amazing. Because of my lack of flats and aversion for stopping it ended up being my fastest 300K ever, despite wearing enough layers to look like the Stay Puft Marsh Mellow Man.

Heath Billingsley with a congratulatory hug for me at the finish

Ken Billingsly was next in, then Karel, Sam, and Lane. Ken Baker also made it in before 16 hours so we were all done with considerable time in the bank. Karel was on his fixed gear again and found the pedaling really hard after Bridger. He thought he was having bottom bracket issues. He later discovered his chain has almost come apart-a very close call indeed. Lane and Ken Baker struggled into Columbus with stomach issues, but after getting something to eat and taking a short break both found a second wind and finished very well. I was so happy for everyone, including myself for getting this one in.

A huge part of our success was the support of our volunteers, Brenda, Karen, and Heath. They did a great job of looking after us, but they also did a great job of staying far enough away late in the ride to not temp anyone to throw their bike in the car. Many thanks ladies!

Brenda and Karen at Joliet

So next up is the 400K. That one is on June 6 and starts and finishes here at our house in Belgrade. Looking forward to it...if I can get some training in between all these rainy, stormy days we've been having.

Missoula-Frenchtown-Hamilton 200K, Hitting the Weather Window Perfectly

Ken Baker, Lane Coddington, Karel Stroethoff, Sam Collins, Jason Karp, Ken Billingsley
photo by Karen Ruckey

More photos here    Results here

As Ken Billingsley and I were driving to Missoula Friday night we encountered rain, wind, and fairly heavy snow over Homestake Pass. All week the weather forecast called for rain at some point during our 200K brevet on April, 25.

But one last check of the weather forecast on Friday night showed conditions improving and we awoke to a beautiful, chilly, blue sky morning.  Ken and Karel Stroethoff were there as usual, and we were joined by experienced randonneurs, Ken Baker from Bozeman and Sam Collins from Jackson, Wyoming who were riding a brevet in Montana for the first time.  We were also joined by Lane Coddington from Missoula who would be attempting his first randonneuring event of any kind.

Karel showed up on a fixed gear bike and was super strong right from the beginning dropping the rest of us as we headed out of Missoula. A little confusion with a missing sign at our first info control brought him back temporarily and we were all together at the first checkpoint in Frenchtown.  After Frenchtown Karel was gone, though Lane and Sam saw him again briefly in Hamilton. Karel ended up finishing an hour and 10 minutes ahead of the rest of us. He's had a great start to the season which certainly bodes well for PBP in August.

Later on in the ride we came across Rick Dendinger who was doing some riding on the Bitterroot Bicycle Trail.  Rick had ridden a 100K and 200K with us last season, but is nursing a knee injury so he didn't want to risk riding a whole 200K. Rick stuck with us to Hamilton and back to Missoula and we were glad to have his company along with dozens of other cyclists as the nice day was bringing them out of the woodwork.

On the Bitterroot Bicycle Trail to Hamilton

We got split up some on the path to Hamilton. Ken, Ken, Rick, and I made the Subway our checkpoint. Karel and Lane stopped at McDonalds, and Sam ended up getting the deepest into Hamilton thanks to my cue sheet which recommended the Safeway in the middle of town. US 93 in Hamilton is basically one long strip mall so with so many choices to get a receipt it was probably inevitable that we'd end up at different places.

The ride back to Missoula on the path was pretty easy with a slight downhill grade along the Bitterroot River, though the wind did change to be in our faces most of the way in both directions, it was always light and not much of a concern. A few rain clouds over the mountains to the west looked like they might find us, but they never did.

An extended stop at the Town Pump in Florence allowed Lane and Sam to catch back up and we were all back together for the last 22 miles except for Karel who was just killing it on the day. We talked and chatted the miles away and then put the hammer down as the path gave way to the US 93 shoulder for the last few miles into Missoula. Traffic was busy as usual, but not threatening and despite lots of debris-no flats for anybody!

We cruised across the pedestrian bridge by the University of Montana on to Broadway and the Motel 6 where Sam's wife Karen was deputized to sign our cards. Even with generous stops, this fun flat route allowed us to finish in under 10 hours. Not a bad day's work.

Ken, Ken and Lane on the Pedestrian Bridge-almost done!

Although the weather stayed cool throughout the day, it was also dry and breezes were light. We really couldn't have asked for better riding in Montana in April. It was the perfect day on the perfect route and a great time.

Post ride was at the Iron Horse Pub in Missoula where lots of randonneuring stories were shared. It was pouring rain on Sunday morning when we left the motel and most of the drive back to Belgrade was in a wet sloppy snow storm. It was a good day to not be on the bike.

Congrats to Ken Baker for finishing his first brevet in many years, and to Lane for finishing his first brevet ever. It was also nice to meet Sam and Karen who had recently relocated from New York to Jackson. It's nice to get another experience randonneur in our part of the world.  It was a great start to my PBP 2015 qualifying campaign. The next one, the Fishtail 300K out of Laurel and going to Columbus, Red Lodge, and Bridger is coming up fast on May 9. That one will be a little more challenging and even more scenic. Hopefully the weather keeps cooperating.

Addicted to Flèche

Last year when doing some randonneuring in Oregon, I casually mentioned to Lynne Fitzsimmons that if she was leading a fleche team in 2015 and needed another member that I might be interested. So I was delighted when the invite came a couple of months ago to be a part of Team Type 2 Fun.

The fleche is a unique team event in the sport of randonneuring.  It has a bunch of quirky rules that only randonneurs would understand or appreciate, but basically you have to cover the distance of the route in about 24 hours and you can't stop at any one location for more than 2 hours. So whether you're fast or slow, you're out there for one complete lap of the clock.  For a more complete definition of what a fleche is, scroll down to the bottom of this post for Randonneurs USA's official definition.

Lynne designed a route that was exactly the minimum required distance of 360 km and what appeared to be a relatively flat profile. Perfect for me because I'm definitely still in the base miles phase of my training for the season after a long winter.

Team Type 2 Fun: Jason Karp, Fatima Aviquivil, Keith Moore, Steve Bredthauer, and Lynne Fitzsimmons

Our team gathered at Jim and Patty's Coffee in Beaverton, Oregon and got acquainted with each other. I've found in cycling, that you can start a ride with total strangers, and by the end you're life-long friends. I met Fatima and Steve for the first time, and each person on the team was meeting someone else on the team for the first time.

We set off at the incredibly sane hour of 10AM-a change from the typical brevet which usually starts at stupid early o'clock in the morning.  Since the ride is 24 hours-it doesn't matter when you start, so why not start after a good, long night's sleep and a leisurely morning? In the first few miles through the streets of Beaverton and Hillsboro it was explained to me that there is type 1 fun, which we all know and love, and type 2 fun involves a lot of pain and suffering-which really is the essence of randonneuring.

Somewhere between Gaston and Wilsonville. Still nice and flat.

The first part of the route was just a big loop through the Willamette Valley from Beaverton to Forest Grove, Newberg, Wilsonville, and back to Beaverton. The loop was mostly uneventful and we put some time in the bank.  The only major excitement for me were the two crossings of the Willamette River. The first on a too narrow bridge with a school bus and the second on the infamous I-5 bridge by Wilsonville. We made it back to Beaverton and Lynne's house where we were treated to all the pea soup and corn bread we could eat-much better than the typical gas station cuisine randonneurs thrive on. Many thanks to Lynne and her husband Bob who were incredibly gracious hosts.

With 83 miles under our belts and full bellies we made preparations to head north to Olympia. The graying sky and dropping temperatures were proof that the weather forecasters weren't going to be wrong. We were going to get wet...but when?  A few sprinkles began to fall as we started climbing immediately out of Lynne and Bob's driveway.  We slogged our way to the top of Skyline Drive and got plenty warmed up again. We were all together at the Skyline Tavern where Keith Moore demonstrated a wonderful technique for obtaining a card signature without buying anything.  He slapped down a $5 bill on the bar and asked the bar tender to sign. Signatures were happily given and we were on our way down the twisty-turny Germantown descent just as darkness, and the rain, fell.  My disc brakes, which perform wonderfully well on scary descents, also squawked and screamed like a rusty old tractor all the way down. Disc brakes work just fine when wet, but they can be noisy-a problem I had to apologize to my teammates for over and over again. But at least they knew I wasn't going to sneak up on them.

The next segment of the route, crossing over the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, and the I-5 Bridge crossing the Columbia River and connecting Oregon to Washington was urban and very cool. Unlike down in Wilsonville, this I-5 bridge has a separate pedestrian/bike path.  After the bridges we dropped into Vancouver and our next control at a little taco stand where a willing patron signed our cards and marveled at what we were trying to do. I requested an additional stop at a c-store in Vancouver as I was dangerously low on food and tacos are hard to carry. It was 46 miles to our next control.  So another stop was made and the required junk food was acquired, including a 6 pack of little donuts, two snickers bars, peanut m&m's, and a little savory from a combo cheese and pepper stick. Yummy!

Off we went, leaving the bright lights of Portland and Vancouver behind as we followed quiet back roads that wandered over the hills that the adjacent I-5 cut through. This is where the anticipated easy route became quite hard as these punchy little hills wore us out.  No climb was very long, but on many occasions my front tire was lifting of the pavement, meaning the grades were quite steep.  This segment was also punctuated by some navigation confusion in Woodland and a 4 mile stretch on I-5 in a down pour. The I-5 riding was easy in that it was flat, and the trucks must have gotten word to our presence via CB because almost all moved way over, but it was absolutely pouring buckets on us and bicycle tires are extremely flat prone on freeway shoulders from all the tire debris, broken glass, and other sharpe objects.  So it was with great relief when the exit for Todd Road finally came into view.

By this point everyone was suffering.  And thanks to my added stop in Vancouver, those endless little hills, constant rain, route navigation issues in Woodland, and just the need to warm up in some random gas station, we were falling way behind. Things started to come apart a bit when Keith and Lynne rolled into Shari's diner in Kelso on flat front tires, and we were about an hour and half behind schedule, but in desperate need of food and coffee...and more coffee.  Lynne was battling stomach and fatigue issues, along with the flat, and implored us to leave her behind and press on. Of course, the rest of the team tried to encourage her to continue, but Lynne's mind was made up and the train station was only a mile and a half away. We got her tire changed and reluctantly set off into the wet night without her, but not until after the delicious Shari's breakfast sampler and a couple gallons of coffee were consumed.

Ride with GPS promised that the remaining 70 or so miles only had about 200 feet of climbing. Lies! We started going uphill and then uphill some more.  We had about 7 hours until the clock struck 10 AM and we needed to be averaging about 12 miles per hour, but every glance at my computer showed that we were traveling at less than 10. What I couldn't understand is that Olympia was down at sea level, and yet we were still climbing.  Only in Washington is this possible-I was convinced through this and my Cascade 1200 experience that the state only goes uphill.

Thick fog made me miss the town of Vader all together, though Keith assured me that we did pass through it. Too bad-I was all poised to make some sort of smart ass Star Wars joke.  Opportunity missed!

Day broke to find us still climbing.  Cloudy fatigued minds were trying to work out the complicated math of we have so many miles to go in so many hours and at such and such rate of speed.  In all of that we missed a turn and added about a mile to the route.  Thank goodness Keith was paying enough attention to the cue sheet to catch the error, I had completely ignored the cue sheet since Portland so I was absolutely no help at all.  Despite that, we looked to be in okay shape when suddenly Keith's back tire went down. With the help of a few extra hands, Keith had the tube replaced in record time and we were back underway, but more time was lost.  That's when we were introduced to Barry Road.  A nasty steep little bugger of a road where my front tire was again coming off the ground with each pedal stroke. At 5 mph we weren't getting anywhere.

Then something amazing happened.  For the first time in all my riding in Washington it seemed, the road actually began to tilt downhill.  We picked up speed and soon found ourselves in Centralia and on our way to our planned 22 hour control in Grand Mound. More math.  We weren't going to make Grand Mound with 2 hours to go as planned, but we were sufficiently close enough to think we still had a chance. We marked the spot at 2 hours to go and pressed on.  We got to the McDonalds at Grand Mound about 15 minutes later. No time to sit down, reflect on the ride, and then leisurely cruise to the finish line.  No, we had just enough time to get our cards signed and that's about it. When the girl behind the counter promised that the sausage biscuits were ready to go, Fatima and I took advantage. But there was only one sausage biscuit made and I had to wait. But I needed some food.  I was in pre-bonk mode and without food I probably wouldn't have the energy for the last 20 miles to Olympia. The girl behind the counter sensed my desperation and implored people in the back to get a move on and finally the sausage biscuit was provided sans wrapper to be applied directly to my face.  It was gone before I was out the door-and boy did it make me feel better.

We screamed along the flat roads to Olympia with a light tailwind at the blistering speed of 15 or 16 miles per hour.  When we got to a point about 10 miles away we still had 50 minutes. It would be doable if there were no hills and the stop lights were few and green.

The route did stay flat, the clock became less oppressive, and as we cruised through Tumwater we slowly realized we were actually going to make it. Go through a few lights, cross a bridge, and we're in Olympia. We even joked we could stop and get an ice cream. The Governor's Hotel came into view and we rolled up to the front door. I got a little emotional-it was a great save. Our cards were signed at 9:53 AM-seven whole minutes to spare!

At the finish. I don't look it, but I'm very, very happy to be here.

Then the real fun began. As we sat in the lobby, sending texts and Facebook posts, other teams started to arrive, all tired and happy and excited to be done.  All with great war stories of their own to tell. After a quick shower, food and restorative beverages were obtained at a downtown Olympia brew pub with more stories. My mood had changed from being miserable to having a ball. After a 3 hour nap, and a chance to see more arriving teams, the lobby of the Governor's Hotel was the happiest place in all of Olympia.

The next morning, the Seattle Randonneurs hosted a buffet brunch for all the teams and their families and each team got to stand up front and tell the story of their ride. The adventures were hilarious, inspiring, and awesome.

A huge thank you to Lynne for taking of all the logistics of route finding, mapping, preparing the long and complicated cue sheet, feeding us, and doing all the little and unseen things a team captain has to do.  And many thanks for inviting me to the team.  Congrats and thanks to my other teammates Fatima, Steve, and Keith for working so hard to get to the finish line on time. It was a memorable ride and the celebration at the end was fantastic. It was definitely one of the neater randonneuring experiences I've ever had.

From the Randonneurs USA website:

flèche vélocio(flesh veh low chi o) - A team ride of 24-hours' duration, usually held over the Easter weekend. Very well attended in France, they are becoming increasingly popular among American randonneurs. A team may consist of three to five machines (a tandem counts as a single machine) and at least three machines must finish together to receive official credit. Each team must choose its own route and may not ride with any other cyclists. A minimum of 360 kilometers must be covered inside 24 hours, with no less than 25 kilometers to be ridden in the final two hours. Flèche routes are point-to-point or a large circuit since any particular stretch of road may be used only once during the event by the team. In French, flèche means "arrow", so the traditional method is to ride from one point to another, like an arrow flying into the bullseye. In France a multitude of flèche teams, having left from various cities and villages, will converge 24 hours later on the bullseye, which is the traditional Easter cycling rally in Provence. (Note there are other events in France with this name as well, eg. the Flèches de France, which are not the same sort of event.