We left Husk stadium along with 9500 other cyclists (not all at the same time) and before we knew it, we had covered 20 miles and it was tme for the first of many refueling stations. I was impressed with the support that was provided. Free food and bike repairs, plus cops at the potentially dangerous intersections. The whole thing was very well planned out.
We then spent the night at the college in Centralia. The tents were just packed in there with solo sleeepig bags and bikes filling in the narrow gaps between. We had showers, lasagna, a massage for me, and some beers.
All the gear is packed into these trucks and they haul your stuff to the 2 check points for you.
We had beautiful weather the whole time. Maybe even a little too hot, but I'm not complaining. Also, they queued up the bikes at the Columbia river (you can just barely see the bridge in the background below) and then they shut the bridge off to cars and let the cyclists go. It must have been 500-1000 bikes at a time and probably took a good half hour to get them all across!
By the time we hit the finish line, we were pretty brain dead. The heat and the physical exersion are a good recipe for zombies. We had showers (so important), food, and more beer, then hit the road. John's wife was kind enough to drive down and pick our sore asses up.
Many riders did the trek in just one day. Something about that is very appealing to me... maybe next year...
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