After months of hype, at least several several minutes of training, a little bit of shopping (digital camera...) we are ready to depart. The weather report looks GREAT and the kid-back is off this year (Cameron is 4' 3"). After a bit of bike prep, some posing and some flexing, we are ready to ride.

Oh yeah, gotta catch up on the things you can't do while camping too...

Right then, time to depart! Upon arriving at the start of the ride in North Bend, the first thing you have to do is register. Not many people here at 8:30 (they're already up the road), but we take the express line anyway - just because we can damn it. That's the luxury of getting in all your pledges early - yeah baby.

One area that the Courage Classic excels in is support. All kinds of support. For instance, they get a few UPS trucks to show up and drive all your gear to the finish every day. In return for their time, the UPS drivers get fed, entertained and who knows what else... So, we fill out little baggage claim tickets and load up our gear.

Oh yeah, one last thing to do, that's hit the head. Note to self - stop wearing white shorts or stop letting my son use the camera...

In a unique twist this year, they routed us west on I90 for a mile, back to the intersection with Hwy 18 so that we could loop under the freeway and then proceed east. Something about some 'festival' in North Bend or something and the local cops were itching to hand out their annual allotment of citations... I must admit, they do a GREAT job of keeping us off the highway as much as possible. We take every possible detour. Like this one to the first food stop on day one. Each food stop is staffed by some rotary club and they usually have their own theme. I'm not sure what this theme was but I think that Cameron captured it...

One of the nicest detours we take on the first day is up the road to the Denny Creek campground. It's wooded and winds its way up to the Alpental road while passing some very nice cabins, salmonberry bushes and it's all on spanking new pavement. On the way up, I asked another tandem to please take our picture which they grudgingly did. I guess most people have a hard time relaxing on a hill [grin] - I figured it was a perfect time to chat and snap pics since we were all going pretty slow. In their defense, they turned out to be very nice folks.

As the road to Snoqualmie Pass climbs, it does a couple of switchbacks. What better time for Cam to jump off the bike while it's moving (his newest skill) and climb up the rocks in an effort to beat me to the next stretch of road. He did. Of course, no race is so urgent that you don't have time for a photo opportunity. And sometimes when you get caught up in looking sharp for the camera, you forget to watch where you stick your feet and injuries can happen...

At the top of the climb it's time for lunch. And it's Cameron's favorite - pasta! Oh yeah, they also have three sauces, FRESH parmesan cheese, garlic bread, cesar salad, fruit, veggies and way too many drinks to choose from. And of course there is desert proper and Hershey's kisses on your way out of the rest stop. Every year, up to this point I'm wondering what's up with the weather. It's sometimes cool and misty and sometimes actually quite damp but it never fails to make a dramatic change right when you crest the summit. Hello eastern Washington and the dry heat. I thank you. Off comes the windbreaker/arm warmers/whatever and down to Lake Easton we zoom for banana splits! Yes, in case you have not yet figured it out, this ride is all about eating. Just one reason why I like it so much. Here they have ice cream, bananas, whipped cream, nuts, several sauces including fudge (mmmmmm... fudge), it's sometimes hard to get back on the bike and ride to the finish...! And what a beautiful rest stop. This year it was hot enough that people were swimming in Lake Easton.

The first night - if you camp - is spent on the baseball field behind Cle Elum high school. Not a bad spot really, no rocks, nice grass, and did I mention that it's dry in eastern WA...? Well it is. Packing for three days is cake. You go from this to this in no time flat.

Depending on your speed, you may have a couple (or more) hours to kill before dinner. The ride provides a 'shower truck' so you can get all cleaned up, have a massage, get your bike all fixed up and chill before taking the shuttle into town for dinner. That's right, they drive you the mile or so saving you from expending any unnecessary energy. It might be for the best as The Brick Tavern in Roslyn always gets busy on this night and if you rode back, there might be fewer people on the ride the next day.

We had some time to kill before the food was ready so we cruised Cle Elum and enjoyed the sights (sight 1, sight 2, sight 3) the town has to offer. We also came across a cool horse made entirely out of horseshoes. By this time, Cam had little patience for my incessant picture taking.

The first dinner is a huge chuck wagon style BBQ. It seems everyone on the ride is in love with meat and the organizers don't disappoint. They serve up huge pieces of beef, salmon, corn, potatoes, rolls, cornbread, beans, several salads (bean, pasta & green), lasagna, tons of desert and there is also a bar. To top it all off, they provide entertainment too. Last year it was a hypnotist and this year it was karaoke. People line up about 40 minutes early as the feeding frenzy builds. That, and there just isn't much to do in Cle Elum...

After a long, exhausting day of eating (and a little bit of riding), it's time to go 'home'. Luckily, Cameron was not so tired that he couldn't play on the school playground. How will he get out? I don't know... He also managed to take some more pictures...

After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs (your choice of two ways - with cheese or ham), potatoes, french toast, blintzes, muffins, pastries, coffee, juice and milk and last nights left overs, it's time to run behind the Sunshine Cafe and 'purge' so you can actually swing your leg over the top tube of your bike and ride...

15 miles down the road it's time to, you guessed it, stop and eat. In addition to Clif bars, Clif shots, bagels, cream cheese, peanut butter, fruit, cookies, Gatorade (Cameron's new favorite drink, "It keeps you cool"), hot cider, hot coffee and water, they also have loads of candy. Cam's favorite at this stop? Little Snickers squares.

From here you climb up to Blewett Pass for lunch. This is a huge soup & sandwich affair but I'll spare you the details. The theme here was apes...? Oh well, might as well have some fun too. Hey, where did my camera disappear to...?

From here you descend into Leavenworth. This road has been improved quite a bit from years past. The pavement is no longer chip-seal (they have put down a layer of new asphalt), it's a bit wider and if only they had finished the project... On our descent, we suddenly found ourselves riding off the new asphalt onto the old. The height difference is about 3"-4" and when we tried to get back up on the road, our angle was too shallow and down we went. Ouch! For the gory details, click here, otherwise just read on.

So, Cameron and I get a ride onto town in an ambulance and our tandem goes in the sag truck. Turns out the EMT (Aaron) & paramedic in the ambulance are from Tacoma (more awesome support people) and are super nice. They take a liking to Cameron and end up checking in on him throughout the rest of the ride. We get dropped off at the Leavenworth high school and now it's time to hit the super Safeway and drop $40 on bandages and other medical supplies... Then it's time to take a shower.

Note - this is the first shower AFTER the crash and AFTER the shock has worn off and AFTER the makeshift bandages have dried to our scrapes and AFTER you are all sweaty from climbing up to Blewett Pass and BEFORE I remember how good this is going to feel... People often ask me if I'd like to start racing bicycles again. This is one big reason I have not felt the need to do so. Following a bit of screaming in the shower, it's time to take an inventory and see what got messed up in the wreck. Surprisingly, the tandem is just fine. Oh sure, some things are ground down a bit and there are some new scratches and I'm out one grip but nothing I can't fix/straighten with a 5 mm allen. How cool is that. Thanks to Dave Levy for building me a rockin' bike. And thank goodness I didn't throw lots of stupid-light components on it. Sadly, my brand new digital camera (which was in the pocket of my shorts) is toast. Now it only takes pictures like this and this... Rats.

Dinner here is a perennial favorite with loads of dead cow for everyone. Cameron ends up with a baked potato and beans (we asked, they were vegetarian) and I also have some green salad and corn. By now we have been approached by about 100 people, all of them asking how we are, how the bike is, telling Cameron how brave he is and what an awesome tandem couple we make. It seems our bike really stands out, that coupled with the fact that there are not many parents with their kids on this ride makes us easy to spot and remember. People that saw us years ago are saying hi and wishing us well. Of course Cam can't stand it and every time I launch into the story of how we fell, he yells, "Don't say it." Too funny.

Two years ago I recall playing in the public pool in Leavenworth. As we rode home after dinner (yes, we rode the bike - gotta get back on the horse that threw you..), I noticed that where the pool used to be, there is now a big hole with a concrete foundation. No doubt the future home of some new Austrian something...

Upon waking, I check with Cameron to see if he'd be up for riding today or not. Honestly, I had very low expectations but when I remind him of the Root Beer Float stop on the way up Stevens Pass, he rallies and we get on our cycling duds. I click in my right foot, push down and go to engage my left shoe with the pedal. Nothing happens... I try again and the sole of my shoe feels oddly slippery. We get off and I discover to my despair that when we fell, I had ripped the cleat off of my left shoe. It took with it about one square inch of sole. This can't be fixed. I ask the mechanics if they happen to have one left shoe (and a pedal to match) and of course they don't. And of course the local bike shops don't open until 10 (which is too late to start riding if we want to finish) so we have to pack it in.

Our tandem goes in one truck and we go into another. As another testimony to how nice these people are, the driver agrees to stop at the Root Beer Float stop for Cam. Ice cream here we come. And one two-foot gummy snake. Even HE couldn't finish it. From there it's all the way down the west side of Stevens to Skykomish where the ride ends. And now, because we are so damn early, we have to sit around for about four or five hours until the busses and bike truck are ready to take us back to North Bend. On any other day this would have been super fun. It was about 90 degrees, the tavern was open (and had been since 10 AM) and the local junior high kids were out and about. They thought we were pretty silly looking and well, the feeling was reciprocated. One of them even came up to Cameron and I while we were playing cards at a picnic table in the grass and asked if we 'wouldn't mind moving because this was their usual table to hang out at'. I've never had so much fun saying 'no'. They were totally nonplussed and taken aback. Like this had never happened to them before... It took every ounce of energy I had not to burst out laughing. I bet Goldbar is a big city to them.

While siting around in Skykomish, I'm approached again by all these people that want to congratulate us for riding, for surviving the crash and they relate all kinds of experiences from their own lives that struck a real chord. Here are those stories as another aside if you want to read them.

Not much left now, from here it was a bus ride back to North Bend and then we move all our gear into our car and drive home. I had forgotten that we end up going home on I90 at rush hour but it was not bad at all - thanks for small favors. After getting home and using up the last of the bandages, we had to go to Bartell Drugs and drop another $40. Amazing! All those years of racing are coming back to me now in vivid detail. [grin] By the way, technology in this area has come a loooong way. You pay for it but this stuff they have now really works. Things like totally clear bandages that don't stick to your wound even though all of it is adhesive-backed and they breath and they (theoretically) don't have to be changed for several days... Cool stuff.

We're looking forward to next year. I think...