Author:
Mike Hassur
Up at 3:40 AM, bikes and gear already packed in
the van. All I needed to do was eat and
drink, get dressed, and be ready to meet Leon at 4:20 AM. We met on time, headed out, and arrived at
Enumclaw at 4:50 AM (which was our goal).
Upon arriving, I texted Scott Wagar to let him
know that we had arrived (I had some RAMROD info that he needed) and told him
that I would meet him at the Starting Line to give it to him. As I was walking across the parking lot in
the dark, someone called my name – it was Scott. Great, no long walk to the Starting Line.
Leon and I unpacked our bikes, got our gear
ready, and were at the Starting Line by about 5:15 AM. Soon, most of our group had arrived (Les,
Dwaine, Scott, John, Leon, and me).
Mario, Mark, Kurt, Tom, and Nick were also doing the ride; but they had
left a bit earlier. By 5:22 AM, we were
crossing the Start/Finish Line and were beginning our ride.
It was forecast to be a hot day (in the 90’s);
and, even at this earlier hour it was not cold.
I wore a short sleeved shirt under my jersey to start the ride with the
idea that I could easily stow it in my fanny pack as the day warmed up. It was cool enough that I was chilly at the
start of the ride but not uncomfortable.
It was beginning to get light when we started,
so visibility was not an issue. Our
group cruised through Bucklely, then South Prairie, past Orting, and on to Lake
Kapowsin at a comfortable pace and without mishap. As we started the final short climb up to the
four-way stop by Lake Kapowsin, someone warned that there was a truck
approaching behind our group. I turned
my head briefly to see where the truck was.
When I turned back, my front wheel was overlapping the rear wheel of
John Winter’s bike; and, before I knew it, the spokes of my front wheel were
“strumming” against John’s rear derailleur.
We weren’t going very fast at this point, and no one crashed; but my
front wheel was damaged and very wobbly.
It was clear that my RAMROD was over. The immediate question was what to do
next. My first thought was that I needed
to give the keys to my van to Leon before our group vanished. I yelled; and, fortunately, Leon heard me and
came back. I gave him my keys, and he
headed up the road in pursuit of the rest of our group. By releasing the front brake, I could get my
front wheel to spin without hitting the brake pads. It wobbled, but it seemed to be
“rideable”. I took off for home
(Puyallup) which was about 10 miles away.
While I was riding home, it occurred to me that I still had the whole
day to do a ride – I just needed to get a different front wheel on my
bike. With that in mind, I headed home
as quickly and safely as I could.
When I got home, I called my wife (Kathy works
out of our home) to warn her that I was at the front door. I didn’t want her thinking that some intruder
was breaking into the house. I quickly
put a different front wheel on my bike, shed the t-shirt that I had been
wearing under my jersey, refilled my water bottle, and headed out.
I had decided to ride my bike over to Enumclaw
and do the RAMROD Route backwards until I got near Cayuse Pass. I was hoping to meet someone from our group
and ride back to Enumclaw with them. I was
so excited about my new plan that I zoomed up Eli Hill (the hill on highway 410
going up to Bonney Lake) in a time that was near my PR – probably not wise, but
fun… I continued on through Bonney Lake
and Buckley and took the back road up past Mud Mountain Dam. Soon, I was back on highway 410 headed toward
Greenwater.
It was on the way to Greenwater that my phone
rang. It was Conor Collins. He’d had the misfortune to have two flats and
a ruined tire. He’d abandoned the ride
and was waiting to be picked up by his dad in Ashford – looks like I wasn’t the
only person to encounter misfortune in this year’s RAMROD!! I wished Conor well and resumed riding.
I passed through Greenwater and was heading
toward the RAMROD Deli (located at the junction of highway 410 and the road to
Crystal Mountain) when I noticed that my front tire was going flat. Fixing the flat was easy and uneventful; and,
soon, I was on my way again.
It was starting to get pretty hot, and I was
beginning to get some slight cramping in my calves. I thought “Oh crap, I was looking forward to
the ride back to Enumclaw, but now with the head and my cramps…”.
I arrived at the RAMROD Deli, refilled my water
bottles, ate, and stationed myself under a tree right next to the highway. My plan was to latch on to the first
Cyclopath who rode by and ride back to Enumclaw with him (or as far as I could
get before I overheated/cramped). It was
not a particularly comfortable wait as it was hot (even in the shade) and my
legs were cramping just sitting there.
After about 50-60 minutes, I spotted a
Cyclopath jersey approaching. It was
John Winter. I yelled, hopped up
(hobbled up??), threw on my helmet, and we were off. John was still riding strong. I helped him as much as I could, but I
started to overheat badly as we got to Greenwater. I told John to go ahead without me as he was
trying to finish in less than 9 hours.
I had a cold Gatoraid and an ice cream bar at
the Greenwater general store and took off for Enumclaw. By this time, I was pretty much toast. I wasn’t going very fast and was surprised
that I wasn’t passed by more people (or groups) in that final stretch – everyone
else must have been feeling as bad as I was.
That final leg to Enumclaw seemed to take
forever, but I finally made it. I found John
Winter (who didn’t look nearly as wasted as everyone else) and congratulated him
on a really good ride. Soon, Leon came
in followed by Dwaine and Les.
After a quick shower, Leon and I hopped into my
van and headed home.
My day had included frustration, innovation,
and physical hardship all wrapped up into an “interesting” RAMROD package.
Next up:
Quadruple By-Pass
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