Author: Scott Wagar
As I was driving away from my house at 3:30am, I noticed the temperature was already 65 degrees. Today was going to be hot! I pulled into the Masonic Lodge in Enumclaw which is about a 1/4 mile from the start line at Thunder Mountain Elementary. It was still dark when I got there and cars with bikes attached were starting to stream in. I quickly got everything together packing my pockets with food, putting on my gear and making sure my bike was good to go. I started walking my bike toward the lodge through the gravel parking lot when I see a Cyclopath jersey go by me. I yelled out Gary! No response, Gary! Nothing. I look closer and it was Tom. We rode our bikes in the dark to the school where we picked up our packets which included our bib number, bike and helmet number, a helmet transponder and a t-shirt. Tom was bummed to find out you need to show your license to get your packet so he returned to his vehicle to get it.
As I was putting on my bib number, Mike appeared. He was going to ride today but was sidelined with a knee and shoulder injury. He was there to root us on which was very nice! Minutes later, Rob and Les showed up. Start time was 5am and we made it over there with plenty of time. Rob, Tom, Les, and myself were there, but no Gary. I texted and called to no avail, then at 4:58am Gary appeared. We were ready to go!
The roll out was mild working our way through the Enumclaw neighborhood. It's a game of follow the leader, but when the guy that's in the lead doesn't know where he's going, we're all in trouble. This seems to happen every year; we take a different route to Hwy 410 but eventually get there. Once on the highway on our way to South Prairie the speed started picking up and pace lines started to develop. It was becoming light out and the temp was comfortable. We were cruising along at speeds between 20-24mph with a nice pace line of around 10 riders. We all took healthy turns in front, with some showing off with speeds closer to 24mph.
We made the dangerous turn onto Orville Road - which is always poplulated with big trucks - with no issues. In previous years, I've seen cyclists almost get hit there. This stretch of road takes you to Eatonville. I always forget how long that road is, and it seems to take forever to get there. The pace line was going strong when about mile 20 Tom and I lost Rob, Les and Gary. We believe it happened when one of the guys pulling was a little overzealous with speeds that about dropped everyone, Tom and I along with 4 others held on.
When I ride, my mind is thinking about a lot of different things. During this stretch, I started thinking about my daily Wordle game which I was two guesses in. I had the first, third and fifth letter already and was stuck prior to the ride. It suddenly came to me; the word was STOMP. Now I just needed a stretch where I could pull out my phone and play the word.
We finally get to Eatonville where the small town welcomes you with a 1/4-mile climb. We get to the top of the hill, the high school on the left we see the first food stop. Tom and I had no intention of stopping. We kept going, but the other 4 riders turned off. Then, it was just me and Tom. We rode for several miles heading toward Alder Lake when one of the riders that turned off caught up with us. His name was Austin and the three of us rode strong toward Alder Lake. When we got on Hwy 7, the road was smooth with a nice shoulder to ride on. After my pull, I dropped back into the third spot, pulled out my phone and played my Wordle word STOMP, boom it was correct. What talent I have to ride and play a word game at the same time, ha-ha.
We continued to work our way down Hwy 7 when I notice Tom, who was in front of me, sweating profusely, I literally needed an umbrella or windshield wipers to not get soaked by him. Although funny, he was a total trooper doing the ride today as he just had Covid 2 weeks prior, and he didn't have all his strength and energy back. We make it to Elbe navigating safely over several train tracks to get teased by the Scale Burger shack - boy does that sound good right now. About a mile down the highway, we come across a single car crash that must've happened minutes before we arrived. There were several other cars stopped to help; and in the distance, we could hear sirens coming from Ashford. The car was trashed, it appeared high speeds were to blame as he most likely went off the road then back onto it.
Just before Ashford, there was another food stop. Tom and I stopped, but our new friend Austin kept going. We believe he was a ride bandit as we didn't see a bib number but had a bike number, probably got it from someone else. We got food, water and peed; and this turned out to be my only stop. We spend no more than a few minutes there, jump back on the bikes and head into Ashford. After a mile or so, Tom said he was going to lay back and for me to go ahead. We wished each other safety and a good rest of the ride, and I slowly pulled away. Once through Ashford, I made the turn onto Skate Creek Parkway. I've never rode this direction on Skate Creek. I was expecting more of a climb but before I knew it, I was descending. The road was rough with many potholes and poor road repair. At speeds between 25-30mph, I was doing my best avoid the bad patches which was challenging with the sun in my eyes. I was thinking "sure hope I don't get a flat". I pull into Packwood which is mile 92 of the ride averaging 19mph to this point.
I turn left onto Hwy 12 preparing myself for the toughest climb of the day Cayuse Pass. It was just before 10am, and the temp was definitely climbing most likely in the mid 80's already. I feel pretty good at this point as I make the left going into Mt Rainier National Park. They have a water stop there along with a transponder station to keep track of riders. I ride through it and then head toward the monster climb. Cayuse Pass is 10 miles of 5-7% grade that is relentless. In previous years, this climb would crush me, I would be lucky to average 5-6mph up it/ Today was not bad at 8mph average for the climb. I hadn't seen anyone since I pulled away from Tom in Ashford, so riding up Cayuse completely alone was eerie. About 3/4 of the way up there was a water/ice stop, I didn't stop, but the people there volunteering cheered me on. That felt good and gave me a little more energy. I went through the tunnel and on the other side up in the distance I saw another rider. OMG! another rider! This gave me even more energy, and my speed quickly went to 10mph which I - unfortunately - couldn't sustain. I kept moving forward and what do you know - when I came around one of the last corners, there he was stopped taking a breather. I passed him saying good job, and he said the same. I get to the top where Hwy 123 meets 410 where there was another water stop that I didn't partake in and one of the guys said I was number 2! This was cool but where was number 1? Could I catch him? The decent to Crystal is fast, averaging speeds close to 40mph. The decent was short lived because here came the next climb, Crystal Mountain.
I make the right turn passing the deli stop and head up up up. The dude I passed on Cayuse was right behind me. I start climbing and slowly pull away from him. I hear some something clanking on my wheel, but I ignore it. I keep pushing on, but the clanking persists. I finally decide to stop and take a look and to my surprise I had a broken spoke. In my 25 years of cycling, this is my first broken spoke. I tucked the spoke between two others to stop the noise and think to myself this shouldn't be an issue as I only weigh 150 pounds. Well, guess what? Not true in more than one way. I keep climbing Crystal but slowing down considerably, I'm starting to bonk. I eventually make it to the top where the volunteers told me I was number 2. I turn around and made the fast decent down. While going down from Crystal, my wheel decided to not cooperate with a missing spoke. As I make the right turn back onto 410, my wheel is rubbing. I don't think much about it and keep pushing ahead. I'm riding along and a white truck pulls up beside me, and a lady says "you missed a turn back there". I responded I already made that turn, and she said "wow you're in first"! The guy in front of me must've stopped at the deli stop. But at mile 147, the wheels fell off, literally! My wheel became completely warped causing it to rub on the frame, and my tire went flat. I stopped and looked at the damage in disbelief thinking what the hell am I going to do. The wheel could barely spin! I opened up the brake and took off the wheel to change the tube out. I was in the direct sun and the temp was in the 90's. I was still breathing hard and started to feel faint but after several deep breaths I was ok. I changed the tube, filling it with a CO2 cartridge when POP - the tube blew up! Shit! Now what? I didn't have another tube. I sat there on the guard rail contemplating life and what the hell am I going to do? Do I call my wife? About 5 minutes later, another rider passes. He asks if I'm ok, and I said "no, do you have a tube I can use"? He said yes and was kind enough to give it to me. I changed the tube again with no issues this time, put the wheel back on and did my best to bend it back to prevent it hitting the brake and frame. It didn't move much but was operable. Five more cyclist passed by. Ughh.
I was back on the road but moving ever so slow. Not only did it feel like I was riding with my brakes on, but there was a headwind that felt like a giant hairdryer coming at you at 30mph. I limped along not able to get much more than 15mph making it to Mud Mountain Road. I was nervous for the upcoming downhill with my wheel jacked up but made it down with no issues. Coming into Enumclaw, I felt I was going to make it, but still had a few miles to go. Coming down the last stretch, I come across the same guy that gave me the tube. He had his own flat tire 1/2 mile from the finish line, fortunately he has another tube. I felt bad for him! As I crossed the finish line, I had mixed emotions, I was glad to finish but was super frustrated that I had the mechanical issues. If not for that, I would've have finished first by 10-15 minutes - but instead settled for finishing 6th.
I'm not going to lie, I wanted to win this! I know it's not a race, but I can't help myself. Tom came in a short time later; we enjoyed an ice cream then had a couple beers at his car. Nice way to finish the event.
Till next year!
