The day started with a great breakfast in Leavenworth, and they started serving early. I cannot thank them enough for the early breakfast.
I did really well on the last day, very very slow but still really well. One thing to keep in mind I am very heavy, so going uphill can take lots of power, this translates to calories. I ran out of them, I did not have enough energy bars this day. I accepted the kind offer of one from a woman that I talked with in line for dinner at Cle Elum the first day. So I was really slow going up the hills to conserve my reserves. Downhill on the other hand is another matter, there I shine.
I walked up the last climb since my right foot was bothering me. My right foot started to hurt the night before, not during the ride but a while afterwards. Really odd. It was quite hot and only a little chilly in the early morning. The RSC’s (Rider Service Centers) seemed to get hit pretty hard, many good things were running low. I took a while to get a massage, a bit of a mistake time wise.
Lunch consisted of tasty baked potatoes and lots of stuff to go on them and chili. From there a blazing descent followed by a fast meander through the Iron Goat Trail Interpretive Site and then another fast descent. WHOO HOO!!!
The finish was down a gravel road and I was on the last bus heading out. This meant that we had to wait for the last person to finish and shower before we could leave… But then we still didn’t leave. It turned out those lovely folks at a place named like what we were shorted us a truck. We found out that not only did they short us a truck but they had apparently rented out some or all of the “reserved” trucks. (This had happened to a friend with this company before too) nice. After a protracted wait for the first bike transport truck to come back we wew on our way.
Over all it was a “LEGENDARY!!!” weekend.
