The morning arrived on day two of RAPSody with fog and heavy dew. We left the tent up with hopes of drying while we went to breakfast. The breakfast was great, french toast, sausage, eggs, orange juice, fruit and more, and all you could eat!
We talked a bit with our fellow riders and I predicted that Julie and I would finish by 3 PM, then we went back out to pack up the tent. The fog had lifted a bit, but things were still quite wet. There was no time for drying now, so we packed the sleeping bags and tent up in the waterproof duffels and carried them to the waiting truck for transport back to Tacoma. By chance we started pedaling at 7:50 AM, the same time as yesterday.
Leo had Julie all concerned about the "show us your breakfast" hill that we would encounter just as we'd get pedaling this morning. (thanks Leo!). There was a steady stream of "What if I can't make it up the hill? What if I have to walk? I'm a slow hill climber." It was all silenced when she just pedaled up the hill like a pro. Okay, maybe not a pro, but we did pass more riders than passed us. Upon reaching the top she turns and says "That wasn't so bad". :-)
Today's ride had more trail riding than day 1. The organizers were reluctant to post route information in a timely manner, and never did post it in a GPS friendly format. On day 1 I was able to take the cue sheet and transcribe it to a GPS downloadable format. Today's route I was only able to get close. Some of the trails did not show up on maps, street view, or Google Earth. In several spots I simply followed bicycle friendly roads from one known location to the next known location. I figured if Dan Henrys where vandalized of blocked from view at least I could get back to Tacoma.
I heard of a couple of riders who missed a turn or two, but I found the Dan Henrys to be sufficient. I still wish more organizers would map via apps that allow for cue sheets, maps, and GPS files to be downloaded. (the map at the bottom of this post is what we actually rode, it was recorded via GPS. If the route is the same next year we are good to go!)
Back to day 2.........
Once we got to the top of "show us your breakfast" hill, we continued on our way. Soon we were on our first trail of the day. The weather had improved dramatically. It was going to be a great day.
After winding around a few parking lots near I-5 and making enough loops to nearly get dizzy we arrived at
Yauger Park, the first food stop of the day. This one had yogurt parfaits! We spent a bit longer at this stop than our official plan called for, we rolled out after 25 minutes. We were officially in Olympia but hadn't seen "town" yet. That was soon to be rectified.
We dropped off a small hill right into downtown. There was a great view of the Capital Building across a body of water.
I got a picture of Julie with the Capital in the background.
The official event photographer got one of me riding in the same area but didn't get the Capital.
The organizers either didn't check when getting permits, or the permitting agency didn't look at the intended route, but hundreds of RAPSody riders were routed right though a street fair in Olympia. With my riding partner's fancy helmet decorations we fit right in. Once I got through the most crowded area I pulled out the camera and grabbed a couple of photos.
The route continued to send us along the water, then run us up over a hill.
Soon we entered the Chehalis-Western Trail, one of the longer and more "famous" trails in the area.
Geoff caught up with us just before reaching the trail and rode with us until reaching the next food stop.
Our next food stop was known as "Van's Burgers" though there were no burgers there. It was a nice stop near a golf course, and deli sandwiches were the calling card. Turkey, roast beef, and ham were all offered, and all were good! Julie and I kept the stop to 15 minutes and pedaled on.
The little town of
Steilacoom is always a joy to ride into.
From there on things got interesting.
We got sent up a steep little pitch in a residential neighborhood. The gradient was near 20%.
At the top of the hill we were greeted with another "non standard" Dan Henry.
Shortly we were on the Dupont Utility Trail, one of those trails I could not find on any mapping tool I had available. No matter, today we were going to ride up this hill!
In the photo above all the riders are still riding, none walking, but that would change soon.
Near the top of the climb the trail made a hard switchback and climbed at just over 25%. That got most people to walk, and got me out of my middle ring (42 tooth)) and into my granny gear for the first time this trip. Some others could pedal it as well, but most couldn't. As I waited at the top a woman standing nearby was saying that nobody had gears or legs to pedal hat hill. Before I could correct her, three folks, two of them women, came pedaling up. I didn't have to say a word. ;-)
We pedaled along now counting down the final miles. We turned onto a short straight section of roadway and could see it pitch up in the distance. The steep section was about a city block long, and maybe 15%. Julie is funny, she's a stronger rider than she gives herself credit for. As she looked at the hill ahead she starts this litany of how she can't do that hill. She says she's slow, she says she's tired, (and I chuckle at this one) she says she will tip over and cause me to crash into her and fall also. I switched into crew chief mode. I told her she was going to summit that hill, I didn't care if she pedaled or walked, but she was going to get to the top of that hill, and to just stop whining about it. That fired her up. She didn't say a word, but her cadence picked up, her head started bobbing as many do when putting effort on the pedals, and all the flowers on her helmet began bouncing in time......... and up that hill she pedaled! :-) I knew her body was strong enough to pedal it, her head was just weak.
After that little test there wasn't much left to do except finish. Julie began to perk up knowing a finish by 3PM was imminent. She rolled across the finish line at 3:10 PM with a smile from ear to ear. We missed my 3 PM prediction by the 10 minutes that we dallied at the first food stop.
We loaded our bikes and bags, had a couple of ice cream treats, and visited with other cyclists as they came in. It was a great way to end up a couple of days of riding with friends.
...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today..............80...........0................0............0.............80
Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93
Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411
March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653
April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696
May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............484...............0..............0..........0...........484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
Aug................561.............0.................0..........0.............561
Total...........4854.............0...............0..........0.............4854
