...As the ride wore on, the sun finally burned through the haze. At this point I was really starting to wonder where the next rest stop was on the course. My course map from before the event didn't have the stops and the miles through the Highlands just kept rolling under my wheels. Descended into Monroe and went through town. Still no aid station in sight. Finally found it south of town. Pulled over and took a much needed break.
I'm not going to lie. I was not impressed with the aid stations on this route. Particularly not in light of the minimum cost to participate. On route support was outstanding, but the aid stations blew.
I went to the aid station for food. Ade went to a nearby taco truck. I should have joined him. But supposedly I had a free hot meal waiting at the finish, so I just fueled.
Love the stretch of farmland south of Monroe. Broad sweeping vistas and Mt Rainier on the southern horizon. One of the few places on this course where you could see for miles.
Got one final in ride photo of Ade and I as we stopped in the valley to soak up the scenery.
Back on the road we climbed over a bridge and then bombed down the west side of the Snoqualmie River Valley. Last time during the ride that I passed other event riders on the road.
Turned up out of the valley onto the day's last big climb. We scouted the climb last weekend so I knew what to expect. I was too wobbly on the lower stretch to safely ride. (Busy road, no shoulder.) So I walked the second half of the lower slope until the course turned back to a side road. Stopped to fix a minor mechanical issue and talked with a couple of other riders about my Cruzbike. As always she turned heads wherever we went.
Did the hill in installments and then rolled onto the Redmond Ridge plateau. Nice rollers to the final climb up into the Trilogy development. I remembered ratz saying that walking 3.5 mph is sometimes better than riding it. So I walked the final two thirds of the slope. Really looking forward to the next aid station. Except somehow we missed it. Did I mention how annoying the aid stations were? Knew something was wrong when we started up a small incline on Novelty Hill road and suddenly we were being passed by riders who should have been ahead of us. Yep, missed it two miles back. At this point I was down to one half bottle of three and beginning to cramp in one of my calves. Demoralized I pulled over to stretch and both of my quads seized up simultaneously. Ow.
Ade gave me a bottle of Gatorade and one of the following riders filled one of my other bottles. We were 5 miles from the next aid station so going forward was better than going back.
Along the plateau my phone died so I don't have any data or pictures from the final 11 miles. Dropped off the plateau, took a brief wrong turn and then almost missed the last aid station. They were low on food choices but had plenty of fluids and were warned we were coming.
Ten miles to the finish and 45 minutes to beat the cutoff time for the course. All flat trail. We dropped the hammer and hauled. Did the 10 in 30 minutes. Ade pealed off and I road to the finish. Crossed under the banner to cheers and collapsed across the handlebars.
Recovered and went to get a hot meal and celebrate. Except the ride was already shutting down and all four food vendors had run out of food.
I just rode 77 miles for the ADA as a Diabetic Red Rider and they don't have food at the finish?!!!!!
Was told they may have some let over yoghurts and bagels from breakfast. Staggered to where they pointed me and saw the Tour director who is a friend and fellow T1d. Basically collapsed in tears at her feet. Heat exhaustion, disappointment and fatigue all combined to overwhelm me.
My BG was down but not dangerous at that point. I was just fried. Angela took over at that point and got me taken care of. They found me yoghurts, a roll and some apples. Cooled me down and arranged a ride for me and my bike. And she listened while I talked about what worked on the ride and what didn't. I was the final red rider to finish on the day. I know of at least one who did the 100 mile circuit and there were two of us who did the 70.
My guess is that the festivities were more geared for the timing of the shorter rides. I used the entire time allotted. Wish I knew that going in.
But the ride is done and I'm proud of what I accomplished. My performance won't set any records or add to the Cruzbike trophy case. But I knew that going in and I have my own weather gauge. I did something with T1d that I never did without it and that was the victory I wanted on the day. And these are my trophies.
