The first stretch was pretty flat, the sun was coming up and it was going to be such a gorgeous day! I felt great, prepared, happy to finally be doing the ride! I pulled quite a bit and then took turns with my friends and a few guys doing a paceline into Eatonville. I was happy to see my mom, step-dad and my kids there to cheer us in. (Mom lives in Eatonville, was watching the kids). We held back a lot during the initial miles, as we knew we had to save our legs for the big climbs later in the day.

The next segment was the road between Eatonville and Wildwood (my family owns/rents Wildwood and this is the third year that RAMROD has used it for a big food stop). About 3 miles before we got there, I noticed I was slowing down despite my normal cadence, etc. A few minutes later the girls told me my rear wheel was wobbling, so I stopped and checked to see if it was on tight, and it was, so I kept going and decided I would check in with the mechanic when we got there. I went slowly for the last mile, just in case something was wrong. Arriving at Wildwood was great, lots of emotion--my favorite place in the world, for starters, and I saw many friendly faces--my friends David and Lisa were there volunteering, and Chantel and Shane were again leading the food stop, so lots of cheers and hugs and smiles. However, once I got to the mechanic tent, that all changed. I realized my spoke had pulled out of my wheel, cracking my rim. There was no way to continue RAMROD. Every emotion possible rushed through me as I thought that my year of effort to get ready for the ride was dashed due to a mechanical failure. I was distraught, tears were on the surface, there wasn't a solution in sight. That is, until Jessi's husband walked over with a rear wheel in hand--he had thrown it in the car at the last minute. Unfortunately, it was Shimano, while mine is Campy. And it was a 12-25, while mine was 11-28 (climbing gears that I have trained with all year!). However, riding with a patched together bike beat not riding, so we got it put on and we headed out to begin the serious climbing.

It took me about 7 uphill climbing miles to get my emotions under control. It was going to be so much harder than I had planned, as I didn't have climbing gears and I knew that the next 5 hours were pretty much all hard climbing with little relief besides a few fast descents. However, once my ego came to terms with my reduced speed, I settled in and enjoyed the gorgeous views of the mountain. Mt. Rainier is the part of the world in which I am happiest, it makes me feel whole and I love it there. Riding up it was just incredible. Once we took the right turn to head past Reflection Lake and into Box Canyon, the descent was crazy! I was videotaping most of the ride, but of course during that descent, the battery died so you'll have to trust me that it was take-your-breath-away stunning out there. Never was there a more beautiful day to be riding my bike.

There was a short climb after the initial descent, and then there was supposed to be a water stop before we started Cayuse Pass....however, it was relocated and it took me 2 or 3 miles before it sunk in that I was actually on the Cayuse Pass climb. 9 miles at a 7+% grade. Yep. At 4-ish miles, there was a water stop, so I got a few minutes break and filled the bottles, met up with the girls and continued the long,slow climb to the top. Jessi's husband drove down past me and hollered that there was only 3/4 mile to the top, which made my day! Coming around the corner knowing that I had made it up with the challenge of my gearing was one of the greatest moments of the day.

Then it was a super fast downhill to the deli stop at the bottom of the pass. My top speed here was 48 miles per hour! I think that's my fastest speed, ever. It was amazing, super views the whole way, and I did capture that on video, so stay tuned for the edited version of the day!

At the deli, I loosened my shoes because my feet were killing me, had a coke and a peanut butter sandwich and sat down with my friends for a while. We plotted our return to Enumclaw, and had another friend, Andy, ask to hook up with the pace line. I was really sore in my inner thighs from the climbing, but I stretched a bit, took some ibuprofen and got back on the bike.

The final miles were great, pretty much all a gradual downhill, in a paceline of strong riders. We averaged over 21 miles per hour, not bad after what we'd all done that day! The last downhill was down Mud Mountain Dam road, where I'd done a triathlon a few years ago...super fun! Then we shot out across the farmlands, into Enumclaw and suddenly were at the finish line and it was over!!!!!!! We had done it, under 10 hours of ride time, 12 hours total. What a day!

New wheels. Sigh. I had almost bought new wheels so many times this year!

Otherwise, I felt like the training was perfect, my food and water consumption was spot-on, my friends were amazing, and the day was incredible. INCREDIBLE!

Had a popsicle and a coke, swapped the wheels back out, talked to a few people and then headed to the hotel for a shower and some food.


Mechanical issues. That is all. Otherwise I think I was in peak condition and totally ready for the day.


RAMROD was great. I will do it again, without a doubt. Well-organized, super volunteers, amazing day.

Stay tuned for a really fun video of the ride, as well as photos. Jessi's husband took over 500 of us throughout the day!!!!!

If Jessi had not been nursing/pumping, her husband Tom would not have been sagging, and I would not have had a wheel and would not have finished. What a great coming together of events to allow me to finish!