When the fireweed turns to cotton...

avg 14.3 78.37 mi 9077.9 36.5 max 5:27.39

...summer is soon forgotten. I learned that rhyme on my trip to Alaska, from our ranger, Karyn.

This is a bit of an experiment. I’ve decided to keep my journal on my computer (had I not brought the laptop, my TOTAL packweight, tent-and-all, would have been 30 lbs)....and if I think of it, when I get home, I’ll print out the pages to add to my regular journal.

We started out this morning with the ceremonial photography session, at the Mariott Waterfront hotel. Breakfast, provided by the hotel, consisted of oatmeal (still couldn’t bring myself to eat it), as well as the usual assortment of pastries. I actually took some of the leftover pizza from last night and had it at Mike’s house – waaaaay better than oatmeal glue. I mean, YUMMY oatmeal glue.

We were told to be at the ferry at exactly 6:58 a.m....and then we waited for a half hour until the boat was loaded with a couple dozen passenger cars. There wasn’t much to the ride across – another photography moment, first all of us with Seattle in the background and the sun behind us, then another one with the sun shining on our faces (and us trying not to squint). There wasn’t a whole lot of hanging out on deck as the city slipped into the cold fog.

The most challenging aspect of Bremerton’s hills was my being cold from having sat on the ferry for a half hour or so. They were certainly steep – coming down one of them, had I put much more pressure on the brakes, my rear tire would easily have flipped right over my head. And if there hadn’t been a stop sign at the bottom, I might have touched 55 mph.

I got to ride with a couple of different people. There’s Ed, who rode the BR in 2005 – it’s fun to talk with alums of other years, because I can say something like “Harlowton” and instantly there’s a story set in the same place but with different events and different players. Then, I rode with Chris, a doctor with the “no smoking” sign shaved and painted onto the top of his head. Riding into camp, I had Charlie’s company, although we parted ways on final uphill. Blackberries are considered weeds here in the west. Which is good for me, because they are big, sweet & juicy, and there are lots of them :-) They make a GREAT Last Uphill Snack.

I was hoping for no flat tires, but I ran over a nail about a mile from the last checkpoint so I don’t have to worry about maintaining that elusive perfect score of 0 flats. All of my flat changing stuff was safely stowed in my pack on the gear truck, but Bethany came to my rescue with a spare tube, tire lever, and CO2 cartridge.

Lake Sylvia beckoned me as soon as I came into camp, so I got a pre-shower swim – very refreshing!