Prologue, One week out

The days are getting closer to 3 June - TABR 2017 Launch. The air is getting thick with anticipation and dread that something important has been overlooked. Did I book the air travel for the right day, did I really get confirmation of hotel in Astoria, Will my bike be there when I arrive? In one piece or at least with all the pieces.

The traffic on the TABR facebook is unhinged and it's hard to keep up with all the questions and hundreds of answers that some queries get. Sometime the questions are complicated or dealing with bike technology that I have no understanding of. Boy am I over my head. I start telling myself that to survive this you must trust yourself. Ignorance is bliss or as somebody wise in the past said “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” I was safe there, no illusions from me.

LETTING GO OF YOUR BIKE

Sending the bike ahead by mail was far more scary than I anticipated. I also waited one more day than I should and the price went from $75 to $185 as anything less than five days for delivery is shipped air. The next price jump was closer to $400. I used Bikeflight.com, which turned out to be cheaper than Fedex, even though it uses fedEx to ship it. Apparently Bikeflight buys shipments in bulk, thus gets better deals. I bought a box from fedEx for

$20 and packet my precious bike right there in the parking lot. The next time I would see her would be in a bike shop basement in Astoria. The bike shop is called Bikes and Beyond and they were great. Called ahead to make sure they new what I and my bike was about, and quickly heard the right words on the phone that made me feel comfortable.

FlYING TO PORTLAND

My wife Jacquelynn and I flew out three days before race start. First night was a midnight arrival in Portland and straight to a airport hotel with our rental vehicle. As I was stripping down that evening, thats when I found the Tick, that looked pretty red, on my inner thigh. Was that a Mother F&%$ bulls eye!!! I was not a stranger to Lyme disease having suffered several weeks through an episode four years earlier. I live in Pennsylvania where there are many ticks. Man! if this is Lyme I've got about two-three weeks before it starts impacting me. Oh well, I will have to deal with that if it manifests itself. The cramping in the leg muscles and terrible night fevers will be a signal that I need to see a doctor. Damn!

ASTORIA

Since this was a mini vacation, we stayed at the beautiful Elliott Hotel. The roof top patio had a great view of the whole area and you could take your own wine and beer up there. But first, we must go get the bike. I borrowed some tools at Bike and Beyond for free and quickly reassembled my bike. Got a traditional haircut, across the street with a free beer from the barbers fridge. (me holding beer) This town is great. Did you know that the movie 'The Goonies' was filmed here in the 80s?

There were TABR social both evenings that weekend. where you get to be intimidated by all the talent. Stories of 200+ x 2 weekend rides, Tour divide finishers, even a bunch who had just done the India Pacific Wheel Race. (God rest your soul Mike Hall) These stories were being told at every table. Yikes, Holly crap, Oh boy. All I had to tell was that my bike was brand new. I wasn't even sure what my front ring count was LOL. Oh well, The beer was good and I might as well just have a few more. In typical fashion, Jacquelynn and I were the last to leave. But wait, who is having those last beers with us? No other than Janie Hayes and Donncha Cuttriss -- It was fun catching up with Janie and I was able to thank in person Donncha for giving me his race maps from the previous year. I just realized... what maps was he using then?

THE MONUMENT And GETTING THE CAP

On the highest hill above Astoria is a tall monument and that's where you go on Saturday to get your cap.

It is a pretty steep bike climb however, most racers go there with their bikes. I'm sure there will be other hills in the days to come. Furthermore, 20 or so riders had biked the 90 miles from Portland as a warm up ride. Yup these guys and gals were much more ready than I. Being more of a day racer, I felt that I should be in taper mode . But really taper from what. It was really hitting home that over training had NOT been a problem I was facing. I chuckle now, but then I was starting rationalizing that I might need to use the first 4-5 days of the race as training. We shall see what happens.

Nathan Jones, nonchalantly, gives you the infamous CAP . My number is 58. Now you get to see the other riders with their kit. Was I the only one being nervous? Sure seemed that way. 131 riders signed up for the 2017 race. Biggest number yet for the fourth year of the race. Tomorrow we start... It's go time!