Saturday two of us rode RUSA Perm #01124 - Portland to Olympia, taking advantage of a dry and relatively calm day. We did have a slight headwind most of the day, but nothing significant. We left Portland just after 7am, hugging the west bank of the Columbia river along US Highway 30 up to Ranier, OR. This segment was about 50 miles, flat, and pleasant due to a wide shoulder and light traffic. The Lewis and Clark bridge into Longview, Washington is notorious for being heavily littered with logging debris - the shoulder can be so covered with bark it's unrideable. It's a cantilevered bridge, a bit of a climb, and a nice fast descent down and into Longview. The tree bark did get a bit sketchy to navigate as I sped down the Washington side. Longview was our first stop; for some odd reason we were both craving burgers so we hit a Wendy's for a couple #2 specials. The road got a bit lumpier in Washington, culminating in the highpoint near Winlock, WA, home of the world's largest egg. RWPGS recognize three "climbs" on this route; all in the 2nd half and none that presented a challenge. We hit up a C-store in Winlock; I just had a Hostess fruit pie and some Starbucks cold drink, while I think my buddy just ate some cookies he had stowed. Odd that a couple veteran randos - 25 years experience and two Mondials between us - would make rookie nutrition mistakes, but we did. We carried on happily through Chehalis then Centralia, stopping at a Starbucks around mile 99 for coffee. But no food, like a couple newbs. Somewhere around Grand Mound - I'm not sure whether just before or after - I started to feel the bonk coming on, which is absurd since I'd been carrying a large rice krispie treat and three gels from the start. Then my buddie says, "I'm starting to bonk". So we stopped alongside the road, ate what we had, marveled at an enormous ant mound alongside the road, then carried on. I was feeling ok, but my buddy had bonked pretty hard. Fortunately there was a bit of headwind, meaning he could sit in an catch a decent draft while I did the work. Funny how that works out; sometimes a headwind helps. The rest was pretty straightforward, just ticking down the miles on gentle rolling terrain with I think one "climb" per RWGPS. My buddy's gels kicked in just as we rolled in to Olympia for the finish, which worked out fine since we had 9 miles remaining to the Olympia/Lacy Amtrak station. Elapsed time on the 200 was 9:59, finishing just a bit after sunset. Downtown OLY to Amtrak is mostly trail, which was a nice way to finish. We got to the station just after 6 and our train was at 7:30, so we had plenty time. I suppose we could have gone out for food somewhere in that time, but we elected to warm up inside the train station, and hit the cafe car once under way. Olympia to Portland is about 2 - 2.5 hours, then 45 minutes transit. I was home about 11pm.
For a November perm in the PNW, finishing dry is a big win.
https://www.strava.com/activities/8109378854