Oh man, it was SO fun. Mac and I woke up this morning still talking about what a good time we had. It was well worth paying for an all-day babysitter and coming home to a house destroyed by two small boys and their teenage boy babysitter

I can't stop thinking about the delicious savory french toast with chevre and sauteed zucchini and garlic they served before the ride either. Or the buttery thin cookie topped with bavarian creme and fresh berries that was served at the rest stop at a winery. I want to eat like that every day!

Of course to eat like that every day, I'd probably have to climb the one killer hill on the route every day too, and I don't know that I want to do that. Well, it actually probably wouldn't be that bad on my own bike, but it was definitely a workout on the tandem. Made for a great descent though - we can really fly downhill on that thing!

I felt very bad for the off-course Tour de Cure century rider we passed going up, who was muttering about "rolling hills? this is way more than 2% grade" - at that point, it was probably a 10 or 11%. Neither of us could breathe well enough to tell him we thought he had turned with our group instead of going straight. I wasn't sure either, so I didn't want to tell him to turn back! Luckily it didn't add too much mileage to his route and we rejoined the Tour de Cure route after that too, so he wasn't going to get totally off-course and lost. A bit confusing to have two rides and ride markings overlapping - meant you really had to pay attention and not just follow the rider in front of you in case they were on the other ride! Thankfully the courses diverged from each other shortly after that.

Anyone who lives in the PNW should definitely keep this ride on their radar for 2011. We will definitely be doing this ride again.