We rode the new tandem, which, although we've had it for a year, we haven't ridden much due to a long series of irritating health issues on my part. We discovered that training separately (and sometimes sporadically for the "weakest link") makes for an exhausting weekend of riding. Oh well, next year will be a breeze. If you saw a big blue Rodriguez tandem with a very fat lady on the back, that was us.

We started out around 6:30 and all was spiffy until we hit that first climb in Woodinville. The differences in our riding styles were magnified and made for an uncomfortable struggle up that hill. I did not miss the course change that eliminated the rollers going into arlington and that long run on the Centennial trail was nicely restorative. There was a drunk woman at the Mini stop in Arlington, who was having a very loud, very animated monologue which assured we did not linger too long. The second climb into Mt Vernon was even worse than I remembered and I felt like I was running on fumes as we made it to the lunch stop there. Chukanut Dr was a painful blur and the lemonade was most gratefully received. We didn't roll into Bellingham until after 4:00. After a quick shower, we stumbled down the hill and had a really good Mexican meal. We collapsed in our dorm room and it was lights out soon after.

Day two started out pleasantly enough and we were just zooming along with high hopes until we hit the back up at the border. Standing in line for over an hour just did wonders for my back and numb leg, not to mention my mood. Like TTaylor said, it's potentially a deal breaker for future rides.

Having spent a lot of that waiting time psyching ourselves up to face "The Wall" (we'd actually decided we would just bail and walk it from the get go) we were delighted to discover that it had been one of the things eliminated with all the new course changes. We happily zoomed along until we hit Coquitlam and Port Moody and nearly every red light we came across. It was actually like that the rest of the way and we spent a lot of time grumbling and cursing and generally being crabby. We didn't roll in to the down town area until after 4, and found the Zombie Parade to be rather irritating, since we were forced to dismount and walk the bike a couple of different times, just to get through intersections. We parked the bike, took our patches, gulped our free beer and limped back to the Blue Horizon. We were too zonked to do much beyond eating dinner. I always do enjoy those panoramic views of the city from the rooms at the Blue Horizon, though. Had the best seafood Bennie in the world in the morning before heading back home feeling privileged to live in such an orderly and civilized place where such an adventure could take place. Something about pushing through all the resistance and pain and making it to the finish (in spite of turning into a snarling dog) makes me feel so happy and peaceful afterwards.