As I laid on my back looking up at the blue and white roof of the massage tent in Centralia a few hours ago, I thought I would reach my goal of pedaling the first 150 miles of the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic on Saturday.

Centralia is the halfway mark of the 204-mile ride, but in the 92-degree heat I was one of many of the 9,500 who was battling cramps.

I drank about 140 ounces of liquid between Spanaway and Centralia, but it wasn’t enough.

My masseuse, Pilar Galup, was telling me about how the 14-table massage tent had been busy all day, when my left hamstring cramped so bad that, in the words of my wife, I yelped.

Apparently every head in the tent turned to look at me and two of Galup’s colleagues left their clients to try to help me. For almost 10 minutes the three of them worked on my leg trying to get out the cramp before finally calling over a doctor from the neighboring first aid tent.

I spent the next 20 minutes on a cot in the shade drinking GatorAid after taking two ibuproferen and four Tums (for the calcium).

The doctor explained to me that while I was consuming a good amount of liquid I probably should have consumed twice as much. He also told me I should call it a day.

(This probably is a good time to point out that it’s probably unfair to place all the blame on the heat. Since riding the STP in one day last summer, I’ve gotten, in the words of my 9-year-old daughter, ‘pleasantly plump.” I also only got in about 900 training miles this year.)

As I agonized in Centralia, the rest of the team – Scott Wagar of Federal Way and Rick Beitelspacher and Russ Meyers of Puyallup – pedaled the final 50 miles to Kelso.

Tomorrow we’ll ride to Portland. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll head back to Centralia in the morning to ride the full 100 miles or if I’ll just stick with the team. Either way the team is sure to ridicule me all the way there.

Now that I’m in Kelso with the cramping subsiding I can’t help but recall the words of two men I met in Spanaway. They were wearing jersey’s that boasted “Hella Fool!!!”

“People who do this are crazy,” said M.J. Miranda who traveled from California to ride the STP with Chris Garcia. “People ask why we do it. You finish and you look pretty ragged, but you have bragging rights. That’s what it’s about.”