What a ride and what a day. The day went without any issues. Russ and I concluded that this was the best time we had on any of the last five Courage Classic rides. Both of us felt strong all day and at our best as we climbed Stevens Pass. I made my best time ever up the pass by seven minutes.

As the ride took place, it dawn on me besides the kids who are helped by the money raised; the real story is all of the volunteers who make the ride happen. As riders we are told continuously by many volunteers “Thank you for raising money and riding for the kids.” I hope to not leave out any one but here it goes. Here are just some of the volunteer highlights and a thank you I want to pass on:
• MultiCare has seventy – five volunteers who help put on the ride. Checking in people, loading and unloading bikes, moving and putting up tables and chairs, driving SAG cars, and ect.
• All the Rotary Clubs of Pierce County were involved in buying and preparing all the food stops along the ride. Each stop had more Rotarians than you can count. How could you not when you have to feed over 700 rides in a short period of time? Thank you for the treats and the special little twist you have at each stop. STP could learn from you. We had apple cider, coffee, water, Gatorade, ice cream sundaes, fresh fruit, root beer floats, snow cones, and many other items to enjoy at the many food stops.
• John Curley for riding and being the MC for the Saturday night program.
• The Gig Harbor Rotary for a better spaghetti lunch at Snoqualmie Summit than I had at Spaghetti Factory besides the parking was easier.
• What can Brown do for you? I tell you what UPS does for the riders. UPS takes the riders luggage from them at the start of the ride and drops it off at their camp site or hotel during all three days. The bags are dropped off by the rides numbers at the finishing site. UPS also took care of my laptop by keeping it safe for me.
• Many MultiCare employees volunteered their weekend for the ride, and brought their kids along to help as well.
• The Old Town Bicycle shop fixed and worked on many bikes for a thank you or the cost of the parts. Thanks for taking care of my tire and my bike.
• The South Hill – Puyallup Rotary and Sumner Rotary for a nice lunch of sandwiches and soup.
• All the SAG drivers – Thank you for stopping and bring water, a floor pump, a kind word of encouragement, and a ride when the body or the bike gave out.
• The Lion’s Club of Leavenworth for my favorite dinner and a great breakfast. Dinner is so good I worry about embarrassing myself for eating so much, and trust me when it comes to food I don’t embarrass easy.
• The Tacoma Narrows Rotary for the baked potato lunch and the fun we had in line. Every year you add a new topping for the bakers, and I love all of the items you offer.
• Thank you for all of you who worked on Thursday and Friday to prepare the ride and those of you who will work on Tuesday getting everything back to where it goes.
• Thank you all for a special ride but be prepared the word is out so expect more riders next year.

I tried to post this on Saturday, but the hotel which claimed to have an internet connection didn't have one.

Sunday Night

This weekend’s ride reminds me of times when I was a kid where you have no worries and only good times. Remember as a child the extra fun days flew, but the days when you had to pull weeds dragged on. This weekend has been that kind of weekend; it is flying by. The only small hiccup came from during the first fifteen miles of the ride. The three readers of this blog, who are all related to me, will know my love of dehydration, IVs, and ER. I felt the need to get ahead of my hydration so I drank two large bottles of water the first ten miles. Hoping I would soon have a sign that I was fully loaded and hydrated – I wanted - NO - I needed to pee. I had the same experience Craig Hill had two years ago on STP when he needed to go. Finally, with a full bladder, I pulled over behind a tree to relieve myself. Sweet relief. The hiccup wasn’t the fact I couldn’t void, but when Todd Kelly my neighbor and Multi-Care Hospital Communications Director decided to roll up in his SAG wagon within ten feet of my tree. Todd has his soon to be a seventh grade daughter Sarah with him. He quickly threw the car in reverse, and all turned out well.

The weekend is truly a worry free weekend for the riders, but it happens by the hard work of the volunteers. I asked Todd if the weekend qualified as work – he said no he volunteered this weekend in fact he mentioned his first day of his vacation is Monday the last day of the ride. His daughter Sarah was right by his side working hard with her dad. The hours the volunteers put in are enormous – Todd started both Saturday and Sunday before 7 AM and Saturday his day finished at 9:30 PM. When Russ and I left the program last night at 7 PM, Todd with Sarah at his side was still hard at work. I talked to a couple Rotary members who came up the night before the event to set up their food stop, and woke quite early to prepare food for the many riders.

Again for my three family and friends reading the blog, the cribbage total is 10 to 10. I jumped out to a huge lead of 9 to 2 to only have Russ get on a big run and tie it up.

Monday’s ride is the toughest for me. The ride is around sixty miles with about the biggest climbing day. Today we climb Stevens Pass. The total climbing miles today is around fifteen miles of the sixty. Russ waits for me at the top of the pass, and my best time in the past has Russ only waiting for twenty-three minutes; we will see.