Reach The Beach WA 2023
Last Century For The Year
Last year I rode the 78-mile route for Reach The Beach (RTB). This year I decided to ride the 100-mile route. After all, I had proved I could ride that far when I rode back to back centuries during STP.
Since RTB is a fundraiser for the American Lung Association, I managed to raise enough money to get a free tee shirt, a free cycling jersey, and a pair of free cycling shorts, which arrived in time to wear them during the event.
My friend, Marie, drove down to Lacey to spend the night before the ride. She would be driving my car to Westport so I could load up my bike for the trip home. Last year, I didn’t have my car at the finish and had to ride a very cramped school bus with my bike loaded onto a truck.
The morning of the ride, I woke up at 6am with the temperature only at 38°F. I had fleece leggings on under my bike shorts and a long sleeved base layer under my jersey. Since the jersey had short sleeves, I also had on thermal arm warmers. Still, I needed my fleece cycling jacket. I wore full fingered gloves, but they weren’t my winter insulated ones.
The first 55 miles of the ride were miserable! It was bitter cold with the wind hitting me while I rode. My fingers, cheeks and nose were so cold that they started to sting! I thought about quitting and calling Marie to come pick me up, but I knew I would be disappointed in myself and pressed on.
The second half the ride was more tolerable since it was warming up to the low 60s and was sunnier than the first half, which was in a lot of low clouds/fog.
I couldn’t bear to eat the pasta for lunch (my stomach was upset), so I stopped at the Westport Winery (mile 85) and ate some cheesecake and drank some coffee before continuing on.
At the finish in Westport, I rode around the block a few times to get my full 100-miles. I also met up with Marie. She had already checked into the Westport Inn (I won a free night there).
I was exhausted and rested a bit at the inn before we ventured out for a dinner of fish and chips.
Next year, I plan to ride RTB Oregon.
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