Portland Century, 2018 edition

We arrived at the start line venue to the usual excitement and hub bub of pinning on bib numbers, throwing back coffee and breakfast goodies. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes of these events.  I know the organizers and staff have been hard at work for the weeks leading up to the event, and had their alarms set for 3am this morning.

I rolled out, expecting to take Stark Street down hill to the Stark Street bridge over the Sandy River, but instead we made our way north to Troutdale proper and took the other bridge.  This is what I get for not reviewing the route, but I do like surprises.

The next surprise was taking a left on Woodard Street.  Woodard is the descent after the hill option on my French Toast ride, and I'd never ridden up it.  My legs were fresh, the temperature was perfect, and it was a fun climb.

Soon I saw one of the unobtrusive but widely available SAG drivers go by.  The driver slowed, looking for my thumbs up and was easily recognizable by the black and yellow striped tape on the vehicle. 

Women's Forum made the perfect venue for our first full rest stop.  Fresh fruit, lots of friendly faces and plenty of photo ops!

Quite a bit of Bull Run climbing later, we arrived at this lovely lunch spot.  I enjoyed a cheese and pickle sandwich with a ton of mustard.

More climbing ensued and I encountered a rider whose pauls had been crushed, right near Paul Road!  I called in for SAG relief for the paul-crusher and continued on.

Arriving at the turn off for 75 vs 100 miles, I thought I'd take the short way.  Just then a gentleman I'd met at lunch came along and said "you're not flaking, are you?".  So I took the long way.

Many very trafficky highway miles later, passing through Estacada in the heat of the day, with yet more hills ahead, I decided to call it a day and head home.  I still rode 80 miles, but between the smoky air and heat, I surrendered.