St. Andrews is still St. Andrews

Elmer gets these ideas into his head and there is no shaking them, you may as well rewrite the Constitution than change the Grapefruit itinerary. This was the week of revisiting D2D.

As part of my plan for RAMROD training I had planned a bike double for this weekend (Skagit Spring Classic century saturday, D2D Sunday). I had registered for the Skagit (I really don't know why I keep preregistering for events that don't require it, but there it is) and was really looking forward to what would be my longest ride to date this season, and even more to attempting D2D on D2, though there was pretty much no chance of getting up St. Andy on tired legs since I couldn't get up it last time. Then I get a random text from Francesca whom I hadn't seen in 2 years, thought maybe we would meet for Dim Sum on the eastside Sunday and emailed Elmer about switching the ride to Zoo/ Montreux. Nope, we would just switch breakfast plans from Speedway Cafe to Glos, but there was no switching rides.

Day of Skagit the weather was perfect, but I was groggy from sleeping >12 hours, about 4 of which involved pressing the snooze button. The only thing worse than being bloated from a non-tasty meal is being bloated from sleeping hours stuck in a boring circular dream that is too real. I rolled over and practically got a paper cut from the stack of unfinished charts I had become accustomed to sleeping with every night. I had finally reached the point where it was actually mathematically impossible to catch up and then I faced another epic battle with myself, honed from a lifetime of procrastination and self-loathing. No I couldn't just make a small dent in the pile and be ahead of where I was, No I couldn't just ride the 25 miler and go home, not worth the 3 hour roundtrip drive not to do the whole century. I just wouldn't go at all. But it's my last chance to get much needed miles in this month, since there was Pigtails 150 in just 2 weeks. But I rationalized (that I'm good at), no work no play, and if I wanted to attack this paperwork properly, I would have to conserve my energy and eat a lot.

I decide to DNS and start paperwork, but there's nothing in the fridge. The thought of braving Seattle Costco alone on a weekend is enough to trigger panic but it's an investment in brain calories, so I fill the Beast up with boxes and boxes, carry them upstairs, totally rearrange my freezer, eat enough calories for a family of 4, then.... zzzzzz.

Well at least my legs were fresh for my date with St. Andy. Temps a little chilly for fingerless gloves but no rain and otherwise perfect for climbing. Driving through Muk was memory lane (and here's where we did the Time Trials at the Tour de Muk!), but riding D2D was the ultimate. Time goes by but the hills stay the same.

3 hills down, 1 to go.

Like at P2P, you get to go down before you go up so you see what lies ahead of you. The last time we faced St. Andrews I had to pull off to the side, and I half convinced myself that my days of doing D2D, like my days of running sub4, were long gone. This time I decide to try doing some switch backs (being careful not to cross the yellow line) and found it really made the climb much easier.

I got up to the top without puking/ passing out/ or getting/ falling off the bike which = success.

I just passed the bar exam. Time for Dim Sum.