finally! part deuce to one of the most awesome things i have ever had the pleasure of doing. such a great day and seriously one of my proudest accomplishments. i hope that one day i can return to sweden and do it again, only this time on a bike that doesn't crap out and probably fixed gear.
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| number tjugo |
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goth siting!
she was walking somewhere with her animal backpack and we were literally in the middle of the bush. if i wasn't racing at that moment i would have loved to see where she was headed. |
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patrick.
an expat from humbolt county who's english was so choppy you would have never guessed that he grew up in california. he's been in sweden for two years, and was the only other american that i met on the ride, besides my cousin of course. the majority of the riders were swedish but there were also people from germany, the u.k. and australia. |
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| hans rollin |
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so european...
in the sack: homemade power bar, cheese sandwich, chocolate bar, a mini spirit and a single cigarette. somewhere along the way there were people lined up on the path so we could scoop this life saving satchel and keep on rollin. |
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| lunch buffet! half way there! oh, and because this was in europe it tasted a million times better then you can even imagine. check out that can of pickles! |
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| and we ate on a boat! |
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| me rollin |
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sausage!
cooked by the homie bad wolf. he had some mutual acquaintances from pdx and east van due to the mass plosion of the bike polo community. |
after lunch the ride started to take an interesting turn. we had already gone on some back roads and through farmlands but the routing for the next bit was so untouched that i swear the race plotters blazed it themselves. being towards the end of the pack had an advantage for me this time, as one of the flaggers was not at his spot when the first group cycled by. they ended up doing a big uphill loop but by the time i got there i was ushered to a path that went directly into a swamp. after trying to get the bike to pedal through 6 inches of mud i put it on my shoulder and climbed over logs and such. there were tiny frogs scattering away at my feet and luckily there were striped markers randomly stuck in the mud so there was a feeling that i was headed in the right direction. suddenly the more serious riders are all behind me, racing to catch up. i heard the commotion of them but also random applause and yelling in front of me. at this point is was also pouring down rain and i was so confused. i saw white cardboard families, dogs, and human like shapes ahead of me and realized that this, like the poet in the field, was just another push to get you out of the swamp. these stationary figures were the ones cheering us on.
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carbo load.
beer, bread and bikes. |
although this carb stop was only a few hours after our lunch feast it was much needed. it had been pouring and the flats were nailing everybody, including myself. i rolled up on a girl right before i got my flat and she had just propped her bike on a barn fence to fix hers. i did not realize that there were horses on the other side that wanted to check it out. they came fucking galloping down the hill. mom, dad, the kids. it was kind of intense because they came right up to the edge but it was also really amazing to see how majestic horses can be. i never liked them that much, but these guys were alright.
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bitches rollin.
there were only four or five other females on the ride but we held it down. the girl directly behind me fell early on and ended up riding until just the very end. the next day at polo she told me she had broken her collarbone. bamf! |
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| cousins. yay! we made it. |
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| end with a bang. fireworks! |
the day ended with a nice, slow ride back into town. hans and i were lucky because the post race gathering was down the street from his flat and so we got to go home and shower before heading to the free beer and lasagna. not everyone had this luxury and hans joked that we could charge people 10 bucks for a shower. its probably a good thing that we didn't because between the two of us we washed away an entire beach's worth of sand and grime and his tub looked like shit. i ended up throwing away my beloved converse because there was really no way they would ever be clean again. all in all a great fucking day that i will never forget. here is the route:
ronde van retaard race route via google maps
