"Black Line Time Trial"

It was a cold, wet morning. At least that is what it sounded like from my vantage point, curled up in bed. There is a window near me, and I could hear the rain hitting it, repeatedly.
I was in a new to me, thicker futon, that I had gotten the night before. It replaced the heinous one that Spence pawned off on me.
Needless to say, I was sleeping so well that I stayed in bed until around 1:00 pm. At that point, I had to get out of bed, 'cause sometime after 2:00, "The Blackline Time Trial" was going to go off.
Within a half hour, I was out the door, and crossing NE, on the way to the NW, to the Lucky Lab Brewpub, the start of the race.
I showed up as number 13 of what must have been 15 riders, but that didn't matter, I wasn't going to race anyway. Being fully soaked already, I had no need to go out and prove myself to these kids.
Of course, within the hour I was lined up with the rest, waiting to roll through the middle of the bar, out the big garage door, and onto NW Quimby, for a three stop time trial.
We were sent out 5 at a time, within 5 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes of starts.
Once again, having shown up late allows me to hang out and watch everyone else leave, which was fun.
When it was my turn, I rallied on out the door, turned left onto Quimby, and bombed down to and south up 19th avenue, towards the stadium. I fully knew that that was the route to take, as it has proven itself to me many times over.
Flying down the wrong way now, up taylor, and over to the high school, where I turned up 14th the wrong way. Many blocks to go up the hill now, dangerous bike lanes at freeway onramps.I turn into PSU, to ride the "Ho Chi Min Trail", over towards the Barbur Y in SW. From there it was down the hill to the Corbett Grocery, where the clue was the times minors were allowed inside.
Here I turned a block down the hill to make the ineveitable happen, This was a part of the trip I knew I would be taking, even when sitting at the Lucky Lab.
I turned onto and into the "Ross Island Bridge", which, when wet and dark, is a thing of horrific fear, both a nightmare, and a calming, light at the end, sort of transcending experience.
Not to mention the deep, deep puddles that accumulate on it's deck.
The best thing about the Ross Island is that it makes you ride across it fast, then down the hill and speeding now onto Se 12th avenue. Up to Hawthorne and down on the left is the "Lucky Lab 2", where the answer is how cement spots are in the parking lot.
I counted those without getting off the bike, and moved on up SE 7th avenue towards the Convention Center and NE Broadway, where a left turn put's me uphill of the last checkpoint, The Big Josh Who Can't, on the Broadway bridge.
I gave him the required high five in the high wind and rain, and boosted myself down the bridge and across the pearl topographically towards the finish, once again, the "Lucky Lab".
I cruised up and back into the bar, up to Rob at his seat, and checked in.
After more beers, and tallying, Rob had the results.
By the way, Rob threw a great race here last year, "The Golden Nugget", which, by the way, I won. Tad got 2nd.' I ended up drinking Elmer's Glue at the first stop even.
This weekend in Seattle is the "Rebel Without A Cog" fixed gear only race, which starts at 2 pm Saturday.
The results were called out and in the end it was Scotty, with 29 minutes, a full two minutes ahead of the second and third place finishings of Drew and Zac.
Lucky was 5th, I was wet and in 6th, and Mason got 7th desite a flat, and a train (that is the story anyway).
We hung out a while and traded stories of rainy horror, then rollled off to the "Polo Haus" for revelry, and Libations.
I made the slippery turn off the pack at the Rose Quarter, For I was meeting R. Kelly, Divebomb, Jaiden, Magnum, C murder, and Mace and Junko for a Blazers game that evening. They won, we had fun, I went home and ate way too much.
It is long saturdays like that that make me take the whole Sunday off, relaxing in my room, doing nothing at all....