Cash Money Series Week 4.......

Decisions will be made in life. Many of them regrettable, many of them unforgettable. It is the decisions that combine both of these horrible realities into one hour of fury that haunt you in your sleep.
I have not gone to bed yet tonight. It is 1:00 am, and I am going downtown in the morning, so bed should be in the works right now.
But the memories of this evening will flash across the insides of my eyelids, keeping me awake as long as possible, and work on my brain after I finally fall asleep.
Once again, to the Ash Street Saloon for the "Cash Money Series", week 4.
The standings were posted on line the other night, and lo' and behold, I sat in a tie for 2nd place, for the series win.
It had been proven in the last couple of weeks that winning the race was great for some fast cash, but it takes something else to win the series.
Bonus Points.
In your standard alleycat, bonus points are small, and sometimes make no difference.
I did the "Bad Nugget Rising" alleycat thrown by Rob (Track King) Kittlson, in Seattle. The base was the top of Bycracky park, which sits on the top of Queen Anne Hill. A bonus was thrown out at the start of the race that anyone who brought a car tire to the top of the hill got bonus points. This sounded great.
Until you take into account that Queen Anne is a serious hill, and tires are heavy, and must be carried in hand, they don't fit in a bag.
I dragged that goddamned tire up Queen Anne hill on my first manifest. I was rolling fast, doing great, but....
When I got to the top, there was already a pile of 4 tires waiting for me..... Those Seattle Kids...
I finished 10th place, and first place out of towner. It was a 4 hour race, in which I had it coming out of both ends at the same time within the last hour. It was hard to tell, in that race what, if anything, the bonus tire did for me. I did make it to the top of the hill just in the nick of time. The race ended at 6 exactly. I found myself about ten minutes from the finish, in the U district, with Queen Anne Hill and the finish in my view.
But not close..not even ten minutes close. I was running up the hill with my bike on my shoulder, and near the top, a lady drove up next to me, asked me what I was running for, and I told her I was in a race, blah blah blah.
She told me to sit on her hood (it was a Mercedes, I love the german cars, so I was carefull not to scratch it) and she drove me that way with my bike in my hand the last 4 blocks to the top of the hill.
I made it to the top at 6:00, and 45 seconds. barely in time.
Flash back to the Future.
Cash Money Series.....
In the first race I went for no bonus points. No one really did. Except Fox.
Fox got all the bonuses that race.
Scotty won, but Fox was well ahead of Scotty in points already.
In future races, I not only got all the bonuses, but rolled fast and worked on getting extra points for placing decent.
So, tonight, in the "Library Race", sitting tied for 2nd, I am looking hot to do well. This puts the focus on placing in the middle, getting all the bonuses, and making no mistakes.
Slackjaw told us the rules, yelled some more (he loves yelling), and said go.
I immediately turned down third avenue, heading for the library downtown at 10th and SW Yamhill.
Within these ten blocks, I took four to five of them going the wrong way, in the middle. Downtown traffic was light and fairly easy to move through, so I didn't get stopped all the way to the library.
I wrote down the clue "The Sky Is Falling", and rolled down the hill towards the Morrison bridge.
Due to the horrible construction, I took many streets the wrong way again on the way to the bridge. I was preparing myself for what was waiting later in my ride, as my trip was already fully routed in my head, and I dreaded what lay ahead.
I searched and searched the stairwells on the east side of the Morrison bridge, then found Bjorn, another of the top three, looking for the clue too. Up and down stairwells full of trash, needles, and Tootsie Rolls........
In the process of looking for said clue, I:
Had a car weave at me, head on, at like 45 miles an hour. I swerved. Luckily.
Was passed by a cop car, going the wrong way on the Morrison, Right before said car swerved towards me.
The Policeman sped up, heading west.
So I sped up, heading east. I knew he was going to flip a u turn on the bridge, and come back across to the east side looking for me.
I was still searching for the clue, so took the roundy ramp that goes from the east bound approach, to the west Bound approach. The wrong way. I did this knowing the cop would have to pass me, then flip another u turn or something.
I rolled onto the span into the path of one car after another, and right pass the cop car racing the other direction (looking for me).
I took my focus off of him, and back to the bonus points.
After at least 20 minutes of looking, we agreed it wasn't there, and took off east.
This was horrible for both of us, since points right now are everything.
Up and over the hill past one of my favorite places, Col. Summers Park. The next stop was the library at 39th and SE Yamhill.
Right before that, I stopped at Zupan's, found the bulletin board, and got a for sale ad, which was just a business card stapled to a flyer.
This would turn out to be a good bonus for me, as the next one would be increasing difficult to score with.
I wrote down the clue at the library, "Hiccups", and rolled fast across 39th to the Hollywood district.
The library there is at 41st and NE Tillamook. This is a land of dark roads, big sewer projects, and huge holes in the road, most covered by metal plates.
I worked my way through this virtual mine field, wrote down the clue "99599", and waited a moment, allowing myself to breathe....
This was the beginning of what is known as a crux move. A turn around of events. A point that, when surpassed, leads to a nice, smooth flow to the finish.
Instead of rolling down Broadway, across the bridge and into the NW, I went straight down Tillamook to 24th, then across to NE Fremont. 30 some blocks down Fremont and I turned onto N Williams, stayed right, and pedaled hard onto the Fremont Bridge, or I405 bridge. This is a nightmare to ride during the day, and I was on it in full dark, with a black bike, and a little blinky back light.
It has a long approach ramp, followed by 5 full lanes of I-5 traffic to be crossed.
I negotiated this no problem, but due to debris on the shoulder, I had to ride in a manner not many are accustomed to riding freeways. I rode the white line, all the way across.
The downhill on the northwest side is very, very fast, and I was peddling as hard as I could. It spits you out 1 block from the next stop, the library at 23rd and NW Thurman, where I saw the clue "Orange".
Off I went, down Thurman and onto Front Avenue. On my mind now was not only peddling fast into downtown to the Ash Street, but finding the last bonus points for tonight.
This being a library race, the hardest thing to get out of a library is a reference book. And this is what was needed for the last bonus points.
All Libraries had been closed but downtown. There was no way in hell I was carrying a big reference books, when un needed yet, so now I had to find one.
When I pedal hard, my mind works wonders. The brainstorm started with a thought search for books we use all the time, are reference books, but not really recognized as such.
And it hit me.
Phone book.
I will beat Drew at his own game, using one of last week's bonuses as this week's bonus.
When I got back to the Ash Street, I strolled back to the kitchen. Already knowing where they kept them from last week, I grabbed a phone book, ran back to Drew, and handed it all in.
Much went on about the phone book not being a reference book (which it is), and not being allowed cause we used it last week, ( but that was crap too), so I won the battle, and the battle for the Morrison bridge bonus points, as Fox didn't find it either.
I sat back with a single beer, and waited for the last racers to come in. This group contained the two people in front of me, Bjorn, and Fox.
Fox went home and " borrowed" his roommates big dictionary (really, if a dictionary is a reference books, so is a phone book) since it was on his route.
Scotty got first, and I know Mason got third.
In the end it boiled down to the same three of us in first, second, and third (in the series). With Lucky not showing up tonight, it put fourth place out of the running, which guarantees us placing and supposed trophies.
How fun is that?
In order to win the whole series, I figure I must place next week in the top 5, with all bonuses...
This is very do able......



Zac wanted to see this pic, so here it is.....Wish I was in it, but someone has to have *cough* artistic control...

By the way, any and all comments regarding the content above and below is welcome, and actually well appreciated...
Give me input, or give me death!