I don't suppose you went bike hunting this morning, too, did you? Some guy already found it, but it looked like an awesome bike.
*glares* Yes, I did. Also, I hate that they only show the green side of the bike.
click me said:
That's me on the far right, looking down. I was texting my wife because she said there were 8 people at her side of the trail, compared to the close to 100 on this side. I choose poorly (Part A).
I got to the trail at 4:15 or so and there were three people ahead of me, not counting the ranger and the contest official. The group grew rapidly and there was a very large variety of people there. There was one guy to my left on a heavy-looking mountain bike with full panniers and a backpack. I don't know what he thought he was going to do, laden as he was, but whatevs. There were a few people on tri and TT bikes (they all predictably flew up the hill there) and I wondered at the ones who had bikes as nice as - if not nicer than - the one we were out to find. I mean, free is nice and all but dude, come on. Kind of like the first two guys who found bikes who had occupations where they could afford the bike anyway. But then I forget what human nature is.
Moving on...the 'race' was supposed to start at 5:42 so as we got closer they were talking about doing a start countdown. Sure, ok, that's good. So talk talk talk...'Oh, hey, it's 5:42. Go?' is how it started. I was worried there was going to be an accident given the wide range of bikes/people/skills so I was glad I was in the front but also I feared someone taking me out from behind. I didn't see any reports of injuries so that's good.
I made it up the hill though and it was hilarious watching everyone go. There were bikes scattered on the side of the trail at various points while they ran into the woods looking. One guy - he's just to the screen left of me in that picture, in the yellow lycra - put his fancy TT bike in the gravel and then climbed the side of a hill to get to the top. I had to literally laugh at that because a) it was a really nice bike and b) really? There was no trail, he just took off.
After that point there is a tunnel. This is where my wife thought the bike would be because there are two alcoves in there big enough to park a car. I glanced at them - mostly because why not check? - but nothing. After the tunnel is an...alley-like thing with columns. It's narrow. Why do I mention this? It's because there was a guy in front of me going slowly. I liked his jersey though, it was a funny Wallace & Gromit one that said, "Keep Up Lads".
Sound familiar?
So right when we come out of the narrow area there's a side trail off to the right. He goes that way and I don't, I keep going straight.
Yeah. I Choose Poorly (Part B).
I get to the end of the trail and turn around because I get a text from my wife saying someone found the bike. I make it back to where there was a large group of people and see a guy standing with the bike, a big black guy, and he looks so happy. Standing next to him is the W&G guy though, and I thought, "Oh, they're friends." Then my wife says that's the guy who found it, the one in the white helmet. I looked at her and said no. Don't tell me that. Who really found it. Nope, that's him. Fuck.
I couldn't go to sleep Saturday night because my brain kept thinking, "you were literally seconds away from finding the bike." We were on the trail Friday night looking for likely hiding spots and I measured the mileage and the side trail was in the literal middle of the main trail at 2.5 miles (5-mile distance from gate to gate). I thought to myself, well, this is the middle and it makes sense that it should be here because otherwise why start on both ends? But there was no obvious place to hide it and I didn't think they would put it down a trail (I Chose Poorly [Part C]).
Random asides: The first two people there were bike messengers from Portland. They were strong but that hill...wow. I don't know what the grade was but you're starting from a dead stop and then immediately climb and on top of that there was a storm coming in from the West so the wind was blowing pretty hard right at you. A tough start.
The guy in the picture with the Portland jersey was on his bike and holding on to the gate, rocking himself back and forth like he was going to spring out of the...well...the gate (no pun intended). My wife pointed him out of the picture as being the guy who sounded like he was losing a lung he was coughing so hard.
One good thing about this bike hunt was it was actually a hunt. It wasn't just on the side of the road or behind a rock, it took some searching. That was refreshing. Also, I'm glad he won the bike, for all that I just said. He was riding an older bike that looked pretty beat up so he's definitely going to enjoy the new one. That first fall/scratch is going to be a bitch though.
Guess who I saw Friday night? The same person I saw riding the Painted Hills bike and his sister-in-law, the one who actually found it. Thought that was weird since the rules state you can only find one bike. But then I saw them again the next morning in the crowd behind me. Luckily they didn't find this one but I heard them talking about going out to look for the Crater Lake bike. Talk about poor sportsmanship. You already found one, do you have to be that greedy? (personal rant that involved some doxxing was here.) I spoke with the Ride Oregon organizer and he said that he recognized them as well. (Kind of hard to miss when you have a 6+ foot-tall white guy with a very large afro as part of your party.) The rep said that he didn't know what they would have done if they had won, but I think he should have just singled them out at the beginning - because he saw them waiting, just like I did - and told them to go home.
When we got to the part of the trail where East side met West side, there was a big turf war that broke out. Ha. But seriously, my wife had the best metaphor: it was like when hunting dogs lose the scent and they start circling around. There were people doing just that, circling like "what do we do now?" Looking back now, it's pretty funny.
I can sit here and say what I should have done, but after not sleeping Saturday night I know that I shouldn't. I'm sure writing this down will help, it did last time, but I keep thinking randomly "two minutes. Just two minutes faster." Two minutes faster would have put me in front of him and possibly down that trail.
Wish in one hand, shit in the other and see which one gets filled first.
So yeah, I was out looking for the bike. I cannot put into words how dismayed (that's not even the right word, but I don't have a very strong thesaurus for emotions) I was when I saw who found it. I watched him turn right in front of me to go down that trail. I could have turned right as well and maybe taken a zig when he zagged and then it would be a different story. It's just like last time: I had the opportunity and missed it. All I can do now is wait two and a half weeks for the Crater Lake bike. That one's going to be hard, because the rim drive is steep and long. The only way to find that bike is going to be if you start looking at the right time in the right place.
thought i ll freeze to the death in the night.
