Carol - Saturday's ride.   Well once again I was fortunate to have Cassandra home to ride with this weekend.  I had forgotten that she was planning on being up so I was super excited when I learned that I wouldn't have to ride my long ride of the week alone.  If you haven't read her post you should read that before you continue with mine. 
So, everything that Cassandra described about the doggie mace and the quick stop (backward wheelie) really did happen and we sure did laugh about it.  I was a little bit apprehensive about our ride after these events because it just seemed that something else might happen.  It ended up being a pretty non eventful ride in that regard though.  One of my biggest issues tended to be either not being able to read the map (due to lack of great eye sight) or forgetting my reading glasses on with my sun glasses and figuring it out at the last minute and having to have Cassandra put them in my fanny pack.  I never realized how tough it can be when you can't see without your glasses. 
In spite of the too frequent map reading issues (getting lost) we did have a wonderful time. The sun was warm enough to take off my arm warmers, we took pictures of us riding with Mt. Baker in the distance and had a great time.  Even though some of the roads were narrow most motorist were courteous and gave us room.  We were even able to ride side by side and talk for some of the time which was good. The stretch from Ferndale to Birch Bay had a lot more hills then I think we both anticipated but that was okay because it's great training for the STP. 
This was the longest ride both of us have had to date.  Yes, our speed could have been better, I think we averaged about 13.5 MPH but that was still pretty good for the amount of miles we logged (especially with the hills). 
I believe we are fairly evenly matched in our riding, although I do think Cassandra is stronger on the hills. We tend to work well together as a team.  One of us takes the lead when the other is starting slow down a bit, so the slower person can draft. Drafting saves about thirty percent of energy, so it's great that we can both take turns.  Drafting will help us bike more efficiently when the big day comes.
Total miles logged were 68....even though it should have been a 63 mile ride...thanks again to our map reading skills (or lack of).
Another good ride for the books....