View of Colfax and East from Green Hollow Road.

"What do you see?" I wanted to know.

Dave had asked me to call him at 5:30 am this morning before driving to Pullman for Dave's Super Century--a ride we'd been planning for over a month.

Pullman, Palouse, Garfield, Oakesdale, Steptoe, St. John, Endicott, Colfax, Palouse again and back to Pullman. Dave mapped it at 138 miles, just right for a training ride for CHAFE and for STP. Chris promised to ride and Lee threatened to start at 6 an hour before our posted 7am start. But would the weather allow it?

I smiled at Thursday's pouring rain. It will stop by Saturday, I thought. And the forecast briefly showed some sunshine on the Palouse. We were a go. Lee decided to start at 6:30 and try to beat us to St. John's for lunch. Would Chris show? Hard to say. He's been more enigmatic that usual this spring.

"I see rain," Dave said.

"i'm getting a cold<" Dave said.

"I really want to do this," I said.

What did I see? Well, light streaks to the west and spots of blue. No rain and I prepared to Razz Dave about the rain.

Lee's 4x4 pickup with a bike rack was mute testament that Lee had already left. I'd promised to call him back if Dave and I chose to cancel. But at 46 degrees and a tailwind, neither of us wanted to give up the day's ride.

The chase was on. Dave and I stayed only a few moments in Palouse. The west wind was enough from the south that we continued to have a push all the way to Oakesdale. But that wind was cold. I pulled out the baggies I'd brought in case of rain and put them over my toes. I forgot that the Palouse in May requires wool socks.

I was shaking from the cold in Oakesdale as I called Lee. "We're thinking of turning back on Dry Creek," I told him.

"I'll wait for you at 195," he ansered. He'd started at 6:20 and had a fair lead on us despite the 20mph we'd been doing much of the way. But we were struggling now. The wind was not only cold but stiff and out of the southweat. Endicott began to sound farther and farther away.

None of us, however, really wanted to turn back. How to get a century?

Green Hollow is a hidden valley complete with a stream, green trees, small farms, and wildlife. Three miles to the west of Steptoe, Green Hollow Road turns and climbs sharply through wheat fields then flattens for a couple of miles before sharply dropping to the creek bed. What goes down, must go up apparently. And up, and up!

272 from Colfax to Pullman starts with another steep 10% climb followed by 15 miles of rollers which have graduated to being hills. Dave and I had fun riding these hills but knew Palouse to Pullman was going to make us pay.

We hadn't promised to wait for Lee and he'd made it clear we didn't need to. But when the route changed, Dave and I didn't want to drop him.

The hills held him up but mostly he was right behind us. We did drop him back to Palouse and to Pullman. He was at the parking lot waiting for us when we got back from adding extra miles for our centuries. He settled for 94 miles and complained that he'd forgotten his running shoes and allowed he go to Anytime Fitness for a workout.

Dave said, "We have better sense than that."

I suggested "not much better.

When Dave and I started out for Palouse at 7, we were doing 15 or 16, then 17 and pretty soon 19. Every hill was an occasion to see who'd be king. That question was largely answered last week when Dave beat me up every hill but MacIntosh.

I though perhaps I'd get him on the rollers this week with momentum built up. Dave's inclined to go hard early and I'm inclined to maximize my momentum before hitting the hills hard. Unfortunately that doesn't compete very well. By the time I was ready to hit it, Dave was already well ahead and I would burn myself out trying to catch him.

Late in the ride I changed my strategy to go into a rapid spin in a high gear. I could make ground on him, but never enough to beat him. Not until the end of the day did I feel Dave begin to fade just the least bit.

Next week he's ridng the Apple Century in Wenatchee. The following week, I'm doing Chafe in Sandpoint. It will be at least three weeks before Dave and I can hit the roads together.

So Someday Dave is once again One-Day Dave. Your welcome, Dave. Now slow down!

For the ride of It Corrie