[harper]

For IHD on the IHT we had 17 riders this year, 12 unicyclists and 5 bicyclists. Of the unicyclists, Tom Cotton and Maria Dawson both rode their personal bests yesterday. Jerry Gruss and his girlfriend Prudence came all the way up from Houston, Texas to attend. Scott and Jodie Arnold drove up from Oregon to ride. Scott made the ultimate sacrifice when he gave part of his nose to the gravel trail in a face plant following a high speed shoestring incident. Bruce Dawson graciously maintained the international flavor of the event singlehandedly.

We met at Tom Blackwood's for the traditional morning chaos involving overloading the truck with cycles and overloading our bellies with a banquet generously prepared by Marie. We set out on the long journey to drop off a shuttle car and haul 16 riders and their vehicles to the Hyak station at the summit to meet Jeff Sloan who was just rolling in from eastern Washington. The trek was eerie in the consistent rain that was predicted not to fall that day.

At the top, Miles Blackwood, Danny Allen and myself rode around warming up in the non-rain watching as most of the other riders comically went through the ceremony of adorning themselves with all manner of high-tech riding and protective equipment. This preening generally takes 30 to 45 minutes depending on the price and colors of the equipment involved. None of this high-tech equipment included any realistic rain wear.

After Jeff Sloan explored various parking lots in the area, he finally met up with us in the correct one and we launched into the non-drizzle. We decided to forgo the traditional tunnel entrance photo and photoshop one together at a later date. Sean courteously provided this photo already as can be seen above. We plowed into the tunnel at full speed, into the blackness and out of the rain. The riders went into a heart wrenching (or perhaps gut wrenching) rendition of Happy Birthday with 16 joyous voices raised to deafening volume in the resonant tunnel. It brought tears to my eyes which made no difference because, even with John Childs' 2.5kW lighting system, I could see virtually nothing.

We exited the tunnel to a potpourri of lunch items. Jerry and Prudence gave me a birthday brownie and Tom Blackwood gave me some birthday Twinkies. I blew out the candles in the accepted nostril-blast fashion. Oddly, no one wanted to share the cake treats. We braced ourselves for the cold of summer and non-rain and plunged into the ride for the next five hours of fun and foolishness with only Scott's mishap adding to the unpleasantness of the rain.

After the ride, Marie and Travis spent some more time dressing the wounds of the injured. Then, 13 of us went to an Italian restaurant in Issaquah to refuel. A truly delightful way to spend one's 56th birthday. I highly recommend it, especially with the company listed.

Riders: Tom and Miles Blackwood, Bruce, Maria, and Sarah Dawson, John Childs (THE main man), Tom Cotton, Jerry Gruss and Prudence, Scott and Jodie Arnold, Jeff Sloan, Danny Allen, Travis and Ward, Brian, and the birthday boy.

The Unicyclists: The Toms, Miles, Jeff, John, Danny, Scott, Jerry, Bruce, Maria, Travis, and the birthday boy.

Thanks always to Marie Blackwood for all the work she does to make these events possible and perfect.