Today's ride was
a rip roaring, heapin' plate fulla good clean fun. We had crazy speeds for insane distances, curvy descents in the sunshine, tailwinds and headwinds, clouds of bugs to inhale and views galore. So, how did you spend your day?
Just after breakfast my friend Gerard from Holland asked if I'd like to ride with him. Now I thought- this guy is a very good rider- so what's he gonna do- a science experiment on me?? I figured that after 5 miles he'd ride off and leave me, so what harm could come of it. Sure, I said, that would be nice. So off we rode, poking along at a 58 year old's pace and we made nice chat as we soaked in a gentle climb for the first 10 miles or so. Temps were cool- 43 degrees or so, and I wished I'd done more to cover up- but that didn't last for long.
Shortly after our climb ended, we spotted Ernst (63 years old, but strong, like bull) a half mile ahead and it looked like we could catch him without killing ourselves. So I lowered my profile, kicked it up a couple of gears and began to hammer. Surprisingly (remember I've got nearly 500 miles on these old legs in the last week), I felt great and sooner than I'd thought, we reeled in Ernst. At that point two things happened. First, the terrain started to drop and second, Ernst started to really get his mojo working-and I thought I heard him singing "If I had a hammer...". Twenty became twenty-five became thirty and as we
passed rider after rider the ride, in fact life itself, became a thing of joy. My focus was on pushing my pedals as hard as I could, staying just off Ernst rear wheel and dodging rocks, rubber debris and wahtever else I could see in the road. Apparently Ernst had ordered before midnight, because in addition to the curvy, too-cool-for-school downhill, they also threw in a 20 MPH tailwind. Ladies and Gentlemen, we rode like a band of scalded dogs- yippin' and yelpin' our way through traffic as though we were late for something all together more important than just the next sag. As Phil Ligget says, we were "charging down the road like a Grahn Prix Mootor Car ".And so it went- downhill, tailwind, curves, hammerin' and smiling at our silliness until, at about mile 60, we finally ran out of downhill and were forced to begin actually doing some work. The route flattened, a cross wind kicked up and the last 10+ miles turned into a bit of a grind. I paused to take a picture of Rich and Sarah
pass us, then Joel and Allison and as I remounted, I immediately realized I'd flatted. A quick tube change revealed that I'd taken one of those tiny wire strips straight through my tube. I did a roadside wirectomy, a tubal replacement and administer some life saving compressed CO2. The operation was a success and Gerard and I hopped back on the road and sailed into scenic (not) Ontario, OR- our last stop in the really fine state of Oregon. Today's trip brings our elapsed miles to a total of 552 and our total vertical feet gained of 24,474. Golly Mister.
The weather has been absolutely wonderful since we left Astoria. With the exception of day one, we've had sun, low humidity, tailwinds or no winds and highs in the low 80's every day. It's been weather I could never have imagined, the scenery has been at times truly breathtaking and the ride has really been better than I could have hoped for. My thanks to whomever is responsible.
It's a short (62 miles) day tomorrow and then we get a well deserved day off on Tuesday. See ya.....
