I am beginning to wonder about the whole Race Across Oregon thing!
I met up with a group of folks who refer to themselves as the "Sunday Irregulars", all very good cyclists. I should ride with them more, I'd be a stronger rider if I did.
We met at Longbottom Coffee near Hillsboro Stadium in time for a 9AM start. It's always fun to see the collection of fancy hardware and new toys. Here are Alanna's new carbon wheels, the first day out!
The plan was "ride your own century". Even though the day promised to be HOT a handfull did go for the century option. The rest of us did a shorter option. For the most part these folks are all serious athletes,.... Ironman competitors, triathletes, marathoners. The talk over fruit smoothies after the ride was not "Have you ever run a marathon?" but instead was "What was your fastest marathon?" The conversations revolved around comparing who was registered for which competitions, what the lodging plans were, training schedules, etc. Needless to say, I was like a fish out of water! (My best marathon time? Ha!)
We had a good ride, I fell behind on long climbs (note to RAO dreams...what are you thinking?) but could hold my own on flats and descents. A sure sign of pedaling weakness! Our route took us up Mountaindale Rd. That is a 7 mile out and 7 mile back with probably a 1-2% average climb on the way out. Not bad at all, but after a few miles it at 16-17 mph it wears on you. I fell back from the main group. After a regroup at the turnaround point I was able to hold my own in a 25-27 average speed paceline. With that little downgrade we just flew.
It was a good ride, nice folks.....they even tolerate a slow old goat like me!
I rode 43 miles with them today. I hope to go out for another short ride later today when it cools off a bit. Maybe out to Hagg Lake and make a lap? We'll see what happens.
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...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today...........43...............0.................43
Jan total.......98.....+........402....=..........500
Feb total.....385.....+.......220....=...........605
Mar total.....659.....+........41.....=...........700
April total...629.....+........57.....=...........676
YTD...........3219....+.......743....=.........3962
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