payback is a ......................

Early this spring I rode with my bike buddy Erinn and I was in a bit better early season shape than she was and was able to out climb her. She said I kicked her butt. Well, if that was true, she certainly paid me back in spades today! Could I have ratcheted the effort up a bit? Sure. But she certainly had more too if she needed it.
It was a good reality check for Race Across Oregon......... I've got a long ways to go yet and only 6 weeks to get there.

Erinn and I had planned to ride today but had not really set on a route to ride. Would we ride Hillsboro to Hwy 30 and back? The 3500 ft+ of climbing had her thinking we could find something a little more flat. (as if she needed to worry!)

We thought that Troutdale to Multnomah Falls and back might be a good compromise but as we headed that way I found out that she had never seen the Mosier Twin Tunnels.... good enough reason to ride Hood River to The Dalles and back. As we drove that way I called my former college roomie who lives in Parkdale and twisted his arm into joining us.

The sky was cloudless in Hood River but we had about a 20-25 mph west wind. That helped us keep a pretty brisk pace as we made our way to The Dalles.

Here we are at one of the overlooks.


and here's Terry and Erinn when I was actually looking through the viewfinder!



We made it to The Gorge Discovery Center, our turnaround point, before I realized that I didn't have my new gps unit recording. On the way back we had about 1400 ft of climbing and averaged 15 1/2 mph. Not bad considering it was all into a pretty stiff wind. While I was dogging it on the meager 5% inclines I was able to pedal a pretty good pace on the flats and able to hold my speed on the downhills. It all helped to keep me from getting totally dropped today.

It was a gorgeous day to be on bikes.

Next up, Dave, Laura, and I are riding the Strawberry Century out of Lebanon on Saturday. A few other of my bike buddies may join us also.


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...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today...........41...............0
Jan total.......98.....+........402....=..........500
Feb total.....385.....+.......220....=...........605
Mar total.....659.....+........41.....=...........700
April total...629.....+........57.....=...........676
YTD...........2648....+.......743....=.........3391

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