and then there was one

I posted an invitation on my social bike group's e-board for anyone who wanted to ride a route we call the "Keizer Metric Century" today. I had two folks bite.

Mike had work commitments that kept us from starting until noon. That late start time coupled with short daylight meant we'd have little time to tarry. Marcie rides a bit slower so her plan was to shortcut the route at some point so that she could still get back before daylight dimmed.

It was a wet day. It was raining as we prepared to ride and continued to rain on us throughout the ride. It's Oregon, it's January, any questions?

We pedaled along from Butteville basically following the Willamette River until turning east towards St Paul. At that point Marcie had the option to cut miles and head back to Butteville but said she was up for more miles. Her plan was to join us on our ride south along River Rd then take French Prairie Rd back. She'd end up with 30-35 miles. Mike was tiring of our slower pace and said he really wanted a workout. With our slower start I was concerned about riding the entire 62 miles and still getting back in daylight. I offered to cut off a few miles to make it easier on us, but he assured me he wanted the workout.

I led out of St Paul into a slight wind. I was able to hold 17-18mph, but I was expending some energy to do it. That's okay I told myself....after all, I'm the Desert Coyote! Mike stayed with me for about 5 miles then fell back. At first I thought it might have been to stay out of my rooster tail. (I had brought my fenderless Elite today) Pretty soon he was nowhere to be seen in my mirror. I knew that he wanted a workout, and that I wanted to finish the 62 miles before dark. I kept the power to the pedals and held my 17-18 mph to Keizer. I dallied around a bit in Keizer, refilling my water bottle and grabbing a snack to chow on. Before long I figured I couldn't wait much longer and hopped back on the bike.

There were a few miles heading east then I turned northward and got to enjoy a tailwind back to Butteville. I pedaled along at 22-23 mph the entire way back and arrived just shortly after 4PM. When I arrived back at Butteville I noted Marcie's car was gone, as expected. I also noted Mike's car was gone. That I did not expect.

Looks like I was the only one going for the full meal deal today.

Rained lightly the entire time. I was okay because I had my wet weather gear on and it wasn't cold, just wet.

A good ride, good workout.

Tomorrow I lead my first "Training Series" ride of the year for the social group. I have 35 planned attendees! The forecast is for a drier day so that will help attendance. We'll see how it goes!


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.........TOTAL
Today.......62...............0.................62
Jan........302...............0................302