37 and rain at the start, 38 and rain at the end, but in the middle is was pretty decent!

The forecast for Vernonia today was 100% chance of rain, highs near 40 give or take, winds out of the NW at 10-20, snow down to 1500 ft, and to top it off a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Ken, John Henry, and I decided to go for a bike ride... a 126 mile bike ride to Astoria and back.

It was 37 and raining as we shoved off at 8AM. We grumbled a bit, but not one person suggested we scratch the ride.

Despite the rain at the start we were surprised on just how nice the weather was. We had dry roads for about 80% of our ride today. When we arrived at the Jewell Wildlife Meadow viewing area we took the obligatory stop to observe the elk.

We had to climb just over 1300 ft in elevation to get to Astoria today. We hoped that the forecast was correct and the snow would stay above us. Right after the wildlife viewing area we began to climb up. When we got to the top there was no snow on the road, and no slush at the road side. There was some snow on the hills just above us. Perfect!

We arrived in Astoria and took a little loop up to the Astoria Column for the view. The weather cooperated and we got a nice view today.




My two biking partners today have big plans for the summer and are riding hard to reach some serious biking goals. I don't have any biking plans so I'm taking it a bit easier this year. Today was my longest ride since last October in Death Valley.
The boys worked me pretty hard, but that's okay, I needed to get in a good ride.

It was 38 and raining in Vernonia as we arrived just prior to 6:30pm this evening. From the amount of water in the bed of my pickup I'm thinking it probably rained most of the day there.

Today's stats:
126 miles, the longest one day mileage since last October
14,3 mph avg
8457 calories burned
124 bpm avg heart rate
167 bpm max heart rate
92 rpm average pedal cadence
5508 ft of climbing

and a lot of fun!

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......126..............0.............0..........0.........126
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......126..............0.............0..........0.........126
YTD.......1642...............0............21..........7........1670