in a word............

WET!

I was invited to join a group today that was riding a 70 mile route from Forest Grove to Vernonia via roads, then take the Banks-Vernonia State Trail back to Banks then Thatcher Rd back to Forest Grove.

A few things had caused me concern, but hey, figured if these folks were going to ride on a day with predicted rain I'd join them.

The first concern was that the map that was sent out pre-ride came with the warning, "we can't figure out how to make the program allow bike paths so it's just approximate". They also said they were planning a lunch stop in Vernonia, yet the map didn't show going into Vernonia far enough to access lunch options. I am familiar with mapping programs so I took the liberty of recreating the route following their description and sending it to them. Was promptly "spanked" and told that there had been a lot of work done on this and paper cue sheets would be handed out at the start. Paper cue sheets and I don't get along at the best of times, let alone rainy days. I loaded my "corrected route" on my gps and went to the ride.

The ride wasn't supposed to start until 10AM, so looking for more miles, I rode to the ride from Hillsboro. The forecast called for significant rain beginning about noon, and since I started riding at 9AM it was dry. ;-) I rode with just a windbreaker over my jersey. As I crossed the city limits of Forest Grove a few drips began to fall, and I noted that the hills to the west were socked in with low clouds. As I arrived at the official start of the ride I took off my windbreaker and put on my rain jacket!

Another concern came when at 10:15 we still hadn't shoved off, in fact, people were still arriving. I decided to "take a chill pill" and just go with the flow. We finally began riding at 10:30 after getting a little pre-ride route overview. We were told "out Ritchey Rd, right on Stringtown, left on Gales Creek Rd". That wasn't what was mapped, but I knew the area and roads, this being my home turf, and noted the turns. There was also talk of this being a pretty flat route. We took off with a sizable group of 16 riders.

In just a matter of a few minutes we arrived at the Ritchey Rd turn only to see the group continue on Hwy 8/Gales Creek Rd. I dallied a bit and began to make the turn and calling attention to the others that this was our turn, only to be told that we were going to stay on Gales Creek Rd.

Okay. :-O

We get less than a mile down the road and the leaders pull off to the right at the Thatcher Rd/Gales Creek Rd junction. They were unsure which way to turn. :-O After some discussion the group pedaled on.

Despite a pace advertised at 17-18 the group pedaled along at 20-23 mph. I was dressed too warmly for that effort. The group was doing too much accordion action for my liking and after about 10 miles I dropped off the back and slowed down to about 16-17. A couple of other riders dropped back with me.

When we arrived at the Timber Junction a couple of guys were waiting for us to make sure we knew the turn. They jumped in front of us and my two fellow slow pokes jumped in their draft and soon disappeared out in front.

I knew some of the group, cat 2 and 3 bike racers, also a couple of Race Across Oregon 4x team record holders. Fast folks.

I decided to ride my ride.

As I pedaled over the nearly 1200 ft summit on the way to Timber I couldn't help but take a photo of this "flat" country we were riding through. ;-)



I made my way to Vernonia and rode through town passing the group's bikes parked outside as the group was at their lunch stop. I pedaled on, knowing that I would not deal so well with real food and that they would likely catch me anyway.

I rode the Banks-Vernonia State Trail into Banks and the group had still not caught me. I stopped under cover and ate some snacks from my pack then used the restroom.
As I came out I saw some of the group riding up. After a few minutes of chatting with them I decided to ride on so I wouldn't get cold, and they said they'd catch me. I didn't doubt that.

Surprisingly I never saw them again. I arrived in Forest Grove and kept right on going since darkness was closing in and I still had to ride back to East Hillsboro.

I had a rear blinkie on most of the day and turned the front blinkie on as I left Forest Grove. I arrived at my pickup with 90 miles for the day. I was already wet, had been for hours with the nonstop rain of the day, but not terribly cold. .... I turned on my bright headlight and pedaled on in search of a century.

Found it!



.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......104..............0.............0..........0.........104
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........947..............0.............0.........20.........967
YTD........9203..............0............87.........47........9337