Perfect

Max was leading a ride for our social bike club today. It was billed as a flat, easy ride, since most everyone is riding a double Monster Cookie ride tomorrow.  I was following the listing for the ride and noted that Shelli was wondering how to get to the start of the ride from inner SE.  I figured I knew my way around well enough to make sure neither of us got lost. We met at OMSI and pedaled down the East Bank Esplanade , then out the Springwater Corridor to the I-205 bike path  where we turned north for about a mile and arrived at Lents Park, our ride's starting point today. 
The group started off shortly after we arrived.  As advertised, It was a slower pace than would be expected for this group, but it was hardly flat!  We rode up Mt Tabor and Rocky Butte. :-) 

Photo by Max

Shelli struggled a bit but always had a smile on her face and stuck to the task at hand. 
By the time we reached Marine Drive and headed east we took advantage of a tailwind and pedaled along in the low 20 mph's.  Our group rode out to near Blue Lake then turned south on the Gresham-Fairview trail.
Shelli was tiring but a few off us talked her into continuing on.  We all thought it would be easier for her to ride along the bike trails that we would be on for the remainder of the trip rather than cutting directly back via surface streets. We slowed the pace a bit more and made sure that at least one of us was by her side the rest of the ride.

Our little entourage reached 92nd Ave, where the others turned back north to return to Lents Park, Shelli and I continued toward the Willamette River and OMSI.

We arrived there with 54 miles, just over double what the club ride was advertised at.  It was nearly perfect weather for riding, with temperatures in the mid to upper 60's and though there were dark clouds, there was no rain.

Tomorrow on to longer miles for all of us. :-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........54..............0.............0..........0...........54
  Jan.........105.............34.............0..........0..........139
 Feb.........428............108.............0.........24..........536 March.......809..............0.............0.........22..........831
 April..........854..............0.............0..........0..........854 YTD........2107............142.............0.........46.........2304