A great day for a bike ride!

I was invited to join a few folks on a 65ish mile ride on the dry side of Washington State.  For my readers who are not in the Oregon/Washington area, the Cascade Mountains run north-south down the states, leaving about 1/3 of the states in the moist maritime zone, and 2/3rd in the much more arid interior.  Especially in Oregon, this zone is noted for cold winters, hot summers, and lots of sage brush and basalt.  What that means to a cyclist, is that except for ice in the winter, and oppressive heat in the summer, Spring and Fall are great times to ride "on the dry side".

I loaded my carbon bike for only the second time since the Southern California trip last November and drove through the Columbia River Gorge to the town of Lyle, WA.

6 of us were riding today, 4 lads and 2 lasses.  We started from a trailhead at the intersection of SR 14 and Hwy 142.  The trailhead was for a gravel rails to trails path the runs up the Klickitat River. We didn't take the gravel path, but instead started right off with a 8.5 mile sustained climb from 200 ft to nearly 1900 ft, with another 1.5 miles of rolling climbing to our high point of the day at about 2000 ft elevation.

When we got to the top we transitioned from tree covered hills to wide open grasslands.
There was a noticeable tail wind.  Right on schedule, as they predicted 15-20 mph West winds.

There were a few sights to see as we pedaled along.  3 does were as interested in us as we were in them.

A long abandoned house led us to wonder what stories it could tell.

We were pedaling along easily at +/- 25 mph, aided by the tailwind.  We knew to enjoy it now, for we'd have to pay for it when we turned back the other direction at Goldendale.  Jan, our leader had a slightly different route than I normally ride.  We turned north before reaching Hwy 97.  It didn't cost or save any miles, but did keep us on less traveled roads.

 We would have had a great view of Mt Adams, but there were a few clouds that direction making it impossible to see.

We arrived in Goldendale at about our halfway point. It was a perfect excuse to gather in the lee of a building and eat some of our snacks while sitting in the warm sun.  The temperature was only in the upper 40's so we were mindful of not cooling down.

After a short stop, we continued on.  We knew there would be a brisk headwind.  There was some joking around that the gang was going to just tuck in behind me and draft.  I was the last one out of our rest stop, having to finish my snack and toss the packaging in a trash can.

As I rolled out I made a couple of turns to get on the route.  As I turned onto Hwy 142 I saw the gang stretched out in front of me out to about 1/2 mile.  I got on my aerobars and started the chase.
I caught them and passed them one by one.  I expected them to latch on, but alas, nobody took the bait.
I continued to pedal along.  I wasn't at race pace, but I was putting distance on the rest of the peloton. I knew the wind would likely continue to build, so I wasn't too interested in spending any more time getting back than necessary.  I continued a steady pressure on the pedals.  The wind was brisk, at time slowing me to 11 mph for short stretches.  I just kept in my mind that this was still nearly 3 times faster than I was able to ride in Death Valley in 2009.  I also knew that as I dropped into the Klickitat Canyon that I'd likely get shelter from the canyon walls and trees.  The sooner I got there the happier I'd be.  I kept pedaling.

Except when I stopped to take a photo!

Or two!

being a whitewater enthusiast in a former life I was fascinated

I was surprised by the amount of wind in the canyon. Luckily the road twists around enough that the wind would come and go in pain in the butt factor.  I counted down the miles as I neared the Columbia River and the end of today's ride.

I pulled in, loaded my bike, changed out of bike clothes, and waited with camera in hand for the others to finish.  Finish they did, anywhere from 28 minutes behind me, to 56 minutes. I was amazed that I'd put nearly a minute each mile into them.  They all were happy to be finished.

 28 minutes behind me

 finishing 56 minutes after me.

We all remarked on how nice the ride was, despite the challenges the wind presented.  I tossed out the option of finishing up with pizza and brew, but got no takers.  We turned vehicles westward and headed toward home.  I was running windshield wipers by the time I got to Cascade Locks.

Better map detail HERE

It was a good day to be on the dry side!


............road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today..........66................0..............0...............0.............66 Jan.............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........394.............0..............0...............0............394 Total..........1682...............0..............0...............0.........1682