60 miles on day 99

Today was predicted to be stormy.  The National Weather Service had posted high wind warnings as well as torrential rains.  What's a person to do?  Well, invite some friends to go for a bike ride! Today I invited friends to join me on my 11th consecutive birthday ride, and my 99th consecutive day on the bike. My former college roomie, Terry, who had been on my first birthday ride 10 years ago, made the trip from Parkdale to join us.

8 of us met this morning in a parking lot that was wind blown and covered in water. Winds were 25-30 mph and rain was coming down as if flowing from a fire hose as we prepared to ride.

Just as we prepared to roll out the rain stopped. The wind did not.

Max, Dave, Alan, Paul, Terry, Tess (and Birdie) Steve, and me.

We first had to get across the Willamette River, and that required riding along Interstate 5 for about a mile. Just as we were crossing the Boone Bridge, Dave got an explosive flat.  Dave and Alan spent some time trying to find the cause while the rest of us waited at the exit.

At least Birdie was staying warm while we waited!

 As Dave and Alan rolled up the off ramp, the tire flats again.  We all chipped in on inspection and repair.  The problem ended up being a broken weld on the rim.  Luckily, I carry a spare tire wrapped in duct tape. We used the duct tape to cover the sharp edges, and managed to get Dave back on the road.

After the lengthy repairs, we got back on the bikes.  We were happy that at least for the moment it was not raining, but we were pushing against a brisk head wind, probably 25-30 mph with higher gusts.  We managed to hold about 11-12 mph against it.  Max, thinking we were only riding 30 miles, brought his flat bar bike.  He was kicking himself for the upright riding position as we pushing into the wind.

Max

Dave

Alan

Terry and Steve

Paul

Tess and Birdie!

The birthday boy

The rain was staying away for the time being, and the wind had dried the roadway. Even with the headwind, life was pretty good, or at least it could have been much worse!

I was on the fixie, just because I wanted the fun factor.  At times today I was rethinking that decision!
It began to rain again as we reached mile 18 of our trip.
With the wheel issues at the beginning of our ride Steve was afraid we wouldn't get finished before he had to take off for another commitment. After just over 25 miles of fun fighting headwinds and rain, Steve turned around and headed back.
 It would continued to rain heavily until just after mile 30, where we stopped for snacks.

 We weren't the only nuts out on a day like today, the guy in the middle of the photo above was also in the store taking refuge from the rain and topping off calories.

It had been so nice earlier that Tess had taken off her rain gear.  She now decided the conditions warranted putting it back on!

We were feeling pretty good about now, the rain had stopped again, and we now turned northeasterly, and though the wind was decreasing, it was now at our backs, and would be for the remainder of the trip.
I was on my fixed gear bike, and while I had managed to keep up going into the wind, when we turned with the wind to our back I struggled to keep up the pace of my geared friends. I could spin about 17-18 mph, they held back some but were still outpacing me. The only thing that kept us close was that I knew the route, them, not so much. ;-)

Finally we were riding along the Willamette River.  There are some rollers there and I suffered a bit.  While my friends would get a good run at these little hills then shift down as momentum dropped, I was stuck holding back on the pedals to keep from spinning out, only to have to winch myself up these little hills with an agonizingly slow cadence. During our ride along the river we noted that the wind that had been decreasing in intensity as the day progressed, was now barely noticeable. It least it wasn't a headwind!

We finally got back to the Boone Bridge and made our way across the Willamette River. We pulled into the parking lot, most of us got into dry clothes, then made our way a few blocks away for a post ride debriefing and carbo replenishment regimen.
My sister, as she has many times following my birthday rides, was waiting for us as we arrived. ;-)

Here we offer a toast to friend Shona, who's a half a world away, but still rode in solidarity with us.

2 college roomies, 40 years on

The 99th consecutive day on the bike was a fun day, made even more fun by friends who ignored a horrendous weather forecast and joined me.  I guess it really is true, misery loves company!

...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total

Today..............60...............0..............0...............0..................60 Jan...............765...............0...............0...............0...............765
Feb................126...............0...............0...............0................126
Total............891...............0...............0...............0...............891