2 for 2

Two weekend centuries two weeks in a row.

Today my Race Across Oregon partner and Doak joined me and about 350 other riders on the Cherry Ride beginning from The Dalles. One of those other 350 riders included Sandy Earl who will be the first female to finish RAAM on a recumbent.

Lauren had ridden just over 50 miles yesterday, Doak had hammered the Tour De van Oeste Portlandia yesterday, and after having participated in the first 3 van Oeste's I had to miss this one because of a morning meeting in Salem. I still managed to pedal 100 miles however. Obviously we all needed to ride more miles today! The weather was beautiful with a temperature of 77 when we finished up.


We pedaled along the Columbia River



We pedaled up hills




and when we were finished riding the Cherry Ride we ate cherry cobbler!


My riding partners pretty much kicked my behind today. I did well for the first 48 miles. We logged 2600 ft of climbing and had a 17.4 average. I kept up a good pace another 20 miles to Hood River then it all fell apart. My legs just didn't respond when I needed them too. The gentle slope back through the twin tunnels wasn't too much trouble but the climb of 7 Mile Hill was a killer. I didn't fall too far behind but it was hard work. I flew down the back side. (have I mentioned that I LOVE downhills and tailwinds!) We then turned up Brown Creek and I just plain fell off the back. My partners waited at the top of Cherry Heights for me to slog up the hill. The slope from there down to The Dalles was great fun ....I have mentioned I LOVE downhills and tailwinds, right? ;-)

When I checked the bike computer at the end of the ride I noted that my 17.4 avg to the halfway point fell to a 14.9 average for the full 100 mile ride with 7200 ft of climbing. That's a testament to just how slow I rode the last 30 miles.



............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today......101................0.............0.........101
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......671...............0..............0.........671
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....2935...............0..............5.........2940