5656 ft of climbing, 15.3 avg, 115 average heart rate. I guess you could call this a recovery ride! ;-)
UPDATE:
My Race Across Oregon teammate and I traveled to Tygh Valley with plans to ride a 100 mile loop that would include 70 miles of the `10 Race Across Oregon course. We'd get the big climb out of the Deschutes Canyon under our belts and also the big descent of Bakeoven Rd back into Maupin.
Both Lauren and I had ridden hard on Saturday and weren't looking to set records or ride race pace. It was 64 degrees as we arrived in Tygh Valley at 8:30 AM. A beautiful blue sky awaited us. We both decided that we just weren't going to need arm and leg warmers. We both packed a light windbreaker just in case it cooled down as we prepared for those big descents later in the day or if the rain promised for the west side of the Cascades somehow made it over to the dry side of the state.
We began with a somewhat level run out to the edge of the Deschutes Canyon. Lauren commented that despite her trepidation as we prepared to ride that she now felt good on the bike and was ready to ride. We dropped over the edge and made the fast descent to the Deschutes River at Shearers Falls.
We paused a few minutes to visit with another rider, the only other bike we saw all day. A bit of levity ensued.
We took a few more photos,
said good bye to our fellow cyclist, then began the climb out of the Deschutes Canyon and headed towards Grass Valley. Before getting into the climb more than a mile my stomach was growling. I guess I was still trying to get caught up from yesterday's effort. I would be in full feeding mode all day.
I was too busy pedaling to get many photos of the steeper parts of the climb but did get a few as it leveled off a bit.
We arrived at Grass Valley, our first planned resupply stop, about 30 miles in. We stopped at a little grocery store/auto parts/antique shop/community center and refilled water, ate candy, drank a V8, had some lemonade.....and a nice visit with the proprietress. Good thing we weren't there with a whole peloton of riders, we just about cleaned the shelves of food suitable for bike riders!
We soon hopped back on the bikes and rode down Hwy 97 towards Shaniko. We had been told that our intended route that paralleled 97 was gravel. Hwy 97 wasn't all that bad, nice shoulders, just a bit busy and noisy.
After 30 miles on Hwy 97, and a relentless climb for the last 50 miles we were ready for a change, and ready to resupply. We stopped at the first little store we saw. I don't think the proprietor had much use for people in lycra. I know he didn't have much use for laws telling him he couldn't smoke in his own store. Lauren had bonked pretty hard the last 10-15 miles coming into Shaniko. We spent significant time there recharging. By the time we left we had significantly reduced the shop owner's supply of popsicles, cleaned out ALL of his water, and even made a dent in the candy bar supply.
We pointed the bikes northward and headed out to Bakeoven Rd with it's promise of a fast descent back into the Deschutes Canyon. First we had just a bit of a climb to our highest point of the ride today.
We noted that the blue skies of morning had given way to increasing puffy clouds. We remarked that if it were a month or so later in the year we'd be concerned about impending thunderstorms. We pedaled along on the rolling plateau. Some days we ride strong, other days we just ride. Lauren was having an off day. It happens to all of us. What sets those who ride endurance events apart from more casual riders is what happens when you don't have it in you to really hammer a ride out. Lauren kept pedaling. (have I mentioned that I am very proud to have her as my RAO partner?) We kept an eye on the darkening sky and saw our first lightning bolts as we pedaled into an increasing wind.
It was still quite warm and it looked like the storm was moving to the right rather than right into us. We hoped to get to Maupin before any storm hit. Before long we began the speedy descent to Maupin.
We paused at Maupin City Park to eat from our supplies and refill fluids. We also watched the river roll by for a bit. In my previous life I was an avid whitewater rafting enthusiast and shared a few stories with my biking partner.
We began the last big climb of the day as we made our way out of the river canyon. While on the outskirts of Maupin we saw another T storm moving near. We got hit by just a few very big drops of rain. We took refuge under a building's rather large front porch as a precautionary action.
After about 15 minutes we finally decided that the storm had moved around us and wasn't going to present a problem. We hopped back on the bikes and continued the climb up the hill.
We finally topped out, not nearly as formidable as the climb to Grass Valley earlier in the day. We had one good three mile descent back into Tygh Valley. After dropping into the valley it started raining those BIG drops again. I could see the end of our ride about a mile away. I figured just ride, forget looking for a place to take cover. About as quickly as it started the rain stopped after just a few minutes. There was just enough distance left to ride to dry completely off before stopping. Lauren is normally the type of person that will go for bonus miles to hit that century mark. It was a testament to her day that she declined the opportunity today.
It was an easier day for me. I felt pretty strong despite the hard fast century yesterday and riding just a bit slower today allowed me to just pedal along. I held a respectable 15.3 average while holding a low 115 average heart rate. That's about 20-25 bpm less than when I'm riding at a higher intensity. I'm sure that if I had pushed harder that I would have found my limitations today too, I was happy to back off a bit.
I had been playing catch up all day as far as calories go. I had an Ensure and two granola bars AND a power bar in Maupin, downed a 600 calorie bottle of Accelerade in the 15 miles since then and now Lauren and I went across the street and had dinner (and a beer for me, coke for her)
On the drive back to the Willamette Valley we stopped at Dairy Queen and had a big ice cream treat!
Yup, if you want to eat whatever you want, as much as you want, ride bike!
............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......96................0.............0..........96
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........663...............0..............0.........663
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3861...............0..............5.........3866
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