The Evergreen State

Yesterday it was raining in Vancouver, but not farther south in Portland.  Today would be a repeat of that situation.  I rode in from Sellwood Front Park starting at 7:06 AM.  I had raingear in the pickup, but decided not to wear it because the sky didn't look threatening.

As I approached the Interstate Bridge it started to drip.  I arrived at the Bleu Door Bakery (our starting location) in just under an hour. The ride leader lamented the many riders who backed out because of the chance of rain.  It was raining as the 11 of us pedaled out, but very lightly.  We expected it to be a passing shower.

I think the ride leader is more of a data junkie than I am!

By 5 miles in, 4 had decided to pull the plug.  Most of us have rain bikes and rainwear.  None of us had it along.  But it is September, not January.  The 7 remaining riders pedaled bravely along.  It was raining just hard enough to keep the roads wet and the bike tires throwing rooster tails of water. No fenders showed the faith we had misplaced in the weather forecast.

About 30 miles into the group ride we had one real rain shower.  We were all soaked, but still smiling.  What else could we do?

A few more riders peeled off.  We were now down to 4 women and myself.  We joked around about which sex is weaker.  It was hard to make a point for my fellow males. A friend, Mark H, is often accompanied by beautiful women in his Facebook photos.  I joke with him about him being a chick magnet.  He chuckles, and attributes it to living with purpose.  We came up with a plan to take a photo with me and the 4 women and send it to Mark.

As the miles kept adding up, I started feeling hungry.  I was fantasizing about chocolate cupcakes with white squiggles on top.

The group had divided into faster/longer and slower/shorter.   Within just a couple of miles of the finish we caught the other group.  We were amazed to see them still have a full contingent of riders.  Nobody had dropped out! I guess we faster/longer folks were just pansies today.

We arrived at the bakery and went inside.  The others had a meal, I couldn't find chocolate cupcakes, so I settled for carrot cake! (and hot chocolate)

 

Teri played along with the photo for Mark, the rest cheered her on.

The chick magnet appears to be working

I hopped back on the bike during a reduction in rainfall.  I had just a few miles to go to get in Oregon, and surprisingly, the rain stopped as I neared the Interstate Bridge. I guess there is a reason why Washington is called the Evergreen State!

It would remain dry for the rest of my trip. I would even be dry by the time I reached Sellwood!

Despite the wet conditions it was a fun ride.

........Road bike........Rollers.......MTB.......Lifecycle....Total
Today.......71...............0..............0..............0..............71
Jan..........765.............0..............0..............0.............765
Feb..........248............0..............0..............0..............248
March......183...........0...............0.............0...............183
April........228...........0...............0.............0...............228
May.........200............0..............0.............0...............200
June.........199...........0...............26...........0...............225
July..........246...........0...............0.............0...............246
August.....502...........0...............0.............0...............502
Sept...........121...........0...............0.............0................121
Total........2692.........0...............26............0..............2718