Rides

Cool and cloudy, just started warming up at the end of the ride. Out to Philomath first. Stopped at Hiatt farm on the way back.

Shirley's Tuesday ride. A bit cooler than yesterday. 

No rain at all this month. 

Started off cool but warmed up nicely. 

Logging short rides individually since I'm only doing short rides.

Its been very windy the last couple of days.

Slow recovery. 

Tuesday old guys ride. Back on the bike after being sick for two weeks. 

Second half of April

Another sunny almost hot day. This was the fast group. I could not keep up.

First rode to school with January, then over to the Beanery before mmeting the group at 9:00. They don't really leave untill 9:15 which is good to know.

Headed out to Buena Vista where the group split with some heading back while my group took the ferry and rode the east bank. Lunch at Ovenbird in Independence.

Through town with January after the ride and then to the garden.

Sunny and warm. Big turnout. 

Plus a little extra. Took the fenders off today.

Today was the Midge Cramer ride. I started with the club but pulled out at Philomath and wandered home alone. 

Felt pretty good considering long ride yesterday. 

FInally a good long ride. The weather was going to be good so this was my day to get in my 70 mile ride-your-age ride. I had a couple of longer rides in March but not since turning 70. I got out early but was not awake yet and it was a bit cold so decided to stop for coffee before leaving town. That helped a little.  Still was not feeling comfortable and decided to lower my saddle a couple of millimeters. What a difference. Soon my Achilles' tendon even stopped hurting. 

I headed straight out Tangent drive to Lebanon, then straight across Airport to Russell which becomes River Drive to Waterloo. It's one of my favorite roads, along the Santiam River. 

Went to the Waterloo store first to get some ice tea, then back down to the river to drink it and have a snack. Decided to consult Google for the next segment of the ride. It said I could take Scott Mountain Road to Crawfordsville. Yeah the "mountain " part raised some concerns but I was feeling pretty good and hey, how hard could it be. First Old Santiam and Fairview and then across 20 to Mountain Home (which appears to be a route to Brownsville to explore another day ). Then onto Scott Mountain Road which started with a short steep grunt but then settled into a series of short not too steep climbs followed by easier sections. It went on this way for a few miles and then the uphills got longer and steeper with less rest in between. Then came a false summit with a great view back north, followed by one more grunt until I could see the "Pavement ends" sign and the top of the ridge. I had climbed out of the Santiam drainage and was about to descent to the Calipooia. 

Normally I like gravel but this downhill was really steep. The gravel wasn't deep but a thin loose layer across the whole road with no worn tracks. I kept my speed down and was doing fine until it got even steeper. If I held my brakes I just skidded forward. So I stopped and walked a bit and soon it got better and I got back on and had some great  downhill to Crawfordsville Road. This looked familiar and I soon realized I was on the Strawberry Century route. 

When I hit the highway I doubled back to the Crawfordsville store for a snack before rejoining the Strawberry route to Brownsville. This takes Northern Road and as it looped back on the approach to Brownsville I saw Mountain Home Road and a cyclist behind me turned up that way. So a ride for another day. 

I got to Brownsville with a half hour to spare before Randy's Cafe closed so I got some soup, bread, and coffee. It had been mostly cloudy all day but now the sun was coming out and it was nice and warm as I sat outside to eat. 

I went home via the normal route we usually take to Brownsville. Had some tailwind and kept a good pace. I started setting my timer to tell me to drink every 10 minutes. This also resulted in a lot of pee stops. One of these was at Thompson Mills. I kept a good pace all the way home and was happy to finish feeling better than when I started. 

Over Lewisburg Saddle and out Soap Creek. Then nice little loop from Tampico on Wiles Road (gravel) and Robison Road (gravel) to Airlee Road and then back on Berry Creek to Tampico. Nice day but still cool and a bit breezy. Warm weather is coming.

Starting to get antsy for touring. Playing around with configurations. 

Gray windy day but dry and not cold. Reverse loop out to Sevenmile and Boson Mill. Then Shedd and back on Green Valley. Nice tailwind coming back. 

Via Springhill. Back Riverside and White Oak.Then through South Town and out the bike path to 53rd and home.

Nice day but the north wind was cold. The sun was out and it got up in the mid 60's by afternoon.

The sun came out unexpectedly. Out through Philomath, then 34 to Decker. Back on Bellfountain. 

Put it off all day. Zero inspiration. Finally got out at 4. Warm dry day and rain in the forecast for the next week. A few extra miles out 53rd to the gravel and back.

Nice day but I'm ready for a lot warmer. Stopped at Buena Vista House cafe. Nice. 

Out and about 

Epic loop on a sunny first day of spring. First over Lewisberg Saddle to get the big climb in early, out Soap Creek and across to Buena Vista. Took the ferry across and followed th WVSB to Independence. After a quick snack I headed west to Monmouth and then continued west on Monmouth Hwy. Then inspiration struck and I turned off onto Fishback. Very steep climb for a couple of miles on pavement and then after the summit it turns to gravel for the downhill. Fishback ends at Smith Road which and I went left to Elkins. Back on pavement I continued west to Airlee and took that back south east to Berry Creek. Up over a couple more hills to Tampico. Then, wanting more gravel and miles, I turned left on Wiles road to Robison road and then back to 99W. At the junction of Wiles and Robison it says Airlee 7. I'll have to try that one day. Then back through Adair and stoped at the store for another snack. Sat in the glorious sunshine for a few minutes before heading out Ryals to Independence Hwy to Pettibone and on home. Great route. I wish I knew what the vertical was because it wasn't trivial.

Rain was in the forecast but it held off. We we're supposed to go to Brownsville but everyone wanted to turn around at Shedd. Some nice tailwind heading back,  but mostly side wind.

Nice tenners ride. Sunny at the start and dry. Good turnout. 

Starting to work in the garden. It's trying to be spring.

Wednesday group. Gray skies but not too cold, not too windy, and no rain. 

My first DNF. Nice day, but I didn't have what it takes.

Out Bellfountain to Greenberry. No rain until just before we got back to Corvallis. Lots of wind though. 

Out 53rd to Bellfountain. Then Airport to Fern. Cold, a bit windy, but dry. 

Not much to say.

Took the Ravn on a 200k. The Compass RTP tires made it possible. A little slower than the Grando but more comfortable and much easier climbing. The low gears really came in handy on this ride. 

Started in Willamina with the temperature right around freezing. My fingers were killing me but Craig gave me some chemical hand warmers. It was bright and sunny when the sun came up but we rode under a cloud layer when we got out in the valley. It was still could and now gray at the first control in Dayton. 

We stopped again in Carlton. Craig had a loose fender and I needed coffee. The climb started almost right away after that. Meadow Lake road climbs over some big valley hills before it even starts into the Coast Range. Some sections were very steep. Susan rode off ahead but would catch up to Craig from time to time and made it to the top first. 

After another 20 or so miles of mostly downhill we made to Beaver where Susan was sitting in the sunshine for 40 minutes waiting. We stayed together mostly the rest of the way back. There was a lot of traffic on hwy 22 which was not much fun in the dark. 

Put the RTPs back on the Ravn with tubes, but then rode into town and had Trevor mount them tubeless. 

Started early in Eugene, FInished late in Eugene. In between we rode over or along the Wilamette, McKenzie, Mohawk, Calipooia, and Santiam rivers. We also went over every hill between Eugene and Lebanon. On the return we hit Gap road at 100 mile in. Somehow I survived.

Photos by Susan.

Amazingly warm and dry for January. 

Loop from Willamina. Misty mountain day. 

Via Springhill. We were headed for Jefferson via BV ferry, but the wind started gusting from the south so we decided to just head in to Albany. Again the forecast said it would rain all day and we didn't get a drop. 

Another unrainy day. Some wind though coming back. 3 riders got flats, but not me on my ultralight tires. Amazing.

Pictures by Patti.

Out Crescent Valley. Back hwy 20 into town. Rained all day but stopped when I went out. 

Got up at 4:30. Alarm was set for 5, but I was up. Good thing because it was dense fog getting out to the freeway and spotty fog all the way to Eugene. Still got their pretty early. It was clear in Eugene and just getting light when we left. Guy took over never to be seen again, but the rest of us stayed together (except when I got dropped in the mountains) until near the end when Chris took off, leaving 5 of us to finish together.

The route starts climbing immediately on Lorane highway. Then down Spencer Creek and back into the fog to Crow. Spotty fog on Territorial to Monroe, then pretty thick fog to Bellfountain. Once we made the climb up to the wildlife refuge we said goodbye to the fog for the rest of the day. On the first climb up Decker I knew things were not looking good for me. Up until now I was right up with the group, even off the front a few time. But once the climbing started it was a different world. We regrouped at highway 34 but then I lost them again once we started the climb up Alsea mountain. By now it was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm, but of course most of the climb was in the shade where it was still quite cool, which was good for climbing. Regrouped again at the Alsea store which was past the halfway point. We took our time and had lunch there. I took off first in an effort to at least be with the group when we hit the climb again up the South Fork. I was but then I dropped my chain on the shift to the little chain ring, and then I was behind again for the rest of the climb. I used to think this was a relatively easy climb, but 80 miles into the ride I was suffering. Still I kept a steady pace as the afternoon wore on and it was cooling off in the deep dark woods. My mind clouded over with "what the hell was I thinking" thoughts as I lamented getting dropped so badly. I must be too hard on myself. I don't give myself credit for being between 10 and 30 years older than the other riders.

The sun was sinking low as I finally made the fast descent to Alpine. I had to stop the first of three times to clear out some gunk that got caught in my front fender. My new Paul's MiniMoto brakes were great even though the front was still squealing, but the reduced tire clearance was becoming a problem. By now I thought the group was long gone and I'd be solo the rest of the way, on a route I didn't know, in the dark. Gloomy feeling. I was so relieved when they were still at the store in Monroe, where they had arrived 25 minuted before me and were now ready to go. I didn't need to stop, just to change my glasses as it was starting to get dark, and put on another layer. Feeling quite relieved to be back in the group I was able to really enjoy the rest of the ride. After a few more hills on Territorial we turned off towards Alvadore and were now in the flats for good. We were treated to some beautiful sunset colors as we rolled trough farmland and some restored wetlands. It took forever to get to the last control in Alvadore and soon after we were on bike paths all the way into Eugene.

It really is a great feeling to complete a ride like this. Towards the start I told Michal I wanted to do his 300k ride this year but after the finish I seriously doubt my ability to do that. But it's not until June so we'll see.

RWGPS for this route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/1810086

Pictures by Susan Otcenas. I didn't take any.

Getting plenty of riding in for January. Just one really rainy day so far.