Cecil and I had deliberately chosen to match :-), rather than our standard by-accident method. I'm not entirely sure anyone would have noticed, if we hadn't mentioned it, what with most folks in black shorts/tights/pants and yellow jackets.
We had lots of time to visit around, since we'd done all our pre-ride faffing several miles back.
The group headed out west on Evergreen, riding fast. I stupidly rode fast, too, not that that stopped anyone from passing me. I rode alone, then found Jason waiting for me. Through North Plains, past Pumpkin Ridge, then finally north on Dairy Creek. All the nursery stock is being pruned and fertilized. The trees are getting that fuzzy, early Spring look. The llamas are cute. Dairy Creek is still a climb disguised as a flat, with a headwind. The temperature dropped and the sun went away as we got further in.
At the corner of Meacham Rd, a sign proclaimed: "Lost 4H Steer". I'm not sure how you lose one of those. I expect it escaped. We started wondering where all the lead riders were, this being an out-and-back stretch. We soon saw the double-paceline-race-team-out-for-a-training-ride group, then several others, including David (on the Salsa Casseroll), and John.
Past the nice house, and the house with all the dead cars, then right onto Fern Flat. Richard, Nance, and Nat passed us, and, shortly thereafter, Cecil.
The control, manned by Bill, was stocked with nice little snackies (Sesame Honey Bar, yum). We filled in our cards with the answer, refilled our water, took pictures, said hi to Lance, Amy, and Andrew, and proceeded on.
Got to enjoy the tailwind and downhill, eventually warming up as we emerged from the cloud cover. Then west up the steep rollers, at which point I decided maybe I wasn't feeling so wonderful. Across Frogger Junction (whooo! no waiting! we got a clear spot and just went!), around the field still trying to be a wetland to find Susan at The Secret Control.
Card stamped, we chatted a bit about the upcoming fleche and next weekend's 200km brevet in Seattle. She was impressed that I scored the spare bed at the organizer's home :-) Clearly the organizer is a really nice guy, to put up with strangers crashing throughout his house the night before.
Off again, through Banks and along the rollers and wetlands (the Killin Wetlands) on Cedar Canyon Road. Jason and I paused at the intersection of Cedar Canyon and Jack Rd to answer another control question. (5 yellow, 2 orange), and have a snack. Several riders had the same thought, as we all munched our sandwiches and bananas.
Left on Hwy 6, then up Stafford Rd, then along Strohmeyer/Kansas City/Thatcher, enjoying the views of plum orchards all fuzzy with spring growth, colorful strips of nursery stock, artistic arrangements of antique farm implements and the Portland Velo Hammer and Nails group flying by us.
Then into Forest Grove, headed for the delights of Maggie's Buns. Jason and I split a sticky bun. We visited with Amy and Lance. The Portland Velo 19s and 17s came in, but, surprisingly, no Fitz. I thought he'd be riding with them this morning.
Then off for the last stretch, the part I can do in my sleep, heading back to Hillsboro, but going a couple of blocks past the Longbottom's turnoff. Still not feeling all that great :-(
Found Susan and Bill in the parking lot, and did the end-of-ride paperwork, and got a nifty new RUSA populaire pin in return. Susan said there were folks inside, so we went in and found Joel, Tony, Daniel, Nate, Mike, and (?sorry) at a table and joined them.
I went for the post-ride strawberry milkshake (Cornelius Pass Roadhouse has many *interesting* milkshakes, but I wanted one without beer) and split an order of tater tots with Jason.
Got to hear more about PBP from Joel, and there was a lively discussion about helmet-wearing and chain lube. I don't think we discussed lighting. Next time, perhaps.
I wanted to check out another yarn store on the way home; it claimed to have the very yarn I was looking for. Jason and I took a slightly northern route to end up at the Knitting Bee, on West Union, just east of NW185th. He thought he'd wait outside :-)
They did have a great selection of yarns; I bought some Lorna's Laces and Schaefer Anne. The Schaefer will be for my Conwy socks. The Lorna's Laces is uncommitted. Nice folks working there, too!
Proceeding east on West Union (ick), then into Oak Hills, onto Murray, cross Hwy 26, then into Jason's neighborhood. I left him there, and continued my last 3 miles.
Got home - no Fitz. All the cars were there, and the lawn tractor battery was charging (annual Rite of Spring). Further investigation revealed that his bike was gone, so I concluded he was off riding up to Council Crest. About an hour later, this proved to be the correct conclusion. We still had to jump start the lawn tractor :-)
82.5 miles for my day, at not a particularly amazing pace. We shall hope for a zippier outing next weekend in Seattle.
No comments:
Post a Comment