Portland Velo Saturday Ride

(no pictures. On Velo rides, we just keep on moving...)

Cecil was going to ride to the start and then ride home. I sent her an email proposing a meet-up at the Usual Spot, but it was late; no reply. I was going to ride to the ride anyway, as the wool jerseys had not yet arrived. I was upstairs just before leaving, and heard Fitz having a conversation with a familiar voice...

Cecil and Sweetpea came by! So after a nice long bicycle admiration session (and that bike can be admired extensively), we headed off to the start; mostly discussing our plans for Sunday.

I chose to ride my Lemond Zurich - sunny day, fast ride.

Arrived Just in Time (oops), and took my place with Linda to lead the, um, 17's. (All 17's are equal, some just don't feel like climbing any optional hills...). After a longish wait for all the other groups to head out, we left. We were supposed to be two groups, but sort of ended up as one. It worked out. I stayed toward the back with Carla and another rider. Worked our way south to the park on Rood Bridge (Minter Bridge? whichever) for a brief bio-stop. Then it appeared that Linda and Tom were just lounging around, and we were all waiting. Well, not quite. Tom was fixing a flat. Some of us went over to offer tips and assistance. The balance of the group elected to press on toward the Laurel Store. Tom's tire repaired, we followed.

I had removed all armwarmers, leg warmers, and extraneous outer gear at the stop. It was warm and sunny. Got to the Laurel Store to find our group, plus a few other groups (Matt's). After they took off, we gave them a minute, then headed out ourselves. A few riders elected not to do the Vandeschuere Rd part of the ride, and in theory, headed back.

McCormick Hill Road (oh, so pretty!), Vandeschuere (3 rollers), then into Scholls, carefully working our way through the Spring Into Scholls event.

Then onto Scholls Ferry, up Clark Hill (always special), down Clark Hill (always much fun), and working our way north again on Burkhalter and Minter (Rood?) Bridge, across TV Hwy, and back up to Longbottom's.

Nice sunny day, so most of the riders were sitting outside, enjoying second breakfast/lunch/snack/drink... (I think Matt was enjoying some combination of the aforementioned). I went for the Dutch pancake and a bottomless cup of coffee.

Then riding back home. Brian C was giving me grief about counting the to/from miles. ("How do you get 60 miles?") Mike Y interpreted for me: "he lives 3 blocks from here". I live a little further away...

The ride was the best part of the day, as I spent many hours Doing Taxes.