Ow.

The prez of my cycling club set up a series of "endurance rides". He wants to get people used to riding 3 or so hours at a time. I've got that part, I think. Except he wants it to be at a 16mph average.

The only times in my life I have averaged 16+ mph that I remember were on the tandem, STP in a day, first time, first 100 at 18.6, overall at 17.4 (who was that? could she come back, please?), and sprint triathlons.

It was not clear that I'd be able to hang on, but I thought I'd give it a go. KRhea made it pretty clear that Proper Fenders Were Required (yay!). Cecil and I rode over earlier this morning, and spent a good long time inside drinking Hot Beverages and Warming Up. I should mention that as we rode up through my neighborhood, it was very clear that the heavy fog had frozen to the road surface. A few bits of traction insecurity there. Cecil said riding over Sylvan Hill was quite interesting. We added this to the list of extremely stupid things we've done. It is not a short list...

The fog at Longbottoms' was amazing. It was freezing and dropping. The trees were all coated with it, and sparkling, and it was so pretty. Matt D'Elia said it was the steam from Ronler Acres (Intel Fab 12), and it was the "Ronler Acres Effect". It cleared up shortly after we started, although the fog was with us most of the ride.

So, ow. I was hanging on, and made it all the way to Greenville Rd, and then fell off shortly after crossing Hwy 47. Martin was waiting for me at the intersection with Kansas City Rd, to make sure I made the turn, and then he zipped on ahead. I saw him just north of Forest Grove with a flat. Offered him a tire boot, but he thought he'd just get it working and make his way home. I also saw Tom and Malcolm fixing Malcolm's flat, and that was the last I saw of them.

So, the last 20 miles of the route were solo. Good practice for rando rides. I had a map, and knew where I was going at all times (the cue sheet had bits of unclarity - R on Johnson School Rd?), so no biggie. (I would have to work very hard to get lost in Washington County.) I worked at keeping my pace up, but averaging 16mph was not going to happen.

Finished up about 1:20; the group had not yet finished. KRhea was going to "add some miles" onto the published route, and since I fell off, I didn't know which miles, so I just followed the route. Cecil came in shortly thereafter, as did the rest of the group.

Visits with Richard, Nance, Brian C and others. Nice bowl of oatmeal. Then Cecil and I headed home, and it was a mark of how hard I'd pushed myself that I did parts of the Park Way Hill at 4mph...

My bike computer was not accumulating (good thing I have a birthday coming up), so I'm figuring 63 miles. 434 miles for January, total, an improvement over the 148 in December (snow, and ice for 3 weeks. No riding.)