Saturday, January 23, 2010

New Riders Make Rides More Fun!

I took a batch of 15s out for today's Portland Velo ride. Highlights included climbing up NW Kaiser and NW Brooks (dang, forgot how steep those are), climbing up the Jackson Quarry Hill (always fun), and skipping the NW Pumpkin Ridge climb :-) We went around, through North Plains.

Today we had two riders who were both out for their first Velo ride AND new to the area. R was from the Traverse City, MI area, so we had fun talking about that part of the state. M was from Arizona, and was a bit dubious about riding on wet roads. MikeY and Bert rode along with us as well. Other than I fell waaaay back on every hill, and back a bit on the flats (one might note that I was not exceeding the posted 15 mph pace), well, I survived. I mostly lead from the rear. But as I was the only one with a cue sheet (what IS it about that?), they had to wait for me.

I got to point out all the best pavement, show off the sheep and alpaca, give the history of the Helvetia area and church, run on about the Fabled Jackson Quarry Hill, etc, etc. Great fun!

A big thank-you to Malcolm, who loaned me his extra pair of sunglasses. Don't ask.

Ride specifics: 41,85 miles, 12.52 avg mph, which is at the upper end of my pace these days.

4 comments:

Richard said...

You ever ride to Timberline Lodge from Hood River?

lynnef said...

nope, never have.

Paul Whitney said...

Plenty fast enough for rando-work.

Anonymous said...

When Portland Velo offers an OFFICIAL 13 mph ride I MIGHT join in the fun. Keep me posted. meanwhile, wanna go for a ride on Ground Hog's Day? (Email me.)