The day started overcast and cool today and it was in the mid 50's at the start of the ride. After receiving the profile for today's ride we had a 13 mile climb right from the start up to Mt. Hood with a forecast in the afternoon over the top in the 80's.
I wanted to take it easy today and ride comfortable in regards to my heart rate monitor so when the ride started I took it easy and rode with new people again today. 1st was Nan who is a emergency room nurse from Havana, IL. I asked her how she got the time off for this ride and when her hospital was asked they told her no. So she quite and is doing the ride and will find another job when she returns.
I then ran into Shirley from Maine who said that she was 62 and enjoys these rides. 3 years ago she did a ride across the USA with an all women's bike tour and when I heard that the discussion came up of weather she was in Kerville at the same time that I was there for the Easter Hill ride and she said yes. We talked about the snow and she rode 20 miles on Saturday when we came back to Ft. Worth at the weather was terrible. She got frostbite on one of her fingers.
I then started to pick up the pace a little and rode by myself the rest of the way up the pass to Mt. Hood. It was a steady 4% to start and then kicked up to 6% and at 13 miles we reached the top. What a great view of Mt. Hood again today, closer and clear sky's once again. On the way up I had shed my arm warmers as it got warm and I was sweating pretty good. At the top we filled our bottles got something to eat and then I put my wind vest and arm warmers on once again as it was still cool and we had a good decent. On the decent Jeff from Newtown, Ct. We rode together until the second and final rest stop at mile 45. On the decent I spotted some bear grass and took pictures for my wife as she really likes them. I also took pictures of Lupins.
By the time we hit the 2nd water stop my bottles were empty as it was in the mid 80's and hot. There was a slight breeze which made the rest of the ride ok. There were 2 more good limbs one was a 7-10% hill for 3/4 of a mile and then we hit a 1600 foot decent and then a mile climb up to the resort which was another 7-10% grade for 1 mile.
All in all it was another great day meeting new riders and enjoying nature and everything God created for us to enjoy.
The pictures were great! The ride sounded wonderful and all these new friends from Across America are interesting. Thanks for the update.
ReplyDeleteIsn't strange how small the world is? The lady that had been on Kerrville ride. Sounds like some interesting people out there with you. They will end up being your friend for life. I can tell you are having the time of your life...stay safe and enjoy. By the way beautiful photos!
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