It may still be pretty darn cold in Portland, but the sun is shining (sometimes), the birds are singing (much more than before, anyway), and it’s light until 6ish: the season of long rides is upon us! :)
Despite my having plans both evenings this weekend, a friend convinced me to keep him company on his One Big Hill 200k, a ride that takes you on a loop south from Sellwood to Silver Falls and back, about 127 miles. No problem, he said, we’ll be back by 5pm–time enough for me to shower, eat, then head out again to meet some friends for some spirited bowling revelry.
But then we added 45 minutes or so to wait for another group of happy riders who started later than us. And a longer-than-anticipated lunch stop. And the fact that getting back to the start of the ride meant that I was still 15 minutes away from my own house. With a lot of very fast riding at the end (or at least the effort it took made it feel like IÂ should have been going very fast, though it’s possible I was just tired;), I managed to make it home right about by 6–time enough for a much hastier shower and drastically speedier snarfing of food that I’d imagined. But still in time for bowling:)
I didn’t take many ride pictures, but I was kind of psyched about this (pardon the horrible photography and just look at the content):
 Yep! That’s snow on the side of the road! Biking in the sunshine, with snow on the ground:)
I’ll admit I was a little nervous that somehow I wouldn’t be able to ride this far anymore. Though I’m certainly on my bike every day, I think it’s been since my trip to Lake Tahoe last September that I’ve ridden more than, say, 40 or 50 miles at a time (remember, I don’t have an odometer anymore so I never really know;). So I was kind of nervous that I’d get to 80 miles or something and be totally done. But instead, I just reminded myself of how much I love a day spent on a bicycle. And the days are only going to get longer, and nicer, and so much more lovely for long days of spinning the pedals.
The first Oregon Randonneurs event, a 100k ride that is a super fun distance if you’re interested in trying the whole randonneuring thing out, is coming up on March 16th. And then after that a whole new season’s worth loooong of rides. I’m psyched!:)
(Oh, and in case you were curious, I’m probably the world’s absolute worst bowler. But it was still worth speeding home for:)