55/Rad

To start off, all I can say is that my bike is once again clean.

The day started out with everybody just trying to figure out what to ride and wear. Nobody, especially myself, really wanted to don the hardcore rain gear or ride the foul weather steed. But in the end, it might have been better if we had.....

Barleyrocket, Velocity, FormulaBen, Shifty and myself set out together at 8:30 in a light rain. We missed connecting with Jakey and Hanzo, and DinoShepard was a last minute scratch due to a couple of sick children.

Barleyrocket was on his spankin' new red Bianchi, fresh off his first ride on it, which also happened to be his very first race. Velocity was on his Cannondale and was definitely the "motivator" in the group - drawing on his experience as a trainer to verbally abuse us in a fun way. Kept referring to me as his "domestique." Shifty's nickname is probably the most apropo on the forum, not because he shifts gears a lot, but because he sneaks around. One minute he's cruising on one side of you, then, without noticing any sudden or awkward moves, he's suddenly on the other side. I found my head spinning trying to keep track of him. FormulaBen was the big surprise of the group. He showed up with his beautiful new Felt F2 and quietly informed me he hadn't done any big group riding. "Uh-oh" I thought to myself, but within minutes it was not only clear that he was a very quick learner but also that he was big and strong and capable of some serious pulls. I showed up with the new Santana and quickly wished I hadn't - not because it didn't ride well but because the poser in me didn't want it to get too dirty.

The rain fell for about 70% of the ride and made it difficult to truly draft - all those rooster tails spitting right in our faces made it hard. But, we managed to keep a good pace, averaging 19.3 mph.

The best part of course, was just riding with a great group of guys.

Here's a few photos, see if you can identify who's who. I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of Shifty.

55/Rad

Shifty

Great day, if wet, enjoyed riding with you guys, look forward to the next time. We should think of a date for McKenzie pass and I'll reserve a couple of cabins at Belknap Hotsprings.

Hipcycler

Wow...it's the cool bike club!
Thanks for the pix. Man, everyone has such nice rides!

averaging 19.3 mph.
Sweet. For how many miles?
Man, I'm slow.

Of course, when I'm doing my 16's it's all alone without any of those big cycle studs blocking wind and pulling for me in a line.

Rad...never thought of you as a domestique.

formulaben

Thanks for the kind words. I had a great time and can't wait to do another! I am derelict in my duty, as I am settling in for a good Formula 1 Grand Prix when I should be cleaning my trusty ride (she'll get the "Pledge" treatment immediately afterward.) She performed nicely, despite the stress of the Clydesdale above her. It was great to get to see a face with the names, and pardon me if I still refer to y'all by your screen name on occasion.

Thanks for posting the pics Rad! Despite the road grime, I had a great time and learned a lot from you all. I really hope to see you all on another ride soon.

blandin

Nice pictures, good to see a shot of you along with your new Santana. Sounds like you had a great time despite the weather. Then again, and even in the rain, I'd say theres nothing better than riding.

55/Rad

Just a hair under 63.

55/Rad

Jakey

My friend and I were keeping about a 15 mph avg.... just cruising along. about halfway between the rest stop, and the lunch stop, I hear a bang, followed by a crash....look around its him on the deck. Luckily someone stopped with a first aid kit and got him some gauze... he hopped in a car, and I hammered to champoeg. When i got there, it was clear he wasn't riding back...so I ate, looked for people I knew... no luck there, got on my bike and destroyed myself for the next 32 miles.... 17.2 mph avg...ugh... I think I'll go to sleep.

Patriot

Sounds like you guys had fun, even though it was quite a bit wet. Was it a fairly flat course?

Sorry, I couldn't be there, but with all that rain, I am kinda glad I didn't go. Instead, today was mid 60's all day, so I slept in, and took off on my own around noon.

Just for you guys, I cranked out 70mi today in nice warm sunny/partly cloudy weather, with a gentle breeze, and not one drop of rain. With quite few more rollie-pollie hills around here, my avg was only 17mph. Which made it nice and interesting.

Oh, and to top it off, I came home and had a nice big chocolate chip cookie. It was chewy and delicious. It was NOT capable of being used to substitute for bicycle components.

Well, I'm starving, off to get some TexMex.

Oh, and that Felt F2C is sweeeeet!

fore0121

It was an awesome race! Best of the year. Won't mention who won as I know there are quite a few F1 fans here.

Rain or not, it sounds like a great ride. Sounds like a great time was had by all.

It was wet, cold and bitter here in TO. I was thinking of Hipcycler all during my ride, I was out in the exact conditions I told him he shouldn't be racing in! Seeing as how he braved the elements, I couldn't sit around today and not get out in the wet.

Hip, you got me again, just like your radio teaser.
f

fore0121

Understatement of this thread. Sweet ride indeed.

Nice work formulaben.
f

Jakey

Just talked to my friend... Badly torn up knee, cut up face, and a broken hand... So he'll be off the bike for a little bit..

formulaben

I'm so glad you didn't, as I hadn't seen it yet. Yeah, a great show indeed.

formulaben

Thanks, I really love that ride. I'm so glad I waited for it!

Jakey

I forgot the most important part.... the cookies were awesome!

jitteringjr

What happened? Front tire blow out? sucks for him. Tell him to get well.

jitteringjr

You Oregon boys are having too much fun without me. Jealous in VA...

velocity

Come on up and do the STP or reach the beach Jitter
Velocity

Hanzo

I'm glad you guys had fun. I was hoping to meet some of you guys but things didn't work out very well. My friend who I was going to ride with didn't get to eugene until 7:30 and then he ended up not wanting to go because he didn't think he could make it the whole way. I was pretty bummed and kind of PO'ed at him, I'd been planning for it all month.

He said he'd wait for me in town until I finished the ride but that seemed kinda dumb since he drove 2 hours to get to eugene. Finally we just decided to go to cottage grove and ride the dorena lake rails to trails path. I don't know, I was bummed to miss the ride but it was cool to hang out with my friend for a while so I guess it was an ok day.

jitteringjr

Thanks, but the commute is a little lengthy. Unless you know of a high paying do nothing job out there for me.

Hipcycler

Indeed....they've got there own little club up there....and they're fast too! 19 ave. for 60-plus miles? Count me out...unless of course I was working as Rad's domestique.

53-11_alltheway

That F2C is nice. Amazing deal you got considering the wheels are top of the line too. I either want one of those or a Scott CR-1. Those wheels would be the clincher for me though.

KrisPistofferson

I don't understand what the deal is, every time I hear about something cool I'd like to be a part of, there's like a 50/50 chance it's in Oregon. I'm dead serious, I started noticing this in my 20s. When I used to hitch-hike, everyone in SoCal would always tell me; "If you like this, you'd LOVE Oregon!" I'm sorely tempted to move out there this summer. Can someone PM me and give me a quick lowdown on the job market, specifically construction? Thanks.
Oh, hey, that's a really SWEET Bianchi! Congrats on that ride. I'm convinced Oregon is the rainy part of Heaven!

barleyrocket

as for the 19+ mile average. I was quite a bit slower than that. I got sepearated from the group just oustide of Salem. They waited for me to catch up at the first rest stop. I stayed with them for a while coming into Champoeg shortly after they did. On the way out of the Park, I fell behind immediately and just pushed as hard as I could. I don't have a computer on the new bike so don't know what my average was. I love riding with the guys out here, they have all been alot of fun.
I like the new Bianchi, and it's a new one for me as it's Steel...had a lot of fun.
See you guys on the next one.

velocity

Really for not riding with these guy before we all held very tight together and made it a fun one. Even when we move through horrible traffic it was like we knew what the other was going to do. One group that we came up to and rode with just "sucked" they were in this concentration camp kind of mantality with this guy blerting out orders and screwing with peoples lines.
Really like the way we moved through these situations.
Velocity

55/Rad

Gentlemen - I checked the computer - here's some final stats.

Average speed for first 30 miles - 18.5 mph.
Average for second 30 miles - 20.1 mph
Total amount of climbing - 748 feet.
Amount of rainfall endured in 3+ hours - 1.2 inches.
Number of cultlike groups we ran into who tried to "integrate" us - 1.
Number of cookies consumed - ????

55/Rad