The (soggy) Strawbery Century

[oxysback]

Saturday, June 9th, Darcy, Suzie and I did the 72 mile option of the Strawberry Century in Lebanon, OR.

Also accompanying us was my DH, but he did the actual century, and my step BIL, Steve, who, at the last minute, wanted to ride with us even though he's only had his bike for a month and ridden a total of 50 miles. :eek:

We met at the Lebanon High School and started off at around 7am. Here I am with my morning hair...

http://www.footeco.com/ellen/Strawberry Ride/Strawberry01.jpg

And this is my DH strutting his Hill Slug Jersey proudly. I got this for him on his birthday...mine is still in the closet waiting for me to shed a few more pounds...

http://www.footeco.com/ellen/Strawberry Ride/Strawberry02.jpg

The weather was cool and cloudy and we were hoping it would stay that way. I had been watching the weather the previous week and was confident about the 30% chance of rain that had been forecast for the ride.

So, off we go! The route is clearly marked and very scenic. After stopping to help Steve raise his seat, my allergies start to act up. I never knew you could stay upright on a bike after sneezing about 20 times in a row. My eyes started to water so much that I could only see straight ahead, and I would have felt quite good scratching them out of the sockets! Steve jokes that my allergies didn't start to act up until he started riding ahead of me...hehe.

Here is Darcy at the first water stop...

http://www.footeco.com/ellen/Strawberry Ride/Strawberry06.jpg

The SAG on this ride was excellent! Very friendly volunteers and a great spread of food. And we discovered Suzie's secret weapon...Cheese Whiz!! I swear, with a can of that in her jersey pocket she can conquer anything!

At about mile 35 there was a steep monster hill that Darcy and I walked up. "Cheese Whiz" Suzie shot right up it and we caught up to her a few miles later as she was assisting Steve with a flat...

http://www.footeco.com/ellen/Strawberry Ride/Strawberry05.jpg

Did I mention Steve is a newby? Anyway, I think he was a bit embarassed to have Suzie change his tire for him while other guys (and gals) rode by...

http://www.footeco.com/ellen/Strawberry Ride/Strawberry04.jpg

Two nice gentlemen stopped to help Suzie get the tire on the rim. Then Steve did the hard work...pumping the tire up!

http://www.footeco.com/ellen/Strawberry Ride/Strawberry03.jpg

All went well...until about mile 45. That's when it started sprinkling. No biggie, I told Steve. At least it's not raining hard.

As soon as those words came out of my mouth, the downpour started. Thank goodness we had gotten all the major hills out of the way. We had some nice flats where we could really book, because all we were thinking about was the finish!

I have never been so wet in my entire life! At one point, you just don't care anymore, ya know? Oh, my nose is running? I'll just blow it in my hand. Not like I'm going to get any more wet or gross. I had grand plans of taking a picture of all of us looking like drowned rats, but the only thing I could think of as I got back to the school was getting out of my soggy, sopping, sloshy shoes and clothes and into something dry. I'm so glad I thought to bring towels just in case. Ooooh, that towel? Heaven!! And my dry clothes? Divine!! I felt 1000% better!

After getting changed, I enjoyed some strawberry shortcake (although a nice hot chocolate would have been welcomed!) and chatted with some very nice people. And...SCORE...I bought some cute Strawberry Century socks!!

http://www.footeco.com/ellen/Strawberry Ride/StrawberrySocks.jpg

I'll definiately do this ride next year...weather permitting, of course. Probably even the century!!

[songlady]

Great report, sounds like it was fun (even with the rain!). BTW, love the "morning" hair!

[DarcyInOregon]

Suzie and I drove together to the event ride. We were so cold and wet when we got back, all we wanted to do was get in the car and get warm. However, if I had known the event people were selling cute socks, I might have mustered up the energy to walk into the school and purchase some socks. I will email them to ask if any of the socks are still for sale.

Ellen didn't mention that Steve declared at the second SAG stop, after we had been biking in the cold rain and we were all very cold and wet, that he was not going to continue cycling, that he was going to put his bike on eBay and sell it. I don't know if it was the mortification of having a female fix his tire, or the cold and wet, or doing all those miles with only 50 miles on the odometer, but he seemed quite serious when he made his declaration.

Darcy

[oxysback]

I don't know if he was serious about that or not. He does have quite a nice mountain bike. He did e-mail me to ask what kind of pump I had so he could get one. I dunno?? I don't really know him all that well, and he seems kind of hard to read sometimes. Who knows! LOL!

[Nokomis]

eew soggy! But it sounds like a fun ride! Please tell me they at least served Oregon strawberries?

[oxysback]

eew soggy! But it sounds like a fun ride! Please tell me they at least served Oregon strawberries?

I have no idea! I was too cold to check...LOL!