Tour de Cure

[teigyr]

I don't think any PNW people are riding tomorrow, but we'll be there if anyone is We just got our team jerseys which are thin and white and it's supposed to be cold out

If anyone's there and sees a tall redheaded person wearing an Alaska Airlines jersey accompanying a festively orange bike, say hi. That'd be me

[East Hill]

Did you manage to get through the ride?

East Hill

[teigyr]

Yes

I will say it was hilly and windy and I actually had to stop on a hill to catch my breath. There was one steep downhill with a 9% grade too. Is windy as it was, I'm glad that the weather held out because the rain we had on sunday would have been horrible for the ride.

On the plus side, they did an excellent job. There was tech support at every stop, the food was pretty darned good, and there was a beer garden along with a massage tent at the finish.

I was amazed that we finished but we did! Just goes to show you that being stubborn can be a good thing.

[mimitabby]

wow! you rode Saturday! that was challenging! how many miles, how long?

[teigyr]

Well, we only did 44. I'm not especially proud of that but I think it was for the best. The elev. gain was 2300' and we hadn't been training hills, DH had never ridden on the street, and he had never ridden on a group ride. I have done all of these things but not for a long time. There are so many things to know that I guess I took for granted, DH fell on an uphill because he unclipped and went to clip back in and you know how challenging THAT can be! My chain kept dropping, and it was entirely too windy. There were cross winds that made some of the descents kind of interesting. I got up to 27.5 mph on a downhill though

I think as a first group ride, it was a great experience for him. It was for me too...I will also say that of all the rides I've done (in my past, of course) it was one of the more challenging ones. It was good to finish and not feel totally trashed. Both of us could've done the 70, I am sure, but we would've been beat afterwards!

Anorange (from TE) rode with us and was basically our mentor through the whole thing! There were some other very surreal aspects going on that I won't post here but there were parts of the day that were just plain strange.

All-in-all it was good! Even that 9% downhill wasn't as heinous as I imagined though there was no shoulder.

[mimitabby]

no kidding! his first time on the road!!!!

you guys ought to do some more group rides !


sounds like you did great, except for that chain thing.

[teigyr]

For a first time, it was good. And I had forgotten what I liked about riding on the road. The trails are ok and they are safe but there is something just so FUN about rolling uphills and downhills. I think it's time to look for roads with good bike lanes or roads out in the country or something. Even some of the ones we were on, out of Marymoor, weren't well-traveled and were fun.

Yeah, the chain thing. It goes in again next week. The front derailleur had been loose so they tightened it but in the process, they feel it was up too high so they lowered it. Perhaps the chain was my fault because I was used to forcing it into the small ring but since it's Campy, I think I just took it over too far instead. Other than that though, it behaved admirably!

[East Hill]

Your DH's first time on the road ? My husband would have been scared to death .

Good for the both of you!

East Hill