Hi, I am new to this forum also. I just want to say I will be on the same ride, the 40-mile version. I am riding a hybrid, a Trek Navigator 300. Well unless it is raining hard then I won't show.

I ride by myself also, though I met up with another TE member this evening and had a nice 16-mile ride.

I ride out of Champoeg Park almost every day. It is a safe place to park, because the rangers patrol the park every 10-15 minutes. You can get a two-year Day Use permit at GI Joes for $40-50, which is a sticker on the front window, and this allows you to park all you want, and from the parking lot you can take off on your bike. The valley around the park has lots of good roads to bike on. I park at the Riverside Use Area, which is at one end of the park, as do many other cyclists. However, most of the weekend riders from the Portland area prefer to park at the Visitors Center located at the front of the park.

The 40-mile ride will be almost double what I have been doing, but I think I will be ok. If I can do it, and I am overweight, then for sure you can do it too. I have a bum foot also; my left ankle joint is shattered to itty bitty pieces.

If anybody needs to find the information on the ride, here is the link:

http://www.sampros.com/century/index.htm

Darcy