Yesterday was awesome! I decided to do the club ride from Hat Rock Park to Pendleton, over to Echo, up to Hermiston, and back. They have it listed as an 80 mile ride which had me very nervous since my longest was 46 last Sat. Only 3 of us showed up, maybe due to the weather being a chilly 45, and we carpooled to the park.

As soon as we set out I felt panicky and was wondering what I was thinking when I showed up that morning. They assured me I wouldn't get left anywhere and they planned to take it easy.

The initial climb was the biggest hill I've done. I started strong and just kept switching gears as I slowed. After the big hill we had some climbing rollers, slow climbing, and some great climbing rollers. About 20 miles in I was struggling with seat and knee pain. At that point I wasn't sure how I was going to make the rest of the ride and couldn't wait to get to town and find some Advil! Somehow it worked itself out and 5 miles later I felt great with just mild seat pain. It was like my body was rebelling for a few miles and then decided I was set to keep going so it adjusted. Yea!

Amazingly I was having fun on the last set of rollers and moving right along. I got far enough ahead of my fellow riders to stop and remove my jacket while they caught up. That would be when the chilly side wind picked up so I got ahead again and put my jacket back on. The decent into Pendleton was a blast! We ate at a great sandwich/wine/beer shop and headed out for Echo.

The 20ish miles to Echo gave us a nasty head wind. I felt good but one of the other riders was struggling and almost bonked. After a short stop to hydrate and refuel we kept going and had a much needed rest in Echo at a great little coffee shop.

The headwind turned into a tail/side wind and we scooted the rest of the way back. I'm thrilled to say I had NO problems completing the ride and felt great when it was over! The worst part is I had no computer on my bike to record all of my milestones. Total mileage was 73.48 according to MapMyRide and 1175ft of climbing.

My bike and I must be a good fit and I think the riding I did on my mountain bike all summer must be paying off. I was climbing great and actually had to hold myself back to stay with the other two riders. I noticed my cadence was quite a bit slower than theirs but I would have had to go onto my smallest ring in order not to increase my speed leave them. I wasn't pushing hard and my knees felt great so I just pedaled slowly and enjoyed the scenery. I never thought I'd look ahead and say "Bring on the hill!" LOL!

I don't know how you guys get routeslip to work. I have a heck of a time with it so I've been putting stuff on MapMyRide instead.

Happy riding!
Lora