It's been a fun week--Thursday I ran a bunch of errands by bike all over town, and only found out when I got home that there had been some major traffic snarl-ups all over the city. I had no idea, never sat fuming in traffic, and got to spend quite a bit of time outside on a nice spring day. Yay!

Then yesterday, my husband and I rode the Oregon Randonneurs Birkie 200k. It started out miserably cold and foggy, and we shivered our way to the first stop, 36 miles in, at Vernonia. Normally we try to keep stops quick, but we opted to sit down and eat at the cafe. It was a good choice, as a hearty breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, and coffee later, the sun was starting to burn off the fog. The ride did a very scenic and enjoyable out-and-back from there, and after stopping at the same place in Vernonia for lunch, the last 30 miles were a delight. 20 of them were on a gorgeous rails-to-trails path that went through the woods--you'd have no idea that the highway was a short distance away. And the sun was shining (though still bundled up in all my stuff, I was at least finally warm!), the roads that we did ride on had little traffic, and it was an altogether lovely day with great company.

I'm getting close enough to my husband's riding ability that he occasionally is the one to complain about me riding too fast... His complaining aside, we're starting to have really complementary paces, which is making riding together a lot easier and more fun. He can still drop me on a prolonged hill, and I can still drop him on a prolonged downhill (especially if it has corners) but for the most part, we don't have to do much adjustment any more to ride together. As the weather improved after the chilly start, we had a great time. He's done this ride before, and raved about it, and now I see why--it was a great route that I would gladly do again. Part of the fun was that the ride started and ended at the McMenamin's in Forest Grove, where we stayed--it's a quirky fun place with good beer and cheap rooms. What more can a person ask for!?!

Alas, spring break at my Saturday teaching job is over, so the fun weekend getaways are at an end for a bit, but we tried to make the most of it while we could!