Cycle Oregon - Sun

It's amazing how good it feels to walk after doing a long ride. Must be because we didn't get enough exercise. We took a walk last night into town, had a Black Butte Porter at the local pub and then took a walk down a country road where there were amazing views of rolling hills to the west and Mt. Hood in the east. While we walked we talked about many things, but before long we were tired and hit the sack.

This morning we both had stiff backs. This is slightly more of a problem for me so before we hopped on our bikes for today's ride we mobilized my SI joints. Teaching my dad to do this will be one of the keys to me surviving RAGBRAI. Below is the view I had we did this (lying on my back looking up at this beautiful tree).
We decided to do the 36-mile loop which started with some serious hills. I suppose we were heading west away from the Willamette Valley so that makes sense. We made it to the lunch stop by 9:30 in the morning so our our chicken sandwiches and Kettle Chips were more like "secondsies" than lunch. I actually had felt pretty sluggish during those first 13 miles and was feeling a little overwhelmed with my upcoming trip. Peter was feeling even better than yesterday.

During the second leg of the loop, however, I really perked up. I felt encouraged and reassured myself that I was riding my 46-pound hybrid and not my 17-pound road bike. That makes hills just a bit more difficult.


By the time we got to the second pit stop I was feeling great.

Coming into Monmouth, we marveled that we had done more than 85 miles in just two days. I remember when doing a 100 miles in 7 days felt like a huge accomplishment. As we cycled across the finish line, volunteers were cheering and wooping, blowing bubbles across the road and handing out ice cream sandwiches and creamsicles. High-fiving and toasting with our ice cream sandwiches I felt a little emotional about this weekend being over (and about what I will be enjoying/endeavoring/enduring (ack!) next week. I'm going to miss my husband so much! We both had (and still have) that pleasant sensation you get when you've had enough exercise. And, funnily enough, those celebratory ice cream sandwiches we ate - they were made in Iowa.