Friday night Sunny ride

Sorry about the extended absence.  Occasionally, I am outside doing the runs, rides, swims, and such that I love to write about it.  But, this particular week was confounded by Labor Day, moving, and something called "werk" (work with a little er in it).

My week-end plans changed everyday this week, starting with Tuesday.  The first plan was to camp out near Hood River and triathlon the Escape from the Gorge.  Then the Corvallis Running Project decided to do a rave trail run trip in the Bend, OR area and my race wheels finally went enough out of true to make it really, really annoying.   By Wednesday, the possibility of amazing weather in the valley and the fact that my friend and favorite Corvallis riding buddy Heather is back to cycling again (yeah!) kept me town-bound.  Then, enter a friend of a friend visiting in Portland (never pass up a chance to day trip the big city) and the opportunity to house sit for Marshall and the kitties (Erika's beasts) and you get the picture.

So what to do with a gorgeous Friday night?  Road ride.  On Dean.  I managed to make it home by 5:10, and thought that I could just sneak in a ride to the base of Mary's Peak (2.5 hr ride) before the sky went to dusk.  I suited up with all the necessities (sans chamois cream, whoops) and headed out the door feeling awesome.  I did the weave and bob through the SW side of town, passing OSU, Country Club, and Gathering Together Farms.  In the blink of an eye, I was out on HWY 34 heading South on the brand-spanking-new blacktop.  And then I ran into the first trouble... bugs.  Bugs everywhere.  Giant clouds of them.  The afternoon sunning glinting off there wings nearly blinded me at some points (and literally at others when I got them in my eyes).  And the cars zooming past just stirred them up more.  And then, about 3 miles from the base of Mary's the smooth pavement ended and the graded "pavement" began. Og!  My brain screamed abort! abort! but I thought if I could just make Decker Rd., I'ld be smooth sailing.

It seemed to take forever.  And by the time I made the turn, my girly parts were numb, my limbs felt like jello, and my brain was slightly addled.  I tried to sit-up and eat but couldn't keep the bike upright with no-hands.  I stopped to nutrish and pulled out the first of a new box of Clif Bars... Oatmeal Raisin Walnut.  I had gotten to try a few iterations of this flavor in the development stages (even getting to vote on the name!) a few years ago, but since then have stuck to the old fave flaves.  But, whoa, it was like eating a fresh-baked cookie, and just about perfect for the moment.  So, there I was, sitting on the side of the road, covered in bug guts, eating a cookie and staring up at Mary's Peak, defeated this time, but swearing to come back (and avoid the bumpy road).

I managed to remount the bike and pedal convincingly for another hour or so, all the while inundated by sun-bugs (def - because they seemed to cloud up in the sunny parts of the road and not so much in the shade) and looking forward to my dinner-date with Erika's pets.