Saturday morning I ride downtown from my home to catch the light rail under the West Hills, since so far there isn't a very good bike route over them. At 6:05 am I am not the only one with this idea, and I grab the last available bike rack on the train (notice the sticker from Progre-SS on the top tube):
I'd been planning on riding (and trading off pulling and drafting) with the co-workers I'd ridden with last year, but I'm way ahead of them - and want to get a jump on the weather while it's still good - so I roll out on my own. For the first couple hours I'm treated to cool but pleasant weather, and rolling fields and vineyards:
That's nice, but it doesn't last. Soon enough a strong headwind picks up, and I get to push my 42x16 gear into it for, oh the next 70 miles:
Much of the time I'm happy to be pushing along in the low teens, and most of the people passing me are either in pacelines or on aero bars. The wind is making this a hell of a lot more challenging ride than last year, but at least it doesn't rain much. There is one squall that lasts about 20 minutes and pelts the side of my face with hail, but other than that I'm dry the whole time. The rolling hills, then flatlands of the Willamette Valley S L O W L Y give way to the forests of the Coast Range and finally out to the Coast. After 105 miles and 7 1/2 hours on the bike, I've reached the beach!
Afterwards my knee tells me I should have switched to 42x18 instead of pushing 42x16 into the wind all day. Oh well, next time I'll be smarter about it, and won't have a point to prove anyway. But meantime, I can now say I've ridden a full century in ONE gear!
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