There were 3 century rides last weekend; 2 in or around Portland, 1 not very close to Portland at all. And of course, I was looking for a bit of adventure, so Sierra and I drove down to Monroe, Oregon (South of Salem) for the Alpine Century.
We arrived a bit later then we hoped, and ended up being the last centuries riders off, which meant that everyone got to wait around for us to finish (you’re welcome). The day started out cool and overcast, but gradually warmed up, the sun coming out for the last few glorious hours. Really, it was absolutely perfect weather.
I was very excited to ride some new roads; however, when I saw the sign for Mary’s Peak, I realized I HAVE ridden the route before–it’s the first stage of the Willamette Stage Race, plus an extra loop. However, rather then being sad, I was really excited, because I had promised myself I would return and ride those roads again, when I wasn’t dying from exhaustion and freezing to death from the rain.
Every bit of the course, all 100 miles (ok, 96…) were beautiful, amazing, and mostly smooth. A+++ to the route. Everyone was very friendly and VERY nice to wait up for us! There were rest stops every 20 miles and the meal at the end was delicious. The entire thing was sweetened in that both me and Sierra won raffle prizes for pre-registering: I won an ultra-light day pack and Sierra won some huge jars of honey, made from the hive of the person who owns the community center the century was supporting.
On Sunday, I pretty much had the laziest day ever. I rode around the SE Sunday Parkways, which was crazy! So many people out! So many parties in the parks! It was fun, and we got to end it at the Hawthorne Street Fair. We pretty much ate our way through the festivities. Out of guilt, I went to the gym for the first time in about 8 months. I drove all the way over to the new 24hour fitness on 99 and Holgate. It’s a “super sport” so technically I’m not allowed in there, since I cancelled my super sport add-on when my office moved from Tualatin. However since it’s new I got to check it out. Certainly it’s huge, they have all new machines, a big pool, TOWEL SERVICE(!), and lots of room to breathe. But all in all, it’s the same as the rest.
I actually SWAM for a while (10 minutes). I forget how hard it is, and when I haven’t done it in a while, I get insanely dizzy. I’m excited to do more though, I really love swimming.
I think I need to start taking classes or something; I’m going to try to take the ones at 24, since I’m already paying to go there, although I think it would be better if I took ones from one of the cycling coaches around town. I just really need to get my ass in gear with harder workouts (on the bike intervals and strength training). The hardest ones I’ve been doing are the Tabor Cyclocross Fit ones, and I could even up the ante on those as well.
And at the end of this week? Mountain Bike Oregon, bitches! yah!
