Memorial Weekend Training 5/28

 

DATE: Monday May 28, 2007
ROUTE: Ochoco Ranger Station – High Summit Meadow
DISTANCE: 20 miles
TIME: 2 hours
CEG: 2000’
WEATHER: high 60s gorgeous!


This is the best wildflower ride you can imagine! Jon, Banjo, and I drive through Prineville to the Ochoco Ranger Station. During the 90 minute ride all three of us are indulge in our favorite treats: a Breve with a shot of almond for Jon, a pig ear for Banjo, and a Diet Coke for me. Jon and Banjo leave me at the station and continue up to the high meadow. Jon will take pictures of the wild flowers and correct papers and Banjo will chase butterflies and cause mischief until I arrive.

The ride couldn’t be more perfect. The first mile I gently ascend along Canyon Creek. Then the slope increases to about 6% for the next 6 miles. After topping the ridge I fly down for 3 miles then follow the meadow for the final 10. I stop often to take pictures and bask in the warm sun.

At the top Jon and Banjo wait for me beside a gurgling brook. We eat lunch and drive back home.

Banjo is glad to he went with us. We skip dinner. Life is good!

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Memorial Weekend Training 5/27

 

DATE: Sunday May 27, 2007
ROUTE: Home – Bend
DISTANCE: 28 miles
TIME: 2 hours
CEG: 1200’
WEATHER: 50s windy


I’m on my own today. The front finally hits with 30 mph winds and intermittent rain. Sue decides to stay in bed forever. I leave the house in trepidation at 11:00am. The rain threatens and the wind is fierce. However, it will be at my back at least half the trip to Bend. I have work to do at school and this looks like a good day to get some of my school chores accomplished. In any case, I hear there are Baltic winds in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania so this will be good training.

I arrive at school two hours later very blown and slightly cold. My room is welcoming and I get right to work. Jon saves me from a very unpleasant ride home. He conveniently needs to make a trip to Home Depot and thoughtfully drives the car instead of the motorcycle. What a guy!

Banjo is glad to see me. We both make dinner. Life is good!

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Memorial Weekend Training 5/26

 

DATE: Saturday May 26, 2007
ROUTE: Home – Camp Sherman - Home
DISTANCE: 65 miles
TIME: 5 hours
CEG: 2500’
WEATHER: 60s perfect!


Carol can’t ride today so it’s just the two of us. We leave our homes at about the same time and meet 45 minutes later at Indian Ford Road. I love this ride up the meadow! After cutting through Black Butte Ranch we cross the highway at the Camp Sherman road. Sue leaves me on the climb up Green Ridge. I take my time enjoying the mountain vistas and return to Camp Sherman on the lower camp ground road. We meet our husbands at the store for lunch --- Jon arrives on his motorcycle and George on his bicycle. The ride home is just as pleasant except for the last 10 miles of uncharacteristic headwind.

Banjo is glad to see me. Jon has dinner waiting. Life is good!

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Memorial Weekend Training 5/25

 

DATE: Friday May 25, 2007
ROUTE: Home - Dee Wright Observatory - Home
DISTANCE: 50 miles
TIME: 4 hours
CEG: 3000’
WEATHER: 60s perfect!

I leave school promptly at noon in order to get home in time to play ball with Banjo and get ready to ride. I have new tires on my bike --- heavy but hearty. They are Schwalbe Marathons and are reputed to be flat-proof. We’ll see …. The stout tread sends up a light vibration and a soft hum reminiscent of Grandpa Young. Carol joins me 2 miles down the road (it’s great to have a riding buddy live so close!) and we push pretty hard on the next 8 miles in order to be on time to meet Sue at the High School. The road is smooth and the warm air pleasant. Sue is on time, as always, and we start up the Mackenzie Highway. We will climb 2500’ to the pass where stands the Dee Wright Observatory. It is a stone memorial to the famed architect Dee Wright and is located in the middle of a massive lava flow. You are standing in the middle of the Cascade Mountain Range with views from Bachelor to Mt. Hood. Because the road is not plowed, it remains closed until the snow melts. The 25 miles between the west and east snow gates are a cyclist’s paradise for 8 months of the year.

Riding with Sue and Carol is always fun --- but often not much of a group activity. The terrain determines if we can cycle together. Because of the differences between a recumbent and an upright bicycle, I am pokey on the ascents, fast on the flats, and lightning on the descents. Today we leave the high school together but before long they pull ahead. They wait for me at Windy Point where I find them trying to train the squirrels with a protein bar. The next three miles to the summit are comprised of ascending rollers and increasing snow. The road, however, is clear with only occasional puddles of run-off. At the top Jon meets us with chocolate and Diet Coke. He was able to squeeze past the snow gate on his motorcycle. On the descent Sue and Carol stay with me by drafting. We say goodbye to Sue in Sisters and Carol and I endure 10 miles of head wind home.

Banjo is glad to see me. Jon has dinner waiting. Life is good!

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Memorial Weekend Training

 

Memorial Weekend Training


Friday
May 25, 2007

This is my last weekend home and I need to get some miles under my belt, so to speak. Next weekend, June 1,2 & 3, I am taking my 7/8 choir to a vocal festival in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and the following Sunday, June 10, I leave for St. Petersburg, Russia. Between now and then I have 4 more concerts (I just had a 6th grade concert last night), the vocal festival to organize, grades to post for 150 students, lesson plans to write (I’m leaving 4 days early), petunias to plant and all the other trip stuff to prepare. Although ExperiencePlus provides bicycles for the riders, I’m taking my recumbent and all the unique accessories and parts (tubes, tires, spokes, brakes etc). Packing will be a challenge. I’m going through my normal pre-trip “what the hell was I thinking” period. I’ll stop being anxious when I arrive at the hotel in Russia with my luggage and an undamaged bicycle. Enough of this!

I’m always happy on my bike so I look forward to having 3 days of cycling to my favorite places.