Written by Day two and still very much in the honeymoon phase. How can that possibly be when you rode 100.5 miles today? Easy, it was 100.5 miles after a 30-mile day. Tomorrow is 73 miles. The next day is 94 miles. The honeymoon will very soon be over when we are doing this day after day after day after day. That said, today was beautiful. It was cooler in the morning and warmed up into the late 90s in the afternoon when we arrived in Portland.
The morning part of the ride was spectacular. We rode a two-lane road most of the way through majestically towering trees lining the roads on either side. There were spectacular vistas punctuating the route. Beautiful as it was, it wasn’t easy. There were gentle and not so gentle climbs, so my Strava and legs tell me. The climb we faced around roughly 63 miles end was never ending. We would come around a corner and see it taunting us having just jumped out from hiding behind the trees. Sadly, we already knew it was coming as our Garmin bike computers were showing us the elevation ahead. As luck would have it, it was on a fairly open and sunny portion of the ride with very little shade to be found. To add insult to injury, there were times the wind picked up to add to the fun.
Once we reached the top and had a chance to let our legs, hearts and lungs recover, I looked at the woman I’d ridden up most of the way with and asked, “Am I having fun yet?”.
The answer is, in spite of the brutal climb we had just completed, the answer was an unequivocal yes.
What we didn’t know yet was that what goes up, must come down. We had a wicked downhill ahead of us that the speed of which would offset the slow pace of the painful climb we’d just completed. The downhill reminded me of the downhill in the Zwift Alpe du Zwift course I’d ridden countless times on my bike trainer. The difference was that in the virtual world, there was no need for brakes. Plowing down the long and windy road, my arms started to hurt from gently squeezing the rear and front brakes on my bike to keep a reasonable speed allowing the ride to be super fun as opposed to wildly scary.
When we finally hit what appeared to be the bottom, I asked my riding partner to check to ensure my brakes weren’t red hot – or worse on fire. Thankfully, they were neither. That ride had been incredibly challenging and rewarding through the climb, but the ride down was a fantastic and unexpected gift.
Overall, I am still working to ensure that this is a marathon and not a sprint. I didn’t push the pace. I eased back when I felt like those ahead were pushing a pace that was going to leave me feeling more fatigued than I should on upcoming days. I rode whatever felt comfortable. Looking at Strava, I stayed mostly in Zone 2 which will serve me well in future days. At the end of the ride as we arrived in Portland, I felt good and was able to pick it up a little, but the terrain was mostly flat and, frankly – the horse could smell the barn at that point. It was roughly 10 miles and wasn’t going to make or break me.
We watched as the Hood to Coast runners ran in the opposite direction on the hot afternoon. I feel for them. This would not be a great weekend to run a relay race. After our massive climb in the last 1/3 of our ride, we tore down a stretch of windy road of freshly placed asphalt. It still smelled of oil and tar and threw up small rocks when cars and trucks passed over it. It was a gift after the climb, but I realized that the Hood to Coast runners would have to be running up that hill. Even as an individual with a passion for running, I couldn’t possibly imagine having to do that. Compared to our expletive filled climb on our bikes, it seemed brutal and horribly miserable. They are still out there running as I write this from the comfort of my air-conditioned hotel room with a belly full of food and my eyes telling me it’s time to curl up in my lovely soft bed for the night.
The best I could do was cheer them on while riding across the street from them on the busy thoroughfare. They looked beaten and fatigued as the sun shone down on them in the heat of the afternoon. Even we were fortunate to have some slivers of shade along our side of the road.
Yes, we may have 46 days of riding ahead of us, but I’m not sure I’d even want to do the 200 miles of running they have ahead of them.
Hey monkey, so proud of you. I sound like a broken record, but I truly am praying for all of you.
Hey monkey, so proud of you. I sound like a broken record, but I truly am praying for all of you. not sure if you’re getting my text because it’s telling me I already said it.
D! So happy to see your smiling face! Glad things are going well. I’m cheering you on every day. You’ve got this!!