Saturday Ride In Between The Rain

When the rain comes, they run and hide their heads....

Or, the wait for a cloud break, throw on the gear and hit the road.

After a week off of riding, I was anxious to get back on the bike. With still very little free time, and coming off the flu/cold combo, it's been tough to get out and ride this week, but Saturday provided a quick opportunity.

The previous week was beautiful and I was able to do my 30 Mile Waconda loop. This week I started hitting rain at the 10 mile mark, and since I'm still hacking pretty good, at least a little each day, I turned and just made a 20 mile loop for the day. Every mile on the bike, outside of the garage, is a good one.

As you may have noticed, I replaced last years Livestrong ad with a mileage counter for the year...my goal is to ride 2000 miles this year on my bike. I'm at 82 for the year. To hit 2000, I need to average about 45 miles a week, or at least 15 miles each time I ride, and do that 3 times a week. With the slow start to the season I'm off pace by about 450 miles, so I've got some making up to do. Thank goodness we just Sprung Forward with Daylight Savings Time -- hopefully I can take advantage of the longer day soon!

Another goal I'm contemplating is doing this years Monster Cookie Ride, which leaves Salem, heads north for 31 miles, then turns back around for a 62 mile metric century. The ride is a relatively flat ride, with only some rolling hills along the way. I have also heard many a comment about the cookies along the ride, specifically the macaroons, which I'm sure I'd be tempted to try. Of course, as a chubby guy who took up riding to lose weight, riding my bike and eating cookies isn't really the plan of the ages to accomplish that goal. Hopefully I would burn more calories for the day than I would consume in cookies!

I'm also still wondering about Cycle Oregon, but just not sure I can take the time for the whole week, and/or creatively take the whole family out with. If I come up with good solutions for either, I may be in!

Hasta!