Day 97: The Accidental Tour-ist

Update: 215.8 lbs, 42.4 lbs so far, 38 lb Goal Reached Day 74. - 7.6 lbs to NEW 50 lb goal.

I got an hour freed up last night and decided to head out to do The Loop on my loaner bike from Nick. Just as I was about to cross Chemawa and head out Windsor Island, I remembered that the Salem Bike Club had a Thursday night ride that did that same loop, but couldn't remember what time they started, so I looped back to Cummings, and sure enough, a stream of lycra was pulling out of the parking lot, so I hopped in line at the end. Let me just say, where I've been cautious about the 'lycra in public' issue - there are some others that should actually have more of that concern than myself :)

Anyway, I ended up in the middle of the group riding behind a dad and his pre-teen kid who was out for the first time. They were doing about 14 mph so it was a comfortable cruise, not too fast, not too slow. Turns out it was his first time on a road bike, so I just kind of held back a little, in case he needed any help. He was squirrelin' all over the place, and ended up having a bike light fly off his bike without knowing it, so I turned around and snagged it for him, caught back up to them, and handed it off at the top of the hill.

Last night was the first chance I had to take the Torelli up either of the Ravena hills, and I went up the easier one since I hadn't done any real climbing on a road bike yet. I'm happy to report that it's a whole different experience on a light, nimble 'roadie' compared to a big old heavy cruiser type rig. Probably my favorite part of the ride was that where I'd normally find myself slowing down, I ended up just wanting to keep pace, so I stayed at a steady speed for the entire ride. Again, nothing too tough, but nice and steady. Next week, if I head out, I may try to get out with some of the quicker guys towards the front and see if I can work a little harder....we'll see, I'm still a newbie.

Looks like another beauty of a day...hope you get to get out and enjoy it!

Hasta!