No trails, no running - At least I was in the Cascades

Well, it was another biking weekend. Having not been on my bike since the NW Crank event at the end of April, it was naturally time to do a Century ride. So... I got up at 3:45 Saturday AM, had breakfast and drove to my friend Desmond's in Snohomish where we transferred my bike and stuff to his car and drove to Wenatchee. The weather in Wenatchee was sunny and clear and only a little cool. I had actually been given a bike club bib short and jersey set by a customer from San Francisco, so I at least looked like a bicycler. Not sure if I will ever get used to the clothing that bike riders wear. I guess the gaudier and brighter the colors, the more likely the drivers are to see you. Thankfully, there are no pictures of me in this get-up.

We started riding at ~7:30 and after an easy warm-up for the first few miles, I decided to pick up the pace at bit. Flat pavement and a slight tailwind made 23-25 mph feel pretty easy. Of course, it was early on too. The course then turned up the Entiat valley and went from flat to various uphill grades; nothing approaching the Nook Connector trail at Tiger, but enough to slow the pace significantly. The ride had aid stations at 24, 48, 52, and 76 miles. There was also a water stop with about 10 miles to go.

On trail runs, I am often getting passed on the uphills. On the bike, no one passed me on the outbound leg. Interesting. After the turn-around, I had the benefit of a pelaton made apparent to me. I rode by myself the entire day and never did catch a draft from another rider. On the way downhill, a group of ~6 riders passed me when I was on a flat; making me look like I had stopped working. Also, two people on one bike = better power to weight ratio. Two pairs of tandem riders smoked my butt on a downhill section. I was cruising at about 22 mph and they passed me like a Porsche on the Autobahn going around a Yugo.

All things considered, I had a good ride. For no training in the last month, I finished in a total time of ~6 hours, with my trip computer reading 5:33 of actual ride time.

For your visual entertainment, I have attached a recent picture taken with my new DSLR. I'm no Glenn T, but I'm having fun with the camera. KRK