| (Long Distance) Ramblings |
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I like to ride my bicycle - for long distances. I have earned the California Triple Crown and finished the Furnace Creek 508. My goals include qualifying for RAAM and ...(read the blog to find out). "The bicycle has a soul. If you are able to love it as it deserves, it will give you emotions you will never forget." "Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride."
"The important decisions in my life I make while out riding my bike."
"Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.” Lance Armstrong
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Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Tuesdays in TualatinFor the last two months, I have been joining the Portland Wheelman Touring Club's Tuesday Night Ride which starts in Tualatin. This is on my way home from work so it is easy to me to attend. That, and my coach told me to ride with these guys as they are fast and they ride hills. Both are true. The ride starts at 6:00, or at least he fast guys do. The slow guys start at 5:30 and the almost fast guys start at 5:45. This is the group I have been riding with, as the fast guys are really fast. But yesterday, the route was flat so I thought I would try my luck hanging on the back of the fast group. We started promptly at 6:00 and headed south toward Willsonville. I was doing OK, until a traffic light broke me and three others off of the group. From that point on to Willsonville, we rode hard trying to bridge the gap. We did not work together, and the only reason we succeeded was the long traffic light at Willsonville Road allowed us to roll up to them as they waited for the light to turn. So, as a large group, we headed up the freeway ramp to cross the Willamette River on Boone Bridge. Imagine if you will, thirty cyclists at thirty miles per hour on the narrow freeway shoulder of Boone Bridge when a tandem in the lead flats suddenly. It was not something that I would want to experience, that suddenly, the pack in front to me was braking hard. I had no choice but to do the same. Luckily, no one who dodged into the freeway traffic was hit or anyone went down. But, this did break up the pack again as the cyclists in front did not allow us in the rear to regroup. So, I was chasing the leaders again. I never caught them, but I did pass one by one the cyclists who were tossed off of the back. Stats: DST: 40.32 miles AVG: 19.3 mph
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