July 19th Day Five of riding

  (Estimated distance 75 mile day) Rode 20 miles

The past two days have been long rides 80 plus and then 90 plus. I am looking forward to a shorter day, but I am also dealing with a friction issue. I treated the area before going to bed last night and then again this morning. The area is very sensitive, but I'm hoping I can push through it, especially given the fact that tomorrow is a 98 mile day.

I started out riding with Dan and a two other people at a slower pace. My riding buddy, Hannah, took off with the fast pack this morning, which is fine. I knew that I was not going to be able to ride hard today. The ride started out fairly flat with a few rolling hills, but nothing too tough. Dan and I were riding at a moderate pace between 14 and 17 miles an hour.

Round about 10 miles into the ride, we came to a climb. Our group had grown to about 6 people by this point. The climb started. Dan is a helicopter pilot, in the Army reserves. As we climbed he suggested we sing a cadence, similar to the ones soldiers do on long marches or runs. Dan started us off, and the group followed with the antiphonal response. We went through 3 or 4 cadences before the group spread out too far and our breathing became way too labored from the climb. The road switched back and forth and just when you thought you had reached the summit the climb continued around the next bend.

We climbed for nearly 3 miles. The total altitude was only 800 feet, but on a bike over three miles that is brutal. The ride down was exciting, fast, and equally winding. I kept my speed between 26 and 40. I forgot to mention the climb was through lush forest. At the bottom of the descent, I came upon sand dunes with small pine trees and dune grass. By now, I was a little over 15 miles into the ride and my friction issue was giving me cause for concern.

When I reached the first rest stop at mile 20, I examined the situation more closely and made the decision to ride in the van to at least the next rest stop at mile 40ish. This was not an easy decision, but part of being on sabbatical is learning good self care. I am not on this ride to prove anything to anyone. A couple of other riders jumped in the van at this rest stop. These folks were wiped out after the climb, in fact one person walked up part of the hill.

Riding in the van gave me the opportunity to put my feet up. It also made me realize that I don't really want to have to ride in the van any longer than necessary. The only good thing about the van, aside from the rest for weary legs and back side is the fact it climbs hills much quicker than I do. Speaking of hills, if I had stayed on my bike, I would have had another long climb. At two miles after the 20 mile rest stop another long climb presented itself. The rides in the van with me, who stopped due to fatigue, were very happy to have missed this hill. I dozed sitting up. Turns out not only am I have friction issues, I'm pretty tired. Waking up at 4:30 in the morning to help with breakfast and get ready for the day's ride does not leave much time for quality sleep. Sleeping on church floors is not so conducive to quality sleep either.

One of my van riding companions offered to clear off the back seat of the van for me so I could lay down. I took him up on the offer. I stretched out on the full back seat of the van and slept for about ½ hour. We picked up 1 new van rider at the mile 40ish rest stop and the two folks that joined at mile 20ish got out to finish the ride on their bikes. I decided to stay in the van for the rest of the way. The 40 mile rest stop lasted 2 hours as we waited for all the riders to come through. Two hours is a long time to be waiting around.

Off to the last rest stop at mile 60ish. We stopped at state park senic overlook. It was one of the best rest stops of the entire trip thus far. There were whale watching boats not too far off-shore. Over the course of the hour and a half we were there, we saw a number of whales. I was not able to get any photos of them, but it was cool to see them blow and then crest the water before going under the water again.

We reached our destination, Newport, OR, around 3:30 pm. We showered at the local Y. We had to pay $2.00 to shower. Sucks that we had to pay for showers. The church has lots of space and couches to sleep. I picked one right away. The is a ping-pong table, air hockey, and pool table. The youth group of the church made dinner for us. Pasta, toasted bread with butter, and salad. It was good and filling. After dinner I headed out with the laundry crew to wash clothes. The laundromat was older than the last one we used but less expensive. Half of us stayed at the laundromat while the other half went to get ice cream at Flashbacks, a local ice cream, malt, burger shop. The design was retro-dinner.

Flashbacks had black licorice ice cream. I have never seen this before. I love black licorice. I sampled it and then ordered a waffle cone full of it. The other riders with me and those already at the ice cream parlor were a little grossed out by my jet black ice cream, which turned my tongue black immediately. I should have had someone take a photo. The ice cream was awesome. I headed back to the laundromat with the others. We relieved the others at the laundromat so they could get ice cream. Laundry done; back to the church to prep breakfast.

We planned a big breakfast: eggs and country potatoes with bacon. We prepared the potatoes, bacon, onions, and garlic. Tomorrow is our first really long ride, 98 miles, and therefore we want a hearty breakfast.

The notion of playing ping-pong, pool or air hockey went out the window after breakfast prep was finished. Before I headed to bed I applied some old school baby paste to prevent/help heal diaper rash, although I am not suffering from diaper rash the friction issue I am having should be helped by the paste.