Six

Saturday I rode the fixed gear in the Larch Mountain Time Trial. After three weeks off, it was one very long climb - approx. 3000 ft over 16 miles according to http://www.obra.org/flyers/2004/larch.html. A few people caught me from behind. At one point I took a wrong turn, which probably cost me about 30 seconds. The decent wasn't a walk in the park either.

Sunday I did Peach of a Century on the fixed -http://www.salembicycleclub.org/majrides/majrides.html. I met John and Sharon Cartwright at the start. They were on their tandem as were a few of their friends from the Salem bicycle club. I stayed with the group from the start to the first aid station. According to one of the other riders, we were moving along at about 23 mph, which was very fast for me. Half way between the first and second aid stations I got dropped. The group wasn't too far ahead, because they were just getting off their bikes when I caught up at the second aid station. I decided to ride through and let them catch me. I made it to the third rest stop before they did and even had time to eat before the group finally rolled in. I took off as they were dismounting and managed to finish in front by several minutes. It was probably about 8:30 when we started, and the clock on the car radio said 3:04 when I was putting the bike away.

John offered to sell me his trail-a-bike. He brought it with him to Salem and I took it home to try it out. Lara really likes it. David's a bit skittish. I took David to school on the bike and then rode in to work this morning, since the van is at the repair shop.