Non-Urban RACC

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	100.32 miles	870 miles
Elevation Gain	4,462 feet	9.38 miles
Average Moving Speed	15.1 mph	14.4 mph

We attempted our first century of the year yesterday, going on the Ride Around Clark County (RACC) route, but it was dangerously windy, like getting blown into traffic windy, so we ended the ride after around 40 miles.

So today we decided we didn't really like the urban portion of the RACC (which is what we did yesterday). Too many stops. Too much road debris (glass, nails, etc.). So we altered the ride and instead went out to Vancouver Lake (instead of Lacamas Lake) and then Battle Ground to get back on the RACC route.

We're about to get started this morning and I remembered I hadn't changed my front tire, which I had noticed was bulging during yesterday's ride. So I guess the short ride yesterday may have saved us from considerable hassle today.

Tire changed, we finally get going, with the mindset of seeing how we feel as we go. We're not sure if we'll want to do a full century after yesterday's ride. Plus my back is up to its normal shenanigans. We rode the flat roads down at Vancouver Lake and passed by our house at about mile 25 and all seemed well, so we forged ahead.

We hadn't yet ridden on this 5-mile stretch of Lucia Falls road, which follows along the East Fork of the Lewis River for some beautiful scenery. Unfortunately the curvy road has no shoulder and a bit too much traffic for our taste. We'll probably be avoiding it and instead riding over Yacolt Mountain to reach Yacolt on future rides. (I presume there is an actual Yacolt Mountain since one of the roads is named thus.)



Our first rest stop ended up being Moulton Falls at about mile 50. We should have stopped sooner, even if only for a bit. But otherwise we actually felt fairly good. And I was finally loose enough to stretch my back out and even got a nice "pop". The kind where it feels GREAT, or perhaps it is just normal but pain is hidden from my brain? Whatever the case I felt great over the next 25 miles. No water at Moulton Falls, but Yacolt is only 5 miles and has a nice store, so no biggie there.

We particularly liked avoiding all the big hills we've ridden on earlier rides. We will be hitting some of those again I'm sure, but the goal for today was to add horizontal miles, not vertical miles.



Look at the hill on the chart just before mile 70, and then take note of the spike in my heart rate at about mile 69.5. As is our normal fashion going up hills these days, Amy was about 40 yards ahead of me. Only problem is, a blue heeler decided she needed herding. Amy swears he was hiding in a pothole or something cuz she didn't see him until he was *right there*. Makes perfect sense to me since they are the exact color of an asphalt road. Anyway, I see it unfolding but there is basically nothing I can do. Well, don't get me wrong, when I heard Amy scream I sped up like crazy (remember this is a very solid uphill section) and yelled at the dog as loud as I could and probably almost had a heart attack (they do run in the family). Amy says the dog did get ahold of her heel, even above her shoe a little. But apparently did no harm. By the time I got there Amy was way up the hill and the dog had given up, and gave this screaming (and very heaving breathing) maniac a very wide berth. So as I go past the dog I remember that I am now completely exhausted, and even shaking a bit probably due to all the adrenaline. But I was able to stay upright, and even kept going forward, albeit at a much slower pace than when it all began.

The rest of the ride was comparatively completely uneventful, quite thankfully. We did make it home.