| Quick Stats Ride Distance: 72.71 miles Elevation Gain: 2877 feet Average Moving Speed: 14.6 mph |
I had wanted to get going a little earlier even, but someone in our bicycle party of two was moving a little slower. Sometimes the coffee doesn't kick in for a little while I guess. I didn't want to start early in the (almost) freezing cold just for kicks. I knew that the afternoon wind would be no fun, so the sooner we started, the less wind we'd have to deal with. I think I mentioned this a time or two, but it was really hard to look past the thermometer. Even for me. Riding in the 30s is hard core.
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We rode this route last year, but added a little side jaunt this time up to the water tanks serving the Deschutes Valley Water District. I had planned on this being a nice little 6 or 8-mile loop, but the return leg was a gravel road, and we really don't like riding our skinny-tire road bikes on those unless absolutely necessary, so we turned around and made it an 11-mile out-and-back instead.
It was right around this time that the wind really starting picking up. It was a north or northwesterly wind. We weren't looking forward to riding back to Madras and on to Gateway, going due north most of the way. I had hoped that the drop in elevation would help out against the wind. Maybe it did. But we still had to push pretty hard for those 20-plus miles. It is not fun to expect flat or down slope riding and instead effectively having to work like you are climbing.
And of course wind is harder on smaller people than larger people, opposite of climbing. You generally have similar cross-sections pushing against the wind, but the heavier person usually has a bit more raw power to be able to push through it. For climbing it is all about power-to-weight, and the lighter person has the clear advantage there.
It was also right about this time that the sun decided to leave us, mostly. The clouds were rolling through. The temperature did pick up some, but it was still cool enough that we both kept on all our gear. Until we got to the Gateway climb, which is sheltered from the north wind, so we removed jackets and started a real climb out of the wind. It was nice!
Before we got to the top I warned Amy to "brace yourself for the blast of wind when we turn the corner at the top." I hate being right! It was nasty. I had thought it would only last 50 yards or so though. But clearly the wind had changed to more of a westerly wind, at least in this particular spot at this particular time, because when we turned to go west for a couple miles we had the pleasure of fighting a nice head wind again.
Have I mentioned we really don't like the wind?
Thankfully the turn onto North Adams Drive solved the wind problem, for the moment, and it was pure joy to be heading south. It didn't really feel like a direct tail wind, but at least it wasn't a head wind! Our legs were feeling it though. All those miles of head wind had taken their toll. The original thought of trying to get in a 100-mile ride was out the window, blown away by the wind. We just wanted to be done and call 70-some miles for the day "good enough". There was another 2.5-mile stretch heading due west, but it wasn't as bad this time, perhaps due to yet another wind shift, who knows.
The only time it felt like we clearly had a direct tail wind was on the last mile of the ride.
In the weeks to come when we are planning to go on a ride you can be sure we will be eyeing the forecast closely, with special attention placed on the expected wind conditions.
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