The morning overcast was gone when I looked out @ 6:00. Moisture has left the area. Another brilliant blue sky day.
Today is to be a shuttle ride down Alpine to pull down course markings if any are left after the 2 riders who swapped their own hassle w/ their own shuttle for pulling down markings on their ride down Alpine. And Scott wanted to check on trail conditions after the race, plus he wanted to finally ride, free from the race duties. Last night Scott planned on riding around 10:00. I drove to Jay’s house to wait. Time went by, several calls from Scott finally put his arrival much later. We hit the trail around 3:30. On the drive up we picked up just a few missed pieces of marking.
Amazing! We dropped onto trail @ Jedi section thru some big old growth and big regrowth. This is the part of the trail i remember from my ride several years ago. The trail was not marked like I rode it before the race. Now I gathered trail information and made my decisions instead of delegating to the course markings. Scott flew a bit faster than me. The volunteers did a great cleaning job and we could concentrate on our ride. Great trail.
I missed saying good bye to Jay. Good bye Jay. Said Good bye to Scott. He has made next year’s Cream Puff attractive for me to race it. This year I would have been the 2nd oldest racer. Seven days of helping on the race.
Stopped @ bike shop for great hug from Catrina. Ahh, yes.
I told Scott I was going to ride Waldo and he said mosquitoes will be too much. OK, then it will be the Umpqua and its mosquitoes up high. I drove east on 58 and crossed Willamette Pass. I figured if I drove East far enough I would drop down below the hungry ones. I found a road off highway not far from rt 97 and private land. Not far enough East and I fed a few new generations.
I am out of clean riding jerseys and undershorts. Tomorrow I will drive a bit North to La Pine for groceries and clean clothes and then head back South to the NUT ( North Umpqua river Trail).
Sure enjoyed the great trails around Oakridge. My bike rides so sweetly. My ability is improved.
Today I rode the Jedi section plus the lower Alpine for 12.32 miles and dropped 3752′. Understand why brake pads wear down.
Interrupted XM reception where I parked but internet access.