I am wearing a face mask whenever I enter a building and strive to keep a bit of distance between others. I believe this is the course of protection I must take to protect myself and others from me. I don’t wear the mask when I ride or live out here in wide open.
Back to riding here in Bend in more open forest and view of the sky. However, the trails here are dry, dusty and loose. One rider can stir up quite a cloud of dust when passing.
Yesterday I rode from the van working my way to the top of Phils, climbed Pine Drops, dropped down Storm King turning onto Grand Slam and others to return to cold beer. 8.9 miles gaining 1549′ in 2 hrs 24 mins of pretty much straight pedaling. Concern for my safety caused me to stop for a couple safety meeting well spaced out. Amazing how far and fast I can go when coasting. Drop the seat and angulate the turns.
My butt cheeks are bearing the brunt of the saddle contact points. I am riding a very old Fiziik saddle. I learned of Ergon’s well received saddle, I bought one today at Sunnyside, $110, and it has a 2 week test period. I put it on tonight and pedaled in just street shorts, hmmm, tomorrow I will be wearing normal padded liners for evaluation.
I learned some more about long distance pedaling uphill at Oakridge and the PT for my knee is strengthening my said butt cheeks which seems to increase the power of my stroke. Today I chose to ride from Skyliner up Tumalo Ridge which dumps out on the haul road to the shelter. I worked myself hard, I beat previous best by less than a minute on that rd.. So What? I push myself, so what? So why? I ride for calorie burn that to me is to push myself. Today I was 3 minutes faster, a new mark for the ride. My aerobic threshold is 128 beats per minute, today I spent 50 mins level one above plus another 7 mins higher. So what? I weigh under 145 #s, I have no body fat or friends. South Fork of Tumalo creek is 3 miles long, it’s an old legacy hiking trail. It drops almost 900′, it would be a tough hump to pedal up it hence the likelihood of abruptly sharing the trail with an uphill rider is rare. Today I corraled my speed well enough to yield to 2 separate uphill riders. then comes the smooth screamer of Tumalo Creek. There is 1 long stretch of wide smooth dirt with a good sight line. Today I clocked 27.2 mph, my fastest yet, at full tuck coast. I suspect I would have been spun out if I tried to pedal. Wore the shield glasses. Screamer.
I didn’t stop to take any pics. Passed the view point for the steep face off Tumalo Peak which has melted out in just a few days down to red cinder.
Forecast for Bend is hot and below normal rain. Dusty trails. So far no forest fire smoke. Still closed door chilly at night, furnace has been turned on, well, because I have it and it makes me more comfortable.