Nancy's Birthday Ride

During the middle of a ride with Gale along Newport's Bay Rd. up the steep hill over to Toledo, then the hill over to Elk City, Nancy decided that this was the day to get her "birthday ride" in (her birthday was late in May, but she hadn't yet managed to ride her age).  This was a fun ride and we ended up picking up some guys from the Yaquina Wheels Bike Club (YWBC) to join us.  We ran into Conrad at a little park on the Bay Rd. at the base of the "Toledo Hill".  He had been planning to return to Newport but decided to go along with us to Elk City.  We rode through Toledo and then to Elk City where we took a snack break.  When we got back to Toledo Conrad suggested we detour over Sturdevant Rd (hill) which took us around Toledo, but back into town so we had to climb the "Toledo Hill" (but, the "easy" side) back to the Bay Rd..  Conrad left us at Sawyer's Landing to go home.  Gale and I went back to the gas tank close to Newport where we agreed to turn around to give Nancy another 18 miles so she could get in her 64 miles (thanks Gale for accompanying me!).  While at the gas tank, Skip, another YWBC member, rode up.  He was just heading down the Bay Rd. for a quick ride and joined us.  Nancy got in her 64 miles (actually rode 65 miles), on a beautiful June day, with great company. 

This also served the purpose of being an excellent training ride.  60 - 65 miles is about what we plan to do on a daily basis on our trip, so it is important to get in some days that are that long at this point in our training.  Gale and Nancy both felt it was a "milestone" (Lisa made this accomplishment a few weeks ago; see the June 1 blog), and were relieved not to be too tired after the ride.