Training Ride 9/2: Wednesday Night Ride

I met Mary at her house and we started our usual ride.  I was somewhat overdressed with both leg and arm warmers on.  When I changed at work, I was guessing at the weather by looking out the window and it didn't look very good.  I was also on my old bike with the upright handlebars. We have shipped my usual bike to Oregon the day before for the tour.

I considered taking off my extra items to cool off a bit, but I didn't feel like stopping to do it.  It wasn't too long, however, before I started to appreciate all the items I had on.  The wind came up and was cold.  Before we got to the top of Old Tunnel the clouds had come in and it was getting colder. 

Plaque on Old Tunnel Road showing where the old tunnel used to be.

Another plaque with more information about the tunnel.  Do you want to know where these are?  Let me know and we'll ride up there some time.

 We had a miscommunication with Kim and accidently missed her at Peets.  She was on her way up Old Tunnel so we rode back to meet her and then up to the top again.  We continued together up Grizzly Peak Blvd.  The light was fading due to it being a bit later than usual because of the meeting place mix up, the fog, and the sunset getting earlier every day.  

On the way down Grizzly Peak after steam trains, I ran over something in the road and got a flat. I pulled over a little above Centennial.  I was very happy to change the flat quickly, but I couldn't get wheel aligned right.  I kept rubbing on the brake. 

When it seemed that I wasn't going to be able to get it right and the light was fading, Mary called her husband to come pick us up.  After all the arrangements were made, I did fix it but it was nearly dark.  By that time I was getting pretty cold with the wind blowing on my sweaty clothes so I put on my jacket.   

While we were waiting, I saw some guy walking toward us in the darkness.  I was not alarmed but I was keeping an eye on him because it was an odd place to be walking, especially at that time of night.  Of all things, it turned out to be my boyfriend John!  On his way home from work he had passed us standing in the pull out waiting.  Even in the low light he could recognize our orange Arthritis Foundation jerseys.  He parked a little further ahead in the next shoulder and walked back to us when we didn't ride past him.  What a coincidence!

Since John was there and happened to have his bike rack, I went with him. While we were loading up, Mary's husband arrived and picked up Mary and Kim.  By the time I got into John's car, I was feeling extremely cold, especially my hands, due to the half finger gloves. 

John took me to Mary's house, where my car was and I drove home.  It felt like it took forever for my hands to warm up.  I had to get under a wool blanket once I was in the house.

Stats:
12.44 miles
1,922 feet of elevation gain.  As Mary pointed out, we had done all the climbing anyway, so skipping the down hill and flat miles wouldn't make a big difference.