Astoria Blizzard

Well, just about the only weather we didn't experience was a blizzard. But we did get rain, almost-snow, hail (lots), rain, sunshine, wind, and, uh, rain. Not necessarily in that order.

This ride was Kevin's idea. Ride about 120 miles from Vernonia to the Astoria Column and back. Joining us was John Henry, an accomplished ultra-endurance athlete.

We left Vernonia about 8am in the rain, which trailed off shortly. Other than grabbing some snacks in Birkenfeld, we pretty much went straight through to Astoria, only stopping briefly to regroup and catch our breath.

In Astoria it was up up up to the column, pose for some photos, and descend to the D.Q. in order to inhale some calories. I made the mistake of ordering a bacon-gutbomb combo and paid for it by soft-pedaling the next two hours to keep it down (I was successful).

For some strange reason we seemed to take more breaks on the way back. However, the tailwind made a huge difference: I often found my self going up gentle inclines over 20mph. I started fading about 10 miles from the end, John caught up and we traded pulls to the end (but he was definitely doing the majority of the work).

I felt that I rode pretty strongly today, so I'm glad that my fitness seems to be returning.