The Think Tank

Joel and I joined about 4,000 crazy Portlandians at the 10th Annual Worst Day of the Year bike ride last Sunday, marking our 2nd consecutive year.  That just so happens to perfectly coincide with the only years when it has rained as well, although I have to say that we were pretty fortunate in that regard.  It did sprinkle on us just a little, but it was hardly worth mentioning and nothing compared to the deluge that followed later in the evening.

I started off very well by failing to look at my registration information to determine the correct starting point, and went to the Lucky Lab in downtown instead of the one on Hawthorne.  That was bummer.  For Joel’s part, he actually did follow instructions (for once), but in order to hold with tradition he showed up with a flat tire that he had repaired at the mechanics tent.

We set out around 9:30 and cruised across the river to the REI in downtown, then it was up Sylvan hill via Washington Park, past the Zoo and into Hillsboro where we hit another REI for our almost-midway rest stop about 18 miles in.  We were both feeling pretty good up to that point, but we remembered that the ascent to German Town Road lay ahead, and we remembered that being a bear.  Which it was.  I did really well for the first couple of miles, but I really ran out of steam the last half-mile or so and had to stop twice: once due to a calf cramp, and once due to a very uncomfortable issue with my manly-bits.  It seems that there is a seem in my longjohns that rubs in places that shouldn’t be rubbed in that way, and apparently it takes about 25 miles or so for it to really cause a problem.  Since I usually only wear those when riding to and from work – a 7 mile round trip – I was unaware of this problem.

But, the show must go on, and from that point on it was all down hill.  I got up to 39.4 miles per hour headed down German Town, which was really fun, but all that rushing air really put the cold on my muscles, which made my legs want to cramp all the more.    What started out as one calf cramp on the way up turned into both calves and quads on the way through St. Johns.  I’ve never had a problem with leg cramps before while riding, and I really think it was related to the cold.  We stopped just outside St. Johns and I put on my rainsuit, which kept my legs much warmer.  After that, the cramping went away, which was good news for me.

Even though I felt better, I still felt like whimping out towards the end, especially when we were on 18th and Prescott, a mere five blocks from my house.  But Joel convinced me I didn’t want to stoop to the levels of some people who shall remain nameless, and so we soldiered on.  And it turned out to be very good that we did, because about two miles form the finish line we came across a group of guys who happened to live along the route who were handing out beers to anyone who wanted some.  Naturally we stopped and partook in the activities.  We quickly realized that they were kindred spirits and we geeked out for the next 15 minutes or so talking about astronomy and playing “Name that crappy 80’s band”, until the call of the warm bowls of chili waiting for us at the finish became to loud to ignore, and we all mounted up and rolled across the finish line around 3:00pm.

All said and told I came in around 52 miles, including my little foray to the wrong pub to start things off.  It was a lot of fun, but I don’t recall feeling as tired and sore after last year’s ride as I did this year.  I chalk it up to the cold in part (after a short morning drizzle, it warmed up to about 60 degrees last year), but mostly I think it is because I haven’t done any real riding this year aside from commuting to work, which is only 3.5 miles at a stretch.  Last year I had done two or three 20-30 mile rides by this time.

I hope you all had a good weekend and a happy Valentine’s Day!