Gary Callahan

"Why am I getting up so early on Labor Day," seemed to be the universal sentiment. When Nicki called for the Albion Loop starting in Uniontown, we hadn't expected to have to wear jackets. Wouldn't have mattered. We all put on our jackets after lunch in Pullman. Ah, summer on the Palouse.

"Where are you?" Mike's voice over my cell carried despite the wind in my face and that I was trying to climb a hill. It was 7:56 am. Ride time in Uniontown was 8 am and Gary Callahan and I were late.

Gary, without any prodding from me, had decided the Albion Loop afforded him an opportunity for a century ride. True, I've been telling both he and Donna they are ready for a century after seeing how well they did at Deary to Deary.

Gary insisted the Albion Loop ride was tougher though. Could it have had anything to do with the wind?

Sunrise in Clarkston on Monday was 6:16. At 6 am, Gary and I started down Critchfield. I had arm and leg warmers and my jacket on. I knew I wouldn't need these for climbing but the forecast on the Palouse was for rain and coll temps. I wanted to be ready. Besides that yellow jacket really shows up in the gray light just before dawn.

We agreed to take it easy climbing the Spiral Highway since we had a long way to go. Maybe we took it too easy. Gary got me telling stories aboutr halfway up and we lost track of pace or even the fact we were climbing.

Or maybe it was the time I took at the convenience store removing and packing my gear. In any case, we were not going to make the 8 am start. Mike said he'd wait.

I had expected to be able to catch Nicki, Donna, and Linda but if Mike and Nicki were on a tandem, I wasn't so sure.

By 8:10 we joined Mike, Nicki, Donna, and Lee Bauer. Linda's been sleeping poorly recently. She keeps repacking for Greece.

Chris rode out from Moscow to meet us in Colton. He stayed with us for a time but finally disappeared up ahead somewhere. Last we saw of him, he appeared out of nowhere in downtown Pullman as we debated between Quiznos and Basilliois. He headed home and we settled fro Quiznos, Basillios not opening for 10 minutes.

How'd we do? The west winds persuaded us to ride out 95 so we'd have a tali-wind through Albion. The return trip had a pretty nice tailwind.

Dark clouds had blown up during lunch but I doubted we'd see rain and Lee's weather-eye confirmed my assessment. A few light drops blew on us but nothing more.

I got rid of my jacket and arm warmers pretty quick. Gary had bare legs but kept the jacket on until we got to the top of Evans Road. He was way too warm for a century.

Note for future reference: Labor Day is not the day to ride 195. Too much traffic.

Riding a century is an artificial benchmark but an effective one. Once you've done that, you know you can pretty much do any of the club rides. It doesn't require any special skills beyond a willingness to sit in the saddle for 6 to 7 hours. But on the other hand, you'll know you have done something when you're done.

Glad to have shared your first century, Gary. Congratulations. I hope you won't "retire" to 60 milers as you suggested.

For the ride of It.