Dawn in Joseph

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I stood gently poking my tender thighs.

"I thought I was the only one," Bill complained. "I didn't feel my legs last night or this morning. But now I do."

Apparently it doesn't matter how many miles you have ridden, you do 200 miles in one weekend and your legs are going to feel it. I am still sore walking around this morning. My legs are actually wobbly.

TRC's annual ride to Joseph, Oregon puts a cap on our cycling season. Oh, there'll be more rides. Look for the Sunday Cycling Society to start up this Sunday. That's just our 1 pm starts but we wanted to jazz up the rides with better names.

With regulars like Linda, Tamra, Rory, Helen, and Debbie, and Lance and Jan not joining us this year, I feared we might have a low turn out. And for a time we were down one SAG vehicle.

But then Roy Stephens came through. Club members may not be familiar with Roy who has been riding with us for a couple of years but hasn't made most of the club rides like Ice Cream and the Sunday starts. He's quite an accomplished cyclists with double-centuries to his credit. He promises to ride more next year and maybe even join us for Joseph on a bike.

Roy and Leanne teamed up to make our SAG the great support we've always had. Great to have water and muffins. Great to see one or the other waiting along side the road just in case someone has a break down.

We didn't have any serious break downs this year. Roy reported Jim Kenyon had a flat that blew the bead off the rim but didn't damage the tire. An managed to jar loose the tensiion bolt on her down-tube rear deallieur shift lever and couldn't get it to stay in a climbing gear. We were a bit flustered by the lowtech shifter until w realized it was just friction and tightened the tensiion.

Problems like these, we'll take.

A small threat of rain showers never produced a drop either day, but we did have wind. Especially on the return trip. Headwinds all the way from Enterprise never gave us any relief even descending Bufford. Climbing Rattlesnake, however, that wind carried some chill. I'd say this was the best weather ever for that climb.

Lumin and Marc

Lumin actually showed up for a club ride other than Joseph this summer when we rode to Troy on the Latah Trail. She was training for Joseph then and riding hard. But that time trail bike just doesn't cimb well and she got behind on Anatone Grade.

Because I wanted two centuries, I needed a few extra miles since I was starting at the boat launch rather than at home. I rode up with Lumin getting a bit ahead and then spinning back.

Soon Marc showed up. They came as a couple, Lumin having persuaded Marc to make this ride despite having never done a century. Marc gave up his commuter bike for a new Madone and rode all the way to Jospeh.

When Marc joined Lumin, I began to pick up my pace to join the others. I didn't think I was pushing too hard, but I found out different. I was fine to Bogan's, but the climb up Bufford pushed my heart rate up. I couldn't keep the pace and let Sean spin off. At Joseph Lookout I was spent. Fortunately once the descent began the wind was quartering enough to help out into Joseph.

So where was everyone else? I was a bit disappointed that we didn't start out together. Mike and John had ridden from Mike's place so they already had their extra five miles to make a century and they weren't shy about letting me know. They were ready to go at start time, and left.

Kenyon was digging around in his gear to find his sunglasses and others were not quite ready. The last of us left about 7:10.

Apparently Jim McCracken made an uncharacteristic breakaway at the top of Anatone, but the peleton had reeled him in by the time I got up.

Nicki and Carla were driving up with the tandem. They planned lunch at the Rimrock Cafe. John and Mike skipped lunch at Bogan's to join them. Imagine the disappointment when they found Rimrock to be closed. They ended up waiting for Nicki and Carla to drive back to Bogan's for something to eat.

I'd recommend the patty melt sandwhich on rye. I had it both days with a small bag of chips. Just right for climbing.

Wanda and Carol sagged the first day to Joseph Lookout, then rode in with Lumin who had opted for the ride up Bufford. One hill a day was quite enough, she thought.

I was hurting when I left Joseph Lookout and was trying to catch Sean who just kept getting further away, until I saw him ahead with Wanda and Carol. Later, Dave told me Lumin had smelled blood at the end, dropping Wanda and Carol with her time trial bike and arriving first at Indian Lodge.

Lee Bauer kept going to the end of the Lake. He earned 106 miles on Saturday. On Sunday, the last I saw of Lee, he was joining Jim Kenyon at Southway to add another five miles.

We managed to drop Bill Arnold leaving breakfast in Enterpise Sunday morning. He was so flustered at being dropped, he just plain missed the right turn out of town and headed toward Elgin. Bill's a bright guy and he figured it out in a block or so, but it makes a good story. So does the fact he wouldn't leave bogan's with Dave, McCracken and myself. But there he was at Anatone along with Lee before McCracken Dave, and I could head into the wind.

An was ahead of us on Rattlesnake. At least that's what Dave kept telling me. But when we finally caught a rider, it was Lee. I didn't see An until she was just cresting Rattlesnake. We stopped to stretch and didn't see her again until Southway. Maybe I shouldn't have tightened that bolt.

Pre dawn on Lake Wallowa

At Bogan's waiting for our meals, Jim and I had watched bicycles magically appear atop the SAG vheicles. Lumin, Marc, Carol, and Wanda and Mike sagged to the top.

I think Nicki wanted to ride the tandem back to town. That's a great pace-line route. But today would have been a good one to skip. The wind was directly in our faces most of the time and only got worse if the road turned a bit to the west.

Our own pace line fell apart almost immediately. Bill pulled us out of town but I could see the line wouldn't hold already. I pulled for a bit and then slowed. Dave, on his recumbent, didn't feel the wind and spun around me to take the lead.

I went with him but found a recumbent has about 6 inches of draft. If I could stay close, I got a pull. I couldn't pull myself. When I used the aerobars, I could keep up pretty well, but that gusty wind scared me and I sat up into the wind when cars passed. And of course Dave dropped me seriously on the descent into Asotin. At the hghway, he was no where to be found.

"That darned recumbent guy is trying to drop me," I thought. So I asked those legs for one more effort. I caught him about half way to Critchfield and we rode in together. Guess he'd had enough. I know I had.

So, yeah, my legs are tender. How about yours?

For the ride of it. Corrie