Ukiah Century Sunday June27 Five of us headed off for Ukiah, Oregon after Bite the Bullet: Bruce, Pam, Debbie, Dave H. and myself (Wendy), hereafter to be known as "the group with the pharmacist" though Debbie preferred "Team Rx". We all ate in Pendleton, not wishing to repeat last year's pre-century dinner of Spagettios with dodgy parmesan cheese.

The camping spot by the school was shady and private, only Rx were camping out that night. No kareoke but we could hear the band playing at park, we requested "who let the dogs out" but it was not forthcoming!

Shane, the ride organizer, treated us to a big breakfast of eggs, biscuits, pancakes etc, Bruce was seen eating solid food!!

Even at 5:30 it was obvious that it was going to be a hot one although there was still a nip in the air. Pam set off first (I made good note of this as I didn't want another "where's Pam" incident!) Bruce hung back waiting for things to warm up so that he didn't have to carry his legwarmers etc, I really must get him a nifty rack like mine for his bike then he would not have to wait for the heat, eh Bruce?

The ride is flat for about one mile then it goes up, too much breakfast........ The first 10 miles was very slow, then we hit some downhill and rolling parts through a burned over forest and finally to the first rest stop as Pam was leaving, did I say that Bruce had flown past with a couple of lean looking dudes from La Grande? Wow just over 10 mph average for the first 25, this bodes well for a century!!!

Dave took off from the first stop with Bruce who had waited for us, Debbie and I meandered along through the woods waiting for the long downhill to begin. The patches of snow on the Elkhorn Mtns looked very inviting, it was starting to bake out there on the pavement. Weeeee downhill starts, from the woods all the way down to the headwaters of the Grande Ronde, did I say scenic?

Round the curves and into lunch, almost out of water at this stage, that is rare for me. Our deli sandwiches were waiting, we had ordered them the evening before, it was a bit like having a Subway in the woods. It was hard to leave the lunch spot in the shade especially knowing what was in store, Debbie had fond memories of the "after lunch hill".

We headed out and started climbing very soon after, Bruce and Dave had gone ahead, Pam was behind with Mr O'So Clean (unbeknown to us she was fixing a flat very soon after pulling out from lunch). Up, up, then flat with some gorgeous views, then the big up. Debbie muttered "see ya at the top". Oh boy was it hot. We were thinking about the folks up at Cd'A on the ironman course, atleast we were only riding a 100!

Up more, I come up on Dave and tried to chat , bad move, I got a mutter and a grunt. Being quick at these things I decided that it was not the time to discuss our personal finances or question his ideas on the new deck, in the name of marital bliss I kept on up the hill!! Once reaching the shade at the summit all was well in the world again!

Down, down to our last rest stop, thunder was rumbling and the sky had turned an unpleasant shade of grey, we got out of there fast. Still down, a few spots of rain then Bruce came back to check on us after a shower, power nap etc.

Yea! Ukiah, a BBQ awaited us, huge slabs of pork for the meat eating types, it was brutal in the sun once we got off the bikes. Pam came in a little later with her new found friend and rescuer, Mr O'So Clean, maybe we should see if we can get Kleeburg's company to sponsor us, could we be the Team Rx Porta Johns??? Maybe not!!!

Come to Ukiah with us next year, it is about 3 hours from the Valley, wonderful terrain to ride through and Shane takes great of care with the food etc.