Crusty Cassette

The Tour de Lentil starts at the ball fields in Pullman, rides west to a church and north to Colfax then across to Palouse and back. Most of those roads were seal coated recently. No loose gravel, a bit rough, black, shiny, no stripes yet, but reasonably smooth. Far better than loose gravel though they kept posting Loose Gravel signs all over everywhere--makes a fellow cautious in the corners.

Not cautious enough. No we didn't go down, but we roded pretty hard. My legs are toast and were getting that way well before Palouse where Allison and Ted rolled in casually. We we pulled out of Palouse, there they were and a few college fellows. So we pace lined for a few miles. Dave was first to drop off. Those lazy boys, er, recumbents have a bit of trouble with the hills.

I knew when Ted swung around to pull that the end was near. Still it was fun to cruise along at 23 mph for a while.

but we'd pushed the pace several times already today and Doug and I were doing a century.

Still, a great day to be on a bike in the Palouse. 85 degrees this afternoon, but cold enough I put on the leg and arm warmers this mornikng in Uniontown.

TRCers: Dave Tibbals, Doug, Corrie, Loreen (we have not seen her for a couple of years), Chris--did you finish first this year?

Linda inspects a covered bridge near Cottage Grove.

Between Millpond Campground and the summit of Huckleberry Mt. lie 15 miles of climbing. It’s early. We left camp about 6:40 to beat the heat though this day’s ride would only be 53 miles.

The pitch is 6 or 7 percent here. I’m passing people. It’s not a race. No one cares. It’s the final day of seven and there’s no premium for being early. Not even a choice camping site to be claimed.

The pitch is 6 or 7 but my heart rate is falling. At 140 I’m comfortable, remembering to spin, to keep the bike in an easy gear, reach my knees to the handlebars and then dive my toes down and back. If I forget and push straight down, pedaling is harder. So I’m riding at recovery rate and passing people. How wonderful to be strong and fit on this final day.

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Where did all of riders go? I showed up at Dismores in Pullman ready for a cooler Palouse ride with Jim Kenyon, however I was the only person to show up for the ride. Jim showed up a few seconds after me. We headed out on the first loop toward Waiwai then turned to Albion and back to Pullman, first loop approx 25mi. Temps were in the 60's and I stopped by my rig for some arm warmers, Then off to Moscow were we stopped at the Breakfast Club for a bite to eat. If we had a larger group we probably would have changed to a different place as they were really busy. We then headed to Troy on the Latah trail, which I have never ridden, with a tailwind to Troy. We stopped at the convience store for drinks and headed off to Moscow and Pullman, now with a pretty stiff headwind. The temps had warmed to perfect riding weather. Jim and I had a good ride, Jim said I pushed him a little which is good. Total days milage 71.5 mi. I hope that more riders show for next Sundays ride again on the Palouse.