3 June 2013

Yesterday was the second Oregon Grand Fondo – it was great fun last year, so I had been looking forward to a return outing. My day started at 6:15 with a 7 mile ride to a friend’s to get a lift to Cottage Grove for the start. Unfortunately, despite a good forecast, the day started with a light misting of rain and clouds – so I was shivering on the start line, but it warmed up later.

The group rolled out nice and steady, waiting for the timed hillclimb which topped out at mile 32. My local hill sparring partner Larry Jackson was ready to challenge for the King of the Mountains prize, and we rode hard together to try for a fast time. I was just able to outsprint him at the top to successfully defend my title from last year. Then a decent size group formed for the next 50 miles, moving along at a nice clip. On the climb of Oxbow we upped the pace and ended up with eight Eugene riders making the split. Larry and I tried again to get away on the final climb, but were unable to shake Mark and Sam, so the four of us headed back into town together. 15 year old Sam has a great sprint, so we tried to outfox him in the last few miles – and it almost worked…. but I had to settle for second again. I’m sure we’ll be watching him on tv sometime in the future!

We rode the 117 miles in 5:36. But I wasn’t done yet, and got back on the bike to ride another 25 miles back to Eugene – into a headwind all the way :-  So a nice 150 mile day, I haven’t done that sort of mileage in a long time!

Back to bike building news, and I just posted pictures of Neal’s and John’s new bikes. Really nice ride reports back from Neal and Norm too, thanks guys.