Well it's not my first T-100 RR but it was such a wonderful morning I
thought I'd RR it again, after all, it is out my front door.
Temperature was hovering around 55°F with a low showing on the bike therm.
at 51. I headed east at 5:30 a.m. prior to the sun cresting the mountain.
Hiker with a dog 15 yard into the trail and then no one for a while. I
didn't even see any hikers climbing the Butte which is quite odd.
A few miles further east and I encounter my first biker climbing a shallow
grade toward me. I was watching all the bunnies and didn't see him come
around the corner so he somewhat startled me. A brief 'good morning' and
that was it.
I haven't ridden much in the last two weeks so I decided not to take the
steeper climbs. I did something even more stupid. I put the gears in 2-5
and started boinging the trail w/o changing gears. The Switchblade doesn't
make for a good single speed but I thought I'd see what the hype was all
about.
I'll say one thing, the heart was a pounding on some of the climbs and the
legs couldn't keep up on some of the descents but it was good to get out.
Then I stopped to let a hiker go by. Sid was somewhere around 80 going on
35 and quite the talker. We talked about snakes and the fact that neither
one of us had seen any baby quail this year, really odd since we had such a
wet winter. Ten or so minutes of talking and we parted ways. Friendly old
guy, too bad more people on the trail weren't like him.
Finished the climb up to the saddle to look into the down town valley and
the greenish brown layer hanging on top of the buildings. How I made the
climb in that gearing was beyond me and I'm paying for it now (knees are
screaming).
Made the turn to head home through what we call the bmx section of nice
rolling hills and turns. Approached the tunnel at 7th St. and stopped to
let a couple by getting not a word from them as I said GM. Passed the Butte
and stopped several more times to let hikers by and all of them in a good
morning mood.
Made it home before 7 a.m. and now breakfast is waiting.
Not much but an awesome Sunday morning in the Valley of the Sun.
Gary
--
Nothing equals the joy of silently rolling forward under my own power, no
matter how fast I go. You can't enjoy the descent without earning the climb.
I ride because I can.
-Evan MacKenzie, Hillsboro, Oregon