July 3, 2012, Mehama, OR: Ride into Salem to South Salem Cycle Works

July 3, 2012, Mehama, OR: Ride into Salem to South Salem Cycle Works

I find myself staying up later and consequently sleeping later into the morning. The day started late and stayed late. I left the house to ride into Salem, ostensibly to meet up with Jaxom, and wanted to stop by S. Salem Cycle Works to see my old friend Michael Wolfe, proprietor, and show off my new Rex. I knew he'd appreciate it. I left the Little N. Fork around 3-3:30. The front handlebar bag carried my iPad, iPhone, knee warmers, arm warmers, vest, glasses, and Canon camera. The rack trunk carried a change of clothes and shoes. My camelback backpack carried only water. Water frozen over night then more water added in the morning. I chose to wear on old Salem Velo Club jersey over bib shorts. It had rained during the night, early morning, and it was still cool in the forest even though it was now afternoon. Welcome to Oregon, Dennis!! I chose to ride on though it felt cool. Just about when I was ready to pull over and add the warmers it seemed the sun was winning the battle with the clouds. Somewhere west of Stayton the clouds started winning again and I was chilled for most of the ride to Cycle Works. Jaxom texted me he was waiting for the afternoon traffic snarl to clear then he would leave for Salem, which meant to me I was not going to see him as I knew I needed 2 hours to get back to the  Little N. Fork. I hung out till Cycle Works closed then talked with Michael. I probably left around 6:30. My  bowl of granola around noon was wearing out. I drank water and decided to stop at the Gingerbread House, if it was open, to get food. The Gingerbread House was open so I ordered a burger basket to go, again. Rearranged things so I could fit the meal in the rack trunk. When it was ready the package went in and the meal stayed warm all the way home. Maximum of 10 minutes ride time. D= 60.8, T= 4:08, Mx= 34.6, Av= 14.6, El Gain= 1265, ODO= 2858. No stretch, ate instead.

For those of you not understanding the last sentence above, I stretch after every ride, but if I eat before stretching it is very uncomfortable to stretch on a full stomach. Sometimes the stomach wins.