Up & over the west hills...ouch!

View from International Rose Test Garden (not today)

Today was a tough ride. You gotta love the weather people, they never seem to get it right. It was on the colder side and misting. Not really raining, but far from dry. Our ride today started at 25th and Raleigh in NW Portland. Within the first mile, we were across Burnside and heading up through Washington Park. For those of you not familiar with Washington Park, it is a beautiful part Portland which houses the International Rose Test Garden, The Oregon Zoo, The Japanese Gardens, Pittock Mansion and the Arboretum. The views of the city and the mountains can be breathtaking - so think elevation... When it snows in Portland, we don't usually get it at our house, but the west hills do.

We rode up for 7 miles, eventually turning on Cornell and Thompson and making a great 4 mile descent into Beaverton. Then, it was a few rolling hills on 185th and Germantown road before starting a brutal climb up Springville Rd. My legs were screaming at me...in fact, they still are. Sean was riding great and only about 10 minutes ahead of me. Once I got to the top of Springville, I took a quick break and then headed out, fully expecting the guys who caught up with me at the end of the Springville climb, to pass me a short while later. They never did, and I never saw another of my teammates until I finished the ride about 15 miles later.

It took me 3 hours and 40 minutes (Sean's time was 3 hours 30 minutes) to finish our ride - but taking out breaks, it was actually 3 hours of riding. I am ecstatic with our ride.