After a fantastic rest day with Lynn and Ralph it was time to get back on the bike; 80+ miles to Corvallis; home of Oregon State University. Longest leg to date but flat and a good warm up for the mountains as tomorrow I cross the coastal range to the ocean. The rest day was sunny and warm and I was hoping for more of the same for the ride. Instead I woke to low-slung gray skies and temperatures in the low 50's. The promise of clearing as the day progressed remained unfulfilled. The ride itself was non-descript: mostly suburban/commercial roads with a lot of a traffic - not harrowing but not inspiring or relaxing. A nice stretch from miles 20-35 featured farms, orchards and nurseries but the rest was drab.
The key fact of the ride was how much faster I felt having dropped some weight from the panniers with a shipment back home of extraneous items. The bike felt more stable and more agile at the same time. There weren't any climbs to speak of but I feel better about tomorrow. The corollary to this weight issue is the realization that if I could drop 10-20lbs I could be seriously fast.
I dropped by a bike shop in Corvallis for some intelligence on the ride to the coast and, as a result, have changed the routing. Rather than heading south to Eugene and then across I'm now going west from Corvallis. Jim at Peak Sports waxed enthusiastically about the road, the lack of traffic and the scenery and who am I to argue? Tomorrow I'll let you know how it went.
Glad you are hitting your rhythm, lightening up, and enjoying the ride. I will say the photo and description of dinner and hotel suggest to me that this is not a minimalist ride! Good luck in the mountains. I'm sure that's Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin you hear in your head.
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Perhaps not minimalist but it can still be brutal. Today featured 50 of the 100 total miles in cold wind and rain. It really was miserable but I had to togh it out to the town on Bandon as I'm about 25 miles behind my plan. I was not dancing on the pedals but i did need to dig into the suitcase of courage Tomorrow was a scheduled rest day but if there's any break in the weather I'm going to push on.
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