West Side Ride

Drove over to the west side of Portland to Hillsboro to do a bike ride. My intention was to do a training ride with the Team Rose City bike racing team. They do rides every Saturday from Liberty High School (picture). When I got there- nobody. Oh well I drove all the way out here- so I rode by myself. Tried to keep a race pace at first then the exhilaration of being on a bike on an 80+ degree blue sky day with nowhere in particular to go took over. Rode up some hills just because they were there and up to a golf course just to see it, etc. Saw tons of riders, it almost looked like an organized ride there were so many riders on the route. At one point a group ride of about 25-30 people passed on the other side, it looked like a colorful peloton zooming by. Of course I was waving and yelling hi to all the riders and the 3 or 4 runners I passed, even passed some girls on horses. Saw a guy with a Team Rose City jersey and caught up to him and asked about the team- they didn't have a ride today because too many people were on vacation. He said they work on pace lines and race form- so I will be there when I next have a free Saturday. Got back to the high school at 32.7 miles with a 17.0 average. Then I put on my running shoes and took off to do a brick. It was about 88 by now, so I didn't push it, did 4 miles and decided to stop- I have a tri next weekend and didn't want to wear myself out. Looking at my time, wow that was slow- 39:56 for a 9:59 pace. Went and sat in the shade for a few minutes and felt much better. Also, my right hip/sciatic area has been stiff since the Solstice run making me limp slightly. Anyway, sitting in the shade I did a yoga type move of leaning forward with the legs open while that area was spasming- I may have found it- it felt much better and I can walk without limping now! It's the little things!