Big biking weekend

This was a big biking weekend for the Woods!

Brad took off Friday so we could spend my last day of summer break playing outside. We parked in Gaston and rode toward Hagg Lake. Everything was great until I hit something - flat tire!

After my very handy fella fixed it for me (while giving me a lesson for next time), we continued to the lake.

The road around the lake was described to me as "pancake" flat. Unfortunately, that flatness was greatly exaggerated, and my legs, pretired from Thursday's hike, bike and kickboxing, did not handle it well. I was just plain pooped and really struggled through the ride.

I was glad when we were back at the car, and that hot, windy 22.22 miles was behind me.

Because I had been planning all summer to do the Covered Bridge Ride, I rested Saturday, hoping my legs would recover enough to do the 40 miles. I felt fairly good, so we decided to go for it.

We drove the hour south to the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany, unloaded and started our journey:

The 40-mile ride included two covered bridges. Gilkey Bridge:

Our first rest stop was at Scio High School, about 19 miles in. A simple, but ample, buffet of fruit and carbs:

Hoffman Bridge:

A short while later, another snack stop:

Even with tired legs, this was an easy ride. It was very flat most of the time, with just a few rolling hills along the way. The one odd thing we noticed was the lack of stopping. Since we live in the city, we are constantly off our bikes at stoplights and such. But this route had us pedaling nonstop for hours on country roads. The first time we got off our bikes was at Scio High School - 19 miles in! That short break felt really good :)

We finished just short of 40 and rode around the neighborhood a little to top it off. 40.42 in just over 3 hours: (And it was already 87 degrees when we finished!)

This ride ended with root beer floats - perfect for a hot summer day!

Yummo!

From Thursday through Sunday, I put 77 miles on my bike - plus the miles from the hour on my indoor bike! I'm glad I finished up my summer break with some nice bike rides through the country :)