A fun century ride

Century Ride:

Went for another fun century ride today. After a long drought we had our first rain and the air was cool and moist. Wonderful day for a ride. As I climbed up and up in the early morning a road racer on a 10lb bike whizzed by me as if I was standing still… which I almost was I suppose at my steady 5Km/hr up the long steep mountain pass. But he was puffing and panting and I was just breathing normally, so I wonder how far he actually got That's the nice thing about trike riding, you can just go and go and go. Yes, bicycle racers pass you, but like the tortoise and hare, you eventually catch up when they are too tired to go on.

So up and up I went. The nice thing about climbing on a trike is that it is easy to stop and catch one’s breath. Just click on the parking brake (so as not to roll backwards into the valley far below), reach into the pannier, grab an oatmeal cookie and munch away whilst comfortably sitting in the easy chair enjoying the view. Saw a small grouse hiding from me in the bushes. Very sweet little face peeking out.

Climbed some more, then was attacked by two dogs. Whipped out the pepper spray and got one in the face as he tried for the kill. The other dog heard his yelps and took off. Sigh. These poor dogs are so abused by their human ‘owners’ around here that they turn vicious - just like their owners. Very sad. Hated to pepper spray him but he stood a lot taller than me sitting on the trike and was very obviously going for my throat. He’ll be okay, but will think twice about attacking anyone on a trike again.

Caught my breath and climbed some more. Clear blue sky. No sound at all. Crossed the tree line, no more birds. Up and up. Another pause for a oatmeal cookie and a drink. I use salted V8 juice in stainless steel water bottles (plastic bottles bleed carcinogenic plastic into any liquids) filled with a scoop of protein power. This gives quickly digested energy without a glycerin shock, and delivers electrolytes and necessary carbohydrates as well. Inexpensive drink much better than the tailored yuppie drinks in bike stores.

More climbing. I could see the ocean in the distance now, and a ring of snow capped mountain peaks all around. Very steep. Had to go down to my second lowest gear, and drop the speed down to around 4Km/hr. Up and up.

Finally reached the end of the road after about 3/4 of a metric century. Beautiful views. Only the sound of wind rustling the grasses. No humans anywhere - a treat in and of itself. Silence and peace. Sunshine and light and crisp blue sky. Just me and the trike. Wonderful.

Used the brakes to keep below 80 on the descent back. Saw the dogs in the distance as I wizzed by them - much too fast for them to catch! Then finished off the century by riding through the country side and farmland. Lots of horses, cattle, lamas, sheep, and curious alpacas.

Wonderful ride.