Ride Captain, Ride

I spent part of Sunday thinking it was Saturday......I guess it is inevitable when one lives like there are six Saturdays.  Personally, I blame my disorientation on the various decongestant drugs I have been living on these past 5 days in order to feel somewhat normal.  I don't know about you, but I am always concerned when I have to take this kind of medicine as I am not sure if I am just delaying my recovery in favor of not feeling like my head is going to explode 24/7, or actually speeding it up.  Either way I am feeling a lot better....probably back to 85-90%.  I didn't need to take any decongestants during the day Sunday, so that is a notable improvement.  This is my first head cold in about 10 years, and getting over it in 5 days seems like a blessing.

Around 11:15 TLE and I set out on a bike ride......our first since leaving RJRP a week ago.....funny, it seems like it has been longer than a week.....way longer.  Our goal was to ride in a south easterly direction "up" to HWY 74.  I knew from our drive the previous that it was 7-8 miles to the intersection of 211th Ave. and the highway.....what I did not know was there was an elevation gain of almost 400 feet between our "home" and our destination.  This is a common failing when one drives a route before riding it.......you just don't seem to notice the subtle grades of 2-3% while in a car.  Nevertheless, the whole point of riding this day, for us, was to get some exercise, and exercise we got.  

As it turned out the total distance was just shy of 8 miles......the route we chose was good because of the very light traffic up until HWY 74, which is why we chose to turn around at that juncture.  The ride back down 211th was, predictably, much easier than riding up it.  We were back to HWY 60 in no time......instead of crossing 60 we decided to turn left and ride down to the Shell gas station to have lunch at the Subway which is attached.  The shoulder was pretty good for the 1.25 miles we were on the highway, but I wouldn't want to ride it too far as the truck traffic is pretty heavy.

Somewhere along the shoulder I must have run over a staple as I noticed my rear tire.....why is it always the rear tire?........was going flat as we started our ride home after lunch.  I tried just pumping it back up hoping it would get me home, but alas, it was not to be.....I had to stop and put a patch on the tube (after pulling out the staple, of course) in order to make it home.  Fortunately I had a patch big enough to cover the two punctures.  This kind of debris is another big reason why we don't like to ride shoulders on busy highways.  Amazingly, this is the first flat I have had since before we arrived in RJRP back in November.  I need to be sure to put spare tube back in my trunk bag.

In all we rode 19 miles......well I rode 19 miles....TLE rode 17....she stopped 1 mile short of HWY 74, waiting for me to make my turn around.  We got back to the coach around 2 pm.  After taking a shower I took a well deserved nap, and so did TLE.

Tom and Darlene got home from church around 5, and we had a nice dinner around 7 consisting of Chicken Alfredo, salad and garlic toast.  It has been a little colder the past two nights so we have been eating inside.....Tom set up a portable table and we sat in camp chairs......this is what we call "formal dining" at the McCloud's.......lol.

It won't be long until the new carpet is installed and then they can bring their furniture over from the old house, but for right now we are camping inside......:D

Thanks for stopping by!