Wind 1, Kelly 0

So yesterday marked the first day that I got to ride my new little bike, which I've now dubbed "Roo" or "Little Roo." I took some pictures and a couple of videos on the ride, which I will try to post (yes, I'm a nerd). It was a great day for a ride: sun, no rain, decent temperature, and wind. WIND?!!! Yeah, wind. Lots of it.

The ride started out great. I had decided to head out toward Marine Drive, which parallels the Columbia River. The sun was shining, there were beautiful views of Mount Hood, and again, no rain. Then I hit Marine Drive and hit the wall of wind that was blowing Westward through the Gorge. I can think of 2 other bike rides in the past that I encountered wind that made it tough to ride, but let me tell you, the wind yesterday was fierce.

Marine Drive is flat, and on non-windy days or days when the wind is at your back, it's a smooth and fast ride. From where I live to Blue Lake Park on Marine Drive is about 14.94 miles (I mapquested it). To give you a little illustration, it took me a grueling 90 minutes to get to Blue Lake Park and an EASY 38 minutes to get back!! NUTS!

Basically, I was humbled by Mother Nature. There were about 4 times on the ride when I had to stop because the wind was so strong that it nearly brought me to a standstill on my bike (while peddling!) and I was about to fall over. CRAZY! And yet, I decided to persist. I'm kind of stubborn like that.

The f-bomb was dropped on more than one occasion on my fight into the wind, and there were a couple of times that I had to stand on my bike to keep momentum in order to move forward because my legs weren't feeling strong enough to keep pushing while I was seated in the saddle. CRAZY! I kept laughing to myself thinking that I must look ridiculous to the motorists passing by! I did at some point try to ride in the aero position (unfortunately, I didn't try this earlier on in my ride!), and I found it to be much easier to peddle and move through the wind (DUH Kelly! Aero position = a more aerodynamic body position = less resistance moving forward...hey, we can't all be geniuses, right?!). I was scared to try it at first because I was being jostled so much by the wind that I was afraid of being blown into the traffic (that almost happened to me once before on a ride out in the Gorge last year - not fun). But honestly, once down in the position, it wasn't so scary or hard to control the bike.

I finally made it to Blue Lake, took in the scenery, and headed back. The fight was worth it for the tail wind that I had on my way back. It was quiet, no sound, as the wind was blowing in the direction I was riding, helping me along. I could ride fast and easy in the aero position and was just flying by. I LOVED IT! I love riding fast on my bike on a flat road.

So, the 2 hour ride on my training schedule ended up to be more of a 2 hour 40 min ride, and I didn't end up going as far as I had hoped. Oh well. What I did learn is that the wind is fierce. You win, Wind! Wind 1, Kelly 0.