Wild White Salmon

8:17 PM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 1 Comments

First ride of the season! Woke up after Saturday 'date night' with Andrew feeling a bit worse for the wear. We had a wonderful evening out to dinner at Wild Abandon. The orange-creamsicle martini was a delicious treat. The glass of house wine paired beautifully with my scallop salad. It was probably the heady beer I enjoyed watching the end of the Blazers game that caused me to question my capabilities on Sunday morning. After a few punches to the snooze button I dragged myself into the kitchen for a dose of coffee to steady my resolve.

"I am going to do this!" I think I said out loud. "I'd feel like a real jerk if I crawled back in bed and took a rain check on this ride."

And rain it did - All morning and the whole hour long car ride from Portland out to the gorge and up into White Salmon.

I geared up with double socks, rain pants, full gloves and extra fleece. All the ladies looked the part. Tough and chic. Nine of my new team mates plus one significant other met at Jill's house to start the 3 1/2 hour trek up Hospital Hill and over to the Syncline trails. Hiding out until the rain slowed to a drizzle we filled our bellies with sweet treats hoping the sugar would pump us up enough to brave the up coming misery. We knew it would be a wet ride, uncomfortable, cold, and rewarding.

I questioned myself before we even left the driveway. What the hell am I doing here?! These women are incredible! I'm absolutely going to be left behind. Maybe I should just stay at the house? My old bike doesn't look like that one, or that one. The hang-over now seems insignificant compared to my inexperience. Crap.

"I am going to do this." I said again. This time to myself.

I repeated that phase over and over and over as we climbed up and up and up.

And then. "You can always stop, turn around and go back. They wouldn't think you were a wussy. You don't have anything to prove. Go back to the house and make some tea, warm your feet and wait for them to finish the ride. Bull shit. Keep going. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Breathe!"

My bike didn't help me one bit. Clinking and clanking in my choicest gears I ended up climbing at one uncomfortable cadence for most of the trip. "When I get home this thing is going to the shop!"

Soaking wet with mud in my eyes and throbbing quads we finally reached the top of the 'hill'. An open mountain meadow stretched out before us displaying a cloudy valley and glimpses of steep distant ranges. Small purple flowers popped up along the trail and warmed our hearts to the thought of spring as the snow began to fall.

And now for the downhill. Wet. Slippery. Scary. The voice in my head urging me along got louder to keep me calm and on the trail. After a few back wheel slides and right-sided topples my nerves were shaken and each turn looked like a wipe out waiting to happen. I got off my bike and ran more time than I care to admit. Embarrassed but not totally humiliated I made it down a few minutes behind the group. I wasn't last and somehow this made me feel better. Maybe they wouldn't be able to tell how I felt. I smiled broadly as I rode up.

All of us were relieved to arrive back at Jill's place. We cleaned our filthy bikes while laughing and joking about heading back out now that the sun was finally shining! The ride home gave a car full of girls a chance to get to know each other better. We were worked, tired and comfortable all together. It was surely worth the effort to get here. I did do it - and I'm so glad I did.

But...my my, have I got a lot of training to do.