So yesterday we did a thing, which was this huge bike ride I told you about, except I didn’t even mention how INCREDIBLY AWESOMELY FUN it was, because I had no idea!
But now I do.
So (this is the bad part) we got up at 6am, and got out of the house by 7, and rode our bikes downtown, across the Hawthorne Bridge, to the start line. And then it got fun, after some confusion of finding our team amid the many thousands of riders. (Finding our team members during the ride got TONS easier once we were issued our silly hats, which were the Best Idea Ever.)
So then we set out.
And rode across the Hawthorne Bridge.
And rode across the Ross Island Bridge.
And rode up and around and then over the Marquam Bridge, which is also known as the I-5 bridge, because it is I-5, but we got to ride down the middle of it on our bicycles!
(thanks to Grant for the action photo!)
And then we rode across the Burnside Bridge.
And then we rode across the Broadway Bridge.
And then we rode across the Fremont Bridge.
And then we rode a loooooooooooong way up Highway 30 and climbed a looooong hill (I chose a low gear, and pedaled the whole way!), and rode across the St. Johns Bridge.
And then we rode a looooooooooong way back down to the city and across the Steel Bridge.
And then we were at the finish line! Exhausted and happy.
And lo, there was a fancy food festival at the finish line, to which bike-riders had free admission; you can guess what we did then. (Mark and I, anyway; our silly team members went off to a restaurant somewhere.)
And then there was the Saturday Market (yes, on Sunday), which Mark had never seen before, so we had to do that too.
And then we had to ride back home again (across the Hawthorne Bridge yet again), and lo, we were tired.
But we showered and went to a party anyway. And WOW, did we sleep well last night. 🙂
Today I rode my bike to the gym. Other than some saddle-soreness, I’m surprisingly okay. And very impressed with myself.
There’s also a 10-bridge ride, adding the Sellwood and Morrison Bridges. I know what we’re doing next year. 🙂