8:00 AM: Ride Around Clark County (Vancouver) 5-2-09

Well... we didn't see anybody on 'bents, but that's probably because we got an early start.

When we got up, it was still raining cats & dogs, so we figured we were in for a long slog. One last look at the weather radar showed different: the hard rain was ending, and we would only have showers for a couple hours.

We started out at about 7:15 from our house, so we got a head start. We cut off the climb up Prune Hill by heading through Peet's Coffee and then east on Mill Plain and SE 1st/NW Lake Road. As a consequence, we got to the first rest stop by Lacamas Lake with only 9 miles under our belts. We scarfed down a cookie or two and then headed north.

It's been a while since we've ridden the RACC route, but not much has changed. Same roads, same houses- it's like rural Clark County is stuck in a time warp. We kept up with a bunch of roadies wearing "Headhunters" jackets (the rain had stopped, and the temperature was mild), and I passed all of them on the steep downhill just outside of Hockinson. We climbed up to Battle Ground Lake and turned left for the metric route, and continued through the country miles, past plant nurseries and Little League baseball games.

We made it to the second rest stop at Daybreak Park still feeling fresh, and the sun was attempting to break through the crowds. We stood around yakking about recumbents (!) with the crew there while munching on PB&J sandwiches in addition to the usual trail putty and fruit. When we left, the sun was breaking through in earnest, but the wind was picking up, making the southbound leg a bit of a push, but it was mostly sunny so we were comfortable cruising along at a reduced pace.

Felida hill came up surprisingly quickly, and I managed to zoom down the downhill (I really surprised a BMW driver) and make it most of the way up the opposite side before downshifting. Both Diane and I finished that climb in the granny gear- it's a nasty little climb to put at the end of a long ride.

We finished with a cruise down Lakeshore and into downtown to the finish line at Clark College. After saying hello there, we rode to Java House for real coffee and snacks before heading home. We probably dawdled there a little too long- as we rode along McArthur, the clouds moved in again and it started to rain- hard. We just slowed down a little and made it back to the house, wet but not that tired.

It wasn't until we had gotten settled in for the afternoon that the clouds really opened up with high winds and a downpour. It's a good thing we hadn't started later, or tried to ride the century route. Riding in that stuff would be ugly at best.