Joanne and I got to lead a dry night ride!

Joining us was Jean, Jim and Dale. Spirits were high as we left the Bi-Mart parking lot. Jim had missed the last two rides due to a cold, so there was some catching up to do. Jean was coming down with a cold, so she was taking it easy tonight. Dale mentioned to me that he was really enjoying these easy night rides.

We altered the route by taking the Salem Parkway Trail. On the cut off that leads down to Keizer Station, there is a section that was covered in mud due to the recent rains. When Dale encountered this section, he went down.

I was following the group when all of a sudden, I saw Dale fall to his left landing on his left shoulder. He was dazed, but not hurt. He took careful stock of himself and found no breakage or cuts, perhaps because he actually slide for a distance in the mud. Needless to say, his left side was a bit on the brown side. After a few moments, he was ready to continue.

The next incident involved Jim and a dog.

There is a short but steep downhill down to Windsor Island. Jim got ahead of the rest of the group and was about 100 yards in front of us when he came upon a black lab trotting down the center of the road. As Jim came up behind the dog, he was at first confused by what he was seeing. He was seeing the dog’s shadow but not the dog! Then, just as he came abreast of the dog, he realized what was causing the shadow, and dog became aware of Jim causing the the dog to dart off into the darkness.

The rest of the ride was uneventful.

I rode this ride very easy. After Monday’s ride with Craig, my right ankle began paining me. I would feel discomfort on the inside side near the heal. As such, I did not do my intended ride on the trainer last night instead taking another day off. This seemed to have helped as I felt no pain walking today, and no pain during tonight’s ride.