The weather forecast for the Molalla Foothills Brevet was for rain, not showers, not sprinkles, not a drizzle, not a mist, bur rain. And it was correct.
The group gathered outside of the Canby Thriftway on a covered sidewalk. And just a few minutes before the 7:00 am start time, it began to rain. I was prepared and I was prepared to ride all 130 miles in the rain. I was riding my fully fendered RedLine Cross bike. I wore two base layers, a long sleeve jersey and my breathable rain jacket. On my legs were my heavy tights and was wearing my heavy winter gloves. In addition, I carried and extra two sets of long fingered gloves and two sets of socks safely packed in zip bags. I was ready.
Right at 7:00 am, we headed south our of Canby and into the rain. The road to Molalla was mostly flat and wet. I fell off of the back a bit and was in touch with a small number of riders. I was feeling good on the flats, but when any hills came along, I suffered. Hills and I were not going to get long today.
After Molalla, we started up the Molalla River Road, climbing gently all of the way. The river was high and filled with rushing angry brown water. Surprisingly, above me on the west ridge, a helicopter was flying in the rain working a logging site. The sound reverberated up and down the canyon.
Cheerful Keith Kohan was there to sign my Brevet card at the turn around. Before arriving, I saw 15 folks coming back down the canyon so I must not have been at the back of the pack as I thought. Keith filled my water bottle, and send me along my way.
Returning to Molalla, I passed two riders who were not working hard (as I was). About then, the rain stopped.
In Molalla, I stopped at the Public Library for water and card signing. I must apologize for all of the rain water that dripped off of me.
Next, the route took me over rolling hills to the small town of Marquam, home of the Marqam Inn. I wanted to stop, but I did not take the time. After more back roads, I entered Silverton, where I did stop for more water and some gluten free chocolate bars. I was in need of calories and these made me happy!
I was now on the big climb of the day and I had not seen anyone since Molalla. I rode up Victor Point Road alone and I was thinking that I would be doing the rest of the ride alone. But then I saw Sam Huffman and he was suffering up the hill. How could I tell? Because I was catching him.
We joined up together and rode the rest of the ride together. Sam and I had done Fleche with Del back in the day so we had lots to catch up on. This made the climbing easy and almost fun. Oh, and the sun came up and that had a lot to do with the our cheerful mood.
The next control was the Silver Creek Falls Lodge. There, we stopped for a small lunch from the cage and visited with the docent. Knowing that the majority of climb was done, we re-mounted our bikes and headed northward to Silverton.
We had one more long stop, this at the Silverton Roth’s Supermarket. I was in need of eletrolytes so I purchase a V-8 and corn chips. Much better said the legs after I consumed them.
We were now heading north on Meridian Road, when the hail storm hit. But we did not mind as we were pushed along with a mighty tail wind. We were in Monitor very quickly. The last fifteen miles of the ride were slow and easy. We did pass the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm but no tulips were in bloom yet.
Michael Rasmussen greeting us at the end and share the stories of those who finished before us.
Distance: 129 miles
Ride Time: 09:44:56
Elapsed Time: 10:44:22
Max Speed: 38.3mi/h
Avg Speed: 13.2mi/h
Elevation Gain: 5,961 Feet