I am so sore.

Today's ride to Mount St. Helens was pretty damn amazing. I got out of the house around 7:30 this morning; roads were moist from last night's rain and nobody else was on 'em. Breakfast at Beth's (I didn't chance the 12-egg omelette, thank god) and we were off and on the roads by nine. A couple of S-T.N members who couldn't make the ride met us for breakfast as well. From Beth's it was onto I5 and south to meet up with some more folks from the south Sound area. I was by far the newest rider here; the sheer amount of experience in this group was staggering. I wish I could have spent more of the ride watching others and learning how they rode, but I was too busy keeping the shiny side up.

The group stretched itself out pretty quickly, as folks set their own paces, but reconvened at various turnoff points to make sure no-one got lost. This was a perfect atmosphere for a group ride; I don't think anyone was getting pushed beyond their comfort zone. I tried to make a point of keeping a nice big bubble of empty space around me and focusing on my own ride, and I think it worked fairly well.

I've already forgotten the exact route we took down to the mountain; I believe the majority of it was down rte 7. A little chunk of that route, near Alder Lake, was composed of just nutty little twisties. I've never before ridden a road with real S-curves, the kind where you need to flick the bike over the instant you come out of the first turn and drop right into the second, and they were a blast. With the exception of that area, the ride down was pretty straightforward - mostly 2-lane roads with a 50 or 55 limit. Go ahead, ask me if this crew rode at the speed limit. :)

Johnston Ridge itself was an absolutely perfect ride. Long sweepers, a lot of elevation gain (up to 3800, I believe), and what would have been amazing vistas out over the wasteland around Mt St Helens, if the fog wasn't here. The fog was the most startling part of this ride. I'd be whipping around a turn at 70 or 75, catch a glimpse of a bank of fog just above me, climb into it, and suddenly visibility was 15' in front of my bike. It was all I could do sometimes to pick out the fog line and stay on my course. I cut my speed down pretty hard in the fog, but all the same it was quite uncomfortable at times and I was glad to be out of it.

Coming out of the first heavy fogbank was the most breathtaking part of this ride. It had been gray and rainy all morning, and to emerge from that fogbank into bright (if not clear) sky and a view for miles down and out from the ridge was one of those moments that reminds you how wonderful it is to be alive.

After reaching the Ridge we took a quick break for group photos, hot coffee/chocolate/chai from the odd little trolley that served as a cafe, and stretching of legs. By this point (around 2 PM I believe) I was starting to feel pretty tired, sore, and cold, and a warm drink and quick little walk was a great thing. We started our descent shortly thereafter, heading for a pub in Toledo that supposedly had fine burgers to offer to tired bikers.

The descent was very much like the climb, although the fog seemed to have gotten worse. I was quite a bit surprised at just how much power Zoë lost as we gained elevation, and feeling that power return as we headed down made it a challenge to keep my speed under control. I stayed pretty much at the back of the pack - the sweep and one other were behind me - hoping to inconvenience the least number of riders with my staunch refusal to go 140 mph. :)

After the aforementioned burger (good, but no Red Mill) we headed back to I5 and turned north. As much fun as the Alder twisties were on the way down, I wouldn't have wanted to face them again after such a long day, and I think everyone was in a hurry to get home. About an hour and a half on the slab found me back at my door, 11 hours and 45 minutes after I left. I wasn't able to hang with the pack on the ride home, but that's probably for the best, given their predilection for highway speed well beyond my meager skills.

I think today was one of those paradigm shifts, a quantum leap in riding skill. I rode pretty hard today, and at some points in the Alder twisties I was well beyond any riding I'd done before. I wasn't dragging knees or anything of the sort, but I know I was leaned a lot further at higher speed than I'm used to, and you never know if you can do something until you try it. I knew my technique was right (for the most part) and I knew intellectually that at the speed I was riding, I could flick the bike over and get through the turn safely, but that didn't stop me from some real uneasiness when I finally tried it. I have a much better idea of how Zoë handles sharper turns and wet pavement than I did before, and I feel a lot more comfortable with her than I did yesterday.

My back and legs are tremendously sore. My gear has been weighed in the balance and found wanting; my "waterproof" gloves were soaked through in an hour, the new Firstgear pants leak in the crotch, and my Rocket jacket had a puddle under it when I hung it up at lunch. My boots held up well, though, so that's something. I rode with earplugs today (for the first time) and all of you who were harassing me about it can rest easy; it's a good thing, I feel comfortable with them, and I'll stick to 'em in the future. They were pretty distracting for the first half hour, but after that it wasn't a problem.

Total distance traveled today: just under 400 miles.

All in all I feel great. The S-T.N folks were wonderful hosts to this poor newbie, and I feel like I've really learned a lot. Hopefully the next ride will be soon - and with luck there'll be plenty of 'em once the weather finally gets nice again!

Pics. I don't have many - I didn't want to stop and take 'em on the ride, given that I was already the resident slowpoke - but here's a shot of the crew assembled in a McDonalds parking lot:

...and here's some of the crew at the summit:

...and I also stitched together a panorama shot of the view from the Johnston Ridge visitor's center. I apologise for the bad colormatching, but I lose at Photoshop. It's huge, so you'll have to click here to see it.