first "just the two of us" ride in a looong time

Nikki and I went for a ride this morning. She didn't have to be at school until 1:00 pm, so we dropped the kids off at school and went for a "just the two of us" ride. It was the first time in a really, really long time.... and it was fun. Now we'll have to get the tandem rolling!


We rode the Hillsboro Hills ride that I've been using as the basis for most of my rides. It's a little over twenty miles of rolling farmland - and when I say rolling, I don't mean mean gently. I can't believe how steep some the fields are!

The ride starts out fairly flat and is fun to crank through in the big ring. There are places where the road turns ninety degrees around someone's property. The nicely banked corners and little traffic make it fun to scream through these corners and pop out with some good speed.

The Iowa Hill section was a little rough on Nikki, as it was her first hill climb of the season (and maybe the fact that she had woken up early to swim laps...), but she powered her way to the top and was rewarded with a great view of Mt. Hood and the upper Willamette Valley.