This is the last ride before our 2021 Oregon tour. As we usually do on last training rides, we kept it small, as sort of a cool down. Minimal baggage, mileage, and climbing. Ruth wanted to ride her own bike, putting Max on the tandem.

Ruth picked out the route, as she’s been threatening to. There’s a playground near the midpoint of our Mission loop ride that we often stop for a few minutes at. She thought we should go there and had a pretty clear vision for how to get there. Anne helped her pick a return route.

Since it would be a short ride, we left after lunch. Ruth rode between us in sandwich mode, and did a good job riding on busy streets. Mission has some ups and downs, especially the last mile before the park. I could tell Ruth was working hard, but she didn’t complain.

When we got to the park, Ruth wasn’t as eager to get on the playground as usual, further evidence she had been working hard on the bike. After a few minutes (and water and snacks) she livened up and joined Max on the swing.

The return had us riding along Mission Creek Trail (which was new to us). Then we headed onto Paseo Padre (which was not), and finally Thornton back into Newark (new as a biking road to Anne, not to me).

We cut through the parking lot of our regular pizza place. Max called out a pizza order to the building, but sadly they didn’t hear. Then we were home, strangely much earlier after 20 miles than 50.

Ruth did well on her own bike on this ride, making a new distance record for her. Max did well on the tandem, too. Now it’s just a few days before we head north for the tour. Hopefully we’ve trained enough.