Watermelon makes me retain water.....

Watermelon rides - BT, DT.
Rode down to the ride - 62 miles per mapmyride.com via 99W, Hwy 18, 233, back to 99W and down to Rickreall.
Started to rain BUCKETS around 7AM as I was making my way toward Amity. I was drenched, and riding into a pretty gnarly headwind the last hour. To make matters worse I started seeing vehicles driving northbound with bikes atop - folks who'd bailed out of the ride before they even started. Wimps. (Smart wimps, but wimps nonetheless.)
Got to the start area and met more folks who were leaving, not on bikes....It took me a while to find the rest of the gang, but eventually I met up with Joe, John, and Chris from the Community Vision team. They were all signed up for the 50-mile ride, so we did that together. I made a feeble attempt to get them to do the Kings' Valley loop (second 50 of the century) instead of the first, but as it was I think we did just fine. It's just that I hate the notion of riding all the way down there and not doing Kings' Valley.
The ride around the wildlife sanctuary is always nice, and we made good time into Jefferson. One guy asked about my jacket (he wanted one for his wife, or at least that was the story he gave...) and of course I referred him to Team Estrogen for the latest and greatest in faux-fur riding splendiferousness.
The ospreys were in their usual places at the ferry, and all was right with the world. I had a very nice run of it up Corvallis-Independence Road - a feeling of being on truly "home turf" for the first time in ages.
Got back to the start/finish somewhat after noon, and could not raise any interest in going out on another loop from anyone I saw. Lacking a bailout option, I decided against setting out to KV on my own (though something tells me that the rest stop volunteers could've used the company), and headed back.
I made good time in the tailwinds, stopping only for flat tires (two! Good Grief! 0ne was a failed tube, though) and food (Amity, SW Portland). I was so depleted by the time I got to Portland city limits that I had to expand my notion of how bad a minimart deli sandwich can be and still be consumable....nasty dry white bread, vaguely slimy turkey, tough lettuce....the works. But the iron gut choked it down, and it did the trick. By that point I didn't care, much - keeping it down for a mere 45 minutes would've been victory. But of course it was fine.
My socks were still soaked when I got in the door at 5PM. Watermelon makes me retain water.
Total mileage for the day: 175.