I was a bike commuter today!

I was spending the weekend at Silver Falls State Park with family this weekend, but that didn't get in the way of meeting committments. I hopped on the bike and rode from the park down to Keizer. I took a southerly route on the way down. It went from the approximate 1400ft elevation of the park and promptly climbed to almost 1800 then a bit of an up and down roller coaster ride down to the valley floor where I made a few right angle turns north and west working my way to Keizer. I benefitted from a 1200 ft net elevation loss and a following wind on the northbound runs to turn in just over an 18mph average for the 31 miles. The meeting lasted 4 hours then it was time to ride back UP. I opted to enter the park via the north entrance figuring I would avoid riding into the wind until after Silverton, and then not directly into it, and I'd be sheltered by trees and topography as well as climbing at a slow pace where wind wouldn't be a factor.

It was a fast 16 mile ride back to Silverton on the Hazelgreen route I'd become familiar with in the last week. From Silverton I began the climb to the park. As expected, the wind was not an issue in the hills as I rode SE. It was a warm afternoon and I was working on my way up. Salt in the eyes is not fun at all!
I am not a strong climber but did manage to keep plugging away to arrive back at the park much faster than I expected. I rode to Keizer in just under two hours and rode back in just over 2 hours, with about 20 minutes difference between the two trips. The climb back up from Silverton is more direct, less up and down, and less maximum elevation, and 1/2 mile shorter. The top of the climb is at Drake's Crossing at an elevation of just over 1500 ft.

The excitement of the day came as I entered Silverton. I approached an intersection where a lot of the cars in my lane were turning right so I signaled and moved into the center of the lane to avoid "right hooks". My lane did not have a stop sign but the side streets did. As I moved through the intersection (~20 mph)I saw the car to my left (who was stopped) who had a left signal on begin to move forward into the intersection. I was not concerned at that point thinking he was just getting a "rolling start" to come in behind me. I was following a car, but there was space behind me. Instead of falling in behind me the car came up beside me.....in an attempt to occupy the space I was in. There was no bike lane, and the curb was close to the travel lane. I had nowhere to go as he began to "merge" into me. Luckily it was a warm afternoon and his passenger window was down. I gave out a very loud "HEY" while filling in mentally the rest of the sentence. (something along the lines of "you stupid SOB watch where you're going!) He was within 3 feet and still moving towards me when I gave the verbal warning. It was obvious from his reaction that despite me wearing my florescent yellow jersey and riding in the lane he hadn't seen me. He jerked the wheel to the left and straddled the centerline while braking. The near miss must have scared him, he did not pass me the rest of the way through town though he could have safely done so in most places.

It made for good conversation back at camp. ;-)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today...........61...............0................61
Jan total.......98.....+........402....=..........500
Feb total.....385.....+.......220....=...........605
Mar total.....659.....+........41.....=...........700
April total...629.....+........57.....=...........676
YTD...........2985....+.......743....=.........3728

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++