Thank goodness for longer daylight hours

After months of thinking I was on the verge of logging 1000 miles in a month along comes May. It took a 31 day month, a three day weekend, AND the longer daylight hours of Summer to just get 900 miles. After a good start to the month the last two weekends have just sort of fallen apart as far as bike riding miles goes. Last weekend the excuse was riding a Team Time Trial. This weekend it was chasing razor clams with family. Okay, enough of "cross training", it's time to get riding the bike. Race Across Oregon is just 8 weeks away.

Tonight I took advantage of the longer daylight and took off with the plan to ride at least 48 miles....enough to put me over 900 miles for the month. I began my ride at what would have been dark just a few months ago. Today the sun was still quite high in the sky. I headed for the easy way out, flat and into the wind, looking for a tailwind for the last half of the ride. I pedaled south on Boones Ferry Rd to St Louis then followed the Willamette River back to Butteville then a quick run over the Boone Bridge and called it an evening.

53 miles. Equally important was that I didn't get rained on. After the last 10 days or so that's no small achievement.


While I'm riding miles here, my Race Across Oregon partner is having an awesome adventure. It even involves a bit of biking, though on fat tired bikes.



After all that fun will she be ready to come back to Oregon and race skinny tire bikes...UP hills? ;-)

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......53................0.............0..........53
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........905...............0..............0.........905
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....4103...............0..............5.........4108

Bad math

1+76+1+1=2

1 limit of clams + 76 miles + 1 flat + 1 rainy day = 2 states. (via cell, photos and more details to follow)

I dug a limit of razor clams this morning, cleaned them, then hopped on the bike. My brother-in-law, Dave, who had joined me yesterday had a bit of a cold and sat today out so I was on my own. It had been raining lightly most of the morning but was dry as I took off mid afternoon. It didn't last long. By the time I got to Hammond, just a few miles into the ride, it began to rain and did so for the remainder of the ride. Last year Dave and I rode across the Youngs Bay bridge on Hwy 101 and found it to be not the nicest section of road, despite having the designation of the "Oregon Coast Bike Route" Yesterday we took Business Hwy 101, likely an older version of Hwy 101. We crossed the Old Bay Bridge just a way upstream from the Hwy 101 bridge. The bridge is no wider but is considerably shorter than the newer version. What saves the day is that even on a holiday weekend the traffic was practically non-existent and the speed limit is 25 mph. I took this new found way (for me anyway) to Astoria again today. I highly recommend this alternative for those that may be riding the Oregon Coast.



I continued on toward the Astoria-Megler Bridge but had a small delay when I had to repair a flat just before rejoining Hwy 101.

After getting the tire rolling again I made my way up and over the bridge and entered Washington. I was unsure of how bike friendly the bridge would be but found it to not be all that bad. There was evidence of the lanes being slightly narrowed and the fog line moved inward a bit. What that amounted to was that there was just about 2 ft beyond the fog line instead of what evidently was about 8-10" before the re striping. That's not a lot of space, but it was enough. The traffic was courteous as well.

I crossed the bridge into Washington and made a loop on Hwys 401 and 101. It was scenic and a nice change of pace.

I made good time heading northward and took advantage of the tailwind. I knew that it would be a headwind on the return and wanted to be back before it got too dark. I had lights along, but just don't like riding on dark roads unless I have to.

It was indeed a bit of headwind coming back southward. Along with that fun was the additional excitement of nonstop rain.

I had my full raingear on and it wasn't cold so it wasn't too bad. I managed to get the ride wrapped up about 8:15, still plenty light, even on a rainy evening.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......76................0.............0..........76
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........852...............0..............0.........852
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....4050...............0..............5.........4055

45 miles today on the Oregon Coast

45 miles today at the coast. Nice weather. Played tourist and saw Youngs River Falls and Netal Point. More later (via cell)

Dave and I took advantage of a dry and warm late afternoon to get in a bike ride. I had mapped a 40 mile route prior to arriving at the coast and it looked like just the right distance for the time remaining in the day.

It was a very nice route. We traveled on good backroads with practically non existent traffic. Wind was light and the temperature was comfortable, just about a perfect day to ride.

There was one glitch, a mapped right turn near the end ended up being at a divided highway where no left was allowed. We could have ridden down the road a way and done a U turn but decided to just retrace our outbound route. It added a few miles to do so, but we were out for miles and it was a nice day.

Along our route we took the time to see Youngs River Falls, a surprisingly large falls. (sorry,no photos, didn't have my camera or cell phone along!) We also stopped at Netal Landing and read all the posted information on how the Lewis and Clark Expedition used the location.

It was a nice little ride.....with an 18.2 mph on bike average!


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......45................0.............0..........45
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........776...............0..............0.........776
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3974...............0..............5.........3979

Bike? What's a bike?

I've ridden 68 miles in the last week. :-(
That's certainly no way to improve fitness levels.
Unfortunately there's just not much I can do about it right now.

Maybe the weekend will change things.

After months of logging 900+ miles but never quite 1000 this month I will be struggling to break 800. :-(

Sandy Earl begins her little 3000 mile bike adventure in 12 days!

Not 200 miles but 100

km that is, yes, all I managed this weekend was a metric century. My cold is a bit worse but I still managed a respectable ride at the OBRA Team Time Trials. We began the ride as a 3 person team. One of our riders chose to not ride in the rain. We were having some very unsettled conditions and saw several storm cells go through dropping rain along with gusting winds. There was even hail though not while we were on the course. I learned a few things today. I corner fairly well. If I was pulling I'd have to soft pedal to allow my teammates to regroup behind me, if I were in the back I'd soft pedal before the corner so I'd not have to brake as I'd catch right back up to them coming out of the turn. I'm a little better into the wind. I'd be pulling fairly hard, heart rate in the 160's, riding about 19-20 and when I'd drop to under 19 I'd signal for a lead change........only to see our speed drop farther with my teammates pulling. Experience, which we lacked as a team, would have had us rotate quickly through the other two riders so I was back in the lead. I only needed a minute or so to see my heart rate drop below 145 and be ready to pull again.

The one thing that did go as expected........... I am not a sprinter and told my teammates so. I was in the lead as we made our final approach to the finish line. I hear one of my teammates say something to the effect of "sprint!" and I glance down at my speedometer and see it as it changes from 26.9 to 27.0 mph. I'm thinking "sprint"? What do you think I'm doing right now? They answered my unspoken question by coming around me at nearly 30 mph. I put more power to the pedals and did my best to latch on. We crossed the finish line in a pretty tight group. John Henry was the lead bike, David was about a half bike length back, and I was a bike length behind David. As I crossed the line the official timer on our run stopped. I'm sure we'll have race results posted by tomorrow.
We passed our one minute lead team and our two minute lead team. With 2 1/2 laps in we were passed by our 1 minute back team and with only a couple of miles to go we were slowly passed by our 3 minute back team. I was in the lead and took it up a notch and was slowly closing the gap on them. I thought I could catch them but didn't think I'd have enough left to make a clean pass. I wasn't sure of the rules and if I'd be allowed to catch them then sit in their draft for a minute or so before slingshotting around them. I figured my teammates would know. When we were about 100 feet from them I signaled a lead change. Unfortunately we couldn't keep up with them. They were well within sight as we crossed the finish line behind them.

All in all, not a bad showing for the rookie racer. My second day with an OBRA racing license. (the first being the 2008 Race Across Oregon)

My average heart rate was 136
Maximum heart rate 171
Average cadence 94
Fun....off the chart!

John Henry's account of today's ride is HERE


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......28................0.............0..........28
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........731...............0..............0.........731
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3929...............0..............5.........3935

the string breaks

No, not a chain, or shoe lace, but my string of consecutive 200 mile weekends. Looks like it comes to an end at 7 weeks in a row. I came down with a bit of a cold a couple of days ago, the weather has been wet and blustery, and I've been working long hours. To seal my fate a member of my FC 508 crew talked me into joining him in racing the Oregon Championship Team Time Trials tomorrow. 28 miles (4 laps) in just about smack dab in the middle of the riding day. Oh well, it should be fun, and I was told to view it as "cross training"

My team and I went down to the course tonight to pre-ride it and get to know each other a bit. I only knew John Henry, the other two were complete strangers to me.
I have my carbon bike all cleaned up,chain lubed, badazz wheels installed, brake pads changed to something compatible, and it's all ready to go. Didn't want to take it down on the likely wet roads tonight for the training ride so I brought the steel bike with fenders! Figured if I was going to be slowed by a cold I might as well add to the pain by riding a heavier bike.

I didn't need to worry quite so much. I managed to hold my own, surprisingly.
We rode two laps of the 7 mile course before calling it a night.

Tomorrow this aspiring ultra cyclist will do his best to be a sprinter for a day!

Around noon today the Flying Aquarian Crew Chief shamed me into joining him for a short ride. I just didn't feel up to riding but glad he got me out there. It went better than I expected. We rode a little 20 mile ride over Ladd Hill. Not major miles but we both had late afternoon plans and needed to keep it short.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......34................0.............0..........34
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........703...............0..............0.........703
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3901...............0..............5.........3906

The Ride of Silence

I rode The Ride of Silence tonight. It is a bike ride very much like a funeral procession; respectful, slow, silent. The purpose of the ride is to draw attention to, and show respect for, those who've been killed while cycling.

We had about 60 people on the ride tonight, a far cry from the 200-300 in years past.
I think the ride is loosing it's direction.

Here's what I posted on our social bike club's message board tonight when asked for comments about the ride:

"I've attended every ROS ever staged in Portland. No diss to the organizers but the event isn't what it was the year that Brett Jarolimik, Tracey Sparling, the couple on Hwy 47 near Gaston and others were killed. As far as the non cycling public is concerned we looked just like any other group of people on bikes. At least when the police were escorting us and controlling the intersections the public knew SOMETHING special was going on. They didn't know WHAT, but they knew we weren't just out for a ride. If the purpose of this event is to raise awareness we need to do a better job. Signs to pin on our backs, cards to hand out, police presence, banners or flags, all would help identify the purpose. The TV reporter there may help get the message out.........as long as our target audience is watching a 40 second clip at the end of the 11PM news. I hope the event continues each year. I hope it grows in popularity rather than fade into obscurity. ”


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........6................0.............0...........6
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........669...............0..............0.........669
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3867...............0..............5.........3872

Another 200+ mile weekend

The pedalists from the Flying Aquarians were out on the RAO course today. It was 64 degrees as we began from Tygh Valley this AM at 9.

5656 ft of climbing, 15.3 avg, 115 average heart rate. I guess you could call this a recovery ride! ;-)

UPDATE:

My Race Across Oregon teammate and I traveled to Tygh Valley with plans to ride a 100 mile loop that would include 70 miles of the `10 Race Across Oregon course. We'd get the big climb out of the Deschutes Canyon under our belts and also the big descent of Bakeoven Rd back into Maupin.

Both Lauren and I had ridden hard on Saturday and weren't looking to set records or ride race pace. It was 64 degrees as we arrived in Tygh Valley at 8:30 AM. A beautiful blue sky awaited us. We both decided that we just weren't going to need arm and leg warmers. We both packed a light windbreaker just in case it cooled down as we prepared for those big descents later in the day or if the rain promised for the west side of the Cascades somehow made it over to the dry side of the state.

We began with a somewhat level run out to the edge of the Deschutes Canyon. Lauren commented that despite her trepidation as we prepared to ride that she now felt good on the bike and was ready to ride. We dropped over the edge and made the fast descent to the Deschutes River at Shearers Falls.


We paused a few minutes to visit with another rider, the only other bike we saw all day. A bit of levity ensued.





We took a few more photos,


said good bye to our fellow cyclist, then began the climb out of the Deschutes Canyon and headed towards Grass Valley. Before getting into the climb more than a mile my stomach was growling. I guess I was still trying to get caught up from yesterday's effort. I would be in full feeding mode all day.




I was too busy pedaling to get many photos of the steeper parts of the climb but did get a few as it leveled off a bit.







We arrived at Grass Valley, our first planned resupply stop, about 30 miles in. We stopped at a little grocery store/auto parts/antique shop/community center and refilled water, ate candy, drank a V8, had some lemonade.....and a nice visit with the proprietress. Good thing we weren't there with a whole peloton of riders, we just about cleaned the shelves of food suitable for bike riders!

We soon hopped back on the bikes and rode down Hwy 97 towards Shaniko. We had been told that our intended route that paralleled 97 was gravel. Hwy 97 wasn't all that bad, nice shoulders, just a bit busy and noisy.



After 30 miles on Hwy 97, and a relentless climb for the last 50 miles we were ready for a change, and ready to resupply. We stopped at the first little store we saw. I don't think the proprietor had much use for people in lycra. I know he didn't have much use for laws telling him he couldn't smoke in his own store. Lauren had bonked pretty hard the last 10-15 miles coming into Shaniko. We spent significant time there recharging. By the time we left we had significantly reduced the shop owner's supply of popsicles, cleaned out ALL of his water, and even made a dent in the candy bar supply.


We pointed the bikes northward and headed out to Bakeoven Rd with it's promise of a fast descent back into the Deschutes Canyon. First we had just a bit of a climb to our highest point of the ride today.



We noted that the blue skies of morning had given way to increasing puffy clouds. We remarked that if it were a month or so later in the year we'd be concerned about impending thunderstorms. We pedaled along on the rolling plateau. Some days we ride strong, other days we just ride. Lauren was having an off day. It happens to all of us. What sets those who ride endurance events apart from more casual riders is what happens when you don't have it in you to really hammer a ride out. Lauren kept pedaling. (have I mentioned that I am very proud to have her as my RAO partner?) We kept an eye on the darkening sky and saw our first lightning bolts as we pedaled into an increasing wind.

It was still quite warm and it looked like the storm was moving to the right rather than right into us. We hoped to get to Maupin before any storm hit. Before long we began the speedy descent to Maupin.



We paused at Maupin City Park to eat from our supplies and refill fluids. We also watched the river roll by for a bit. In my previous life I was an avid whitewater rafting enthusiast and shared a few stories with my biking partner.


We began the last big climb of the day as we made our way out of the river canyon. While on the outskirts of Maupin we saw another T storm moving near. We got hit by just a few very big drops of rain. We took refuge under a building's rather large front porch as a precautionary action.




After about 15 minutes we finally decided that the storm had moved around us and wasn't going to present a problem. We hopped back on the bikes and continued the climb up the hill.

We finally topped out, not nearly as formidable as the climb to Grass Valley earlier in the day. We had one good three mile descent back into Tygh Valley. After dropping into the valley it started raining those BIG drops again. I could see the end of our ride about a mile away. I figured just ride, forget looking for a place to take cover. About as quickly as it started the rain stopped after just a few minutes. There was just enough distance left to ride to dry completely off before stopping. Lauren is normally the type of person that will go for bonus miles to hit that century mark. It was a testament to her day that she declined the opportunity today.

It was an easier day for me. I felt pretty strong despite the hard fast century yesterday and riding just a bit slower today allowed me to just pedal along. I held a respectable 15.3 average while holding a low 115 average heart rate. That's about 20-25 bpm less than when I'm riding at a higher intensity. I'm sure that if I had pushed harder that I would have found my limitations today too, I was happy to back off a bit.

I had been playing catch up all day as far as calories go. I had an Ensure and two granola bars AND a power bar in Maupin, downed a 600 calorie bottle of Accelerade in the 15 miles since then and now Lauren and I went across the street and had dinner (and a beer for me, coke for her)

On the drive back to the Willamette Valley we stopped at Dairy Queen and had a big ice cream treat!

Yup, if you want to eat whatever you want, as much as you want, ride bike!


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......96................0.............0..........96
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........663...............0..............0.........663
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3861...............0..............5.........3866

Reaching the Beach

Dave and I rode Reach the Beach today, along with about 3000 other folks. Every one of those other folks reached the beach AFTER we did! We flew today, or at least flew fast enough to pass everyone and not get passed by anyone. The closest we came to having company was a rider who hooked in behind us as we whistled by with about 5 miles left to go. He held with us as we rode along at 22-23 mph. I pushed it up to 26-27 and he matched our speed. I was just about thinking that this guy earned his spot to ride with us and offer him the opportunity to pull, but about that quick he dropped off so quickly that I thought he had dropped an anchor.

We reached the beach from Amity (54 miles) in 2 hours and 55 minutes. We were quite surprised to find that we were the first arrivals. Well, I was actually the second across the finish line. Dave was first!


We posed for the obligatory Reach the Beach finish photos.


Then we took up our position at a table in the Pelican Pub and waited for the rest of the field to arrive while enjoying a bowl of soup and a cold beer.
On the way to the beach there was a bit of headwind but not too bad. On the way back to Amity we took advantage of the now stronger tailwind. We arrived at the Coast Range summit. At this location it's hardly a blip on the map, but we figured worthy of a photo none the less!





From the summit of the Coast Range we held the pace at 23-25 almost the entire distance. For every short stretch where we'd drop below 23 there was a longer stretch where we were looking at speeds from 26-30!




............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today......108................0.............0.........108
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........567...............0..............0.........567
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3765...............0..............5.........3770

a hankering for Mexican food

I figured I had two choices, either ride to Cornelius or Woodburn. Both are communities with a high percentage of Latinos and if one is to find good Mexican food either is probably a good place to start the search. I chose Woodburn because 1) it was closer 2) the roads were more conducive to cycling this time of day

I rode from Wilsonville and crossed the Boone Bridge (I-5) and with the slight downslope held it at 30+ all the way across the river. I made the turn and headed through Aurora then Hubbard, then Woodburn. I did indeed find Mexican food and stopped for food and drink. I returned via Aurora-Lone Elder-Barlow-Canby and the Canby Ferry.

A mostly flat route except for the last 5 miles or so which included a climb from the Canby Ferry and the big rollers on Advance Rd. There was fresh (read buttery smooth) pavement on 99E so it was easy keeping a quick pace tonight. I managed a 18.1 average for the 38 mile ride.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......38................0.............0..........38
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........459...............0..............0.........459
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3657...............0..............5.........3662

not hardly worth the effort

Another 8 miles to add to the totals, but in the big picture of training for endurance events I doubt this is doing much for me.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........8................0.............0...........8
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........421...............0..............0.........421
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3619...............0..............5.........3624

bike commuter

Yup, today I joined the ranks of the bike commuters. I took the mountain bike because it currently has flat pedals on it, no need to carry extra shoes. Of course, the surprise was that this morning it was RAINING and I don't have fenders on that bike. The rear deck/bag at least kept the rooster tail from painting my backside. It was only a 3 mile commute so no big deal, hardly worth the effort really.

Will be a bike commuter again tomorrow since the little pickup is in the little pickup hospital. Tomorrow is predicted to be a dry day. :-)

Oh, and one more thing. Race Across Oregon mixed 2x team Flying Aquarians has an opening for a crew person. Our lodging reservations would mean we lean towards a female team member, but experience speaks heavily. If you'd like to join our team on this adventure let's talk!

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........6................0.............0...........6
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........413...............0..............0.........413
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3611...............0..............5.........3616

miles

Miles, that's what today was, just miles. I wasn't tired so it couldn't be billed as a "recovery ride". The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect day to ride but my pickup needed attention.........as in it won't run right now. I was hoping a new fuel pump would cure the problem so I figured I could get in a ride this morning and still get the pickup running. I took off at 7:30 but just couldn't get my legs moving. Too many things on my mind? Not enough food after yesterday's effort? Regardless, I decided that just a leisurely ride around the country on a beautiful morning had merit so that's what I did. I just tootled around at 14-15 mph with no particular destination in mind. Just miles. I saw such towns as Aurora, Canby, Marquam, Needy, Monitor, Silverton, Mt Angel, and Gervais. At Silverton I stopped at, of all places, McDonalds and had a Big Mac lunch! That gives you an indication on just how hard I was riding. I don't normally eat heavy meals of "real food" when I'm riding. It just sits to heavily for me. Today it was not an issue! I did sit around Silverton for awhile to let all that stuff settle down a bit. I eventually got back on the bike and made my way northward. I picked up the pace just a bit so that I would make it back in time to pick up a fuel pump.

As I crossed the Pudding River between Mt Angel and Gervais I came across this:


Couldn't help thinking of the old nursery rhyme "Three Billy Goats Gruff" and wondering where the trolls are supposed to live now!

I managed to get 86 miles, not the century I was shooting for, but enough to salvage the 6th 200+ mile weekend in a row.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......86................0.............0..........86
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........407...............0..............0.........407
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3605...............0..............5.........3610

on the edge of something big

The Wilsonville Century's reputation is spreading far and wide. As we began this morning we had people arrive in vehicles from two states, and one rider made the trip from Newport. The Wilsonville Century is a great route that's easy to ride unsupported due to well spaced opportunities to resupply. 6 of us rode this route today. Two decided to play hares and began at 7:30AM, the four hounds took off at 8AM. We hammered along and were soon crossing the Willamette River on the Canby Ferry.



It became obvious to us that the community was way into the soon to be classic bike event.



When we got to Canby there was an ocean of bikes waiting to join us. Unfortunately today's ride was an official training ride and since they hadn't RSVP'd club rules dictate they couldn't ride with us. Luckily, they decided among themselves that since they were already there they just as well have a little triathlon competition.



We hounds kept up a quick pace hoping to catch the hares soon. We thought we might catch them on the climb of Bird Hill. We climbed Bird Hill without seeing them but when we got to Scotts Mills my phone rang.
Seems that the hares had missed a turn near Molalla and had paralleled our ascent of Bird Hill on another road. Lauren took out her fancy phone that could do Google maps and after some phone calls back and forth we finally figured out where they were and texted them a cue sheet to get them back to us. Rather than just sit and wait we decided to get bonus miles and bonus climbing (climbing the hill that I had just come down at 45.9 mph!) After a few miles we found them and we all rode together back to Scotts Mills and on to Silverton. After getting through Silverton we made sure that one of the hares had a good map and the rest of us put the hammer down, riding 19-20 mph. The five us us headed toward Keizer and a stop for water and snacks.





We took the scenic tour of Windsor Island and then continued to St Paul where I had one of the nicest Pineapple frozen treat I've ever had. Okay, Okay, had TWO of them! We followed the Willamette River closely and soon had a breeze at our backs as we pedaled towards Champoeg Park. We kept up a brisk pace all the way to I-5, crossed the Boone Bridge and finished up at the Wilsonville Library. After some slow climbing in the first 40 miles we just cruised the last 70. We brought our on bike average up to 16.6 mph.

Clare will be competing in an Ironman Competition in Couer d'Alane in June and was just a few miles short of the 112 miles she will be biking there. What the heck, sunny day, a pretty girl wants to ride a few more miles. Sure, we went for it! 3 of us went for a little lap of Wilsonville and got the miles she needed, plus a little.

An absolutely gorgeous day to be on a bike!

Had hoped to ride a 100 mile loop from Tygh Valley tomorrow that included ~70 miles of the RAO course, but fuel pump issues will delay that. Looks like I'll be riding 100 miles closer to home tomorrow then replacing a fuel pump when I'm done riding.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today......118................0.............0.........118
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........321...............0..............0.........321
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3519...............0..............5.........3524

A ride around an island on a mostly sunny afternoon

.... and a ninety mile round trip commute to do it!

Today I again led the Training Series and 3 of us began in NW Portland with the plan to ride to Rainier and back on Hwy 30. Hwy 30 is the bane of many who ride STP. Training Series helps get folks ready to ride primarily Reach the Beach and STP so today's plan was to face the demon that is Hwy 30.

It really wasn't all that bad. Nice wide shoulders, only the most gentle of hills, and today not a lot of traffic. The weather was perfect, high near 70, only a slight breeze.

I had some strange noise coming from the bike yesterday anytime I coasted down a hill faster than 25 mph. In an effort to isolate that (rear wheel? bottom bracket?) I put in my "badazz" wheels today.
My badazz wheels are only as "bad as" the legs that are pushing them. Today the legs where pushing them pretty quickly.

Our little entourage today was comprised of two of us.....ahem....older guys, and one young buck. We took off from NW Portland and Fred and I took it up to 21-22 mph and held it there. Fred and I took turns pulling and young Armando did his best to hang on the back. The first twenty miles he did okay, from there on things continued to disintegrate for him. We averaged 19.7 mph to Rainier, the 45 mile mark, and turn around point for us today. Fred and I slowed up a bit on the return but still held a pretty brisk pace and dropped Armando significantly.

We'd hold up for him and regroup from time to time. His comment towards the end of the day was "I don't know how you old guys can do this" ;-)

When we got back to Sauvie Island I took my leave and sent them on their way back to Portland. I took a loop of the island just so that I'd have 100 miles today. Woo Hoo..........200 mile weekend, 5 weeks in a row! ;-)

Soon I was back on Hwy 30 rolling towards Portland. We really do live in a scenic part of the country, and even in the industrial wasteland that is Hwy 30 there are some pretty sights.

Before long I pedaled back up to Wallace Park and the ride was over.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today......103................0.............0.........103
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........203...............0..............0.........203
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3401...............0..............5.........3406

another month begins

32 people from my social bike group made the trip across the Columbia River today to join a large group who rode the "Ride Around Clark County" (RACC)

My Race Across Oregon partner, Lauren, and I were among them, as well as Dave who is our crew chief. The route has nearly 6000 ft of climbing. Lauren and I have been riding some challenging rides and this was just another Saturday on a bike for us, but we saw a lot of people struggling with the hills. We had rain for 2+ hours too and that took a bit of the fun out of it.

This was my first time riding RACC and I did think the course, especially along the Lewis River, was quite scenic. At the last food stop we had 24 miles left to go. Lauren, Dave, and I put the bikes on the road and put the pedals to spinning. I passed 43 riders in the last 24 miles, and was passed by no one.

I felt strong today and rode well. Lauren has improved greatly in the last month also. Several folks who know her and have ridden with her before commented to me that they notice how much faster and stronger she is now. :-)

....nobody told me that I was any faster or stronger! ;-)

I finished up with a 16.4 mph average.

When we rolled into the parking lot at Clark County Community College we were about a mile short of our 100 miles so we road a few laps of the lot. We are all picky about actually riding the miles we are aiming for, even if it happens to be parking lot miles!

I ended up with 100.1 miles according to my GPS.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today......100................0.............0.........100
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
May........100...............0..............0.........100
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3298...............0..............5.........3303