A mountain bike to Mountaindale

A good time indeed! I joined Art's Butts on Bikes "Two Phase Ride" today. I brought the mountain bike because I figured I ought to be able to maintain the 15-16mph advertised pace and also because I picked up a piece of glass in my tubular tire on the carbon bike yesterday and haven't changed it yet.

Art had a good turnout as well as perfect weather for his ride.


I managed to hang with the group, even managed to hang with the faster breakaway group, but stopped to post the audio addition to the blog at the beginning of this post, as well as do a bit of texting back and forth with a friend.



I knew that we were approaching the Mountaindale out and back and knew I could just turn around when I met the rest of the group coming back the other way.

As it ended up, the group had fragmented and was coming back down the ever so slight grade in groups of 2-3. I kept riding up the hills until I was about 1.5 miles from the gravel turnaround when I decided that it was all the farther I needed to go.

I turned around and met back up with a half dozen or so riders at the Mountaindale Store. We rode back along our route together.

I think they were humoring me a bit, the last 10 miles we were in a pace line....with me on a mountain bike leading a train of road bikes!

We all ended up back at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse for an after ride "debriefing".



It was a good day, and I did manage to get my 900 miles for the month. If I were still working hard at biking I would have been sure to get 1000 miles,...... but I'm not. I'm just a guy on a bike!

It was the longest ride I've ever been on while riding the mtn bike.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........54...............0...............0..........54
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........905...............0................0..........905
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9185...............0..............5.........9190

A pumpkin ride

I led a 12 mile social paced ride around Sauvie Island today, sort of my way to give back a bit. Before you have a heart attack I also commuted to the ride from Hillsboro with a few friends. We rode up Logie Trail to Skyline then down Logie Trail on the other side to Hwy 30 and on to the island. We met up with the group


We stopped at Krugers for a snack and a few photo ops!




Then two of us rode back to Hillsboro via Rocky Point Rd. Along the way we ran into some pretty thick fog, at times visibility was 50 ft.


A perfect example of why I always require front and rear lights on all rides I lead in the winter.

We had rain pretty much the whole ride back to Hillsboro but the ride around the island was mostly dry.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........57...............0...............0..........57
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........851...............0................0..........851
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9131...............0..............5.........9136

The gods must be smiling

Well, though I had posted tonight's ride as an event for my social bike group I ended up being the only rider. What a shame! Tonight was likely to be the only night this week that isn't raining. The sky was blue most of the day but clouded up late this afternoon in anticipation of rain coming later. I had friends in Salem tell me it was raining there, but it wasn't raining here and didn't the entire time I was on the bike.

It was a nice route that avoided the higher traffic roads. A reasonable amount of climbing just to make it fun!



Saturday I lead another ride for the group. 17 so far say they are going. The social group is somewhat flakey and the predicted wet weather will likely result in a 50% no show. It will be a completely different kind of adventure, unless someone twists my arm and wants to commute to Sauvie Island from Hillsboro with a climb over the West Hills.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........19...............0...............0..........19
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........794...............0................0..........794
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9074...............0..............5.........9079

letting go?

The weather guys were finally right, it's raining. A bike friend called and wanted to go for a ride. Anytime in the last 4 years I would have been all over this. Today I turned her down. I made all kinds of excuses, no fenders, wet roads, and I'm busy putting my Furnace Creek video together, but still I wonder if the "letting go" has begun. How much will things change now that the goal of finishing the 508 has been achieved?

Another bonus day!

Despite predictions of rain it's still dry!

By the middle of the afternoon I was seeing a lot of blue sky around (well, actually a lot of blue sky BETWEEN the big puffy clouds that looked like they might rain!)
I sent out a mass text message from my cell phone to everyone in my phonebook who rides saying that if it stayed dry I was going to ride tonight and they were welcome to join me.

Well, it's Friday night. Everybody had plans already.

No problem, I didn't have any "plans" so I went for a ride by myself!

I took off from the Butteville Store at 6PM for a 27.5 mile route that I originally rode in February. The route was flat with very low traffic.

With the cloud cover I was running lights from the get go.

It was a beautiful evening for a ride however.

I've ridden three nights in a row now. That's more mid week riding than I was able to muster even when training for Furnace Creek!

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........27...............0...............0..........27
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........775...............0................0..........775
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9055...............0..............5.........9060

BONUS!

It was supposed to be raining this evening. It wasn't yet by the time I got off work so I rushed out to Hillsboro to join my social bike group's "Maniac Ride....West Side Edition"

We began at West Union Elementary at 5:15pm and headed up toward Skyline Rd. Once there we took Beck Rd back down, then climbed back up to Skyline again!

By the time the craziness was done we had logged 25 miles with 2300 ft of climbing, and it was dark.



Despite some rather ominously dark skies to the west tonight we managed to have a dry ride. We had timed it perfectly because it began raining as we stood around chatting post ride.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........25...............0...............0..........25
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........748...............0................0..........748
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9028...............0..............5.........9033

The dog days of summer

Okay, so it's Autumn, but tonight seemed like it might be the last good chance to ride in summer like weather for awhile. The forecast calls for a big change in the weather with copious rain and wind by the weekend.

A few of us took advantage of the 70 degree evening and rode out from Tualatin just after 5PM tonight.


Max also joined us but was a few minutes late and missed our pre-ride photo.

It was a beautiful evening for a ride. We moved quickly, knowing that darkness would soon envelop us. We rode out to near Wilsonville and climbed Pete's Mtn from the Hebb Park side then rolled back into Tualatin. We rode the last 5 miles or so in the dark, but we all had good lights and excellent reflectivity.

We finished up the evening with cold adult beverages and some food at a local establishment.

A good evening, one to remember as the weather begins to turn the corner.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........25...............0...............0..........25
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........723...............0................0..........723
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9003...............0..............5.........9008

Buckwheat

I rode with 25-30 folks from my social biking group today. We rode out from Scholls Heights and made our way over Iowa Hill and back into Scholls where we stopped for a few hours to eat a bit and listen to the band "Buckwheat", then we rode back to our starting point! We could not have asked for better weather!

Unable to load photos right now, will return later to finish this entry.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........30...............0...............0..........30
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........698...............0................0..........698
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....8978...............0..............5.........8983

Double Trouble

I ventured over to Maupin to partake in Double Trouble, a 180+ mile ride sponsored by the good folks at Race Across Oregon.

My Furnace Creek crew chief, John Henry, and I started off from the Imperial River Company in Maupin at 5:15 AM. Yup, it was dark!




I had registered for the ride late the day before, and just sort of threw things in the pickup after work on Friday and headed towards Maupin. After I was 80 miles down the road it dawned on me that it was fall and the mornings were likely to be cold.........and that I didn't have cold weather riding apparel along. Bummer.

Also, my bright HID light developed "issues" and won't light so I left it home intentionally. I figured that most of the riding before daylight would be uphill and my 1W LED would be adequate for the slow slog up the hill, and that I would be back to Maupin before dark so the descent down Bakeoven Rd wouldn't be an issue. Double bummer.

It was 39 as we left Maupin. Since I did not have leg warmers along I did the next best thing...at least given my options. I pulled on a pair of blue jeans over my biking shorts. I just figured I'd shed them and put them in my backpack when I started climbing up toward Grass Valley. I didn't warm up enough to get rid of the jeans on the climb, as a matter of fact, I kept getting colder.

It was just getting daylight as I climbed out of the Deschutes Canyon.



The temperature dropped as we climbed up toward Grass Valley. It was in the low 30's when we got there. I had fingerless gloves on, and had numb fingers by the time I arrived in Grass Valley. I spent about 40 minutes in Grass Valley talking with the volunteers manning the food table and sipping on hot chocolate.

Warmed up, I finally continued my journey. I had estimated that I might have arrived in Grass Valley in about 7 position or so. I thought I might have another 15 or 20 behind me.

The route followed the Race Across Oregon course for much of the time. I was familiar with the area because of RAO training and the actual race itself but the beauty of the area never ceases to amaze me.















I arrived at Moro where I stopped for another 45 minutes or so and visited with the volunteers. I was surprised to find that none of the volunteers I had met so far knew much about cycling. They were just volunteering because they thought it sounded fun and were wanting to show some hospitality to we "foreigners". Most of the support stops had a wide variety of home baked cookies and other items not often found on rides.......and they were all good!

Just as I was preparing to leave, RAAM veteran Sandy Earl pedaled up on her Carbent. I greeted her, then pedaled off. I figured she'd catch up soon enough. I did lollygag a bit figuring when she caught up with me we'd just ride together for a bit. I took in the sights and took many photo opportunities.

I was thinking I was about in the middle of the pack.

About this time a SAG vehicle comes up next to me and asks how I'm doing. I answer "fine". It's then that they inform me that I am the last rider on the course and that everyone else is quite far ahead of me! ARGH!

I asked about Sandy, remarking that she had to be behind me yet. To my amazement the driver tells me that she had been ferried ahead in a support car as had the rest of those who were behind me!

I was the official "lanterne rouge"!

I just did not have my head around riding this as a race, but here I was falling off the back of the pack and really needing to try to close the gap a bit. In a more social group that might be possible, but I was surrounded by RAAM, Race Across Oregon, Furnace Creek, Race Across the West, and Ring of Fire veterans. These were no easy marks.

...and I was riding in jeans with numb fingers!

I would warm up a bit (though not a lot!) on the climbs only to reach the summit and shiver on the descents. I was shivering through awfully pretty country though!












hmmmmmmmm....some glitch in blogger, unable to load photos. I'll come back and finish this entry a bit later when everything is working.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......134...............0...............0.........134
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........668...............0................0..........668
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....8948...............0..............5.........8953

Revisiting Pete

Paul J, from my social bike group, planned a ride for tonight from Tualatin out to Pete's Mountain, climb up from the Hebb Park side, then back into Tualatin. As it ended up, Paul is battling a cold and decided it best to not ride. The weather was so nice that we four "disciples" decided to go "leaderless" and ride anyway.

It was a beautiful evening for a bike ride.








............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........24...............0...............0..........24
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........534...............0................0..........534
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....8814...............0..............5.........8819

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 36th phonecast

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........tbd...............0...............0.........tbd
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
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept......1002...............0................0.........1002
Oct........510...............0................0..........510
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....8790...............0..............5.........8795

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 35th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 34th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 33rd phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 32nd phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 31st phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 30th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 29th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 28th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 27th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 25th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 24th phonecast

After watching big clouds building

After watching big clouds building late yesterday this morning I awake to flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder.

The desert after the dinner on the night before the Furnace Creek 508. (I am my mother's son!)

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 23rd phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 22nd phonecast