Simple arithmetic

If you have two ferries, and take two away, how many ferries are left?

Well, that would be zero ferries of course.

5 of us took off from Wilsonville today and planned to ride a 69 mile route that would cross both the Wheatland and Canby Ferries.



I've led this route 3 times, and twice now the route had to be modified due to ferry closures. Seems that high water is anathema for ferries!

I didn't bother to call the ferry hotline, didn't seem to be a need, there hasn't been a lot of rain in the last week, or so I thought. I won't make that mistake again! We got down to the Wheatland Ferry and saw the sign.


We thought about it and decided that maybe vandals had dropped the sign and the ferry was only a mile or so away so we rode there to inspect the situation for ourselves.

Yup, it was closed alright!


We decided to ride farther south by following Wallace Road into West Salem and crossing the river on the bridge into downtown Salem.

There was just the hint of headwind that we pushed on our ride southward today and this added a few miles of that for us.

We arrived in Salem and made the turn into Keizer where we stopped to eat a quick bite. Our little detour was going to add a few miles to our ride and our on bike supplies weren't enough to make the trip.



We made a few calls during the food stop to determine if the Canby Ferry was also closed. As it ended up it was open.

We pedaled quickly with the slight tailwind but still as we made our way northward we determined that we would likely not be able to complete the ride in daylight if we took the extra miles to the Canby Ferry. We had started late today (just after 9AM) since we only planned on 69 miles. Our ride would stretch to 100 if we took in the Canby Ferry.

We ended up crossing the Boone Bridge on I-5, and made it back to Wankers Corner in Wilsonville before dark. ....just in time for a post ride debriefing!



So we ended up crossing NO ferries, but had a great ride none the less. Perfect weather given the time of year. No rain, well, okay we had a very few sprinkles along Wilsonville Rd very early in our ride, but the sun came out from time to time as the day went on and the roads dried out. Never put raingear on, and temperatures were well within reason.

Good group of folks and a good ride!

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......87...............0................0...........87
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
Nov........523...............0................0..........523
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9708...............0..............5.........9713

Got dropped.......again.

Went for a flat Pre Feast ride today with 10 members of my social bike club. We rode from Gateway up to the Columbia River via the I-205 bike path, then followed the Columbia River downstream to Smith and Bybee Lakes where we took to the roads and made our way to the Willamette River then followed the Eastbank Esplanade to Springwater Corridor and on back to the I-205 bike path and closed the circle at Gateway. It was just a few degrees above freezing but I was dressed way too warmly for the amount of work I was doing.

Got dropped.......again. I was on the mtn bike, 43 miles, 15.1 mph avg, 151 bpm avg heart rate! This is getting old! (maybe I am getting old!)



............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........43...............0...............0..........43
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
Nov........436...............0................0..........436
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9621...............0..............5.........9626

A tale of two rides

I was joined today by 6 other riders on a social club ride down to Keizer for lunch.
All week the chatter was what our weather would be. There was talk of ice and even a good chance of snow. I had two riders change their mind about going within a few hours of the start because we had a morning low of 31 degrees. The frost was enough to quash our planned preride. 4 of us were to ride to the start via a 17 mile route including a ride on the Canby Ferry. The ice on the roads at 8am and the likelihood of it being an issue on the steep, windy, and shaded roads near the ferry made us think it just wasn't wise to attempt it.

We waited an hour and road a more direct route to Butteville instead on roads that were more exposed to daylight, and the temperature had risen to just above freezing.
The timing was perfect. We rode down to Butteville without incident. No patches of frost.

We arrived in Butteville about 20 minutes before the planned 10AM shove off time.


Before long all 7 of us shoved off and headed southward. The feared ice had melted, we didn't see even a single patch. We were riding into a noticeable wind that continued to increase as we rode. It eventually reached an estimated 10-15 mph.



We got to Keizer and retired to a Taco Del Mar for lunch.



We were looking forward to the tailwind that was going to give us a push back northward. What we didn't look forward to, or plan on, was the rain. While we ate lunch a COLD rain started falling. Not a shower....RAIN.

It ended up being some of the most miserable weather I've ridden in. It would have been worse if we were still riding into the wind, but this was bad enough.

By the time I got to the 72 mile mark and the end of the ride I was pretty darn wet and cold. A real Jekyl and Hyde day, a dry and relatively nice ride down and a COLD rain non stop on the return.

More of a concern to me is that I averaged a mere 15 mph but a whopping 141 bpm avg heart rate. Once again I was working way too hard to ride that slow. What's up with that?

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........72...............0...............0..........72
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
Nov........393...............0................0..........393
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9578...............0..............5.........9583

Ridin' with Danny

I was thinking I should join Danny MacAskill on his little ride



But opted instead to join Dave!

We took off tonight at 6PM for a little night ride. The weather was just perfect. We just cruised along enjoying the evening. We had a 15.6 mph on bike average which wasn't too bad at all. Not quite the excitement of Danny's ride, but then we didn't need that much excitement!

............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........905...............0................0..........905
Nov........321...............0................0..........321
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9506...............0..............5.........9511

not a drop of rain but................

....There was a 100% chance of blizzard! A group from my social bike club set off on a little bike ride from Wilsonville heading toward Monmouth via the Willamette Valley Bikeway today. Our destination was the Dairy Queen there where we intended to have those little ice cream treats known as blizzards!

We pushed a bit of wind all the way down there but did eventually arrive.
Just a few miles north of the Wheatland Ferry we happened upon my Furnace Creek Crew Chief and his lovely bride as they were riding with friend Elise. We were on a mission (and the animal Ken was leading!) so we pedaled on at a pretty good pace. Probably a bit faster than those Keizer residents wanted to ride and we were soon back to just us heading south in search of a blizzard!





We found blizzards!


Not only where there blizzards but there was a banana split too!


There wasn't a drop of rain today but we were all dressed for it after yesterday's rainy weather. I was dressed ready for what I thought would be inevitable rain consequently I was too warm most of the day. The roads were wet for the first few hours so I was hesitant to take off my shoe covers and goretex pants. I had my prized Furnace Creek finisher's jersey on so didn't want it getting dirt splattered either so I kept all my rain gear on.

The wind that hampered us on our way down was kind enough to keep blowing thus becoming a tail wind as we turned back north.
We had a good ride back to Wilsonville. We returned via the hilly Doak's Ferry Rd and the not so hilly Wheatland Ferry. My partners showed me just how slow I really am! Some days are fast, some days are slow. Today I worked hard and still could only watch as my partners rode away from me. They were kind enough to wait for me from time to time, then the process would repeat.

Oh well. When the day was done we all finished the ride!
We then promptly retired to Wankers Corner to replenish calories and carbs!



Post ride data download shows:
109.4 miles
2651 feet total ascent
131 bpm avg heart rate
89 rpm avg cadence
174 max heart rate
15.4 mph avg
41.3 mph max
5636 calories burned

I was working way too hard to be going that slow!



............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......109...............0...............0.........109
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
Nov........296...............0................0..........296
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9481...............0..............5.........9486

A lunch ride

I led a ride for my social bike club today.

(10 folks eventually showed up)
We began at the Steel Bridge and rode the Eastbank Esplanade south to Oaks Park then got on the Springwater Trail and made our way to Gresham where we had a long lunch at the 4th Street Brewery....then rode back!

It rained pretty much all day on us, not hard, but wet none the less.

Tomorrow's forecast has deteriorated as well. We have a 105 mile ride planned and it now looks like it will be wet for at least the first half.

Welcome to November!

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........39...............0...............0..........39
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
Nov........187...............0................0..........187
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9372...............0..............5.........9377

A night ride

For most folks after work rides have morphed into night rides given the rapidly shortening daylight. We were no exception. 4 of us started off from Wilsonville tonight at 6PM. I had mapped a route that I had hoped would be either well lit or low traffic, and hopefully both.

Here's what I had mapped

It turned out to be even better than I had hoped. Wide shoulders and/or marked bike lanes on the vast majority of the route and where we had some traffic there was good lighting. Even the traffic on the mile of Hwy 99 we rode was not bad and we did have a good shoulder and excellent sight lines.

It was a frisky group tonight and we rode a 17.4 mph average. Fall was definitely in the air this evening. With clearing skies the temperature was dropping. We stayed warm riding but afterward it didn't take long to chill down.

Post ride consensus was that this was good route worth riding again!



With my commute to the ride I ended up with 26 miles


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........26...............0...............0..........26
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
Nov........148...............0................0..........148
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9333...............0..............5.........9338

drip, drip, drip

That's the sound of the rain showers that have been part of our weather the last few days.........and the rate at which I am accumulating miles. I haven't been riding any rides over 50 miles in the last week or so, but have been out pedaling a bit on short rides. Today was no exception.

My mother's birthday was a few days ago and we got together to celebrate her old age today. ;-) Even though the forecast predicted at least an 80% chance of rain climbing to 100% as the day wore on it didn't look too bad this morning. I decided to ride my bike the 32 miles to the family gathering.

Though the sky had lots of blue showing I did pack rain gear "just in case".

The roads were damp but not splashy wet. I made my way to Scholls then headed toward Forest Grove. About half way through today's ride the wind picked up and the sky darkened. I saw a rain shower coming over the hill and knew that getting wet was eminent unless I stopped and put on my rain gear, or better yet, found shelter. Luckily I know most of the farmers on this end of the county and I was very near a farm shed that I knew would work just fine.



I felt pretty smug as I sat warm and dry near a Case-International Axial Flow hillside combine.....and the rain started hard, turned to hail, then back to rain before tapering off.

I did put on my booties and rain pants because the roads were wet.

I pedaled the remainder of the distance without any issues.

I managed to trickle another 32 miles into the mileage bucket.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........32...............0...............0..........32
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
Nov........122...............0................0..........122
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9307...............0..............5.........9312

Something about Art

I don't know what it is about Art, but I think I should hang around him more often! wunderground.com showed a 50% chance of rain this morning, climbing to 100% by this evening. Somehow not only did we not get rained on today, but didn't even need the waterproof shoe covers I had along. A good day for a ride any day of the year, let alone in November!

5 of us met in Wilsonville this morning for a ride of about 45 miles including a crossing of the Canby Ferry.


The only "issue" we encountered today was a road closure just north of Gervais where they were working on a rail crossing. It needed some attention so the extra miles won't be complained about!

We made our way in a circuitous fashion to the Canby Ferry and made the perilous crossing of the mighty Willamette River then navigated the steep pitch as we exited.






We ended up at Wankers Corner for a post ride debriefing where we discussed the three B's....bikes, beer, & business! I suppose you could add "babes" to that list, but we are cyclists and have no time for such distractions!



It was a surprisingly good day to be on bikes!


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........48...............0...............0..........48
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
Nov.........90...............0................0...........90
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9275...............0..............5.........9280

second verse, same as the first, little bit slower, little bit (can't think of an appropriate rhyming word!)

Social bike club friend Carol and I rode off tonight with the sun at our back on a repeat of the yesterday's ride.



The sky was blue, but it was a bit cooler than last evening.



We got tangled up with a long line of slow traffic on Willamette Drive. Never quite figured out what the slowing as about.



When we reached the historic Willamette area of West Linn we got out of the long line of cars and began the ascent of Pete's Mountain.


We had started at 4:30PM so even at our slower pace we not only ascended in daylight, we still had plenty of light on the descent. We really didn't get in the dark until we neared Mountain Rd near the Canby Ferry. It's there that we ran into a couple of women who were on the side of the road tending to a tossed chain. They were just getting back on their bikes as we came by. I notice they didn't have front lights at all, and only one had a passable rear light. We offered to put them between us since Carol and I both had good front and rear lights. They accepted the offer and all four of us rode back into Wilsonville together.

It was a good ride, but noticeably cooler than last night. Got a few extra miles by starting at Fry's Electronics.

............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........905...............0................0..........905
Nov.........42...............0................0...........42
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9227...............0..............5.........9232

another Pete's Mountain ride

What a beautiful evening to go for a bike ride! Dave and I took off at 5:30pm on a little 18 mile loop from Wilsonville to Willamette then back........via Pete's Mountain. ...just because we could!

Nearly 2000 ft of climbing in 18 miles on this great low traffic route.




............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........18...............0...............0..........18
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
Nov.........18...............0................0...........18
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....9203...............0..............5.........9208