The end of the month

It's Thursday, and as such it was time once again for the Rocky Butte hill repeats ride. I had one "maybe" rider RSVP. As it ended up, I was the only one there tonight.
It was a nice night to ride, but a bit on the lonely side. :-(
I started from Johnson Creek Blvd and I-205. That gives me a flat 10 mile warm up before beginning the climb.... and added miles tonight in my quest to reach that 1000 mile for the month number.

I rode easy tonight, taking time to take a few photos. The first one is from the road as it exits the tunnel...of the road as it enters below.


The Portland Wheelmen were riding tonight, I graciously shared MY hill with them. ;-)
This photo is taken from the summit looking down on the road as they were coming up.


The last three were taken from the top.

looking east into the Columbia River Gorge


looking NW over the Columbia River

and

looking North over the Glenn Jackson Bridge with Vancouver, WA in the distance.

Oh, and even with all the goofing around, I did get my thousand mile month. :-)



.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........36..............0.............0..........0..........36
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
YTD........4053..............0............37..........7.........4096

Fun

When I rolled across the finish line of the Furnace Creek 508, and simultaneously qualified for Race Across America, many posed the question; "So what are your plans for next year?". I think they were expecting a run at RAAM. Instead I answered; "I don't know, but I do know one thing, I'm not going to ride when it's not fun"

Tonight was fun!

It was Tuesday, and as such, it was time for Rocky Butte hill repeats for my social bike club again. I got off work on schedule again so I had time to commute to the ride by bike.

As I rode along the I-205 bike path I struck up a conversation with a gal who was riding a bike with flat pedals. She rode better than her gear would indicate. We cruised along for several miles before she veered off for her neighborhood, but not before I invited her to join our little social bike group, and gave her the link to this blog! Probably more than she bargained for!


I got to Rocky Butte about 15 minutes before the ride was scheduled to begin. I noted a vehicle that looked familiar. Dan had arrived and was already riding his repeats. As I was pedaling around waiting for Dan to come back down Monica rode up.
Looked like it was just going to be three of us tonight. No problems, the hill would still be there. ;-)

Before too long she and I began our first trip up the hill. As we were pedaling up Dan was speeding down the hill. We exchanged a quick smile and nod of the head. Monica and I continued up.

It was another nice night for a ride. There were clouds around but temperatures where in the low 70's and the clouds made for some pretty effects.

(as always, you can click on this photo to view full size with an option to zoom in)

We pedaled up and down that hill a half dozen times, and had a good visit doing so. Sometimes there is more value in a ride than just seeing how fast or how far you can ride. This was one of those times.

It was a fun night.

and I'm still closing in on that 1000 miles for the month number. :-O

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........68..............0.............0..........0..........68
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........980..............0............10..........0.........990
YTD........4017..............0............37..........7.........4060

inching

The days are long this time of year, and I got off work at a reasonable time. I thought I'd go for a ride to get a bit closer to bagging another 1000 mile month. Just as I was walking out the door in bike gear I got a call from my brother-in-law. He was commuting home from work on his bike and had a tire failure. Not just a hole or slice but a bead separation. I carry a folding spare tire on most rides, I'll bet Dave starts thinking about that now. ;-)

I changed out of bike shoes and slipped into tennis shoes, hopped in the pickup and drove to Terwilliger Blvd to SAG him back home.

Then I decided that it was still daylight... only 8:30pm and it's daylight for almost an hour yet this time of year. I put the blinkies on the bike and pedaled out.

I rode my "night route" and then did some tootling around some well lit streets close to home.

Inching my way to that 1000 mile mark by riding 36 miles tonight.

Things will really have to fall into place to make that 1000 mile thing happen, but it's fun to reach a little. ;-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........36..............0.............0..........0..........36
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........912..............0............10..........0.........922
YTD........3949..............0............37..........7.........3992

Perfection

That's what today was, just perfection. Perfect weather, perfect route... okay, so I was out there solo, but that was okay today too.

I started off on a bit of a bad note, finding that one of my tubular tires was flat. It was good that I found it that way before I got on the road though, so I'm still going with that "perfect" thing. ;-)

I swapped out the carbon Zipp wheels (and carbon specific brake pads) for my Kysrium wheels and standard brake pads and got on the road a little after 9 AM. I had no particular destination in mind but thought I might ride out and back on the Willamette Valley Bike Route. I wasn't too enthused about that though. I started across the Boone Bridge and planned on picking up the WVBR a few miles from it's Champoeg Park starting point. That plan went out the window real quickly. I'm not terribly fond of out and backs. I rode with a wind at my back to Donald, then over to St Paul where I followed the Willamette River to Keizer. From there I rode to Mt Angel and then followed some Dan Henrys that had me skirt the western edge of Silverton.
Then it was off to Sublimity and Stayton. In Stayton I stopped at Dairy Queen for a banana split! :-)

After that brief stop I continued south until I saw a sign that said Lyons and I took that eastward. I rode up the Santiam Canyon on the south side of the river on a road I've never been on. I climbed up over a 1200 summit

then dropped into Lyons and then on to Mill City. I stopped in Mill City for a large chocolate milkshake and a small hamburger. I talked with a local a bit and he informed me that I could get back to Salem without having to back track and without having to get on Hwy 22 which was very busy with weekend traffic.


I took Old Mehama Rd for the most part, all the way to Stayton. Then I headed to Aumsville and Turner. I entered Salem on a road that went by the airport. I made my way downtown and crossed over the Willamette River on the Marion Street Bridge then took Wallace Rd all the way northward to Lafayette.

Then it was time for the least enjoyable part of the trip. I pedaled a few miles along the side of busy Hwy 99w. It was ok, just not as much fun as the rest of the trip. Just north of Dundee I took a side street that brought me into Newberg.

I skirted the southern end of Newberg and stopped just before starting down Wilsonville Rd to turn on my front and rear blinkies. The road is a bit windy, a lot shady, and if you travel at the wrong time of day can be very busy. Late in the day on a Sunday I practically had the road to myself. I had 3 cars pass me in the 10 miles of Wilsonville Rd.

Blessed by some of the longest days of the year, I finished before it got dark.... barely!

A great ride!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......172..............0.............0..........0.........172
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........876..............0............10..........0.........886
YTD........3913..............0............37..........7.........3966

following the plan...... sort of

My plan today was to attend a fire director's meeting in Lincoln City then ride about 80 miles somewhere on the coast. I did attend the fire director's meeting and the weather was beautiful.
However, I got a late invitation to join a group from Springhill Velo on their 80 mile ride followed by dinner and live music. Sounded like a better deal to me!

Unfortunately, by the time my meeting duties were finished up and I made the over 2 hour drive back I had missed the beginning of the ride. The organizer of the day's event was nice enough to run me up the course in her SUV to catch the rest of the riders and join them from there. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be riding bikes.



They had begun their ride with a ride out to Hagg Lake and back and were now in the Mountain Home area above Scholls and Hillsboro. They were about 60 miles into their day that had significant climbing. I had fresh legs and only 20 miles to go. I should have been just hammering away.... but it was a beautiful day for a social ride, so social ride I did.

When we got above Newberg we regrouped.


The hills had tired some of them and we had a hill known to them as "The Wall" coming up as we would climb Chehalem Drive from North Valley Rd to Bald Peak Rd. A few of us went the wall way, and the rest went an alternate route that avoided this 18% test.


The hill wasn't all that bad, and the view was great!



A friend was a little slower than the group and I held back just to keep company and offer support if needed. It made for a nice climb.



The group had a follow car in case of mechanical issues so I was there mostly just for the company.



We soon arrived back at our host's home where we had a great meal including strawberry shortcake! Along with being pretty darn good cyclists the hosts were pretty musically gifted as well. It was a great way to spend the afternoon and evening.



.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........20..............0.............0..........0..........20
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........704..............0............10..........0.........714
YTD........3741..............0............37..........7.........3794

old school ride

I volunteered to lead a scheduled ride for a fellow social bike club ride leader who found himself unable to ride today.

Good thing I have a few "spare" bikes. My carbon bike is having the cranks replaced under warranty. My 'cross rain bike was just trashed yesterday on Tour de Blast and I haven't had a chance to clean it up yet. The Mtn Bike was out last night on that goofy World Naked Bike Ride and deserved a rest. ;-) Actually I just didn't feel I was up to pedaling it the ~120 miles planned today. That left the Marin. I've got it for sale, and as such have taken off most of my "goodies". No aerobar, no custom gears, no speedometers, no gps mount, handlebars returned to more standard position, a less desirable saddle, oh and flat pedals too.

I hopped on the bike this morning and pedaled out to Hillsboro to lead 11 riders on a 55 mile trip out and around Hagg Lake and back.

I was zoning out a bit on my commute out there and missed a turn. I realized it about a half mile into it. I figured rather than back track I ought to be able to work my way back to my intended route. Bad choice. Long story short, I ended up shouldering the bike and walking nearly a mile on the railroad tracks before reaching a connector road. .....then proceeded to take a wrong turn. I was riding all over the countryside and burning valuable time. I was to meet Ken about half way to Hillsboro where he'd join me for the rest of the commute. I was still about 5 miles out when he called wondering where I was.

By the time I reached him we had about 17 miles to ride, and 50 minutes to do it. Ken is a strong rider and I'm not too proud to suck a wheel when I can. We made it to Hillsboro with 5 minutes to spare. :-)

From there the rest of the group joined us.


Two friends called as I was riding and wanted to join up with us en-route today. That didn't work so good. Our little group killed some time because we were going to be too early to the meeting spot. Our chosen waiting spot seemed better than just standing along the side of the road.


It was finally time to make our way to the meeting spot and we saddled up and pedaled. Before we made it there I got a call saying our two "meeter uppers" had a flat and would be delayed. We arrived at our meeting location and milled around a bit before a rider decided to ride on slowly, saying we could catch up. One by one all of them except Ken joined in and rode off.

After an hour of waiting I called our lost riders and found out that they had made a wrong turn and were a bit off course.

We eventually connected with them and pedaled a brisk pace to try to rejoin the rest of the group. When we got to Hagg Lake our two late arrivals decided they did not have time for the lake and turned around and rode home. ?? Ken and I rode up to the dam and began to ride around in the opposite direction that our group had intended, with the plan to connect up with them as we met them. We didn't get more than half way across the dam before meeting our first riders.

We regrouped and started back toward Hillsboro. Ken has spent many years in the area, but has never ridden around Hagg Lake, he still didn't make it around! :-(

We made it back to our starting/ending point, a couple of riders unintentionally taking a bit of an alternate route.

Most loaded bikes and drove back home. Ken and I still had about 30 miles to go. We picked up the pace a bit and made our way southward.

It was a nice day, no rain, temperature just about right.

I managed to ride flat pedals and a cheap seat all day without too much trouble...or at least not enough trouble to scrap the ride!

The day certainly gave me an appreciation for all the gadgets I have on my other bikes.


.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......117..............0.............0..........0.........117
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........684..............0............10..........0.........694
YTD........3721..............0............37..........7.........3774

Tour de Blast, Blinkies, and Butts

I started off today with a drive up to Toutle Washington for the Tour de Blast. As seems the usual, the weather was ....well the weather was crappy. low 40's on top, low 50's at the bottom, fog, and non stop rain. When I got to Coldwater Lake I decided that this just wasn't fun anymore. I was cold and wet and had a long descent ahead where I'd undoubtedly get colder. I turned around with 6 miles to go. 6 miles of more open and exposed country, higher elevation and colder. I turned around and rode back up to Elk Rock then began the long descent to Tootle. I can't remember the last time I was that cold on a bike. Climbing was warm enough, sort of. But when the descending came, even though I had extra clothes on, I had to stop from time to time to warm up. I was shivering so hard that the bike was jumping. The rain on my glasses was making vision virtually non useful. During one of my warming stops I took the glasses off and stowed them in my pack. I eventually made it back down to Toutle and the sumptuous spaghetti dinner that was included with our registration.

I drove the 90 minutes back home, did a quick bike swap, rain bike for mtn bike, and then joined a friend for..........


I finished up the day by joining the masses to raise awareness of the vulnerability of cyclists.... though I think most just came to the event to be able to ride naked.
I attended the World Naked Bike Ride in Portland.

I picked up a bit of courage to attend by accepting the invitation of a female member of my social bike club. No worries folks, neither of us got naked. We just went to experience the vibe of the evening. What an evening it was! Sort of like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice's world. There were an estimated 12,000 riders. The police had the route closed to cars, just like a parade, and a parade it was. As my friend and I pedaled over a rise in the road all I could see for about 12 blocks was a sea of bikes, blinkies, and butts curb to curb on out as far as we could see.


From the curb back several layers deep were cheering crowds. Only in Portland!


My friend and I stopped for a brief time at one of the famous after parties. We both had big days planned for tomorrow, and the hour was very late, so we didn't stay long.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........78..............0............10..........0..........88
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........567..............0.............0..........0.........567
YTD........3604..............0............37..........7.........3658

Invaded by Californians!

Our little social bike club, the Northwest Butts on Bikes, has a sister group based in Chino CA, known as the Butts on Bikes Inland Empire. AKA "BOBies". The organizers of that group have made their first trip to Oregon to ride the Petal Pedal tomorrow. We organized a short ride and social hour to welcome them to Oregon.

I had planned the 23 mile ride to be at a 13 mph average, doable by virtually everybody. We ended up riding a bit faster than that, but had enough stops that our clock time average was just a shade under 13 mph. Good enough!

It was a nice evening to ride. Good thing those Californians got to ride in sunshine and warm tonight, the forecast for the Petal Pedal tomorrow calls for rain.


Janet from Chino, CA


Keith from Chino, CA

A few of us are heading northward to ride up Mt St Helens on the "Tour de Blast". With rain coming in that might be an interesting ride.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........24..............0.............0..........0..........24
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........489..............0.............0..........0.........489
YTD........3526..............0............27..........7.........3559

another beautiful night in paradise

It is Thursday, that means it's time to lead the second installment for the week of the "Let's go go ride ride some some hill hill repeats repeats" for my social bike club. It was just a beautiful evening to be on a bike. I stopped at the top to take in the view and talked with fellow rider Veronica and we both said how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place.

I am still riding my Marin as my carbon bike is crankless. Hopefully it comes back from the shop before this weekend's Tour de Blast on Saturday followed by a 115 mile ride on Sunday.

I've taken the aerobar off, 56 tooth big ring off, swapped in a 12-25 cogset for my preferred 11-28, flat pedals instead of SPD, and no instrumentation. All in preparation to sell it. It still climbs that hill pretty well. I don't really miss the low gears, but certainly miss the big ring and aerobars for the descent.

There was a smaller group tonight. Only Art and I there as we shoved off, but before we could make the turn onto the hill Veronica pedaled in. Before the evening was over Terry and his wife joined us as well.

A good time was had by all!

On a Race Across the West note, Mick has been riding in some really hot weather. He was near Parker AZ today and the temperature reached 106. Mick is unaccustomed to that kind of heat, but the crew has been doing their job and keeping his temperature under control. At some point we all realize that these long races are races only for a small percentage who have a realistic shot at winning. For everyone else it is more accurately a pass fail test. Can you make it to the finish line before time expires? Mick's crew chief told me tonight that there is no doubt, Mick will pass this test, he will cross that finish line in Durango CO after 860 miles of riding. As Eric "Thrasher" Troili told me as I worked on my goal of finishing the Furnace Creek 508, "Focus on finishing, nothing else matters".


.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........27..............0.............0..........0..........27
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........465..............0.............0..........0.........465
YTD........3502..............0............27..........7.........3535

no biking tonight for me

But a whole lot of biking fun!

I am helping out Race Across the West solo rider Mick Walsh in the position of home based blog assistant. I will be getting phone updates throughout the day as the crew gets into cell service areas and transferring that information to his blog. So far it's been quite an adventure for Mick and his crew. Spirits are high, as is the temperature in the Southern California desert. Today it reached 109 degrees outside of Brawley California, the location of Time Station 2.

The crew chief is also posting audio updates from time to time. Visit Mick's blog for all the latest information.

More fun than we should be allowed to have!

Another rendition of our twice weekly hill repeats on Rocky Butte tonight. It was a perfect evening for this ride, not too hot, not too cold, not too wet... just perfect. We had a good turnout. One started early, and a few couldn't make the 6PM start time, but a total of 13 riders eventually were on the course. Here's those that were ready for the pre ride photo.


My carbon bike is down for repairs right now so I took my Marin out. It has been stripped down to basic bike in anticipation of selling it, but it still went up and down the hill like a champ. ....flat pedals and all!

We say we ride to the top of Rocky Butte, which is not quite correct. We ride to the top of the road but to get to the summit of this little hill would require a short walk up some stairs. I didn't walk up the stairs, but did take a photo of them!


We all have been commenting on how much fun we have been having doing this little hill climbing workout. Who would have known that working this hard could be so much fun? ;-)

Maybe it has something to do with our usual post ride debriefing!


Yup, more fun than we should be allowed to have.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........24..............0.............0..........0..........24
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........438..............0.............0..........0.........438
YTD........3475..............0............27..........7.........3508

bikin'

Paul J of my social bike club was leading a 47 mile ride from Hillsboro today...with a 10AM start time. Silly me, 10AM, about 30 miles from home, why not ride to the ride? That's what I did.
The ride was a bit complicated by a very late night out the night before (hey, had to help celebrate a pretty girl's birthday!) I wanted to get at least 3 hours of sleep so I skipped breakfast. I tossed a little extra "ride food" into my pack and pedaled off toward Hillsboro.
The commute went well. The sun was out and I was just breezing along.


I arrived at the starting location with about an hour to go before the ride. I took the opportunity to go into the grocery store there and grab some junk..er energy food. ;-)
Before long the rest of them arrived and they posed for a photo before we pedaled off.

The route was pretty good taking us into the rural Washington County countryside. This farm boy dutifully pointed out and identified all the crops, including perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, crimson and red clover, even some Burnett and Canola! We also were riding along the edge of some forested land. At times it seemed we had the area to ourselves.

If you ride at the fringes long enough sooner or later you find yourself on roads that maybe aren't the best for road bikes. We took today's "find" in stride and picked our way along through the gravel for about a mile before finding a paved side road that would bring us in a direction we could live with.


There must have been something in the air, seemed that there was a bit of showing off going on.



After arriving back at our starting point we all scattered. The others in vehicles, me still on the bike. They sun of the early morning had been getting more obscured by grey sky as the day went on. As I prepared to pedal back home Paul and I were laying odds on the chance of a dry ride. Neither of us were willing to bet on dry.
Sure enough, I wasn't more than a quarter mile out of the parking lot before a light rain began to fall, big drops, but very light.

It rained most of the way home but was so light that my fenderless wheels never threw up rooster tails. Good thing, I had a STP tyvek jacket along but not much else to protect me from wet roads or rain.

It was nice enough that I took the opportunity for bonus miles. Took a few turns here and there just to add miles. Yup, I'm a sick puppy!

It was a nice day with good folks.


.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......123..............0.............0..........0.........123
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........414..............0.............0..........0.........414
YTD........3451..............0............27..........7.........3484

Strawberry short cut

Ya ya, I know, it's supposed to be strawberry shortcake, but the title is more appropriate to what I did.

Late last night I decided that I should go down to Lebanon and ride the Strawberry Century.
Santiam Spokes always puts on a good ride, and the strawberry shortcake at the end is a great bonus!

It was a beautiful morning for biking and that sealed the deal. Off to Lebanon I went early this morning. I made good time and was soon on the 101 mile route pedaling away.
It was just perfect weather. A bit of a breeze, but not enough to worry about.
It has been a very busy few weeks at work and I haven't quite been able to keep up with all my duties. As I was put pedaling I started thinking of a few things I could do to make next week at work go a bit easier. That's the trouble when pedaling alone, too much time to think.

When the option of taking a short cut presented itself I took it.

I ended up with 79 miles..... and a bit of a head start on next week's "nose to the grindstone" duties.

I'll make up for it tomorrow, I'm "riding to the ride" which by the time it's all said and done will give me about 115 miles.

....road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........79..............0.............0..........0..........79
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........291..............0.............0..........0.........291
YTD........3328..............0............27..........7.........3361

the hill got easier

Full disclosure: It got easier because I only rode it 3 times, and pretty slowly at that!

I suppose I could blame it on my sore rib, but I think lack of motivation played a bigger part of it. It was Thursday and time to lead my twice weekly Rocky Butte hill repeats ride. Although I've been getting about a dozen riders most nights, tonight there was one other RSVP, although Art showed up as a bonus rider.

Scott was the other rider. He's the son of one of our club members and is only in town on a visit. He borrowed his mom's bike and came out for a ride. He's a good rider, too bad we didn't have the group there tonight to push him a bit. We rode for about an hour, Scott got 5 climbs, I got 3, and a visit with Scott's mom. ;-)

Art had to leave early so it was just Scott and I for the photo at the end of the ride tonight.

(photo by Beck Novak)

We retired to the Alameda Brew Pub for a bit to eat before calling it a night.
I'll have to ride a lot of miles this weekend!



....road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........9..............0.............0..........0...........9
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........212..............0.............0..........0.........212
YTD........3249..............0............27..........7.........3282

no riding today but still bikey

I pay enough attention to the Race Across America to know that competitors and their crews are in the final countdown. Solo women riders begin the 3000 mile race across the continent on Tuesday with the solo men beginning 24 hours later. It's a busy week of activity at Oceanside, CA with rider meetings, crew meetings, inspections, and all the hoopla and hype you'd expect of an event that bills itself as "The World's Toughest Bicycle Race" which also is celebrating it's 30th anniversary this year. Simultaneous to RAAM is the Race Across the West. Race Across the West follows the same route as RAAM, with the same start time but riders finish up a mere 860 miles away when they reach Durango, CO.

As an interesting aside, a few of us were talking bike the other day following a club ride. Of course the subject of RAAM came up. (I was wearing my "Race Across America Qualified" jersey) The comment was made that they wouldn't want to race across the country but would like to "take like a month and just do a leisurely ride across America". I noted that if you expected to ride across America in a month you'd have to ride 100 miles a day, every day, head winds, rain, lightning, Rocky Mountains, whatever. Not very "leisurely" for all but the very fittest of cyclists. Now they had a bit more of an idea of what a 8 or 9 day finish meant. ;-)

Though I won't be riding either RAAM or RAW this year I am helping out a bit. My support vehicle cot with integral storage will be following cyclist Mick Walsh on his Race Across the West solo effort. (Mick during the 2010 RAW)
My Furnace Creek 508 crew chief from 2010, John Henry Maurice, will be crewing for Mick. I will also be providing some home based computer support for Mick as he makes his way to Durango.

My 1200w inverter will be taking a bit longer ride. It is in a vehicle going from Oceanside, CA all the way across the country to Annapolis, MD. Of course, a return trip is on the books as well! It is providing power, as it has multiple times on ultra bike races, to a microwave oven. This time it will be making the trip a bit more comfortable for Keith and Alex Kohan who are serving as course officials for the RAAM solo men.

Looks like the closest I will get to an ultra bike race this year will be officiating for Race Across Oregon in July. I've been a course marshal for a couple of OBRA races but never for an ultra.

To all the cyclists and their crews, best of luck on RAAM and RAW. Godspeed! What an adventure awaits!

pre pre ride and a pre ride

Ann W from our social bike group was having a potluck BBQ get together late this afternoon. Being a bike group the attendees thought a BBQ pre ride was in order. Being a bit on the crazy side, I decided that a pre pre ride was in order too!

I rode the same route that the group would ride a few hours later. It was a warm morning but a humid morning for our part of the country. I finished the 38 miles in 2 hrs and 5 minutes. Not bad for an old guy who rode 125 miles the day before and isn't training for anything.

With the pre pre ride over it was soon time for the pre ride. The folks arrived and we talked a bit about the unfortunate situation with one of our club members yesterday. After a bit of discussion we were ready to pedal.


With the preride formalities covered we were soon on our way.



This time the route took just over 3 1/2 hours. A bit slower pace, but the number of stops killed us. Jaimie and I were out front as we were about 3 miles from the end. I missed a turn and we rode a bonus 2 miles to rejoin our route. She and I agreed that it was a good day for bonus miles. Even with our added mileage we managed to meet up with the rest of the group and we all reached the end of the ride together.

We arrived at Ann's potluck BBQ about 20 minutes late but I guess the posted start time was a bit soft... and being a pot luck we had some of the food necessary. ;-)

The BBQ was a good chance to visit with bike friends without having to get short sentences in between gasping for air as we ride!

Following the BBQ on the drive home I saw lightning in the sky. Soon I was in one of the heaviest downpours I've ever been in. I guess I should have guessed that would happen given the warm temperatures and high humidity today. Probably more back to normal for us tomorrow.



....road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........78..............0.............0..........0..........78
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........203..............0.............0..........0.........203
YTD........3240..............0............27..........7.........3273

What was that warm bright thing in the sky?

Today I rode the Portland Wheelman's Pioneer Century. I took a cue from my Randonneur friends and rode to the ride. I started off with a STP Tyvek jacket on at 6:15am on my ride to breakfast....confession here, my favorite pre-ride breakfast is a McDonalds Deluxe Breakfast with hotcakes and a large OJ. By 7AM when I was joined by two riding buddies I took the jacket off and stowed it in my backpack. We made our way across the Canby Ferry and arrived at the start pretty quickly, it was only 9 miles away.

We picked up our registrations and began on the 55 mile loop.

I took my arm warmers off at a stop as we waited for traffic.

We were routed onto a bike path that followed a former logging railroad or maybe an old logging road. Ken had made his way through traffic and dropped Dave and I. Dave and I were moving a respectable speed when we caught up with a half dozen tandems riding together. Much like looking at a mass of storm clouds wondering if they will coalesce into a hurricane we slowed down a bit and waited for this train to get going.


A pair of them eventually decided that the pace as a bit fast for them and dropped off. The others formed a double pace line and Dave and I took up the rear enjoying the draft for many miles.

We climbed a long hill to the first rest/food stop. I took my leg warmers off there. Some comment was made about being blinded by the white! I don't think I've ridden without my legs covered since Furnace Creek last October.


It got to be warm day, something we have not yet become accustomed to this year. It was in the mid to upper 80's in the area depending on the reporting station today. My fluid intake hinted at the temperature, as did the lines of dried salt across the face.

We finished the 55 mile loop about noon, and were required to take lunch at this time if we wanted it. Chris King Components was sponsoring fresh made fajitas. Mmm mmm good, however I, and many others, don't deal well with a large meal in the middle of a ride. I had one fajita, and worse, two cans of orange pop. The fizzy and COLD was soooo good.

We got back on the road to begin our 45 mile loop to complete our century. I paid for that fizzy pop for the next hour. I eventually worked through that and got back up to speed.

I pulled into a rest/food stop in St Paul to find fellow social bike club member Jenn feeling a bit sorry for herself.



It seems that she broke a shift cable and a part of it had fallen inside the mechanism causing it to not be easily repairable. The onsite mechanic from Bike Gallery was doing his best though. He eventually lent her a shifter and replaced the cable to get her back on the road.


From St Paul we rode just a bit farther south then turned into about a 15 mph headwind. Keeping a pace of 14-16 mph was taking a lot of effort, and staying on the aerobars, but could be done. We were passing everyone. The folks were tired and you could see it in their faces. We just reeled them in one after another.

It was warm and Dave was having a bit of problem eating enough. The last few miles riding northward to Canby saw him a long way back in my mirror.

We arrived at the end not much worse for wear. We visited with a group of folks, including noted cyclist Dick Weber.

Though the Wheelmen were taking things down and cleaning up, Dave and I managed to scrounge up some watermelon slices, some nut and fruit cups, and another can of cold soda each.

After quite awhile we decided to hop back on the bikes and finish the day up with a commute over the Canby Ferry.


I took an alternate route back just to get 200k today. By the time all was said and done I had logged 125 miles.

After returning home I was notified that a member of our social bike club was seriously injured on a club ride near Corbett today. Tonight he is in a medically induced coma with severe head injuries. (yes, he had his helmet on)

Please keep him and his family in your thoughts (and prayers for those so inclined)


....road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......125..............0.............0..........0.........125
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June........125..............0.............0..........0.........125
YTD........3162..............0............27..........7.........3195