A change of seasons

Or so it seemed tonight. I led the twice weekly Rocky Butte hill repeat ride tonight. I commuted in from Oaks Park, saving a slow rush hour drive, and adding 10 miles one way.

At the start of the ride there were only two of us. Monica has dual citizenship and was there to sign in fellow Portland Wheelmen as well as ride. No other Wheelmen showed up. At 6 PM we started up the hill. By our second repeat Dean arrived. Dean was on of the 140 mile Ride Around Mt Hood ride a week and a half ago. I didn't know he was coming but Monica did I guess.

We proceeded to go up and down the hill. There were some drizzly looking clouds around this evening, and sure enough by about 45 minutes into our 90 minute ride a light rain started falling. I had a jacket along in my pack, along with a good light for the commute back after dark. I stopped and put the jacket on.

My riding partners weren't prepared for the rain. By 10 minutes after 7, about 20 minutes before our scheduled finish, they were cold and wet and called it quits.
We sat at the bottom of the hill and chatted just a bit before they pedaled off into the sunset... except it was too cloudy to see the sun set.

I did what I'm best at... I just rode my bike. I pedaled back along the I-205 path, to the Springwater trail. By the time I got about half way along the Springwater the rain stopped. I had my 1w LED blinky on the handlebars and my Light and Motion Stella LED on the helmet. I had plenty of light and was warm enough. I reached to Willamette River and rather than stop at my pickup I headed toward downtown Portland. I reached the East Bank Esplanade and rode up to the Steel Bridge then crossed the river and rode on the west side until I crossed the river on the Ross Island Bridge. I returned back to Oaks Park with 51 total miles for tonight. Even with the rain, it was a good night for a ride.


..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........51..............0.............0..........0..........51
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
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........508..............0............50..........0.........558
YTD........6660..............0............87..........7........6842