A head start

A friend and I decided to get a little pre-ride in on the De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia route today. The De Ronde is a non official ride that "doesn't take place" in early April each year.



Of course the roads and hills are there year round and we thought it would be good to ride the course today. My pedal partner had plans in the early afternoon so we started off near daylight. The first few miles were along Hwy 30, but traffic was light. Once starting into the hills we were pretty much by ourselves.

It was a cool start, temperatures were in the mid to upper 30's. As we climbed up into the hills we could see a blanket of fog laying over the valley.



Before long we reached the fabled and feared Brynwood Lane.(grade to 32%!) We pedaled up it, not without effort, but we did indeed pedal the whole thing. The weather was nicer than this rendition of the ride.... that I was also on!



As we pedaled through the neighborhood we came across someone using the antique horse rings to tether their pony to. :-)



After 31 miles, and 4400 ft of climbing!, my friend had to take leave so as not be late for the afternoon appoinment. I accompanied her back to her car, then noted the improving weather, and pedaled back up to the course where I had left and continued.

I ended up with all 49 miles of the route, along with 19 miles of mid course commute, for 68 total miles with just over 11,000 ft of climbing. Not bad for an old guy who hasn't biked much lately. ;-)


........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........68..............0.............0..........0...........68
Jan.........105.............34.............0..........0..........139
Feb.........210..............0.............0..........0..........210
YTD.........315.............34.............0..........0..........349