Two State Bike Path Tour

Today I rode Portland's 40 mile loop, that includes the Peninsula Crossing Trail, Marine Drive Bike Path, the I-205 Bike Path, Springwater Corridor, and the Eastbank Esplanade. When I was half way around the 40 Mile Loop I rode across the Interstate Bridge and rode a 23 mile loop that included the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail and the Salmon Creek Trail.

I started off with a stop at Performance Bike to take care of my melted brake pad issues from last night. The Kool Stop representative came over to the store and picked up my damaged pads to bring back to their lab to determine what went wrong. He brought along replacement pads for me at no cost. (expected) In addition he handed me 2 more sets, each with different attributes, to try out.  Again, without cost. (not expected!)

With my stopping issue resolved, I continued on to Oaks Park where I began the ride today.



 It was a nice day to pedal with a comfortable temperature and light winds.  The trip was scenic and uneventful, at least for the first 50 miles.

As I rode the Peninsula Crossing trail I stopped for a photo in the usual spot.

 When I reached the Interstate Bridge I rode across and entered Washington and began the 23 mile route that my social bike club rode last Wednesday evening. I however rode both of their loops in a counter-clockwise direction, allowing for a climb up the "dreaded" Felida hill. ;-)

Soon after crossing the Interstate Bridge I came across Big Ron, and decided one of his hot dogs would be just about right.  It was!

Adequately fueled, I made my way past Propstra Square in Esther Short Park.

I pedaled along and made my way to the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail then a few more miles of road before riding the Salmon Creek Trail.  I had never been on the Salmon Creek Trail before, or for that matter, had never been on most of this route before.  Washington, is after all, a different state! Both of these trails traverse greenways that are quite scenic.

After riding the two trails, and conquering that "dreaded" Felida hill I crossed back over the Interstate Bridge and continued the 40 Mile Loop where I left off. That all went well until I reached about half way along the I-205 path, about the 50 mile mark of today's ride.  I had my Zipp tubular wheels in today.  I carried a spare tubular tire and a can of Vittoria Pit Stop.  Pit Stop is a can of compressed air and foam, designed to stop leaks and reinflate. As I was pedaling suddenly something didn't quite feel right.  Sure enough, I noticed that my front tire was flat. I stopped and used my can of Pit Stop in an attempt to take the easy way out. As the tire came up to pressure I noticed foam leaking out.  There was still glass in the tire and that stopped the foam from sealing.  I took the tire off and mounted my spare tire.  Before I could do that however, I had to deal with trying to get a valve extender off without having any tools to do that.  I eventually got the extender wedged in some brickwork and got it off.  Note to self, next time have valve extenders installed on spare tires so I don't have to swap them on the road. I pumped the tire up to pressure and pedaled off, only to find that the rear tire was also flat!

Well, this was getting interesting. I had used my spare tire and most of my canned foam.  I squirted all the foam I had left into the tire and kept my fingers crossed. I pumped the tire up to pressure and rode off.  The little foam I had in the tire did not seal perfectly, and I had to stop about every 15 minutes to top off. During about the third stop to add air, the extender broke off.  I tried to put it back on, successful only in letting out a lot of air.  Now I had no way to add air and guessing maybe 30 lbs in the tire, about 1/4 of what it should have had.   .....and it was still leaking slowly.

I rode the last 7 miles putting all the weight that I could on the front tire. I was carrying the majority of my weight on my arms and only putting enough pressure on the pedals to keep them spinning.

By the time I got back to my pickup the tire was down to about 5psi.  But I did make it back, and rain started within minutes after I had the bike loaded and I was safely sitting inside.

It could have been far worse!

  ........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........63..............0..............0..........0............63
   Jan.........105.............34.............0..........0..........139
 Feb.........428............108.............0.........24..........536 March.......809..............0.............0.........22..........831
 April.........1010..............0.............0..........0.........1010
 May..........1000..............0.............20..........0..........1020
 June............63...............0...............0............0.............63
 YTD........3406............142............20.........46.........3589