Blue Moon

I was in Seattle this weekend and began the fun with a ride sponsored by Aaron's Cycles in West Seattle that was celebrating the second full moon of the month, aka Blue Moon.  ....as in "once in a".

While waiting for the ride to begin I spied this business card in a display case:

 Sheldon Brown (1944-2008) was a noted bike mechanic, author, and promoter of all things bike. His "how to" articles are legendary and are maintained up to date today by colleagues and family members.
I asked the shop owner how the had come to acquire the business card and he said he had met Sheldon Brown at a trade show.   Way cool!

The ride was a social ride, and was populated by social riders.  Most were on cruiser or cargo bikes, and helmets were not the norm.  Bike skills were also noticeably lacking. That being said, we did have fun!

We rode down to Alki Beach and occupied a picnic shelter that had been reserved for us.   We were treated to wine, cheese, and crackers by the bike shop. The skies were partly cloudy which made for sporadic sightings of the blue moon.  More available was the view of the Seattle skyline.  The cell phone did not do it justice however.

Following our little picnic under darkeness we pedaled on. We took a different route back to the shop in part to avoid climbing "the hill". The hills on this ride weren't much, but heavy bikes and low bike fitness made for slow going. The hill we took back was more gradual, but longer, and did climb to a higher altitude.




It was a fun ride, not quite as festive as last winter's "waffle rides", but still a fun way to spend an evening.

I ended up with 10 miles for the evening.  This caps the month off with a total of a paltry 531 miles. At one time it appeared I'd log the 10,000 mile for the year by October............  now I'm beginning to wonder if I'll make it by late December!

Today..........10..............0.............0..........0...........10 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........531..............0.............0..........0..........531 YTD..........6867............142............20.........46.........7086

Crater Lake (out there somewhere behind the smoke)

Our little group woke up this morning and prepared to ride to Crater Lake.



We took off with a cloudless sky, but with a bit of smoke from distant forest fires that floated in on the breeze.

The ride starts off with a nearly 3000 ft climb in the first 16 miles. That surely weeds out the fit from the not so fit. Unfortunately, the plan to regroup often fell on deaf ears and as I was riding in back with those who perhaps needed more encouragement I watched as the leaders rode off, not to be seen again until the ride was over.

Those of us on the back of our group did our best to enjoy the ride.

As the morning progressed, the smoke got thicker and thicker. It was disappointing for those of us who have been here before, more like a disaster for those in our group who had never been to Crater Lake before.

If you look carefully, you can see Wizard Island through the smoke.

We did manage to see a few things that showed up even through the smoke.

I was riding with a group of three ladies who alternated on being the lanterne rouge. Before we even reached our lunch stop at the Crater Lake Lodge it became obvious that a SAG run was going to be in order. They probably could have been in before dark, but we had a potluck dinner planned and hoped to have everyone back to camp by 5PM.  I turned around and rode back to get my pickup.

The downhill ride was fun, made good use of my 56x11 gearing.  An incoming phone call interrupted the fun just as I arrived at the Pumice Desert



(for the most fun click the little box on the lower right to go to a full screen playback)

After the call I continued my fast run back to Diamond Lake then drove back up to Crater Lake and followed the route backward.  I came across the leaders as they nearly completed the Rim loop. The tail end of our group was almost 8 miles behind them.

I searched for my three women, but failed to find them as I drove a complete circuit of Crater Lake and had walked all round the Crater Lake Lodge looking for them.  I finally decided they must have turned around at the lodge following lunch and taken the shorter route back to camp. If they had done that there was a good chance that they would have gone back down the hill as I was driving around the lake.

Cell service is pretty much rarity in this area, but I did get a call from some of our group as I finished my first loop around the lake.  I was informed that two of my "women of concern" had gotten a lift back to camp.  I found the third as she pedaled up the last big climb before the big descent back to camp.  She insisted she wanted to pedal.........she said she had come to ride. (gotta admire that spirit!)

I followed her back down the hill with my flashers on to make sure cars gave her adequate clearance.
She descended cautiously, about 25-30 on a hill that most of us rode at 35-40.

She made it back to camp about 5:30PM with a well deserved big smile on her face.

Just a note that on Sunday a few folks rode around Diamond Lake, a few of us returned to Crater Lake to see the Pinnacles and see if we could get a better view of the lake.  We did get a better view of Crater Lake early before the smoke rolled back in.

To see all 200+ photos from this trip go HERE


Today..........36..............0.............0..........0...........36 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........521..............0.............0..........0..........521 YTD..........6857............142............20.........46.........7076

Diamond Lake

This weekend is our annual biking Crater Lake weekend.  A few of us got up to Diamond Lake, our camp location, early enough on Friday to get in a ride around the lake.
The path around Diamond Lake is mostly a dedicated bike path, with only a short stretch on roadside, and another longer segment on campground access roads.

It was a nice opportunity to visit and take in some views before our big event.

We arrived back in camp, ate dinner, had a preride meeting going over tomorrow's details, and turned in.



Today..........11..............0.............0..........0...........11 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........485..............0.............0..........0..........485 YTD..........6821............142............20.........46.........7040

What is it about timber towns?

This coming weekend I lead a Crater Lake campout/ride.  My Brother-in-Law Dave is showing just what kind of rider he is by riding to the ride. He took off this morning and I decided to join him for most of day 1.  He was riding to Detroit, 84 miles. I decided to join him to Gates, 65 miles. First of all, 130 miles seemed like enough today, and at that point of the route he'd have to jump on Hwy 22 for the last 20 miles. Busier traffic and the beginning of the climbing.

We took off just before 7:30 AM, under fair skies. Dave looked like a bike tourist with his new panniers!

Also notice that Dave is no gutter bunny.  He rides vehicularly, the safest way to pedal.

I had taken a leap of faith and allowed Ridewithgps.com to set our route today. We pedaled a few new roads, all safe. It was kind of fun to just pedal along and see which roads it was going to send us on!


audio update

The ride went well until we got to Lyons.  I don't know what it is about timber towns, and my apologies to my friends in the timber industry, but it seems that if I'm going to have trouble while on a bike there will be plenty of "I love spotted owls..they taste like chicken" bumper stickers around.  Today was no exception.  Dave and I were riding through Lyons near the intersection of Fir and 5th.  There is a very wide paved shoulder there outside the fogline, probably 8 ft or more. Dave was leading, I was few feet back. I noticed a pickup coming up behind me in my mirror.  He was driving on the shoulder.  I presumed he was going to turn into a driveway. Well, surprise, he practically runs me over before jerking the wheel bringing his vehicle back into the lane with a screech of tires. He drives ahead about 75 feet and stops.  As Dave and I pedal up, he takes off again.  I note the color and plate. (white and bronze, full size Ford, Oregon plate SUR 456) I take out my phone and call the police.  As I am talking to them an oncoming car stops and asks if we had been hit. I guess he saw the incident. He said the vehicle had pulled off ahead.  I pedaled on and kept my eyes open.  Sure enough, at the corner of 19th and Main, here sits said older gentleman on the porch of his doublewide with his Ford pickup parked in the driveway right next to him. Before I could even see the plate on his pickup to verify, he started in on me.  The usual drivel, bikes don't belong on roads, you were riding two wide right down the middle of the road, you are going to get killed if you keep riding on roads  I just called the police again and said I now knew where the guy lived.


audio update

(and though I said I was in Mehama, I was actually in Mill City, darn M towns, they confuse me!)

The cops called me back after talking to him just as I was finishing the Ipadio update, hence, rather than take the chance of losing the policeman's call, I just switched to it. Sorry for the massive amount of dead air on the end of the audio post, but at least you now know why it's there.

At Mill City we stopped for a break at the park, and said our goodbyes.  Dave would continue another 20 miles up the canyon to Detroit, I would turn around and retrace my route to Wilsonville.

There was a bit of headwind on the return trip. Just a bit, but noticable.

 
It was a nice day to pedal.


Today.........130..............0.............0..........0..........130 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........474..............0.............0..........0..........474 YTD..........6810............142............20.........46.........7029

Multnomah Falls

After several days of 100 degree weather it seemed like a good plan to go ride somewhere cool. I posted a suggestion for riding the Three Capes Scenic Loop near Tillamook on the Oregon Coast to Facebook. It would be 25 degrees cooler there. I had one nibble. As it ended up, the weather changed and it was going to be much cooler locally too so the plan morphed to some 75 ish mile ride around the Portland area. Jon had to check his permissions and would get back to me. Alas, I was sleeping before we could get coordinated. I took off early in the morning with a plan to complete the ride I cut short yesterday. Today I planned to ride to Multnomah Falls from Tualatin. The weather was indeed cooler, in fact there was some widely scattered drips from time to time. I didn't have anything other than shorts and a jersey so I was glad the precipitation didn't get too serious. I enjoyed the cooler air and pedaled quite easily to Multnomah Falls. I remember not too many years ago when the Historic Highway seemed like a daunting hill to pedal, now it's just something to get over. :-) It was a fun ride. By the time I got back to Tualatin the sun had come out from behind the clouds and it was getting warm. Not hot, just warm. Fun, just fun.



Today..........84..............0.............0..........0...........84 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........344..............0.............0..........0..........344 YTD..........6680............142............20.........46.........6899

a nice day for a bike ride

I had planned to get an early start and go for a ride before it got hot. It was predicted to reach 100 degrees today, and the prediction was correct. I got delayed with "stuff" and didn't get out nearly as early as I had hoped. I began my ride at 24 Hour Fitness in Tualatin. A nice parking lot........and showers right at the end of the ride. :-) I made my way over the Selwood Bridge then out the Springwater Corridor and over the Sandy River on the Stark Street Bridge. From there it was a gentle climb to Women's Forum Park. It was getting warm and I had chores to attend to at home so I turned around there rather than drop down to Multnomah Falls and have to climb back up again. I made it back by 2PM. It was warm, but it was going to get a lot warmer before the day was finished. When I got back to 24 Hour Fitness I noted that I was not the only one thinking a bike ride was in order today.

Today..........67..............0.............0..........0...........67 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........260..............0.............0..........0..........260 YTD..........6596............142............20.........46.........6815

Fire and Ice

It was a hot day.  Portland officially reached 100 degrees at the airport today.  It would have been hotter downtown, and was certainly hotter out in the suburbs, where it reached 103 just down the road in Sherwood.  After the sun went down it was a perfect evening to go for frozen yogurt.  ;-)

I put on my lights and went for a very short ride to get some mango frozen yogurt.

 Today...........3..............0.............0..........0............3 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........193..............0.............0..........0..........193 YTD..........6529............142............20.........46.........6748

Riding with the famous!

My tailbone is still very sore from that little tumble I took last Wednesday, so I was a little concerned to be joining Mick Walsh today on a ride.  He can kick my butt on my best day, so I was hoping he wouldn't kick it too hard today, after all, I'm somewhat disabled!

I rode down from the Queen Ann neighborhood in Seattle

 and crossed the Freemont Bridge

 then out the Burke-Gilman trail, then followed the Sammamish River trail

to it's terminus at Marymoor Park

where I met Mick as he got off work. We greeted each other, I asked him to be easy on me. :-)

We pedaled off into a headwind at a good solid 20 mph. After about 8-10 miles of this I got a compliment, "for someone who hasn't ridden much this month you aren't too shabby".  Not bad coming from a rider of his caliber. :-)

We continued to pedal quickly and moved right down the trail.  Before too long we had covered the ~25 miles to where he turned toward home.  I continued down the BG trail.  I arrived at the Aurora Bridge and stopped for a photo op.

A statue of Sri Chimnoy stands along the Burke-Gilman trail just below the Aurora Bridge.

I finished up today's ride with a climb the 27% 4th Street back up to Queen Ann..........  just because.



 Today..........57..............0.............0..........0...........57 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........190..............0.............0..........0..........190 YTD..........6526............142............20.........46.........6745

Riding the Burke-Gilman Trail

I started out mid afternoon on a ride from the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle DOWN across the Fremont Bridge where I accessed the Burke-Gilman Trail. I rode the BG out past the University of Washington, where the STP begins each July and continued on to Log Boom Park where I joined a Cascade Bicycle Club ride a few weeks ago. From Log Boom Park on, I was on new territory. When I got to Wayne Golf Course I was in Bothel and intersected the Sammamish River Trail. Blythe Park was also in this intersection of interesting trails.

I was also out of time to explore. I turned around and backtracked. By this time the trail was getting busy with commuters on their way home. It was a bit hard to keep up a quick pace with all the bike and pedestrian traffic. I did take a brief stop to inspect some brightly colored trees.

I made it back UP to Queen Anne via Warren Street which reached 16%. Ugh!


Today..........35..............0.............0..........0...........35 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........133..............0.............0..........0..........133 YTD..........6469............142............20.........46.........6688

Riding Kitsap with the Mayor

I joined 11 others today on a Cascade Bicycle Club ride on the Kitsap Peninsula. Our route leader was Leo Stone, who I refer to as "The Mayor of Kitsap". Like all good mayors, he is very good about promoting his home town and is just full of amusing and entertaining stories of local interest that he is more than willing to share.













We started of with a loose plan to follow the Manette Loop of the recent Tour de Kitsap. However, with a local tour guide at the lead, we soon modified that. We took in a number of delightful secondary roads with low traffic. We had lunch in Poulsbo
 

Most of us came over to the ride via ferry from Seattle. Our route was planned to be about 50 miles, and with 20 miles to go, one of the women expressed a desire to be back for the 3 pm ferry sailing. The next ferry after that was scheduled for 4:30, so it seemed reasonable to make the effort. We were all sitting at a traffic signal discussing this as the light turned green. The ride leader said let's go, and repeated as time ticked and the group was a bit slow to respond. I noted the sloping downhill road and the brisk tailwind, perfect conditions for me to demonstrate the benefits of my 56-11 gearing! I pedaled out in front and held a brisk pace. For the last 20 miles I had a 26 mph average, never dropped below 17 mph, and never above 35mph. I made the ferry with 50 minutes to spare. Not bad for an old guy with a sore butt! :-) I was the only one in the group to make the 3pm ferry. :-(

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........55..............0.............0..........0...........55 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug............98..............0.............0..........0...........98 YTD..........6434............142............20.........46.........6653

Riding to Pullman

Today RAW riders had a layover day. Most went on a variety of routes offered or or just went for random rides. All rides were officially unsupported, and as such, I had the day off. I joined a friend and a few others on a ride to Pullman. We were in the rolling hill country of The Palouse and we started up a hill just as we pedaled out of town. I reached the top of the hill a bit more quickly than my ride partners and planned to turn around and ride back up with them. The road was making a sweeping left turn at the top where I made my turn-around. I was going a bit fast to start with, only made worse by the banked turn. It became obvious to me that I was going to run out of pavement before completing my turn. Usually no big deal, I planned to make a controlled entry to the gravel, stabilize, then jump back up on the asphalt and continue on my merry way. Unfortunately, the gravel shoulder that appeared firm was as soft as sand. My front tire sunk in about 4" and I was going down. I did manage to unclip before I hit. I rolled over a fiberglass road reflector, and landed on my back, knocking the wind out of myself. The asphalt had about a 4" drop to the shoulder and my tail bone landed right on that edge. So there I lay, tangled up with my bike, unable to breath, head laying right where a car's tire would run, and on a corner. I decided I should move out of the traffic lines quickly! In the photo of the crash site you can see the impressions in the gravel of my two tires and leg!

 I was sore after the fall, but decided the best course of action was to ride.  I was back up on the bike before my riding partners were able to round the curve and see me down.  We continued up to Pullman where we stopped at a local ice cream shop near Washington State University.
I found that I could pedal reasonably well, but walking or lifting a leg over the bike was almost impossible. Non the less, it was a good ride.

 ........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........35..............0.............0..........0...........35 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.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug............43..............0.............0..........0...........43 YTD..........6379............142............20.........46.........6598

hardly worth blogging about

I took a last minute adventure by volunteering as support for Cascade Bicycle Club's 6 day "Ride Around Washington" (RAW).  My duty was originally to sweep the course late each afternoon for those that needed help getting back in.  I figured I could ride each day with the group until lunch then just ride back to my pickup in time to begin my sweep duties.

As it ended up, Cascade was short handed and I was pressed into full time ride support duties.  I helped with flats, supplied water and snacks, and helped with sag duties.  That left little time for riding.

I did however ride the 1/2 mile to a local watering hole in Palouse, WA tonight with a few of the riders.  I even made it the 1/2 mile back to camp when we finished.  ;-)

I was fascinated with the geology here.  I'm told that the soil is 100-200 feet thick on top of the base of volcanic rock so common in our area and visually evident in most locations east of the Cascades.  The entire layer is free from rocks and pebbles because it is composed of wind blown volcanic ash and glacial flour. The landscape looks very much like the sand dunes we are all familiar with except that it is covered with wheat, garbanzo beans, and lentils!





 ........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.........1..............0..............0..........0..............1
 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..........1500...............0...............0............0.....1500 July...........1558...............0................0............0......1558
 Aug................8..............0................0..........0...............8
 YTD........6344............142............20.........46.........6553

a short morning pedal

I am a support driver for Cascade Bicycle Club's Ride Around Washington. (RAW). The ride began yesterday with the group riding from Chewelah, WA to Spirit Lake, WA.  I had planned on riding everyday, but plans were changed when we found ourselves short handed.  Today I was assigned sweep duties and as such will be the last vehicle out of camp.  I took the opportunity that a late start afforded and went for a short bike ride this morning.  I rode out with some of the group until the first turn, 3.5 miles out, before turning back. The scenery was very similar to the La Pine area of Oregon except we didn't see any large snow capped peaks. It was nice to be out pedaling in the morning air.

 ........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.........7..............0..............0..........0.............7
  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..........1500...............0...............0............0.....1500 July...........1558...............0................0............0......1558
Aug.................7...............0..............0............0..............7
 YTD........6343............142............20.........46.........6551