Race Across Oregon (2 course records), Furnace Creek 508, UMCA North American 500 Mile Time Trial Champion, 4 consecutive 10k mile years. I no longer bike after being hit 3 times by drivers who violated the law, but were never held responsible. I no longer want to risk my life for the fun of riding bike.
I attended the Salem Bicycle Club's monthly meeting last night to listen to John Henry "Hoary Marmot" Maurice give a presentation on his successful 508 adventure last October. I was one of his crew members and took most of the photos he would be using. It was going to be fun to hear Hoary Marmot's account of the adventure!
It is easy for those of us who ride these ultra cycling races to forget how little our more normal cycling friends know about the endeavor. About 30 people were in attendance and John Henry had their attention as he went through his Powerpoint that included a lot of photos and video. The plethora of questions ranged from the answerable, "what do you eat?" to the unanswerable, "why do you do this?".
John Henry's presentation was followed by Lorie Bickford of JoyRide Cycling Studio. Lorie gave an update on JoyRide's upcoming events. She also told the folks in attendance of my crazy goal, and JoyRide's desire to be a sponsor of that effort.
I rode Chilly Hilly today. It was predicted to be a bit wet and cold. What we got was gorgeous biking weather. There was frost in the morning as I pedaled off, but I was dressed for the weather and with the hills making some work out of it, along with a quick pace, I was plenty warm.
I dallied around the start trying to meet up with "the mayor of Kitsap" Leo S but didn't see him during his expected 7:30-8 window. There was a steady stream of local riders starting on the course already. Not wanting to get tied up in the mass of riders coming in on the ferry I pedaled off.
The weather was beautiful. There was no ice on the roads as they were dry. The sky above was mostly blue, and there was no noticeable wind. Can't complain about any of that.
I was pedaling a reasonably quick pace. I managed to arrive at the official rest stop, the Cider Stop, located 19 miles into the route, as rider #6. I was a bit surprised. I had a hot cider and banana. I talked with a few girl scouts, and updated my facebook page from my phone. ;-)
By the time I returned to my bike I noticed a steady stream of cyclists going by. So much for being rider #6 at the finish!
It was a beautiful day, whenever an opportunity to take a photo presented itself I'd stop, take off my gloves, take the camera out of my pack, take the picture, put everything back together, and pedal off.
I managed to take a few photos, but the best ones seemed to involve water.
The clouds became a bit more numerous as the morning progressed, but we still had far more blue than grey above us. Email updates told me that it was snowing in Seattle however. Looking across the water I could see that Seattle was under a different sky than the Chilly Hilly route on Bainbridge Island.
Others got photos of the hills and riders, I was ahead of the masses so missed photos like this one.
I finished the 33 mile route in 2.5 hours, not bad considering the hills, the photo stops, and the extended Cider Stop. All tolled, it appears that I was stopped for a total of 27 minutes (according to my Garmin)
I had planned to ride the route twice, but my Seattle friends sent a text that they were at the half way point and expected to be to the finish in about 60-90 minutes. I figured I should wait around so as not to miss them.
I milled around the finish festivities for a bit. I was visiting with a Cascade Bicycle Club booth person. I eventually found out she was the famous Cascade user boards maven, M.J. Kelly. :-)
A few tiny dry flakes of snow began swirling around. It was magical.
Finally after several more text message volleys it was determined I should make my way over to the mainland and just meet everyone at a pizza place. Most of the rest of the folks were already there.
I boarded the ferry. There is always something good about seeing a ferry fill up with bikes.
I took a lot of video with my GoPro camera, but I won't even try to do any better than this fellow Chilly Hilly rider put together.
It was a good ride, and the "debriefing" at the pizza place was good too. It was nice to see a lot of the folks that I only knew by name from the Cascade user boards and facebook page.
I took a quick spin on Pete's Mountain this morning. There are signs of the impending Spring, buds pushing, crocuses peeking up, but at the same time I was dodging a few snowflakes as I pedaled.
It was a little wet and chilly, but I wasn't out long enough to get deep down cold. It was nice to get a few miles in before spending the afternoon driving up to Puget Sound for Chilly Hilly.
Oh, and if you are looking for a way to support my Race Across America efforts you can surf on over to my RAAM blog where you'll find that you are now able to click on a handy PayPal link.
I've been riding rollers a lot lately, and even the lifecycle for the first time in about a year. Tonight was dry. I took the bike out on Portland's 40 mile loop. There are only a few miles on road, the rest is on multi-use paths. Not quite like real road riding, but a whole lot more real than the lifecycle!
The weather was a lot better than it was supposed to be. There were some clouds, but a fair amount of blue showing through.
Of all things, I just didn't feel like riding in traffic after work today. In keeping with my new found riding needs, I knew I had to ride something. I took the rollers out on the deck and went for the hard ride. I'm such a rookie on rollers that I really need to keep my speed up to keep from wobbling off the things. I put the bike in a tall gear and pedal hard. I think it's a harder workout than real riding because there is no coasting, just pedal, pedal, pedal.
I was intending to get a good hard ride in tonight on the rollers. I set up out on the deck so I could take advantage of the cool air and breeze, and also not have to deal with the puddles on the floor! But alas, it began to rain shortly after I started and my aluminum rollers become even more slippery when wet! Who knew? I gave up after 6 "miles". I'll go to the gym and pedal the stationary bike for the first time in several years. ... must ride bike.
evening update:
I did indeed go pedal the lifecycle at 24 Hour Fitness tonight. Ugh.. but I did get another 24 "miles" in. Not as many miles as Jon Durdick gets each day, but I'll take it.
Just not many miles. They will come though, I'm starting to feel bikey again.
Today a bike friend and I pedaled out from her home and headed for Council Crest, and the balance of the De Ronde Van Oeste Portlandia route that she didn't have time to finish last time out. We moved along at a decent pace, Monica rides much stronger than she did last year. We made our way across the Sellwood Bridge, up through the cemetery, and out Terwilliger then spotted our first Lion of Flanders. From there it was up and down the hills with abandon.
We finished the course then rode back down Broadway and across the Hawthorne Bridge. As we pedaled through the Belmont neighborhood the aroma of food caught these hungry riders. We stopped at the Waffle Window and sat a spell feeding our faces before continuing on back to the Wilshire Park area.
Now, about this needing to ride a bike thing.............
It is cold and wet outside. I've pedaled in that weather many times, but today just can't get my head around it. I do need to start riding more though, so I put my newly minted SoCal pedaling DVD in and set the bike on my rollers and pedaled. In just under 90 minutes I was hot, sweaty, and so done with it!
It ended up being a fairly nice day. It turned out to be an even better night. You know, one of those nights when you say to yourself, "Gee, it would be a nice night to be on a bike". What, you don't say things like that? I do!
I arrived at the starting location, and took in the view.
As expected, I was the only one there. I went for a bike ride!
I rode Portland's 40 Mile Loop. It's a good route for night riding as it is mostly on dedicated bike paths, and the few miles of road are well suited for biking.
It was a good night for a ride, cool, but calm. Almost magical.
After having 8 tell me they were coming, exactly ZERO showed up.
Luckily, one gal works in the floral industry and as you might imagine, Valentine's Day is a busy time at work for her. She called with her apologies saying she wouldn't be able to get to the ride for at least 20 minutes so not to wait, she'd just stay home. Little did she know I had little else to do but wait for a riding partner. ;-)
When she arrived we decided to toss out the easy Springwater Trail route that I had planned for our less experienced friends and instead we decided to ride to Council Crest.
We followed Montgomery St out of downtown and up into the West Hills. We arrived at Council Crest and ooohed and awwwwd over the city lights.
We descended via Broadway.
When it was all done, we only got 16 miles, but some good climbing.
I put together a DVD to ride rollers to from video I took during the San Diego Christmas Bike Ride. I was thinking it might have been a good night to premier the program and ride rollers. I made a call to a likely candidate to ride with because misery loves company. ;-)
Instead of riding rollers however I was easily convinced that riding outdoors was better.
We started off with no set plan other than to go for a bike ride. We rode from the Clackamas area north on the I-205 bike path, then turned westward on a bike boulevard. At each fork in the road we'd pause and flip a coin, or turn a wheel, to decide which way to turn. To our surprise we soon found ourselves in the neighborhood where the Waffle Window is. My pedal partner is the co-conspirator in the infamous "Waffle Rides" so just had to make a detour in search of a waffle. Alas, the Waffle Window was closed when we got there. We grabbed a few M&M's and pedaled on.
It was a pretty good night for a ride. There were just a few of the smallest of raindrops, more heavy high fog than rain really. We pedaled up Mt Tabor and back down the other side. We arrived back at our vehicles without issues We finished up before it got too cold, and had dodged any real rain. Not a bad evening for a bike ride at all.
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. ;-)
I dropped my pickup off to have some work done then rode my bike to work. At the end of the day I rode back to get the pickup. I rode my mountain bike because it has combination pedals that are SPD on one side and flat on the other. It allowed me to ride in my work clothes and shoes. It wasn't like a real commute... only two miles! ;-)
after having 26 people say they were joining in the fun today 11 brave folks showed up today. Poor Monica was left to carry all womankind on her shoulders as she was the only female to ride with us today.
I rode very few miles in the last month and it showed. Though our ride was posted as a 15 mph pace the no shows and unRSVP's were for the most part our weaker riders. Our first half had a slight tailwind. We stopped in Brooks for probably 45 minutes to refuel and rest, then turned into an increasing wind. The testosterone laced guys kicked it up a notch and a few of us, me included, struggled to keep up.
The last 10 miles also brought us the most concentrated climbing of the day. I was well off the lead group when we finished. But I did finish. ;-)
I showed a 15.2 mph on bike average, pretty darn close to the advertised pace!
All of us finished, and 6 of us did not have plans for the post ride so we retired to McMenamins and had snacks and birthday cake. (thanks Bev!)
oh, and as was pointed out to me, I do now have more miles in February than I had in all of January....and it's only February 5th.
I got back on the bike today. After a nearly 1200 mile December, followed by a 105 mile January I was wondering if I was ever going to get back on that bike!
Today was a beautiful day, blue sky, a high of 60 degrees. I pedaled 30 miles to my mother's house and pruned her grapes then pedaled back. I could feel that I hadn't biked much in the last month, but it was a good ride. It felt good to be back on the bike.
I got home from that ride and loaded the bike up and headed into Portland where I was to meet 5 others for another rendition of our now famous "waffle ride". As I drove in I was notified of 3 of our group deciding not to ride tonight. Their loss. It was a great evening for a ride. Warmer than we expected and the east county winds were not a factor on the inner east side.
We headed straight for the waffles because they close at 9pm this time of year. Our little group prefers the waffle stop at the end of our ride, but you gotta take waffles when waffles are available!
From there we rode to Widmer Brothers Brewing. Widmer has been on our list on most of our previous waffle rides, but it's always been on the end of our route and by 2AM we were ready for waffles so dropped Widmer. This time we started there! ;-)
We started our ride tonight a bit later than normal to accommodate a participant who was out of town to attend a funeral and would have had trouble getting back in time. Since she was the founder of this craziness we figured we could start a bit later to allow her to join us.
Our third participant had to take leave after Widmer so that he could be home by 11PM. Since we left Widmer at 10:45 I doubt he made it, but he at least wasn't sitting in a bar when the call came!
Chris and I decided it was just too nice of an evening to call it quits. We pedaled a loop of the Portland Waterfront. It was a beautiful day followed by a beautiful night. We made a few stops for photos.
When you don't bring a tripod you make do with concrete curbs!
We finished up and put the bikes back in our vehicles. Within minutes it was midnight, and Chris became the first person to wish me happy birthday on my birthday!
Tomorrow I had 26 people joining me for a 57 mile birthday ride, but tonight 6 of them found other things to do. (who would pass up a bike ride to watch football?)
It's going to be very nice weather again tomorrow. If I have to get another year older it least it's a nice day to do so!
Barring bad luck, by the end of tomorrow I'll have more miles by the 5th day of the month than I logged all last month. (of course that's not saying much!)
In October of 2010 I completed a 4 year goal of finishing the Furnace Creek 508, an Ultra Cycling race billed as "The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport". I had planned to put together a video of the experience, however I could never come up with a plan on how to document what ended up being just a long bike ride.
