Multnomah Falls

Today was a gorgeous day for a bike ride.  I took off from Wilsonville and rode to Multnomah Falls and back. I felt adventurous and let Ridewithgps.com determine my route.  I've had fun when doing this before. Today was no exception.

I started off by riding out to and over the Oregon City Bridge, no surprises there.  But once in Oregon City I was directed in a new way for me.  I rode north out of OC and was soon on the Clackamas River Multi-use path. Not only had I never been on it, I didn't know it existed!

Just as the trail ended I recognized where I was.  A friend and I had biked here from the opposite direction last year.

Today I just kept pedaling along.  From here I turned north and more or less followed next to I-205, sometimes close, sometime farther away.  Eventually I reached the southern end of the I-205 bike path and took it northward.  When I reached the Springwater Trail I took it east.

Once in Gresham I hopped on Powell Blvd and continued east.

When I reached Hogan Rd I turned north until reaching Stark Street.  I took Stark eastward and crossed the Sandy River.

I started up the Historic Columbia Gorge Scenic Hwy.  I could tell that I haven't been riding much this year.  The hill is not steep, 5% max, but I could feel it.  I finally made my way to Women's Forum State Park, the high point of today's ride.  I took the obligatory photo of the Vista House across the way.

I then proceeded on and got a photo from a closer vantage point.

Before long I was at Multnomah Falls, my turnaround point for today's ride.

I didn't dally long, I had a late start today and was going to need my time to be able to be home while the sun was still up. It was a nice day for a pedal, I couldn't help but let my mind wander to summer rides in the Gorge as I pedaled along in shorts and short sleeves.

The Gorge never disappoints as far as scenic beauty goes.

Lewis and Clark traveled down the Columbia River over 200 years ago.  My mind wandered to thoughts of what they might have been thinking as they traveled this portion of river.

I retraced my route back toward Wilsonville.  I crossed the Oregon City Bridge and stopped for a V8 juice at the little store on the west side.  I knew that there was a climb coming up, and my legs were feeling the miles. I pedaled out through historic Willamette, and then the climbing became more serious.  I made my way up Turner Rd.....S  L  O  W  L  Y, but made it. The sun was getting low in the sky and Turner Rd is shaded by trees the whole way, I turned my rear blinkies on.  There weren't many cars, but it only takes one.

I rolled back into Wilsonville, the sun still up for another 20 minutes or so after I stopped pedaling.

Cut it close, but it was a good day on the bike, and a good workout for this old guy! 


Today............104...............0.............0..........0............104 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 Total.............1160.............0...............0.........0..........1160

Holding air, and holding my breath

Facebook bike group friends and blog followers are aware that I've been fighting with wheel issues on a new single speed bike that I bought at a charity auction recently.  After way too much time fighting with tubes, valve extensions, and broken tire levers, I made a last ditch effort and added 8oz of Slime to the front wheel.

I didn't dare remove the rear tire which was already holding air. I knew that removal and reinstallation would certainly cause more punctures.

With the tires currently holding air, I took off for an inaugural ride.  I rode 3 miles, while holding my breath, and crossing my fingers.

I'll never be able to change a flat on the road, but may just take it out for a 12.7 mile ride I have planned for Friday night. The route is such that I'll never be more than 2.5 miles from the start location. Since the single speed has flat pedals I'll be in athletic shoes, I can walk 2.5 miles in those if I have to.  

If I get one more flat, I'm going to go to airless tires.

Today..............3...............0.............0..........0..............3 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............549..............0.............0.........0............549 Total.............1056.............0...............0.........0..........1056

 

Air

Today was all about air.  The air was warm, depending on exactly what time and where one was today, it reached 70.  That's the first time that's happened since something like 6 months ago.

I bought a single speed bike at a charity auction last week.  It was brand new in a box.  It evidently was special made for a wine company to use in a promotional display. Of all things, the bottle cages won't hold a bike bottle, but will hold bottles of wine!  But you can't pedal if they are attached, as they are on the sides of the seat tube and feet hit them as one pedals.

I am having a heck of a time with the wheels.  They are deep profile, probably about 40mm, but made of steel. Given the number of miles, and the types of rides I'm likely to ride it, that is not too much of an issue.  What is an issue is that they didn't have rim tape.  When I aired the tires the tubes intruded into the spoke wells and flatted.  The wheels don't use standard Presta valve stems,  they drilled out the wheels to be able to use Schrader valves (just like your car has) .  They left the holes very sharp, so after making a trip to the bike shop to get replacement tubes and install them, they too flatted.  I dressed the drilled holes a bit and today got more tubes, and found that they don't have long enough stems to reach out of the deep dish wheels.

I located Schrader Valve Stem Extenders, at an auto parts store in Canby.  This morning I pedaled off (on my carbon bike!) to get them.

It was a nice day, sunny, warm.  Nice.

I got home and after some installation, aired the tires again.  Flat again.   The tires are VERY hard to get on the rims, and I am getting damage to the tubes as the tire is put on the rim.  I have gone through 6 tubes now, and still have the front tire leaking.  I talked to a tire shop about putting foam in the wheels, but they can't do it through the valve cores, and can't access the stem with the extender off because it's down in the wheel. They had airless bicycle tires, but not in 700x sizes.  I'm now thinking about filling them with Slime.  I hate starting out on tires that leak, depending only on Slime, but it might be better than not starting out on the bike at all.

All this for a silly bike that doesn't even have gears!

Today.............31...............0.............0..........0.............31 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............546..............0.............0.........0............546 Total.............1053.............0...............0.........0..........1053

The grass is growing, what would a bike racer do?

The weather is warming, the sun is shining, the grass is growing, the mower deck needs a drive belt. 

What would a bike racer do?  Well, a bike racer would be out training.

I'm not yet a bike racer, may never be, but I figured I'd better get out for a few miles.  I rode to the lawn and garden store to get the belt.  Alas, they didn't have one, weren't even sure they could get one. I then rode to an auto parts store, they had a belt.  Not THE belt, but one of equivalent size.  Sort of like that thing where John Deere bolts are more expensive just because they are green.  A bolt is a bolt (well sort of) and a belt is a belt.  I brought home the belt and saved a few dollars beside.

My legs were a bit tired.  I guess that's to be expected after 4 consecutive days of biking after such a long time of no real riding.

It was a  nice day to ride.........and to mow lawn.


Today.............23...............0.............0..........0.............23 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............515..............0.............0.........0............514 Total.............1022.............0...............0.........0...........1022

Out for a bike ride with Art

My friend Art posts a lot of rides for a Meetup group that he belongs to.  In this particular instance he also sent out an invitation to Facebook for folks to join him.  Art is noted for putting together rides that are inclusive.  Sounded just about right for me!

It was about 10 degrees warmer this morning than it was yesterday morning.  I didn't wear booties or the wind pants.  We had some hills in the first 15 miles that would warm us up, and it was predicted to reach 60 degrees by mid afternoon.

There were a dozen of us as we started out, just as there were yesterday.  Art said he didn't care if some folks wanted to push on ahead, but for us all to regroup on hill tops and turns.  Some of us had the route, some didn't.

We had a dozen riders, the same as yesterday, and at nearly the same point our group splintered.  Yesterday it was at the 11 mile mark, today it was just over 10 miles.  6 of our riders were off the front by about 75 yds as we reached a high point in the road where we were to take a right turn.  We watched them crest the hill and take off at light speed down the other side.  A few vocalizations were made, but they didn't hear us.  We watched, with just a bit of a smile on our faces, as the rolled down the long grade and began climbing up the other side.  That's what happens when you don't follow the leader, and didn't make the effort to get the cue sheet or download the course to a GPS.  We pedaled onward.  The others knew we were planning a stop at Dairy Queen in Newberg.

We arrived at DQ and placed our orders.  I had a banana split.

All 6 of us were pretty much finished with our food and just sitting around waiting for the "lost riders" to arrive.

 Finally the others arrived with stories of adventure, not of lions and tigers, but of hills and smart phone mapquest usage!  We only had 17 miles done to this point so it was time to get going.  We were a mixed group, some strong and fast riders, some challenged and slower riders.  It was a no drop ride so now that our jack rabbits had learned their lessons about passing the leader, we pedaled along with a bit more cohesion.

We made a brief stop at the Lake Stop Store near Hagg Lake, then pressed onward.  I got out a bit ahead of the rest.  Here's what it looks like as the peloton is chasing one down. ;-)

 

We stopped again at the Forest Hills Golf Course.  No time for a round of golf, but they do have an outdoor water fountain that is popular with cyclists. Eric also helped a fellow cyclist (not one of our group) who was there with a flat tire.

       From there we made the final push back to Scholls Heights.  One of our riders was having trouble controlling blood sugar and the pace became excruciatingly slow.  We finally stopped when she began wobbling around as she pedaled.  She had the ability to check her blood sugar and did so.  To nobody's surprise, she was very low.  She took some food and after a bit a few of us shepherded her in.

     We finished up the ride, then 8 of us retired to a local establishment for pizza and beer.  Much frivolity ensued.

In some cases, more frivolity than others.

      Our friend Max is nursing an injured shoulder (from an encounter with a tree while mtn biking!) but did come to see us off this morning, and returned to join us for the after ride debriefing.  My apologies to him for only getting his arm in the above photo!

  The change of seasons and the promise of nicer riding weather got us all to talking about upcoming rides that will be put on calendars.  It's going to be fun!

Today was a good start on that.




Today.............57...............0.............0..........0.............57 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............492..............0.............0.........0............492 Total..............999.............0...............0.........0............999

Alternate Realities

     Robin posted a ride to a  Meetup group, as well as a general invitation on Facebook.  I looked at the route ,  the pace (16mph on the flats), the distance (50 miles) and the weather (cold morning, but blue sky and 60 by afternoon), and decided it was right in line with my current fitness level.  I was at Hayden Island by 8:30AM and ready to pedal soon after.

   I had loaded the course onto my Garmin, as did some of the other riders so equipped.  The rest had to deal with a cue sheet that had over 150 entries.  There was some frost this morning so I put my wind pants on over my long riding pants.  I figured it would warm up quickly as we pedaled so I took no other precautions against the cold other than riding with booties over my cycling shoes.

   The first 11 miles were pretty uneventful, other than a lot of slowing down and/or stopping for those with cue sheets to figure out if we were still on course.  At 11 mile in we were to ride about 3 miles total on 39th Ave.  For those not familiar with East Portland, 39th is a 4 lane (2 each direction) 35 mph main arterial in the area,  with (horrors!) no painted bike lane.   Many of the riders weren't comfortable with this. 4 of us rode on, taking the mapped route, and the lane.  We had no issues at all, no displeased motor vehicle operators, we just took our place in traffic and pedaled on.   As it ended up, this would be the last we saw of the ride leader and the rest of the pack.

   We rode the route and the advertised pace.  As it ended up, that was way faster than the rest of the group.   As we neared Oregon City we stopped at a convenience store for a potty stop as well as a few bites of bars for some of our little entourage.  After about 10 minutes we pedaled on, thinking that trying to regroup with the rest of the riders would happen easiest at the Oregon City Bridge.  Unless the others completely bailed on the trip, they would have to cross this bridge.  We pedaled off with plans to stop near the bridge. I stopped long enough to get a picture of the Oregon City Bridge from under the George Abernathy Bridge (I-205)

   We crossed the OC Bridge then pulled off at a convenience store with a view of the bridge and waited.

     I also called the ride leader and left a voice mail, saying where we were at, named all 4 of us, and said we would wait there 15 minutes unless we heard from them.

    After 15 minutes we rode on.  If the group didn't like 39th Ave we wondered aloud what they were going to do when they were confronted with Hwy 43 north of Lake Oswego.  It starts out as 4 lanes, but narrows to 2 lanes, and no shoulder. (guard railing within inches of the fog line)   It is a busy road.  Again, we took the lane when we needed to.  We were glad to be off that section, even when it meant getting on a waterfront mutli-use path.  The view was nice, but the sunny day meant everybody and their dog was out enjoying the trail. Oh, and those with I-pods were out too.  A lot of good a bell or an "on your left" does when they are marching to the beat of a different drummer.

   We got to downtown Portland and Saturday Market was in full swing.  My group wanted to stop for Elephant Ears.  ;-)

 We stopped for just over a half hour with an eye on the path for our friends, as we munched on the deep fried delights.

   We finally gave up on seeing them, and pedaled on.

   We had a good ride and arrived back at Hayden Island in 4.5 hours after we left.  That calculated out to a 10.2 mph clock time average.  The Garmin showed a 13.3 riding average.  We loaded bikes and were partaking in some post ride chatter, when after about 20 minutes some of our group rode up.  As it ended up, they took their leave of the remainder of the group near Oregon City.  They said there was just too much stopping and getting lost for them.

   They were surprised that we had stopped at Saturday Market for over a half hour, and they still hadn't caught us. Frankly, so were we.  I milled around where the cars were parked in an effort to thank our ride leader, but alas, they still hadn't pedaled in when it was time for me to get moving.

  I guess they didn't quite make their "16 mph on the flats" pace. Some people just don't know what their average pace is.  "Hey, I saw 16 mph on my speedometer on that one section"  :-(

  It was a good day for a ride. I had so much fun I'm going to go for another 50 mile ride tomorrow!  :-)
   

Today.............48...............0.............0..........0.............48 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............435..............0.............0.........0............435 Total..............942.............0...............0.........0............942

Spring

Blue sky, hard rain, blue sky,  hail, blue sky, SNOW, more blue sky.  That's what today was.  Ah, Spring in the great Northwest!

       I had a bunch of "honey do's" to perform for my mom today.  I figured I would have time to ride a few hours, and my brother-in-law Dave had time to join in the fun.  He arrived shortly before noon, I wasn't ready yet.

      It took me nearly 45 minutes to get things wrapped up, change into bike clothes, and be ready to ride.  We had thought that a ride to Hagg Lake might be good (about a 70 mile round trip) but as we prepared to pedal out the sky was BLACK to the west, right where we'd be riding if we rode to Hagg Lake.  We took off randomly toward the West Hills of Portland instead, though farther west than Portland.



      We dodged around a bit trying to avoid the heavy rain showers that were in the area.  They especially seemed to be in the hills.  As we made our way up the hill we soon realized we weren't going to be able to out run the rain.  A few pellets of hail began to pelt us.  As the shower picked up intensity we ducked into a carport and waited it out.

       We made the turn at Shadybrook and headed south,  when we reached Pumpkin Ridge Road we turned up the hill. We eventually reached 1200 ft elevation, and there was snow/ice pellets falling. There was a skiff of white on the ground.  We reached the end of the pavement, and not feeling that it was a day for gravel road exploring we turned around and raced back down the hill.  I'm here to tell you that ice pellets at speed feel like getting shot with BB's!  The air temperature rose as we descended.

       We got through North Plains and had a good view of the surrounding country.  We could see another black cloud bearing down on us.  As the rain/hail mix starting pelting us we saw a sign telling us exactly where to go.

     We took refuge under a nut processing plant's roof.  After about 15 minutes of standing under the metal roof the owner came out to see what we were doing.  I explained that his sign was an invitation to guys like Dave and I.  He chuckled.  We talked filberts for a bit, then he went back to his shop and wished us well.   Before too long we pedaled off, but not before I donned my raingear that I had been carrying in my pack.

      I was glad I had it on.  We got hit by a pretty hard rain shower, but kept on pedaling.

      We had hoped to ride about 60 miles, but looking at the sky it was obvious that doing so would involve getting hit by some cold, hard rain, from time to time.  Discretion being the better part of valor, we turned toward "the barn" and finished our ride up with 35 miles.   We did get just over 2000 feet of elevation gain in the ride, so not too bad.

     The weather is predicted to get better for the weekend, as well as most of next week.  There should be plenty of opportunity to ride in drier weather.

Today.............35...............0.............0..........0.............35 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............387..............0.............0.........0............387 Total..............894.............0...............0.........0............894

A Hill

I had about a half hour to spare, it was mostly blue sky, I need to ride. Taylor Street was the obvious choice.

  The wind was blowing about 20 mph, and was blowing me around a bit on the descents.  Other than that, it was a good ride. I was following the historic path of a trolley that made it's way up and down Queen Anne from 1890 to 1940.  Today it was my bike going up and down.

   I made three repeats before running out of time.  Not many miles, but better than sitting around thinking about riding, and with the elevation gain it was a good workout.

Today..............5...............0.............0..........0...............5 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............352..............0.............0.........0............352 Total..............859.............0...............0.........0............859

Racing Raindrops

 The forecast showed a 10% chance of rain this morning, rising to an 80% chance of rain by 11AM.  I packed my raingear and set out.  It was a bit chilly early but I began the climb to Discovery Park in  Magnolia within a few miles and warmed right up.

      I made my way to Alki Point, a popular rest stop for my Seattle friends, but they weren't along today, and there is no rest for we wicked ones, I pedaled on to Lincoln Park.  The biggest climb of the day was heading south from Lincoln Park then I turned southeastward through Tukwila to Renton.  From Renton I mostly followed the STP route northward and crossed the Ship Canal via the Montlake Bridge.

  From there it was just a quick ride along the Burke-Gilman Trail and a dash across the Fremont Bridge before climbing back up Queen Anne hill.



It was a good ride,  With the commute to/from my official route from Queen Anne it ended up being 61 miles with 2900 ft of climbing.  Not bad, but the best part?

No rain!


Today.............61...............0.............0..........0..............61 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............347..............0.............0.........0............347 Total..............854.............0...............0.........0............854

A good day

Julie was pre-riding a 26 mile "red" route (10-12 mph) today with a group of folks. Since I'm not one of the cool kids I was not welcome to come along, though I really can't afford the time to spend all day doing those rides anymore. We had plans to attend Cirque du Soleil "Amaluna" late this afternoon in Marymoor Park, but that was it for other duties. I was given the opportunity to bike there and get a ride back after dark. I accepted. I took off at noon and rode out to Magnolia and Discovery Park. The view from the hill was good, as always.

 

 I dilly dallied around a bit taking in the view. From there I pedaled down to Pike Place Market and continued southward. About in this stretch I came to the realization that I needed to be near Marymoor Park at 3PM, and not 4PM as I had been thinking. I decided I would just have to pedal a bit harder. It was good motivation to keep this ride at appropriate training intensity. I climbed over the ridge to Lake Washington near Leschi then turned northward on the STP course to cross the Montlake Bridge and access the Burke-Gilman Trail. Once on the trail it was a flat run to Marymoor, with only a headwind to contend with as I reached the north end of the lake and turned south. I reached Marymoor Park and crossed through to East Lake Sammamish Blvd. I had only about a mile and a half and a little climbing left to go to reach the meeting point. Took a shower, had some B-B-Q ribs, then off to Amaluna we went.

 

It was a good day on the bike. Not many miles, but I don't need to do long miles. My RAO participation this year will be a 2X team, and as such will be a series of shorter sprints as opposed to a long effort. Strength and speed with just a bit of endurance will be the plan.

Oh, and no rain today, despite a 40% chance predicted.

Today.............56...............0.............0..........0..............56 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............286..............0.............0.........0............286 Total..............793.............0...............0.........0............793

Skoolin"

I volunteered to be a ride ref for Cascade Bicycle Club this year, and had to go through the standard training. Today was a classroom session on group riding skills and other training that ride refs should be familiar with. At least that's what the email said. I pedaled over to the Cascade Bicycle Club headquarters and over to a small community building known as The Brig. An earlier session was just getting finished up as I arrived. Before long folks started taking their seats and I joined them. As it turned out, this was a training session for those who don't yet know how to fix a flat tire. I probably have that pretty well down, but sat quietly through the presentation. When the group began their hands on practice, one of the Cascade staff members came over with a puzzled look. It seems that the plans had changed since I got my marching orders..........and nobody told me. Apologies ensued, but it was really no big deal. I still got a nice bike ride in. While there I helped folks who needed help remembering the steps in changing a flat. As I got ready to leave a woman asked the way to the Burke-Gilman Trail, and I just happened to be going that way, so she took me up on my offer to lead the way. As it ended up, she was from Everett and had always heard about the B-G, but had never ridden it. She was just going on an out and back sight seeing tour. I bid her happy pedaling and continued on my way. I was pushing against a brisk headwind and finished up with a semi-spirited climb back up Queen Anne hill. It would have been nice to pedal a bit more, but alas, company for dinner tonight, so I figured I should probably help with the preparations. More riding on tap for tomorrow.

 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............19...............0.............0..........0..............19 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............230..............0.............0.........0............230 Total..............737.............0...............0.........0............737

Day 1

I have to start somewhere.  After a few months of me just goofing around and riding leisurely rides with no real goals in sight, John Henry Maurice called.  I've crewed for John Henry when he did Furnace Creek 508 the second time, and have ridden hundreds of miles with him. I had decided I just couldn't get motivated to do a solo Race Across Oregon without having a solution to the issues that caused my DNF as a solo entry in the 2012 RAO.  I thought about volunteering to officiate, as I did in 2011.

His call intrigued me.  He wondered if I'd be interested in joining him as a 2X team for this year's Race Across Oregon.  It has often been said that the difference between a solo ultra ride and a team ultra ride is fun.  When Lauren and I formed the Flying Aquarians in 2010 we had fun.  When 4 of my buddies and I were "The Old Goats Four" in 2008 we had a blast!

I figured I still had time to get in shape for a 2X shot.  I thought it might just be fun.  So......  today I started doing homework.

I am in Seattle and decided that hill repeats on Taylor Street might just be the ticket,  especially when it's raining and/or dark.   Today was 60 degrees and partly sunny. It was a good time to go do a little investigation.
If you click on "View full route" in the upper left, then on the "play" icon in the lower right, you can watch a 32x playback of today's ride. It was a good workout, especially for this out of shape guy!  The street is shorter and busier than our Rocky Butte Hill Repeats, but I take the lane on the way down, at the speed limit, and there is a wide marked bike lane on the way up.  It will be a good workout, and it's only a few blocks from where I am staying.

It works out to about 200 ft climbing per mile.  Each lap is about 1.5 miles round trip with 300 ft of climbing.
Today I had evening plans to watch "Bicycle Dreams" so time was short, but I need to starting training, and I needed to start somewhere.  Today was the start of RAO training.

A 2X event will  not require me to have huge amounts of endurance, at least not like riding 500+ miles nonstop, but I will need to be stronger and faster.  Riding this route will help in that effort.


................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..............6...............0.............0..........0...............6 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411
March.............211..............0.............0.........0............211
Total..............718.............0...............0.........0............718

What was I thinking?

I just accepted an offer to go on a little bike ride in July with John Henry Maurice.  Looks like my bike vacation has come to an end.

The Rain is Coming!

 Or so say the weather prognosticators. I didn't get much riding in over this past weekend and really felt the need to spin pedals.  The forecast said it was going to rain for the rest of the week, beginning mid to late afternoon.  I had a bunch of chores to do, but figured I had later this afternoon and the rest of the week to do them,  Procrastination can be good when it comes to chores, not so good when it comes to bike rides.  Yesterday there was a lap around Lake Washington planned, but it got procrastinated away.  The only voice I had to listen to today was the little "bike pansy" sitting on my shoulder. 

I won the argument today and hopped on the bike with the goal of getting around Lake Washington before it started to rain.  I did pack my raingear just in case!



  I didn't need the raingear.  :-)

................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............65..............0.............0..........0..............65 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0.............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411
March.............211..............0..............0.........0.............211
Total..............712.............0..............0.........0.............712

Bikey, but not much biking

 After a good first few days of March, I didn't ride all week. The Monday and Tuesday I was busy, Wednesday through Friday I attended a seminar. Today I am in Seattle and had plans to attend Bike Expo.  My friend Julie and I acted like cyclists and bike commuted.

It was a beautiful day, almost too beautiful to spend the day indoors.

Pardon the reflections as I took this through a window

 We got there in time to listen to Chris Ragsdale talk about ultra cycling and his upcoming participation in the Race Across America.

 
We spent nearly 8 hours there taking in all the bikiness.  There were presentations of trick riding, and bike activities.  Friend Jenny Anderson hosted a presentation on local bike rides.

 There were a lot of booths of bike products and information on upcoming bike rides and events, and of course a few food booths as well. There were opportunities to be a little hands on, or in my case butt on!
 I tried out the electric assisted bike that was set up on a trainer.

The rest of the time was spent perusing the 143,000 sq ft of general bikey fun!  I ran into several friends from up this way, including Leo, Lee Ann, Robin, Mike, Scott, Erica, Lynn, and even fellow Portlander, Brian.. It was nice to see them.

I found what I thought was a great deal on a set of panniers.  I'm not sure I needed them, but for $20 I couldn't pass them up, now that I have them I'm sure I'll find a use for them.  Julie got a nice Showers Pass rain jacket for $120. I also picked up a pair of glove liners and Julie got some rain booties.

We finally left when the event was closing down for the day.  I had brought my Stella 300 light in addition to the Planet Bike 2 Watt.  Julie didn't bring her light, I know Julie better than Julie does!  I put my 2 Watt LED on her bike and rode next to her to illuminate the road for both of us as we pedaled off into the rapidly darkening night.  I had two Turbo Flashes on, Julie had one Turbo Flash, and we both had copious reflectivity.  It was probably all overkill as the vast majority of our ride was on paths, and that which wasn't, was on low traffic residential streets. (as in non existant traffic at this hour)

It was a fun day, very bikey.  Just not many miles.

................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............17..............0.............0..........0..............17 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0.............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411
March.............163..............0..............0.........0.............163
Total..............664.............0..............0.........0.............664

It all goes away so quickly

Friends in my social bike club used to always marvel at my cycling and make comments such as "I hope I can ride as well as you can when I get to be that old". There would always be some comments about natural ability.  I'd tell them that it wasn't natural ability, it was hard work that got me where I was.

For the last few months I haven't been riding much, and when I have been, it's been with slower people.  Bike fitness has suffered........... a lot.  It didn't take long to become almost a "person on a bike".

Today I got a good measure of just how far down I've slid.   I rode with Ken.  He's a strong rider, but in times past, the longer the ride the easier it was for me to put distance on him. More recently, we were more closely matched.

Today he didn't have to work very hard to show me that I am no longer in his league.

I started the day off at 11AM along the banks of the Willamette River in SE Portland.  A friend and I decided that we'd ride to the ride from there.  It gave us a nice 10 mile warmup.  Paula had stepped out her door this morning to a rain shower.  She turned around and traded her light bike for her rain bike. As we pedaled out in clearing skies she was wondering about her choice.  The added weight of her rain bike didn't slow her down much on the flat route to the start of the ride. She was concerned about the hills later in the ride.

We arrived at our meeting spot and met Ken.  We continued north on the I-205 Bike Path to the Columbia River then took Marine Drive east.

If you look carefully you can see Ken way out in front

Just as we got to Troutdale Paula decided a 40 mile flattish ride sounded just about right and took her leave and high tailed back.  Ken and I pressed onward.

We crossed the Sandy River and began our climb. It isn't a terrible climb, never more than 6% but today it kicked me.  Ken pedaled up seemingly at will.  When I got to Chanticleer Point he was waiting for me.  I joked that he probably had time for a nap. I last rode with Ken a month or so ago.  He was complaining about not riding much and being out of shape.  We were pretty much evenly matched, and commiserated in our lack of conditioning.  Today he chuckled, and said he was just coming off his best February ever....and I showed up with my worst January and February ever.  It was sort of like bringing a knife to a gun fight.


I was working way harder than I should have had to, but it was a pretty day, and I didn't fail to notice.

I also noted the work done on the road the last few months, the road was buttery smooth.  We made our way down the hill and headed toward Multnomah Falls. When we were less than 2 miles away Ken was waiting for me (again!).  This time he said he really didn't need to ride all the way to Multnomah Falls just to say he did.  The plan was to ride out to Multnomah Falls, retrace back to Evans Rd and drop into the Bull Run Canyon and Sandy River Canyon before reaching Sandy, then Boring, then the Springwater Trail back into SE Portland.  We'd have plenty of miles, and way more than our share of climbing.

We turned around and climbed back up toward Chanticleer Point.  We hardly got going up the hill when I could no longer see Ken.  I stopped to eat a power bar, thinking that it had been way too long since I had any calories.
I also stopped to take a photo.

I was noting the time and was wondering about my ability to finish the route in the daylight.  I had good lights along, but really don't need to ride at night if I don't have to.  Ken was waiting for me just before Chaticleer Point. He said he didn't think we had time to finish before dark.  I pointed out the obvious, HE had time to ride the route, me not so much. After a bit of discussion he continued through the Bull Run and Sandy Canyons, I retraced our route back to Portland.

The day continued to clear.  By the time I got along Marine Drive it was just beautiful.

I was continuing to slow down.  I was hungry and it was beginning to show. When I rode along the I-205 Bike Path I stopped at a convenience store and had two chocolate cupcakes with squiggles on them.  200 badly needed sugary calories.

I rode about 5 miles and stopped at Cartlandia and topped off with Chicken Teriyaki.

I finished up back at Oaks Park just as it was getting dark.  I had plenty of lights on and was mostly on paths so it was fine.  It was a good night to ride, but I was tired and called it a night!  It was my most difficult ride in quite some time.



................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............83..............0.............0..........0..............83 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0.............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411
March.............146..............0..............0.........0.............146
Total..............647.............0..............0.........0.............647

Feeling Lucky

A member of a bikey Facebook group I manage posted a ride today.  Actually, he cross posted a ride today.  I decided to join in since it started only a few miles from me.

There was a 70% chance of rain today, rising to 90% by evening.  The ride began at 11AM.  I rode the rain bike and brought rain gear.  As it ended up none of that was needed.  We had dry roads, and not a drop of rain for the entire ride.

I started off by riding from Wilsonville over the Boone Bridge.  Art began the ride on the other side of the river so riders wouldn't have to ride the shoulder of I-5 across the bridge.  I'd rather bike I-5 for a short distance rather than drive 3 miles to the ride.

As the riders arrived I noted that with the exception of one, I knew all of them from when I rode with NW BOB. (Northwest Butts on Bikes). There were 10 of us in all.   We pedaled off in a generally southward direction. There was a slight headwind, we rode a moderate 15-16 mph most of the time.

After about 25 miles we turned back northward and enjoyed a bit of tailwind, which brought the pace up to 16-18 most of the time, with occasional bursts to 20 mph.

A pretty uneventful ride, and that was a good thing considering it was predicted to be raining.

As we neared the end there was a discussion of post ride food and drink.  With about 150 yds to go, I peeled off from the group as they rode to their cars.  I dropped onto I-5 and made my way back across the river.  I arrived at Wanker's Corner quite a bit sooner than the others.  I was well into my bowl of peanuts before they walked through the door.

Three of our peloton had other commitments, bu t seven of us took the opportunity for a little post ride debriefing.

  By the time I got home my Garmin showed 58.49 miles.  Not that 60 miles is such a milestone, but it is a nice round number. I took a few laps of the neighborhood.  :-)

  Why did I feel lucky you ask?  After all  day riding without rain, within 15 minutes of finishing today's ride there was an absolute downpour.  I was sitting warm and dry on the inside watching it through the windows!

................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............60..............0.............0..........0..............60 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0.............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411
March..............60..............0..............0.........0..............60
Total..............564.............0..............0.........0.............564