Saturday, August 31, 2013

Trying to get my act together

 I had seen that a group of folks were going to pedal a brisk 60 mile ride in the hills around Helvetia beginning in Hillsboro at 8:30AM.  I failed to note that the ride was scheduled for tomorrow, and NOT today. When it got to be about 10 minutes before ride time and nobody else was around I suspected something.  After consulting the smart phone I found that today's ride started in Portland, and was about 25 miles at a more leisurely pace, beginning at 10AM.

I had time to get there, off I went.

9 of us pedaled around SE Portland.







 It was supposed to be about a 13 mph ride, but coming back in on the Springwater Trail the ride leader and I got a bit carried away.  She indicated she'd like to get a ride in the draft, I sat up tall and took it up to 20-21mph.  She stuck right with me.  Since it was a "no drop" ride, after we went a few miles we pulled over and let the rest regroup with us.




We finished up with a little post ride debriefing at Lucky Lab

EVENING UPDATE:

  I was just sitting around, minding my own business, surfing facebook, when this comes in:
Done in 10:54. Oh, it got hot. — with Susan Otcenas and 8 others at McMenamins Wilsonville.
 
I knew that 10 Oregon Randonneurs  had started out on a 200k Permanent this morning.  
 

I did not know where they started from but I now knew that those intrepid cyclists were sitting just down the road from me.  I hopped on the fixie and pedaled out to congratulate them on a job well done and to schmooze a bit.  I didn't stay long, it was getting dark and unlike Randos who are equipped with generator hubs, full fenders and luggage, no matter the weather.........  I had a reflector and reflective leg bands.  I took less traveled roadways on the way back and had the bike parked before it get too dark.

I added 5 miles to the 26 miles I had ridden earlier.  My daily total is about 90 miles less than my Rando friends rode.

 ...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today..............31...........0................0............0.............31 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............484...............0..............0..........0...........484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
 Aug................638.............0.................0..........0.............638 Total...........4931.............0...............0..........0.............4931

Friday, August 30, 2013

Last minute ride

I put out some feelers to see if anyone wanted to do a social night ride making a few stops for cold beverages along the way.  A couple of years ago we did a series of those rides, very popular at the time, but it seems the time has passed. I've tried to put together several of them recently, and there is little interest.

Rather than ride by myself starting at dark, I started a 5PM, and rode Portland's 40 mile loop instead.
It was nice weather, and a nice day for a ride.

  ...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today..............41...........0................0............0.............41 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............484...............0..............0..........0...........484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
 Aug................607.............0.................0..........0.............607 Total...........4900.............0...............0..........0.............4900

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Errands

I took the fixie from the stable and rode around doing some errands today.  Auto parts and lunch were both fair game!

  ...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today...............5...........0................0............0..............5 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............484...............0..............0..........0...........484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
 Aug................566.............0.................0..........0.............566 Total...........4859.............0...............0..........0.............4859

Sunday, August 25, 2013

RAPSody day 2

The morning arrived on day two of RAPSody with fog and heavy dew. We left the tent up with hopes of drying while we went to breakfast.  The breakfast was great, french toast, sausage, eggs, orange juice, fruit and more, and all you could eat!


We talked a bit with our fellow riders and I predicted that Julie and I would finish by 3 PM, then we went back out to pack up the tent.  The fog had lifted a bit, but things were still quite wet. There was no time for drying now, so we packed the sleeping bags and tent up in the waterproof duffels and carried them to the waiting truck for transport back to Tacoma. By chance we started pedaling at 7:50 AM, the same time as yesterday.

Leo had Julie all concerned about the "show us your breakfast" hill that we would encounter just as we'd get pedaling this morning. (thanks Leo!).  There was a steady stream of "What if I can't make it up the hill? What if I have to walk? I'm a slow hill climber."  It was all silenced when she just pedaled up the hill like a pro.  Okay, maybe not a pro, but we did pass more riders than passed us.  Upon reaching the top she turns and says "That wasn't so bad". :-)

Today's ride had more trail riding than day 1. The organizers were reluctant to post route information in a timely manner, and never did post it in a GPS friendly format.  On day 1 I was able to take the cue sheet and transcribe it to a GPS downloadable format.  Today's route I was only able to get close.  Some of the trails did not show up on maps, street view, or Google Earth. In several spots I simply followed bicycle friendly roads from one known location to the next known location. I figured if Dan Henrys where vandalized of blocked from view at least I could get back to Tacoma.

I heard of a couple of riders who missed a turn or two, but I found the Dan Henrys to be sufficient.  I still wish more organizers would map via apps that allow for cue sheets, maps, and GPS files to be downloaded. (the map at the bottom of this post is what we actually rode, it was recorded via GPS.  If the route is the same next year we are good to go!)

Back to day 2.........

Once we got to the top of "show us your breakfast" hill, we continued on our way.  Soon we were on our first trail of the day. The weather had improved dramatically. It was going to be a great day.





After winding around a few parking lots near I-5 and making enough loops to nearly get dizzy we arrived at Yauger Park, the first food stop of the day.  This one had yogurt parfaits! We spent a bit longer at this stop than our official plan called for, we rolled out after 25 minutes. We were officially in Olympia but hadn't seen "town" yet.  That was soon to be rectified.

We dropped off a small hill right into downtown.  There was a great view of the Capital Building across a body of water.

I got a picture of Julie with the Capital in the background.


The official event photographer got one of me riding in the same area but didn't get the Capital.


The organizers either didn't check when getting permits, or the permitting agency didn't look at the intended route, but hundreds of RAPSody riders were routed right though a street fair in Olympia. With my riding partner's fancy helmet decorations we fit right in. Once I got through the most crowded area I pulled out the camera and grabbed a couple of photos.




The route continued to send us along the water, then run us up over a hill.




Soon we entered the Chehalis-Western Trail, one of the longer and more "famous" trails in the area.


Geoff caught up with us just before reaching the trail and rode with us until reaching the next food stop.





Our next food stop was known as "Van's Burgers" though there were no burgers there.  It was a nice stop near a golf course, and deli sandwiches were the calling card.  Turkey, roast beef, and ham were all offered, and all were good! Julie and I kept the stop to 15 minutes and pedaled on.

The little town of Steilacoom  is always a joy to ride into.




From there on things got interesting.

We got sent up a steep little pitch in a residential neighborhood.  The gradient was near 20%.




At the top of the hill we were greeted with another "non standard" Dan Henry.


Shortly we were on the Dupont Utility Trail, one of those trails I could not find on any mapping tool I had available.  No matter, today we were going to ride up this hill!


In the photo above all the riders are still riding, none walking, but that would change soon.
Near the top of the climb the trail made a hard switchback and climbed at just over 25%.  That got most people to walk, and got me out of my middle ring (42 tooth)) and into my granny gear for the first time this trip. Some others could pedal it as well, but most couldn't.  As I waited at the top a woman standing nearby was saying that nobody had gears or legs to pedal hat hill.  Before I could correct her, three folks, two of them women, came pedaling up.  I didn't have to say a word.  ;-)

We pedaled along now counting down the final miles. We turned onto a short straight section of roadway and could see it pitch up in the distance.  The steep section was about a city block long, and maybe 15%. Julie is funny, she's a stronger rider than she gives herself credit for.  As she looked at the hill ahead she starts this litany of how she can't do that hill.  She says she's slow, she says she's tired,  (and I chuckle at this one) she says she will tip over and cause me to crash into her and fall also.  I switched into crew chief mode. I told her she was going to summit that hill, I didn't care if she pedaled or walked, but she was going to get to the top of that hill, and to just stop whining about it.  That fired her up.  She didn't say a word, but her cadence picked up, her head started bobbing as many do when putting effort on the pedals, and all the flowers on her helmet began bouncing in time......... and up that hill she pedaled!  :-)  I knew her body was strong enough to pedal it, her head was just weak.

After that little test there wasn't much left to do except finish. Julie began to perk up knowing a finish by 3PM was imminent. She rolled across the finish line at 3:10 PM with a smile from ear to ear. We missed my 3 PM prediction by the 10 minutes that we dallied at the first food stop.



We loaded our bikes and bags, had a couple of ice cream treats, and visited with other cyclists as they came in.  It was a great way to end up a couple of days of riding with friends.





  ...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today..............80...........0................0............0.............80 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............484...............0..............0..........0...........484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
 Aug................561.............0.................0..........0.............561 Total...........4854.............0...............0..........0.............4854

Saturday, August 24, 2013

RAPSody day 1

Today was the annual Ride Around Puget Sound in One Day ride.  Several years ago the organizers dropped the one day option because so few riders opted to work that hard. ;-)

Day one was Tacoma to Shelton.



It is a very scenic ride noted for chip sealed roads, hills, superb food stops, and excellent camaraderie.

Julie and I started off at 7:50 AM from Tacoma Community College. Most of our friends had started earlier, but we came in very late from Idaho the night before. I thought we did pretty well to get our act together enough to be on the road before 8AM.  In years past the ride started off with a ferry ride, but since the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was improved (a new bridge with bike lanes) we've been going over the bridge.  Organizers were all excited about this change, I on the other hand can ride across bridges all the time.  I looked forward to riding the ferry and seeing all the bikes lined up on the car decks.


Julie was having trouble keeping her mojo again.  Knowing that her friends were well ahead of us, and having a steady stream of cyclists passing us got her down. We did pass a few riders on some of the hills, which helped perk her up a bit.

will touch up the photo soon
The day was nearly perfect, no rain, not too hot, not too windy.  We pedaled along taking in the view.






After about 30 miles we arrived at Manchester, the first food stop.  West Sound Bicycle Club runs this one.  There are five rest stops in all, and each is managed by a different local bike club.  The event itself is a fund raiser for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington   This rest stop is noted for the many varieties of homemade cookies served up, along with the more usual fruit and rider kibble. We even got to visit with one of the cookie bakers!

Me, Julie, and Deb (L to R)
We had started early in the morning in Seattle and driven to Tacoma, then biked several hours, only to be looking across the water at Seattle again!


I was trying my best to keep Julie's head in the game, and the easiest way to do that is manage time, since I can't seem to get her to ride faster most times!  After 17 minutes we were back on the road.
Before long we passed by the semi famous camels.  I've stopped for photos of them before, but today I just did my best as we kept pedaling along. From the camel's expression, I presume he was wondering what the heck we were up to.


 We'd drop down to the water's edge, only to climb back away, then drop to the water again. The hills are never long (relatively of course) and never high, always remaining below 500 ft elevation.



In another 30 miles we arrived in Allyn, the site of today's second food stop.  Along with the normal fare, this stop serves up calazone! Our attention to time was paying off.  We caught up with some of our friends by this point.


Julie hob nobs with the Mayor of Kitsap (Leo Stone)
 Being ever mindful of time, we were back on the bikes within 15 minutes. We continued the up and down journey toward Shelton.




The route marking crew has fun with us, here is one of  the "non standard" road markings to be found at the tops of two of the more nasty climbs.


We passed by Mason Lake, with it's many nice homes along the shore.



We picked up a headwind as the day progressed and it was now noticeable. I had Julie tuck in behind me as I sat high on the bars to create the maximum slip stream for her.  We kept the pedals spinning and arrived in Shelton before 4PM, and before many of the other riders.  Julie was feeling much better now!
We set up a tent in the athletic field along with others, while some chose to "camp out" in the school gym.  We showered, then went to the dinner served at the school by local boosters.  Salmon burgers, hamburgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, green salad, all you can eat!

There was some discussion around the dinner table about the seemingly smaller than normal attendance. We all gave our ideas on why this and other rides this year have been down in numbers, but came up with no sure fire fixes.  All I can say is that I, like many others, consider this the best ride all season. The scenery, food, and close knit group make this a fun ride. 

Following dinner, some years there is music and dancing, other years a few of us take a shuttle bus into town and hit a few establishments to rub elbows with the locals, and some years we just climb over a fence into Walmart and get our own little party in a brown paper bag. ;-)    This year we were treated to some bike movie shorts.  We watched for an hour or so, then retired for the evening.

 Tomorrow will be an easier day.  About 15 miles shorter, about 2000 ft less climbing, and the likelihood of a tail wind all make for a promising day!

  ...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today..............94...........0................0............0.............94 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............484...............0..............0..........0...........484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
 Aug................481.............0.................0..........0.............481 Total...........4774.............0...............0..........0.............4774