A Refresher

The day started with a short donut ride on the fixed gear bike.  Not a much better way to start the day!

Last year I attended a class and passed the test for the NIMS-ICS 100 certification. I had the opportunity to attend again this year, and though I already have the certification I thought a brush up wouldn't hurt.  The class would be held at the Forest Grove Fire Department at 6PM

I'd take the carbon bike, the ride there would be good.  Along the way I'd stop at my mother's and do some computer fixin'. The weather was nice and at 33 miles it was certainly doable. I mapped the route and pedaled out.

It was a warm and colorful ride out there.

 I spent about 2 hours at mom's, and finally got the problem solved with a change of browsers. I rode the last 8 miles to Forest Grove and arrived about an hour before the class.  It was by design, I didn't want to be riding into the setting sun on Tualatin Valley Highway, and arriving early meant the sun was still far above the horizon when I got there.

The class finished up at 8:45 PM, and I was back on the bike by 9PM.  I didn't map the return trip.  I knew the way, if not the route. I've got a pretty nice low traffic route that I like to ride when I bike to Forest Grove, but without the route on my Garmin, I don't know it well enough to ride it back in the dark.  I made it back, but my course ended up being on busier roads, and a few more miles than I would normally ride.  Most of my wanderings were in getting through the Hillsboro area.  Once on the east side of Hillsboro I took Baseline to Beaverton, then Hall Blvd south.

Whereas the ride to Forest Grove was warm and colorful, the return trip was cool and dark.

Along the Fanno Creek Trail

I had two headlights on front, and two Turbo Flash tail lights on back, as well as a reflective vest, a reflective triangle on my pack, two reflective leg bands, and all the reflective tape on the bike as required on the ultra races.  I wasn't concerned with being visible to motorists.

I was warm from pedaling, but could definitely feel a chill in the air as I finished up.

It was a nice evening to ride.  Cool, but dry, with low traffic because of the late hour.  

.......Road bike........Rollers.......MTB.......Lifecycle....Total
Today.......72...............0..............0..............0.............72
Jan..........765.............0..............0..............0.............765
Feb..........248............0..............0..............0..............248
March......183...........0...............0.............0...............183
April........228...........0...............0.............0...............228
May.........200............0..............0.............0...............200
June.........199...........0...............26...........0...............225
July..........246...........0...............0.............0...............246
August.....502...........0...............0.............0...............502
Sept..........974...........0..............44............0..............1018
Oct...........624............0...............0.............0...............624
Total........4021.........0...............70............0..............4091