Thursday, October 8, 2015

Thursday, the same old thing, but new

 I ended up with more errands to attend to in Washington County today.  I thought about riding my bike there, but another appointment in Tigard precluded that, if I were to make it to the Thursday Night Ride in time.

I drove to Hillsboro and started from Fred Meyer.  I had two stops to make, one just a few miles away in NE Hillsboro, and the other in downtown Forest Grove. The weather was nice, mostly sunny and the temperature was in the 70's. It was a nice ride, and I got both errands accomplished.


I drove back to Tigard, but connections were not made there, so that will have to wait for another day.

I drove to Sellwood Riverside Park, and hopped back on the bike.  It is Thursday night and time for the weekly Thursday Night Ride.  The ring leader, Nathan, is on an extended bike adventure so Mariana took over tonight.  We met at the usual location.  I arrive about 40 minutes early but already there were a few folks there.  With 30 minutes to go, there was beginning to be signs that tonight's event was going to be well attended.


 With the decreasing daylight, it was going to be dark before we even started out.


The crowd continued to build. Before we'd start out, I estimated there to be over 130 people.


It was going to be a great night for a ride.


 Nathan is a big guy, somewhat soft spoken, but at well over 6 feet, he gets respect.  Mariana is a petite gal, very outgoing, but her soft voice didn't control the crowd as well.

She picked a good route.  It had more twist and turns, and we pedaled along at a faster pace than when being led by Nathan.


 I don't know if it was the added velocity, or amount of pre-partying that had taken place, but it was dicey riding tonight. As is normal, some bikes were jumping curbs and cutting back onto the street from the sidewalk.  Tonight that was causing more concern.  Some people really lacked group riding skills.  It made for some tense moments as they zigged and zagged widely without warning and stopped quickly in front of others. There is always quite a few fixed gear bikes. (mine included) Those who have mastered fixed gears were swinging the tail end of their bikes wide to scrub speed, often with another bike just off their handlebars. There was a lot of hands free riding.  In tight quarters it looked like a disaster waiting to happen. The only crash I saw was a skateboarder who interacted with a parked car.  He was boxed in by bikes and couldn't swerve out of the way. I was surprised not to see more people crash.

You can see me on screen right (blinking front light, yellow shirt) beginning at 2:22 and ending at 2:45.



It was a nice night for a ride though. The group stopped at a familiar convenience store and stocked up for the post ride "picnic".  We finished up on a Willamette River beach near the east end of the Marquam Bridge.  I ate some Fritos and visited with a few folks for about a half hour, then pedaled back to Sellwood Riverfront Park.  Along the way I got this photo of the Tilikum Bridge.


The bridge is illuminated at night and the color changes based on river temperature and velocity.  Tonight it was dressed in green.

It was a nice night.  At this late date, we can certainly appreciate this weather. Before too long it will be grey and wet.


.......Road bike........Rollers.......MTB.......Lifecycle....Total
Today.......46...............0..............0.............0..............46
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...........347............0...............0.............0...............347
Total........3744.........0...............70............0..............3824

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