In with the new

Thursday night I joined a few folks to ride across the old Sellwood Bridge for the last time.  Today I joined a few folks to ride across the new Sellwood Bridge for the first time. It was an out with the old and in with the new kind of few days.  As if often the case, the chosen biking route had little to do with the most direct route.  We started at Lucky Lab Brew Pub, where two different cycling Meetup groups had joined forces to put a ride together.  There were a few overnight and early morning showers that were expected to dissipate by 10 AM. As is typical with Meetup cyclists, that was enough to make about half decide not to ride.

Our group pedaled off on wet roads northward to Marine Drive where we rode the balance of Portland's 40 mile loop.  With regroups and a pesky headwind as we pedaled along the I-205 path, we weren't making good time. The plan was to take about 3 hours to cover the 25 miles to the Sellwood Bridge.  It took 30 minutes longer than that.

At least we had good weather, right on schedule the showers had stopped, and the roads dried out.  It was a nice afternoon for riding.

The group broke up as we neared the bridge with some riding home, some bypassing the bridge and continuing their way back to Lucky Lab. A few of us spent some time at the bridge's opening celebration.

This was a little more organized event than Thursday's. There were fewer people but there were marching bands, vendor booths, antique cars, and more rules ("you'll have to walk those bikes folks")

I walked by bike over the new span getting one last look at the old bridge as I made my way westward.

As I reached the west end, I noted that a parade was staging.

This car was covered in yarn.  I asked the driver if it was machine washable or had to be dry cleaned.  He just smiled.

I noted a school marching band staging.

 Having taken a long time to work my way through the crowd, I decided that parade speed on the way back sounded like a good choice. I fell into formation right behind the band, and just in front of a neighborhood association contingency.  I put on my best "parade wave" and pedaled slowly along.
I kept expecting someone semi-official to wave me out of the parade lineup, but they didn't. :-)

When I got back to the east end of the bridge I turned northward and finished our planned route back to Lucky Lab where a few of our group had gathered for a post ride debriefing.

It was a short ride, but a good day to be on a bike!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ......33...............0...................0.......................0...........33
Jan............0................0...............,...0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124