Buena Vista

It was a beautiful Spring day.  The morning started out at 35 degrees but by the time we hopped on bikes at 8AM it was in the low 40's.  By the time we finished today's ride it would be 74!

Several people backed out before the ride started today, their loss.  Our plan was to ride a 54 mile loop that included a Willamette River crossing on the Buena Vista Ferry. As I was waiting for the others to arrive a wild turkey strolled across the parking lot.

We took off from an industrial area in South Salem and were soon riding through Bush's Pasture Park.  None of our group had pedaled through there before, though we all had been by it.

We crossed over the Willamette River into Wallace Marine Park

We made our way along Hwy 22.

When we got to Rickreall, we turned south and followed a bike path next to Hwy 99 to Monmouth.
 It brought back a lot of memories as I had gone to college there, many years ago.  We continued east into Independence, then turned south along the west bank of the Willamette River.  Along the way we were treated to an Osprey busily building a nest.

It was a beautiful day for a bike ride.

We arrived in Buena Vista and took the ferry across the river.

Having reached the ferry, and our southern terminus, we started back northeasterly.
Soon we were on the Willamette River Scenic Bikeway, which we'd follow the rest of the way back to Salem.  Along the way we'd ride through the Ankeny Wildlife Refuge, which was filled with ducks, geese, a few hawks, and even a bald eagle.

This was our best day so far this year, and we were enjoying the ride.

We were reminded that we were riding across low ground that was prone to flooding.  New Orleans could learn a few lessons here.

We were soon on the worst section of today's route.  As we approached Salem on River Rd the road was busy, narrow, poor shoulders, and with many blind corners and blind hills.
We managed to get through it. Soon we were back in Salem and made our way to our vehicles.  Luckily, we had parked at Gigamesh Brewery which made the post ride debriefing very convenient. ;-)

It was a good day!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........54................0...................0.......................0...........54
Jan...............0................0...............,...0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......252................0..................0........................0..........252
YTD...... 376...............0...................0.......................0...........376