Day 30 of #ridingeverydayinNovember

Well, all good things come to an end.  Today is the last day of the #ridingeverydayinNovember cycling challenge. The challenge was to ride a bike outdoors at least 1 mile every day in November.

I, and many others, were successful in that endeavor.  This year was a bit easier than past years.  There was no snow on the ground for most of us, there wasn't even any frost for those of us in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.  There was some rain, but if one had a flexible schedule, it was for the most part avoidable.

I set off today with the goal of riding 48 miles.  I mapped out a route to do just that and pedaled out about 11 AM.  The sky was mostly blue, and temperature was in the low 40's.  Radar showed a few showers around so I wore my rain coat.

I started from Butteville, near Champoeg Park, and pedaled southward. I was traveling through prime agricultural land, just outside Oregon's pioneering Urban Growth Boundary.

rye grass for seed

The first little town I came to was Donald.  I was pedaling against a noticeable head wind.  The near flag was wet and wrapped around the pole, the flag farther back shows the effect of the wind.

I continued southward through the agricultural land, and into a wind that kept my speed to 12-13 mph.

Nursery Stock

Filberts (marketed as Hazelnuts)

Blackberries to the left, Red Raspberries to the right

Turf (instant lawn)

I got to Woodburn, the largest city I would ride through today.  The Jesse H. Settlemeir House  was built by the founder of Woodburn in 1892.

A little farther south I came to Bauman Farm. Not as old as the Settlemier House, but all decked out for the upcoming holiday.

I turned westward on Waconda Rd, at the historical site of Parkersville, finally eliminating that pesky headwind.  As is common with south winds in this area, it predicted rain.  My number was finally up as I pedaled along Waconda Rd.  I could see the northern edge of seasonal Lake Labish.

 I finally ducked under a big fir tree to let a heavy shower pass.

 I found out that I was very near the site of long gone Deweyville!
The shower finally let up and I was on my way again.  I rode through another long gone town, Waconda.  In a few more miles I finally got to turn northward and put that wind to my back! There were some heavy rain showers in the area.  I put the wind to good use and picked up my speed, thinking ending this ride sooner rather than later might be a good plan.  There was a very dark cloud just dumping heavy rain just to the south of me.  I didn't want it to catch me.

I managed to stay ahead of that heavy shower, and it slid around to my right as it moved up the valley. There were plenty of other showers in the area though. Every now and then the roads would be wet, but I was lucky enough to never have more rain. With the big dark rain cloud no longer a threat, I stopped for this photo showing what had happened to the blue sky of earlier.

Tall Fescue for seed

I continued on northward using the wind to keep me scooting along pretty quickly.  As I neared Champoeg there were 5 Black Tailed deer feeding near the road.  By the time I could get stopped and get the phone out, the deer had decided that maybe they should retreat to the nearby trees.  If you look carefully you can see 3 of them as they were walking away.

Before long I was back in Butteville and finished with the ride today.  I managed to get 600 miles for the month of November, my highest monthly mileage this year.  I also managed to ride every day in November.  Another successful challenge complete!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .........48................0..................0.......................0..........48
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........310...............0..................0.......................0...........310
August.......40.............0....................0......................0............40
Sept..........100..............0...................83......................0...........100
Oct.............29...............0....................0......................0............29
Nov............600..............0......................0......................0...........600
YTD...... 2767.............0...................83.......................0..........2900