Walking to school up hill both ways

We've probably all heard the stories of our parents walking to school, rain, snow, uphill both ways.

Today I really did ride against the wind both ways!

I got a late start and missed the chance to ride with the Portland Wheelmen. I texted a few friends to see if they were available to ride. It seemed I was striking out on all options today, except for going for a ride by myself. The weather was nice, a lot of blue sky around. It couldn't be that bad!

I started out on Portland's 40 Mile Loop. I've been on it a lot recently, but I was near my usual starting point, and knew that if I didn't hurry up and get on the bike that darkness would catch me!

As I started out, I heard the familiar sound of a steam whistle, and the puff, puff, puff of a steam engine.  Before I could get in a good position, I caught sight of the famous Southern Pacific 4449 moving through the trees.

I had seen this engine with it's red, white, and blue paint scheme during the nation's bicentennial celebration. It drew crowds then, and continues to do so today.  It is a pretty awesome piece of machinery.

Have spend a bit of time watching the steam engine I finally started northward, into a 10 mph-ish wind. I pedaled along the Willamette River to North Portland then across to the Columbia River on the Peninsula Trail. By the time I got there, the wind was subsiding.

I rode eastward along the Columbia River and noted that rather than subsiding, the wind was changing direction. By the time I got to the Glenn Jackson Bridge it was blowing from the opposite direction.  I'd be riding into a headwind again!  A north wind usually means dry weather in these parts, and a south wind means rain.  That was the case today. Mt Hood was visible as I started my ride.  Here, along the Columbia, Mt Hood should have been quite a sight.  The south wind brought heavy low clouds in with it and obscuring the mountain.  You can even see some rain showers in the distance.

I pushed through the wind until I reached the Springwater Trail where I turned west.  When I had about 6-7 miles to go, it started raining.  Luckily I had my rain bike, and a raincoat along.  One thing about the clouds and rain, the air temperature was at least 5 degrees warmer than when I started out.

Despite the wet end, it was a nice ride.

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .........39................0..................0.......................0..........39
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
Dec............39...............0......................0......................0..........39
YTD...... 2806.............0...................83.......................0..........2889