Puttering around

The ride yesterday felt so good that I decided to go for another today.  About noon I pedaled out, ostensibly for a lunch run, but with plans and supplies to stay out longer.

I stopped within a half mile of starting when I saw a line of wild blackberries that was just black with ripe berries.  I was too busy stuffing my face to take pictures!

I continued on for a lunch stop, then pedaled over to Memorial Park.  I just puttered around, reading about an old barn and making my skinny tired fixie pretend it was a mountain bike.

It is a lost opportunity that Wilsonville is on the banks of the Willamette River, and even has a sizable park on the waterfront, but really has no public access.  Rather than accessible trails, or perhaps even a dock and boat landing, the river edge can only be accessed by bushwhacking through thick undergrowth.  Once I got to the river and enjoyed the cool air and rested awhile.  It was 94 degrees, but was at least 5-10 degrees cooler on the shady bank.

By the time I got finished puttering around, it was dinner time, and I had logged 24 miles.


.........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........24.................0.................0...............0...........24
Jan.........304................15................0...............31..........350
Feb..........0..................0..................0...............0..............0
March.......18.................0.................0...............0............18
April.......113................0.................0...............0...........113
May.........155................0.................0...............0...........155
June..........10.................0.................0................0.............10
July..........79..................0.................0................0.............79
Total.......701...............15.................0...............31...........757

Why I left Meetup groups.

I used to be an active ride leader for a Meetup group.  I was even voted member of the year!  I left because I tired of folks not showing up, showing up late (and complaining on why we had already left) and not showing up prepared for the ride that was advertised.

Today tested me.

I manage a Facebook group for cyclists with 271 members stretching from British Columbia to San Diego (and currently Bolivia!) and from New Zealand to Florida. With a wide footprint like that I don't ever expect that we will all be in the same location.

It is the 5th anniversary of the group and I thought it would be fun to go for a ride and have a picnic to celebrate.   I was hoping that maybe 10-20 local riders would take advantage of the nice weather in Oregon and join in.  The plan was to ride 40 miles on the Springwater Corridor trail and finish up with a picnic in the park.  I was supplying BBQ hamburgers with the fixings, and asked attendees to bring their own drinks and a side dish or chips.

I had 5 folks say they were coming, and 5 "maybes".  I never count maybes because maybes never show up.

I was very surprised when roll out time arrived with nobody there except me.

I wasn't going to let a bunch of flakes ruin my day.

I checked email one more time, then pedaled out on the planned route.

It was going to be a nice day for a ride!

Mt Hood is waaaay back there, it looked closer in real life.

I stopped from time to time to forage. With the warm summer weather we've had, the berries are really in full swing. It was 93 degrees today!

I'd pedal for a bit, then stop for berries, pedal a bit, stop for more berries.  I tried to keep the bike moving because I had told folks that we'd be eating by mid afternoon.  I wanted to be back at the park in case anyone showed up for the picnic.

I made it to Boring, the end of the trail.  I haven't been on the bike much this year (been crewing bike races!) and I was looking forward to the slightly downhill ride back to Portland.  About halfway back I stopped at a country store to get a Snickers bar. I figured my tiredness might be related to an empty fuel tank.  It helped, I pedaled along pretty well for the remainder of the trip.

I arrived back at the park just after 2 PM.  I wandered around looking for people I might recognize.  No luck, no email, no phone messages.

I pulled out the BBQ and lit it up.

I figured there were plenty, so I had two!

I added 3 miles to today's total after I got home and needed to run a few errands.

.........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........43.................0.................0...............0...........43
Jan.........304................15................0...............31..........350
Feb..........0..................0..................0...............0..............0
March.......18.................0.................0...............0............18
April.......113................0.................0...............0...........113
May.........155................0.................0...............0...........155
June..........10.................0.................0................0.............10
July..........55..................0.................0................0.............55
Total.......687...............15.................0...............31...........733

Not quite Biblical proportions

I doubled my bike mileage for the month!

Big deal. :-(

There has been no rain in Portland for 43 days and 43 nights.
It is a long dry spell, but not even in the top ten for Portland.  The record is 71 days, set in 1967.
It has been at or near 90 degrees for days, and by Wednesday it is predicted to be 102-107.

I'm hoping to put together a 4 man team and return to Race Across Oregon next July.

In the meantime I ran a few errands by bike today.  I got 7 miles in.
I was on the fixed gear, a bike that is notoriously tough on knees.  I could still feel a bit of  discomfort from my knee issue from 6 weeks ago.  Not from pedaling nearly so much as trying to slow down.  On a fixed gear that is done by putting back pressure on the pedals.  I might have to ride one of my geared bikes for a bit until the knee gets back to 100%. (as an OLD man on a bike, that may be asking a lot!)

.........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........7.................0.................0...............0............7
Jan.........304................15................0...............31..........350
Feb..........0..................0..................0...............0..............0
March.......18.................0.................0...............0............18
April.......113................0.................0...............0...........113
May.........155................0.................0...............0...........155
June..........10.................0.................0................0.............10
July..........12..................0.................0................0.............12
Total.......644...............15.................0...............31...........690

Another kind of long dry spell

Portland has had 37 days without rain.  Yes, unusual, but I'm talking about my lack of biking.
I got a whopping 10 miles in June, in part due to a banged up knee that kept me off the bike for the first 10 days or so, followed by crewing Race Across America for Red Pearl Racing's DNF. This month things finally turned around as I was crew chief for Mick Walsh's first place finish at Race Across Oregon.

I was up north helping Julie get settled into her new house, but did get on the fixed gear bike for a sunset spin around the island.  I didn't have my camera, and my phone had used up its battery.  Too bad, Mt Rainier was gorgeous as it was still in the glow of the sun as the lowlands were in shadow.

Next time.

.........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........5.................0.................0...............0............5
Jan.........304................15................0...............31..........350
Feb..........0..................0..................0...............0..............0
March.......18.................0.................0...............0............18
April.......113................0.................0...............0...........113
May.........155................0.................0...............0...........155
June..........10.................0.................0................0.............10
July..........5..................0.................0................0..............5
Total.......637...............15.................0...............31...........683

A long dry spell

The weather in Oregon is just gorgeous.  We have had 24 consecutive days without rain, a big turn around from our WET Spring, but I'm not talking about our meteorological dry spell, I'm talking about bike racing!

After having 27 consecutive finishes for the racers I've helped, everything fell apart.  I had a racer DNF at last year's Hoodoo 500, and have not had a racer finish since then! Solo's, two person teams, no matter the configuration we just can't seem to get across that finish line.

Hopefully this all changes this weekend.  I'm crewing for Mick Walsh at Race Across Oregon. Mick is a strong rider and should do well.  Complications may come from the heat.  While the forecast has changed a bit, it will still be well over 90 degrees F.  That is pretty warm for climbing out of those big canyons!  If we can keep Mick hydrated, fed, and cool, he should finish at, or near the top of the field.

You can follow our progress beginning at 5 AM Saturday at   http://raceacrossoregon.com/live-tracking.html