#BikesInTheStreets! TNR

I've been jonesing to get on my bike. We've been having some great biking weather but I've been busy helping some folks with a thousand mile bike race in Texas.  Today I put preparations on hold and joined the Thursday Night Ride (TNR).  I used to regularly participate, but haven't been there now for several months.

There were a lot of new faces as we gathered at Salmon Street Springs.

In fact, I only recognized a half dozen familiar faces.  We even had a new leader.  Nathan is busy globe trotting, but TNR has taken on a life of its own.

We rolled out just a few minutes after 7:30 PM.  I brought my GoPro along at the last minute to capture some of the fun. When I grabbed the GoPro, I thought the battery was fully charged.  I guess it wasn't.  Here's the first 5 1/2 minutes of tonights TNR

It was a loud and raucous affair.  This outfit could rattle windows!

There were many other bikes equipped with sound.  You could pick your genre and just ride with them!

Everybody was in a festive mood. It was the loudest TNR I've attended.  As we'd pass through underpasses the sound level would rise as everyone searched for the perfect reverb. :-)

One of our food stops was in a grocery store's parking structure, we rolled down into the structure with glee!

                                                                  (Dan R video)
If you look carefully, around 15 seconds in, and again around 30 seconds in, you will see me riding on the right side of the pack.  I'm wearing a bright yellow shirt, and have a backpack with a brightly colored reflective triangle.

It was echo heaven for those folks.
The cell phone doesn't take movies nearly as well as the GoPro, and captures no where near the sound quality. :-(

We continued on our way.

Though I usually try to be in stealth mode, sometimes I'm caught by a fast shutterman.

credit Eric Thornburg (IG: @no.lens.cap)

It was a great night for a ride.  It was in the upper 70's as we started, and was still in the high 60's as we wrapped up, well after 10 PM.

As is my usual practice, I started from Sellwood Riverfront Park, so I made my way back along the Springwater Trail..  Before getting on the trail I stopped to take a photo of the Tilicum Crossing, Bridge of the People.

While I was taking photos of the moon over the bridge, Dan was taking a photo of the post ride party on the west side of the river.

Dan R photo

Even at this late hour I was comfortable riding along the river in shorts and a short sleeved dry weave t-shirt.

There were some wispy clouds rolling in with rain predicted for tomorrow. I took the opportunity to take advantage of the last fleeting days of summer (okay, so it is already autumn, but you catch my drift!) and rode out the Springwater a few miles before turning around.

I got home at midnight.

........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .....27.................0.................0...............0.................27
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
Aug..........76...................0.................0................0............76
Sept...........97..................0.................0................0............97
Total.......854...............15.................0...............31...........924

Back to wearing my Crew Chief hat

I've been busy working on details for the upcoming 1000 mile No Country for Old Men bike race. The weather has been nice.  Today, no reporting station on the Oregon Coast reported less then 80 degrees. One official reporting station on the North Oregon Coast near Tillamook reported 95F!  In the Willamette Valley temperatures were just a degree or two off of 90.  Pretty remarkable for Oregon this time of year, and most years it would be uncommon even in summer months.

Anyway, it is supposed to rain by Friday.  I still have a lot of work to do for the race, but I think I should get out for a short ride tomorrow.  I'd hate to miss the good weather completely.

Reno

My board meeting wrapped up early last evening so I decided to get a jump on my planned trip to Reno.  I arrived in Reno at 6 am.  I wasn't planning to come here to dodge the smoke, but it just so happened that way. By 9 am I had finished fixing the Burning Man damages and was on my fixed gear bike to chase down a watch battery for Julie. Within a few blocks I was along the Truckee River.

I I stopped at a hardware store thinking they might have the battery.  They didn't,  but the proprietor noticed that I was riding a fixie. As it ended up,  he also had a fixie.  We talked bikes a bit, then I rode off in search of that watch battery.   I eventual found it at a battery specialty shop.

It was nice to get out for a short ride,  and even nicer to dodge the smoke.

........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ......9.................0.................0...............0..................9
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
Aug..........76...................0.................0................0............76
Sept...........70..................0.................0................0............70
Total.......837...............15.................0...............31...........896

Puttering around

The predicted high today was 103F.  A good portion of the state is on fire right now, and the smoke rolled into the valley today.  In our area, it remained at high elevation.  Close to the ground the smoke really wasn't noticeable.  At high altitude it was another story.  The sun looked like I was still looking through eclipse glasses.

I rode out to Graham Oaks, because sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

I was just puttering around.  I rode around parks and housing developments, but with no destination in mind.  The biggest thing of note was the sun.

The smoke induced filtering of sunlight kept the temperature down.  We topped out at 91 today.

.........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
Aug..........76...................0.................0................0............76
Sept...........61..................0.................0................0............61
Total.......828...............15.................0...............31...........887

Been a long time

It has been a long time since I've been on a bike, and even longer since I've biked around Sauvie Island. I made baby steps on both counts today.

I pedaled three laps of Sauvie Island on my fixed gear bike today.
There was just the slightest breeze and temperatures reached into the mid 90's.  The fixie has one water bottle cage, but I was able to refill each time I passed the store near the bridge.

.........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ......37.................0.................0...............0.........37
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
Aug..........76...................0.................0................0............76
Sept...........37..................0.................0................0............37
Total.......807...............15.................0...............31...........863