Day 11, #ridingeverydayinNovember

Late yesterday I became aware of an event billed as the "Hidden Gems of the Springwater" ride. A group called Puddlecycle sponsored the ride. It is one of their "18 winter rides that will make you jump and shout" series. It wouldn't be fast, but it would allow me to check off another day of #ridingeverydayinNovember.  8 of us met at Westmoreland Park.  The plan was this:

"This ride follows the Springwater Corridor multi use path visiting things just off the trail people may be unaware of like a secret waterfall and some ponds popular with waterfowl. Sites include Johnson Creek City Park, Oregon Pacific vintage railroad yard, Luther Road Restoration Area, Beggars Tick Wildlife Refuge, and the Foster Floodplain Natural Area. The loop ride goes out as far as Leach Botanical Gardens, and gets there going the back way over the bridge now open only to cyclists. There will also be a stop at the Franz Bakery Outlet, and the final stops will be at the nearby Belmont Goats and the new Naya Generations complex."


We followed Johnson Creek drainage via the Springwater Corridor. Most of the early part of our ride was under a steady drizzle, with an occasional heavy rainfall.  Most of us had rain gear on and were comfortable. A couple of recent transplants to the area were unprepared and once wet, were suffering in the high 40's temperatures.

We rode to the "secret waterfall"

One of the highlights of today's saunter was the Leach Botanical Garden. We didn't have time to take a tour of the 16 acre site, but did take a shorter tour of the former home of Lilla and John Leach. Our volunteer tour guide was a sweet older woman who knew the answers to the questions we posed.

One of our last stops today was at the Belmont Goats.

The weather improved as our day progressed.  The rain stopped and roads and trails mostly dried out. By that time however, the damage was done to our unprepared riders.  They were cold and glad we were finishing up.

 I should have gone for a few bonus miles, but I was hungry, and the short daylight was threatening to end the daylight.

There's always tomorrow.  ;-)

........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ...18.................0.................0...............0..............18
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
Oct..........36....................0................0................0.............36
Nov.........132....................0................0................0............132
Total......1026...............15.................0...............31..........1072