99 degrees....What would a desert coyote do?

Go for a little bike ride of course!

My plans for today fell through, so I decided to go for a leisurely bike ride.  I hopped on the fixed gear bike and just took off with no destination in mind.  This is what the route looks like when there is no plan.

I was obviously just puttering around.   I noted that I was bait.

Rather than trying to get a photo of an elusive cougar, I decided to have a healthy snack instead.
The wild Himalaya berries are nearing their prime.  It doesn't take much work at all to find berries that are right at their peak.

Oregon might be noted for being grey and drizzly, but that might be just a result of poor marketing. We get less annual rainfall than Dallas TX, Washington DC, New York City, and a host of other locations that don't have near the reputation for rain.  In fact, it seems that solar energy is a thing.

And finally, as the day was heating up, the shade of an old oak tree looked inviting, but alas, this tree was in a tree museum. no dollar and a half required to see it, but I was not allowed to walk beneath the tree.

Joni Mitchell sings about trees in tree museums.


It was 99 degrees F as I finished up, it will go several degrees higher yet today.

Today .....20.................0..................0....................0..........20

Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26

Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7

March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5

April.......0.................0...............66.....................0...............66

May.........0..................0..............79......................0...............79

June........2..................0...............0......................0...............2

July........64.................0...............0......................0...............64

YTD........104...............0...............154.....................0.............256

It begins again

This summer has been a series of support gigs for bike races.  It seems that as soon as one ends, another begins. In about three weeks I'll be in Utah supporting Barry Dickson at Hoodoo 500.  Today I made a few trips into the hardware store to get supplies for modifying my storage/cot unit.

 One of those trips coincided with a lunch stop.  ;-)

Today ......6.................0..................0....................0...........6

Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26

Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7

March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5

April.......0.................0...............66.....................0...............66

May.........0..................0..............79......................0...............79

June........2..................0...............0......................0...............2

July........44.................0...............0......................0...............44

YTD.........84...............0...............154.....................0.............236

I rode bike today!

What a pathetic year.  Well, to clarify, what a pathetic year for me riding a bike.  I've yet to crack 100 miles for any month, let alone ride a century in the last year.  On the bright side, I have done a lot of crewing for ultra racers this year.  I just finished Race Across Oregon as crew chief for Mick and Jamie, who came in at 3rd place overall (14 minutes behind 2nd place, with a 32hrs 35mins time.  Good enough for a 1st place finish in their division.. I also crewed a successful Race Across America for Team Skipper. Still have a few more races to crew too.

Today I rode to the local car rental business to arrange for a rental van for Hoodoo 500. As it ended up, the price had more than doubled in the week since RAO, owing to pressure from the Hood to Coast run, which pretty much empties the local supply of minivans.

Luckily, Hoodoo 500 takes place in Utah and there are a lot of car rental businesses between here and there.  I'll be picking up a rental van in Hermiston, and saving $200 off the RAO price besides!

I rode back to cancel the local reservation.

I then rode to the local park for a pretty darn good concert sponsored by the local rotary club.

........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total

Today ......8.................0..................0....................0...........8

Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26

Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7

March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5

April.......0.................0...............66.....................0...............66

May.........0..................0..............79......................0...............79

June........2..................0...............0......................0...............2

July........38.................0...............0......................0...............38

YTD.........78...............0...............154.....................0.............230

Racing Across Oregon!

Well, the big day is finally upon us.

I am honored to be crew chief for Mick Walsh and Jamie Van Beek as they team up to conquer this cross state route. This, the 20th anniversary event, promises to be a fast event. 20% more miles, but only 3/4 the climbing. The wild card will be wind. Prevailing winds on this E to W route say that headwinds might be an issue. At any rate, you are invited to follow along from the comfort of your home. We start at 5 AM Saturday, but there is a staggered start, and some will be starting Friday evening. Everyone will be tracked by satellite and you can see where we are by visiting this site.

Mick has his own Spot tracker, and you can see where he is at by visiting his 
Mick and Jamie will be trading back and forth with the riding chores, but will always be close together so either of those trackers will give you a good idea of where we are.

Jamie's spot: https://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=ywXLz

Time's up!

I continue to do last minute maneuvering for Race Across Oregon. Again, I timed my necessary shopping and off site organizing to coincide with a lunch stop. Today I had to travel a bit farther afield to accomplish my tasks. The weather was sunny and warm. I don't have navigation as complete as I'd like, but probably complete enough. I'll spend a bit of time tonight packing clothes and other personal supplies. Tomorrow I pick up the van and start converting it to a lean, mean, support machine!


........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total

Today ......8.................0..................0....................0...........8

Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26

Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7

March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5

April.......0.................0...............66.....................0...............66

May.........0..................0..............79......................0...............79

June........2..................0...............0......................0...............2

July........30.................0...............0......................0...............30

YTD.........70...............0...............154.....................0.............222

Getting close to RAO time!

I am busy doing last minute adjustments to our Race Across Oregon navigation files as the course and the rules for riding it have been changing in the last days leading up to the race.  The weather is dry and hot.  Temperatures have been above 90F all for the last week, and hit 100 today.  I had to get to the post office and hardware store.  I hopped on the fixed gear bike and rode into town at noon, making my stops, and having lunch at my favorite teriyaki place.  Killed two birds with one stone!

........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total

Today ......3.................0..................0....................0...........3

Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26

Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7

March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5

April.......0.................0...............66.....................0...............66

May.........0..................0..............79......................0...............79

June........2..................0...............0......................0...............2

July........22.................0...............0......................0...............22

YTD.........62...............0...............154.....................0.............214

What is the purpose?

Not exactly sure why I am continuing to keep this blog up. I am riding so few miles this year that it hardly seems worth it. I am crew chief for a 2x mixed team at Race Across Oregon beginning next week, and I find myself in the unusual situation of being completely prepared for that adventure with 4 days to spare. Temperature is predicted to be in the mid 90's today, and of course the sky is blue and cloudless. I took off on the fixed gear bike for a little ride around town early today before it got too warm. There were a lot of people out on the trails enjoying the cooler morning air. As I pedaled up behind this woman who was power walking I was guessing a young female.

I was quite surprised as I passed her to see that she is probably much closer to my age!  Good for her!

I continued to putter around on the bike, slowly, but moving.  I managed to eek out 19 slow miles. I note that the total is just over 9 times the miles I rode all last month.  :-(


........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total

Today ......19.................0..................7....................0...........19

Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26

Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7

March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5

April.......0.................0...............66.....................0...............66

May.........0..................0..............79......................0...............79

June........2..................0...............0......................0...............2

July........19.................0...............0......................0...............19

YTD.........59...............0...............154.....................0.............211