Day 16 of #ridingeverydayinNovember

Today was the 16th day of #ridingeverydayinNovember.  It is a Facebook challenge to get outside and ride every day this month.  After seeing photos and descriptions of others riding in snow and single digits, rain of monsoon proportions, and scorching heat, I feel so unworthy for my paltry rides in temperate Oregon.  Today I decided to add to my mileage a bit.  It was dry and reached 60F by mid afternoon. Just a bit of north wind, to remind us that we are expecting dry weather for the next few days.  Sorry about that nasty weather riders!

Being a bike pansy following my third interaction with a negligent motorist a year ago, I've been a little bit timid about pedaling with cars, and I still have pain in my left elbow and left knee.  Doctor says it is probably permanent, so I might as well learn to deal with it.

Today I decided to drive to Sellwood River Front Park and ride the Springwater Trail, with a turn onto the I-205 path to the Columbia River and back.  It would make about 30 miles, my longest ride of the year.                :-(

I pedaled along in the sunshine.  I reached the I-205 bike path and turned left, hoping to get a good photo of Mt Hood looming over the Columbia River.  The Springwater Corridor trail is an old RR grade and slopes just gently upward as it heads east.  The I-205 path is not as flat.  It rolls up and down to get over (or under) busy cross streets, and climbs significantly (for a path) to get over the shoulder of an extinct volcano. I got to the shore of the Columbia River.

                            

Despite the mostly clear skies elsewhere, there was a bank of clouds following the Columbia River.  It obscured the view of Mt Hood, so I took a picture of the bike instead!

I noted that the motorists weren't having nearly as good a day as I was having.

My phone's battery died just as I was taking that video, and daylight was going to be an issue, so I made plans to have a no stop fast return to the Willamette River.

I managed to keep the bike moving quickly enough that I arrived back at Sellwood Riverfront Park just as the sun set below the West Hills. I took advantage of the remaining daylight to pedal toward Portland in search of 1.8 more miles (to get my planned 30 miles)  I over shot a bit, and ended up with 31 miles.

It was a nice ride, but my old out of shape legs were feeling it a bit, and at 31 miles, it was my longest ride of the year so far, and more miles than I rode in any month this year except for 3 of them. (April and May in Panama, and July in Oregon)

and the 1124 ft of elevation gain looked like this:

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

Today .....31.................0..................0....................0...........31

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

August......11..................0...............0.....................0...............11

September 0..................0................0.....................0................0

October 0..................0...............0......................0................0

November 210................0................0......................0...............210

YTD........328...............0...............154.....................0.............482