Day 18 of #ridingeverydayinNovember

Another nice day in NW Oregon.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature would reach 58.7 according to my home weather station.  In the Portland area that usually comes at the price of a brisk east wind blowing out of the Columbia River Gorge. Today was no exception. I thought I might ride Portland's 40 mile loop. It would be my longest ride of the year, made even more difficult by spending a significant distance riding into that wind.  I thought that riding the loop counterclockwise would be better if the wind was the only consideration, since the Springwater Corridor is more protected by trees, and farther south of the Columbia River, and the source of the wind.  But more important than the wind, was my concern for riding on busy roads.  The ride down Interstate requires a dicey merge with heavy truck traffic coming in on the right side.  I usually ride the 40 mile loop clockwise to that I don't have that issue, and today and added benefit would be a bit less riding into the wind.

I took off from Sellwood Riverside Park and headed toward Portland.  When I got to Tilikum Crossing I decided to cross the Willamette River and go up the other side, just for something different.

The view upriver from the Tilikum Bridge.

The Tilikum Bridge takes its name from the native American trade language, Chinuk Wawa meaning "the people".

 As I pedaled through Tom McCall Waterfront  Park I noted that Saturday Market isn't just for Saturdays anymore! I didn't need anything, and didn't carry my heavy U-lock for today's ride, so I just took this photo from the outside.  The Saturday Market covers a large area and has more than 300 booths.

I crossed back over the Willamette River on the Steel Bridge.

 The view back up river was pretty good. It looked like a warm Summer day, but the blue sky and bright sun had other ideas.

I had more miles to cover, and anticipated some headwind to contend with.  I decided I should quit taking photos and just ride the bike.  As I climbed away from the Steel Bridge I changed my plan and made my way up Williams Ave.  It is a bike friendly street (as opposed to the busier Greely) and I figured it would only cut a few miles off of today's ride. (not necessarily a bad thing)  I reached the Columbia River and was surprised that the river was as smooth as glass with no wind to disturb the surface.  I was thinking my planned photo of Mt Hood over the Columbia River was going to include a great reflection on the river.

Mother Nature had other plans.  As I approached Portland Airport I noted ripples on the river ahead of me.  Sure enough, a nasty headwind appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.  I'd ride the next few miles struggling to hold 9mph.  The fixed gear bike doesn't offer an option to shift to an easier gear.
Despite the lack of a reflection, I still stopped for a photo.

I turned south on the I-205 Bike Path and left the headwind behind.  I moved along at a pretty good rate except when climbing the shoulders of extinct volcanoes.

Once I reached the Springwater Corridor it was clear sailing, with a great tailwind and gently sloping downward path.

When I rolled into Sellwood Riverfront Park I was surprised to find that my course modification in the early part of today's ride only cut off about 6 miles.  The 40 mile loop really is only about 38 miles and change.

Even at 32 miles, this was my longest ride of the year so far.  It also puts me over 508 miles for the year (534) a distance that I've biked in less than 48 hours a few years back.  Now it's taken just over 11.5 months.

32 miles........................

..............with 1176 ft of climbing

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

Today .....32.................0..................0....................0...........32

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 262................0................0......................0...............262

YTD........370...............0...............154.....................0.............534