Bike Dreams

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 157th phonecast

2012-01-28T18:36:00.001-08:00

Real bikes but not real roads.

2012-01-18T23:42:00.000-08:00

This will be the first month in many years where I do not get at least 500 miles. I'm okay with it, the weather has been a bit nasty, and I've got a lot of riding to do soon so the break is probably good. I did ride tonight a bit for the first time in 10 days, again, the longest I've been off a bike in years.

A friend invited me to watch a movie tonight. It's always a good thing when a pretty woman invites a guy to a movie. :-) It's even better when it involves cycling! ;-) We set up rollers in front of a BIG projected image and rode our bikes while watching Green Lantern.

I don't ride rollers much, in fact, I just about quintupled my lifetime roller miles tonight. To my surprise I stayed on them pretty well, my only "off roller experiences" were when I got too involved watching the movie that was slightly to my left, causing me to drift to the left as I pedaled. I pedaled reasonably hard. I was in my big ring and holding in the upper 20's to low 30's. I played around a bit and even pedaled up to 45 mph. Amazing what no wind drag will allow you to do!

My roller skills improved as the evening progressed. ;-)

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........0.............34.............0..........0...........34
Jan..........70.............34.............0..........0..........104
YTD..........70.............34.............0..........0..........104

What's a bike?

2012-01-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, I haven't been on my bike in so long I almost forget what it looks like. :-( It's the longest stretch off my bike in years. I had a busy week at work and in the evening (and into the wee hours!) I was working on a presentation I was to give at JoyRide Cycling Studio.

The presentation went pretty well, especially if you take into account that I did not have time to view the powerpoint prior to presenting. JoyRide is one of my sponsors for a crazy endeavor on the horizon.

There is snow on the ground in the Portland area, and much of the Pacific Northwest this morning. I won't be riding the roads today but may just dig the rollers out and set up in the driveway and "ride". At least when I fall, doing so in the snow makes for a softer landing. ;-)

A Good Reminder

2012-01-08T23:59:00.000-08:00

I did not ride many miles today but I did get a valuable some valuable training.
I pedaled off this morning thinking that 75-100 miles might be nice. As I rolled out it was 34 degrees with heavy fog. Short of 34 degrees and heavy rain this is just about my least favorite weather to ride in. I rode out along the Willamette River from Wilsonville toward Newberg.

I was not "feeling the love" and was making all sort of excuses why I had too many things to do to be out here riding when the weather was soooooo yucky.

Finally that little "bike pansy" climbed up on my shoulder and talked into my ear and convinced me to turn around and head back. As far as I knew the whole valley was fogged in and cold.

I arrived back home with a paltry 31 miles. I put the bike away and went on about my day doing the things I had on my "to do" list.

By dark the reports from friends began rolling in. The fog had been very localized. While this area suffered under the cold wet stuff, others had a decent day. I heard reports of rides of 50-80 miles being accomplished in decent weather.

So my mind goes back to ultracycling events. As long as the bike is moving, keep it moving. Current conditions can't predict conditions down the road. Keep pedaling.

Figuratively I was sitting in the support car DNFing watching the other competitors ride by to finish.

So I didn't ride much but had a lesson I thought I had learned before hammered back home.

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........31..............0.............0..........0...........31
Jan..........70..............0.............0..........0...........70
YTD..........70..............0.............0..........0...........70

okay, so not many miles

2012-01-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

but they've been fun miles! :-)

Tonight I rode another of our infamous "waffle rides". Tonight we discussed the origins of this craziness, we decided that Chris comes up with hair brained ideas and I make them happen. Fair enough!

We had a small group tonight, two on a tandem hit the deck on the way out and returned home to nurse their wounds. That left 4 of us to start off with waffles.

Following the waffles we rode to Madison's, a bike friendly establishment, and had some finger snacks and some libations to wash them down with.

Chris and I then did our own version of the Bridge Pedal and zigged and zagged our way over Portland's downtown bridges. It was a beautiful night. A little fog began to form near midnight. It made our rather warm evening feel a bit cooler, but made for interesting photos... these are via Chris's cell phone:
(Chris W. photo)

(Chris W. photo)

I got 18 miles, that and the 21 from last Sunday brings me up to about a good two hard hours riding. Neither ride has been hard however, but they were both fun!

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........18..............0.............0..........0...........18
Jan..........39..............0.............0..........0...........39
YTD..........39..............0.............0..........0...........39

A leisurely start

2012-01-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

The new year has to start somewhere.
Mine started in Rancho Cucamonga, California where I joined my social bike club's sister club, Butts on Bikes Inland Empire (BOBIES) for a New Year's Day social ride.

I commuted two hours north from San Diego to join them for this ride on a rails to trails path. We rode a leisurely pace of about 10-12 mph out 10 miles to a lunch stop and back. The sky was cloudless, the temperature was 83 degrees, there was no wind. Sort of like a nice Oregon summer day, except it was on January 1st in Southern California!

(I am still learning the fine points of helmet cam aiming, Sorry!)

We had a good ride, even the locals were impressed with today's weather. I was made aware that we are all on a continuum of fitness. Some of us rode today with virtually no effort at all, while others where huffing and puffing to maintain our 12 mph pace over this flat course. Let's not forget that we all started somewhere.

I've been leading an annual ride around Crater Lake in August and invited the BOBIES to put together a van or carpool of folks and make an adventure out of it. That ride may be a bit more than some of today's riders care to bite off, but I'm sure that with a little preparation that they will be able to put together a group to come join us on this gem of a ride in Oregon.

It was a good ride today, a nice break in the long drive home.

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........21..............0.............0..........0...........21
Jan..........21..............0.............0..........0...........21
YTD..........21..............0.............0..........0...........21

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 151st phonecast

2011-12-31T13:31:00.001-08:00

I am still in Southern California and will get back on here and add photos, spruce up the stats, and eventually even add some video.

In the meantime here is.............

The year end total:
.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........59..............0.............0..........0..........59
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec........1113..............0.............0..........0........1113
YTD.......10316..............0............87.........47.......10450

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 150th phonecast

2011-12-31T13:01:00.001-08:00

SDCBR day 5, Hemet to Fallbrook

2011-12-30T11:19:00.001-08:00

Today we started from Hemet and rode toward Fallbrook. Our defacto ride leader, Ralph, loves an "organized critical mass" group start, so we took off in a group.

After our short Starbucks stop we began climbing a hill. Before long we were looking down across Temecula as we continued to climb.

I've got a 30 minute video of the descent from this hill down through the De Luz canyon but at nearly 5 GB it is way too large for YouTube so will have to look at other options. In the meantime here's a still photo of this scenic canyon.

After dinner in Fallbrook we had the "Reverse Hotseat", where ride participants got in front of the crowd and were praised/roasted/and teased, then got to pick out a t-shirt from the t-shirt exchange. Before that all started though we had a little entertainment supplied by "The Magic Mushrooms"! :-)

I've got a lot more numbers, photos, and videos of today and the rest of this trip to post. It will make it up here as time allows.

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 147th phonecast

2011-12-29T14:33:00.001-08:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 146th phonecast

2011-12-28T16:12:00.001-08:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 145th phonecast

2011-12-28T09:55:00.001-08:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 144th phonecast

2011-12-27T14:29:00.001-08:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 143rd phonecast

2011-12-26T15:00:00.001-08:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 142nd phonecast

2011-12-26T14:10:00.001-08:00

a short ride before the big ride!

2011-12-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

I drove down to San Diego today in preparation of tomorrow's San Diego Christmas Bike Ride. I got checked into my room then rode my bike to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
I got a whopping 3 miles! Probably plenty since I've been awake for 36 hours at this point! :-O

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........3..............0.............0..........0...........3
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........728..............0.............0..........0.........728
YTD........9941..............0............87.........47.......10065

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 141st phonecast

2011-12-25T05:22:00.001-08:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 140th phonecast

2011-12-23T16:32:00.001-08:00

Christmas Caroling by Bike, Part 2

2011-12-22T23:14:00.000-08:00

8 members of the social bike group gathered to sing a few Christmas songs to some Portland residents while using bikes to move from place to place.

We started off from the Steel Bridge and went south on the Eastbank Esplanade.

Butts on Bikes rides Portland's East Bank... by Desert_Coyote
(my first attempt at GoPro video, yup, should have had all the extraneous stuff edited out, but until I figure that all out what I saw is what you get!)DRAT! The jerkiness of the video comes from the hosting site, the raw video is as smooth as butter. Further tweeking required!

Art became our wagon master and determined our route. Chris had created little song books for the group. All I had to do was ride my bike and pretend to sing at a few brightly lit homes. ;-)

The folks in the homes we sang at were very appreciative. Our little group scored cookies, candy, and even some dry fig infused bourbon from grateful residents!

It was a cold night, with frost around, but we were, for the most part, prepared for the weather.

Following the ride we gathered at a local watering hole for warm food and drink.

It was a good night to be on a bike and nice to have good friends join in the fun.
Oh, and following The Merry's comment below I figured I should direct you to the first Christmas Caroling event. You can find it HERE.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........14..............0.............0..........0..........14
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........725..............0.............0..........0.........725
YTD........9938..............0............87.........47.......10062

an alternate reality

2011-12-21T22:12:00.000-08:00

I was trying to get to Vancouver tonight to join a weekly ride but the reality of trying to get through rush hour traffic from one end of Portland to the other is that it will take about 1.5 hours to travel the 25 miles. I missed the start by 15 minutes.

I didn't know the intended route well enough to try to chase them down. Luckily there was an alternate reality available. I was within a few hundred yards of the 40 Mile Loop that I've been riding a lot in the last several weeks. I parked at Jantzen Beach and began around the 40 Mile Loop starting from the opposite end from where I normally start from.

It was a cool evening. I did not bring my usual cold weather gear of shoe covers and glove liners and my toes and fingers complained a bit, but I did my best to ignore their protestations.

It was a good ride, the roads were dry, the sky was clear. It was a nearly perfect way to spend a Winter Solstice evening. Of course sitting in front of a crackling fire with a cup of hot cocoa in hand might trump this!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........39..............0.............0..........0..........39
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........711..............0.............0..........0.........711
YTD........9924..............0............87.........47.......10048

lost

2011-12-18T16:43:00.000-08:00

I have no idea what happened but I had the correctly named route on my GPS, but the displayed route was something different. We were supposed to ride a 10 mile ride on bike boulevards, instead we got a 19 mile ride, the first portion being on busy roads with no shoulder. It was bad enough that two of the riders decided not to continue. :-( The rest of us kept riding and finally got off the busy road, but not until we were out near I-205. As we pedaled along the I-205 bike path I turned 10 miles for the day.... and 10,000 for the year. :-)

We turned onto the Springwater Trail and at that point Art wanted to take us directly back to our start/finish since some had other plans for the afternoon that did not involve biking. ...what's up with that? :-O

Here's the route I intended to ride:

Here's what we rode:

I guess all's well that ends well. With the exception of the two who turned around (and the 4 who decided not to show up!) the rest of us had smiles on our faces yet as we finished 19 miles, and sat down to warm company and cold drinks!

I had my new GoPro video camera along on this ride, but had not reviewed it's operation since I got it over a week ago. It seems I didn't quite have the sequence of button pushing down.

So, missed video, missed course, my digital camera was acting up as well and I only got the one photo above today. There was the no show issue as well.

But I did get my 10,000 miles and had the company of good friends doing it.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........19..............0.............0..........0..........19
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........672..............0.............0..........0.........672
YTD........9885..............0............87.........47.......10009

barely bikey

2011-12-17T18:17:00.000-08:00

I started the day with 11 miles to ride before noon tomorrow, all just to keep the "Ride 10,000 miles with the Desert Coyote" ride on track. There's plenty of room for more to join in, it's a short ride of 10 miles, just about anyone can do that.

With only 11 miles to ride I had time to help out a bike friend with a little "logging" project.

(Chris W photo)

I finished up with that project in plenty of time to pedal out 11 miles before dark. Nothing notable, just a short ride, but I am now in perfect position to complete the 10k miles at the end of tomorrow's ride.

I've ridden 10,000 miles or more in a year now for three consecutive years. This year was the most surprising. I had not intended to do that much riding. I had no plans for entering any ultra cycling events this year. I was only going to ride when it was fun. You'll note from the mileage log at the bottom of this post that I barely rode 500 monthly miles for the first 4 months. It was raining a lot, and I just didn't have to ride. Suddenly May came and with longer daylight, some regular mid week after work rides, and a double century day. I bagged my first 1000 mile month since September of 2010. I have been riding 1000 mile months since then with the exception of October when I had other plans on two of the weekends but still managed to get 900 miles.

I didn't even think about a ten thousand mile year until about 6 weeks ago. I realized that with my 400 mile San Diego Christmas Ride I was within striking distance. Then we got an almost unbelievable stretch of dry weather, and for the most part, frost free.
Each night after work I'd see those dry roads, and knowing that if I were going to get 10,000 miles before leaving for San Diego so that I could celebrate the accomplishment with friends, that I was going to have to ride some serious miles, at least some of those during dark and rainy nights. I decided it was preferable to ride in the dry so I did. Each night was the same thing, it's dry, I'll go for a ride. Stretch enough of those days together and suddenly here I am on the edge of getting my third consecutive 10,000 mile year. It's been fun!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........11..............0.............0..........0..........11
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........653..............0.............0..........0.........653
YTD........9866..............0............87.........47........9990

Ho Ho Ho

2011-12-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

The day started like this:

But ended like this!

It's the holiday season and what better way to help spread holiday cheer than to go caroling ..... by bike of course!

Meredith, Dave, Katherine, Eric, Christine, and I started out tonight armed with pages of lyrics and bikes lit up like, ...well, like Christmas trees! We'd ride along Portland's bike boulevards and when we saw a home that showed good Christmas spirit we'd stop, run up and knock on the door, and break into song. Some of us were more musical than others. ;-) But we all had fun!

We came across a young mother out on a bike with two kids in tow. She joined us for a short portion of our ride. A baby that wasn't enjoying our singing nearly as much as we were caused her to cut the evening short. As it ended up, I found out later that she is one of the 1047 members of our little social bike club. I checked out her attendance statistics and note that this was her first event with us! Hopefully she found it enjoyable enough that she'll join us on another ride soon.

I've got to ride 11 miles before Sunday at noon. I'm thinking that I might just be able to do that. ;-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........14..............0.............0..........0..........14
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........642..............0.............0..........0.........642
YTD........9855..............0............87.........47........9979

Inching

2011-12-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

My dad's old John Deere 4020 tractor did not have a clutch but did have an "inching pedal" used for creeping up to an implement or at other times when even an idle was too fast for close quarters.

This week my bike riding reminds me of that "inching" forward. I've already got my ride on Sunday preceeding my little 10k celebration mapped at 10 miles. I am leading a short ride of unknown distance on Thursday to spread a little holiday cheer via song. I'm guessing that ride may be about 15-20 miles.

I was signed up to ride with my social bike club tomorrow evening, but I got off work at a reasonable time and the forecast for tomorrow calls for a chance of rain.
I sent my regrets to tomorrow's ride leader and hopped on the bike tonight with clear blue skies above.

I "inched" 30 miles closer to that 10,000 mile number. If the Christmas Caroling ride logs 15-20 miles, and the 10k celebration ride is 10 miles that means I still have to get 5-10 miles between Friday morning and Sunday noon (when the 10k ride starts).

That will be easy enough to do. It is harder to NOT ride the bike!

Tonight's ride went from the Steel Bridge along the East Bank Esplanade, along the Springwater Corridor, then north on the I-205 bike path to Rocky Butte, along Fremont Street a few blocks, then retrace back to the Steel Bridge. A good ride, and cold!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........30..............0.............0..........0..........30
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........628..............0.............0..........0.........628
YTD........9831..............0............87.........47........9965

too many miles

2011-12-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

I didn't have any takers for the 38 mile ride tonight. That made it easy to cancel the ride since I really didn't want that many miles. I've got all week plus Saturday to get 55 miles. That will leave me with 10 miles to go to reach 10,000 miles for the year. I've already got the route posted to my social bike club's calendar and have invited members to come celebrate with me. You, my blog fans, are invited as well. Be at Madison's Grill on SE 11th and Madison ready to ride at noon this coming Sunday.

Here's the final 10 miles of a 10,000 mile year:

..and yes, I will be riding a few more yet before the year is over!

Yikes!

2011-12-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

Our social bike club's Grand Pooh Bah organized a ride today out in the Helvetia area. He didn't have it start until 1PM. Normally I would have ridden to that ride, but today I didn't want to get too many miles as I'm trying to coordinate the rolling over of 10,000 miles with a gathering/celebration I have planned for next Sunday.

It was a really nice day to ride, so I drove to near the start, but a few hours early and went for a little pre-ride.

I almost overdid it! I'm leading a 38 mile ride tomorrow night, and a Christmas Caroling ride of 15-20 miles on Thursday so I really didn't want to get more than about 60 today. It's hard to stop riding when the weather is so nice!

8 of us joined in on the ride this afternoon, and followed the ride with a stop at the locally famous Helvetia Tavern.

We had a good time riding and a good time talking about riding. ;-)

I just got a few more miles than I intended. I think it's the first time I've had over 90 miles that I DID NOT just keep pedaling and go for the 100!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........93..............0.............0..........0..........93
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........598..............0.............0..........0.........598
YTD........9801..............0............87.........47........9935

cycling as therapy

2011-12-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

I joined Mark and Meredith today on a ride in hopes of putting some smiles on faces that needed smiles. Mission accomplished!

We were starting from Meredith's home which is just about 2 miles off the 40 Mile Loop in the Gateway area. I started from the Steel Bridge and rode the 40 Mile Loop to Gateway then rode west to her home. A fourth person decided it was too cold, or too far, or too fast, or too something, so it was just the three of us. We pedaled back out to the 40 Mile Loop and began our adventure. It was a decent day for a ride. Any time you can ride all day in Oregon in December without getting wet it's a good day!

We finished the route without much to note. Despite a frosty start to the day we only saw one patch of ice on the route and that was on the Eastbank Esplanade right on the Willamette River.
That lack of ice was not a result of warm weather, it was right at the freezing point most of the day, it was a testament to the long stretch of dry weather we've been experiencing. Both the Willamette River and Columbia River were looking very low today so they too reflect the dry weather.

After riding the loop with my friends I rode back to my starting point via the 40 Mile Loop again. It was a circuitous way to reach the Steel Bridge but good rides rarely involve the shortest distance between two points.

After my two laps, and two trips in to Meredith's I had 12 miles left to go to reach 100 miles. Since I'm still working on my 10,000 mile year, and the weather is dry... I of course kept riding until I snagged the 100.

158 miles to go. I've planned on reaching that goal while riding with friends then sitting around a table talking bike!
so really I'm looking at riding about 135 miles in the next 8 days. That shouldn't be a problem. In fact, the problem might be having to be careful not to reach 10k before next Sunday. ;-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......100..............0.............0..........0.........100
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........505..............0.............0..........0.........505
YTD........9708..............0............87.........47........9842

Getting it dialed in

2011-12-08T22:51:00.000-08:00

Steve and I rode Portland's 40 mile loop again tonight.

It was the coldest night so far, below freezing, but I was comfortably warm, even my finger tips! Knowing it was going to be below freezing tonight I added a pair of wind pants over my long legged riding pants. Having noticed a cold goretex jacket pressing against my long sleeved riding jersey on the last ride I added arm warmers over my long sleeves just to add some insulation.

It worked perfectly! I was warm but not sweaty.

Steve had forgotten his helmet. Luckily I was wearing my "night helmet" (more reflectivity, a 'dashboard light' and driving light already installed) and had my day helmet along. After a little adjustment of straps we went for a bike ride.

It was a gorgeous night for a ride. I have kept the Christmas lights that I installed for the PIR ride on the bike. It IS the season after all! I had positive comments from pedestrians, cyclists, and automobile drivers. Nothing like riding around with Christmas lights on your bike to spread a little holiday cheer.

After we finished the loop I had 39 mile tonight, remember that I rode back to my pickup to get my day helmet for Steve. It was such a nice night that I went for some bonus miles.

I finished up tonight with a nice even 50 miles again.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........405..............0.............0..........0.........405
YTD........9608..............0............87.........47........9742

Another dry night.

2011-12-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

I took a look at the weather forecast two days ago and noted that the recent dry weather was supposed to hold through the end of the week. I posted an invitation for folks to join me on a night ride of Portland's 40 mile loop trail. Eric and Phil joined me. Denise and a friend said they would join me too, but alas, were no shows.

I did not have time to remove the Christmas lights on my bike from last night's ride so I did the next best thing, I turned them on! I got quite a few positive comments from other cyclists, pedestrians, and passing vehicles. :-)

We made a brief stop at Cartlandia for a snack then pedaled on.

As we neared the Selwood Bridge Phil peeled off to ride home. As we neared the Morrison Bridge Eric peeled off to go to his vehicle. I continued on to the Steel Bridge to close my loop. Unlike last night when I had to stop by my pickup to get a bright light and reflective vest, tonight I already had that stuff. The weather was dry, I'm trying to get some miles before Christmas, I was warm and comfortable. I went for bonus miles! It seemed like 50 miles was a good number to shoot for, alas, it appears 58 might have been a better number. ;-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........355..............0.............0..........0.........355
YTD........9558..............0............87.........47........9692

It's beginning to look a lot like.......

2011-12-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

I put together a ride with dinner and gift exchange for my social bike club tonight. The impetus for this was that Portland International Raceway, which has an extensive drive through holiday lighting display, is open for "bikes only" on 1 night. Tonight was that night.

I started off by hanging a few lights on my bike, just to be festive.

25 of us decided that this was just the thing to do on a Monday night. The weather was dry and cool. Just right to get us in the Christmas spirit.

Having finished with the obligatory pre-ride photo we pedaled out on our very short commute to PIR.

We soon arrived, and after paying our admission, began our sight seeing tour.

Dave's bike gave some of the displays a run for their money. ;-)

Some rode 1 lap, some of us rode 2 laps. We soon all gathered back at The Burrito House
where we held our White Elephant gift exchange and had food and drink.

The social bike club has over a thousand members and they vary widely in their cycling ability but one thing is pretty consistant.... they know how to have fun!

(photo by Mark H)

I scored a big box of candy canes in the gift exchange. :-)

The "long" commute to PIR, two laps around the buttery smooth track, and the commute back to The Burrito House netted me a huge 8 miles.

All photos from the evening are HERE.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........8..............0.............0..........0...........8
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........305..............0.............0..........0.........305
YTD........9508..............0............87.........47........9642

Lewis & Clark Party, not the Donner Party

2011-12-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

Our social bike club's leader, Paul Johnston posted a ride for today that had 3400 ft of climbing in 34 miles. The ride was a bit short for me but I figured I could add miles by commuting by bike to and from.

The other affirmative RSVP was KenL. He's as crazy as me, probably more so. He started from King City this morning, about 15 miles farther out than I did!

We all met at our official starting point,Edgefield, near Troutdale.

We pedaled off and jumped up to a pretty quick pace. Ken can out ride me most days, but Paul is still recuperating a bit. I was surprised to see him setting such a quick pace. I figured I'd have my work cut out for me today.

We crossed the Sandy River and began our climb. Not satisfied with the gentle grade of the Historic Highway we turned and took a steeper hill. Paul dropped the pace a bit but still was moving pretty quickly.

(Ken, getting ready to pour a good dose of hurt on me)

(Paul showing me just how to pedal up a hill)

However, as we reached a stop sign and regrouped. he announced that he just wasn't feeling it, and couldn't do the ride. I told him we didn't need to go so fast and could drop the pace a bit. He declined to do that and said he'd just make his way back to Edgefield and let us go on.

I didn't have today's route on my GPS, but Ken found it on his, after a bit of searching. We kept climbing until we dropped out onto Larch Mtn Road. We saw a bit of ice in the shadows as we made our way up but the air temperature was above freezing. We weren't too worried about ice being on the road. However as we got to Larch Mtn Rd we were reminded that we were at elevation here.

We knew the snow gate would be closed putting an end to any hope of reaching the top of Larch Mountain today. We were very close to the Brower Road intersection and decided to do a little exploring. We made a few comments about being like Lewis and Clark.
Brower Road lost a lot of elevation quickly. Within a mile or so another road took off from the left but it didn't look nearly as traveled as the one we were on. There were no painted lines and a lot of leaves in the travel lanes. We decided to keep going down Brower.

We continued to travel a mostly northerly direction, a direction that should drop us on the Historic Columbia River Highway but I couldn't recall seeing a Brower Rd intersection anywhere along the old road. The answer to that riddle happened soon enough. We rounded a corner to see an intersection with Palmer Mill Road, and the end of pavement. I knew Palmer Mill road intersected the old road. What I didn't know was if it was passable by bike. There were no signs warning us of a dead end so we proceeded on (in true Lewis and Clark fashion!)

We peered through the trees to see the Columbia River below us.

then turned our heads slightly to see this road ahead of us:

What an adventure this turned out to be. Much of the road was covered in an inch or more of what can only be described as slop. We had to stop several times to dig out brakes and clean fork clearances.

The road descended quite steeply. The river next to us had many falls, not rapids, FALLS! We eventually dropped onto the old highway, right next to the Wahkeena Falls parking area.

Ken noted that it was fortunate that we emulated the Lewis and Clark party, who were successful, rather than the Donner Party, who were..well notoriously unsuccessful.

We stopped for a bit to clean out the accumulated mud and debris from our brakes and forks then pedaled westward to Latourel Falls.

Before long we began the climb up to the Vista House and a bit more to Chanticleer Point.

From there it was a long run down to the Sandy River. We crossed the river on the Stark Street Bridge then climbed away from the river.

We jumped on the Gresham-Fairview Trail and followed it to the Springwater Corridor. We were noting the sun getting lower and lower in the sky, and the temperature correspondingly dropping. We kept the hammer down moving quickly. We did stop at Cartlandia for a quick refuel then continued on. We turned on our lights as the shadows lengthened. I had my 1 Watt front blinkie doing service for me, Ken had a brighter light on his helmet in blink mode. We had one homeless "resident" complain that our lights were too bright as we sped by him. Ken and I both chuckled a bit knowing that if he thought we were too bright now what would he think if we had the BRIGHT lights on? ;-)

We arrived back along the Willamette River just before dark and just in time to see an old steam engine rumble and hiss into the Oaks Bottom station.

The wheels on the engine were HUGE, probably 5-6 feet tall!

We pushed on racing the remaining daylight. As we approached the Hawthorne Bridge our route would diverge, with Ken making his way back over the West Hills toward his endpoint for the day. I had an easier plan, I only had to continue on the East Bank Esplanade for a short distance to finish up.

I rolled into the parking lot with 93 miles. The weather was dry. I did what I normally do in these situations, I prepared to ride some bonus miles! It was getting dark now. I stopped at my pickup and grabbed my 300 lumen headlight and my relective vest. I went out for a little out and back, enough to bag the needed 7 miles with enough extra to get 1 more "insurance" mile.

What a fun few days of biking it's been. The forecast calls for a dry week. I'm leading a Christmas Light viewing ride Monday evening, will get less than 10 miles then, and have a board meeting to attend on Wednesday, but beyond that be looking for me to be out on a bike in the evenings!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......101..............0.............0..........0.........101
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........297..............0.............0..........0.........297
YTD........9500..............0............87.........47........9634

FUN!

2011-12-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

I got an early start today on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway I started from Butteville to avoid the hell that is the Boone Bridge during construction. (don't get me started on how the new design is even LESS bike friendly than the old design.)

I rode down 50 miles and back 50 miles in sub freezing temperatures. There was a splattering of fog, but nothing serious, and the roads were dry the day before so the chance of ice on the road was minimal. Yes, I was cold by the time I got back. Luckily there was time to get cleaned up and warmed up before the second ride of the day.... the FUN part! ;-)

In the evening we had the third installment of "The Waffle Ride"

Our new leadership in the social bike club frowns on mixing alcohol and bikes. I understand and support that position. However, if I pick the participants to only include those who are responsible and have good urban biking skills I feel it's safe to go have a little fun by bike.

Tonight a little group of 5 outlaws went on a non club ride, as we've done about once a month lately. It seems these rides always involve waffles, and tonight was no exception. We began our ride on the East Bank Esplanade.

We had designed a route to take advantage of bike paths and bike boulevards. The route shows that biking rarely involves the most direct route between waypoints. We made sure we had enough miles to make it worth riding bikes!

We started off and pedaled less than 4 miles to The Waffle Window. These are not your mother's waffles. They are really more like sandwiches, or desert! I had a hot apple pie waffle, including whipped cream! Others had such additions to their waffles as jalapeno peppers, bacon, and cheese. Remarkably good! Rather than ending our ride with waffles as per usual, because of the early closing hour during winter we started off with waffles.

Here's what a hot apple pie waffle looks like, and yes, it was yummy!

We rode by a few homes that were lit up for the holidays. This house certainly had the holiday spirit! You'll also note that in the foreground two of our group was also into the spirit of the season.

From the Waffle Window we rode 5 miles to Hopworks Bike Bar They let us borrow U locks to secure our bikes as we enjoyed some food and brews.

The smiles were on account that we had by chance arrived just as Happy Hour was starting! We were happy that there were food specials!

We had a nice assortment of beers to sample.

There were cameras out all over as we found this to be a very photogenic establishment, or maybe Mark found Sandy to be very photogenic! :-)

From there we rode about another 5 miles back to Apex, a very bike friendly establishment. They too loaned us locks.

The river wasn't as calm as it was last night, there was an ever so slight breeze blowing tonight, enough to put a few ripples on the water, but still worth a stop to take in the view as we pedaled over the Hawthorne Bridge.

After this morning's cold ride I put on an extra layer tonight and had chemical hand warmers in my gloves. It must have helped, I was quite comfortable despite below freezing temperatures this evening. My riding partners weren't so fortunate. We had planned on visiting one more location tonight but the late hour and cold feet and fingers dictated that it was time to call it an evening.

We did take a moment to snap one more photo as we rode along the path through Waterfront Park.

Yup, even more fun than last night's ride in the dark!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......119..............0.............0..........0.........119
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec.........196..............0.............0..........0.........196
YTD........9399..............0............87.........47........9533

2nd verse, better than the first!

2011-12-02T21:59:00.000-08:00

I invited my social bike club to join me in a repeat of last night's ride. 4 of them took me up on the offer. Before starting we posed for the obligatory preride photo.

It was a beautiful night for a ride, especially for December! There was just a slight breeze and it wasn't terribly cold. The best thing of all was that it was dry. We all were, for the most part, dressed for the weather. Couldn't help but remark to each other on how pretty the lights and river where tonight.

We enjoyed a few holiday light displays as we rode along the bluff near University of Portland.

We had a few light displays of our own. ;-)

We pedaled along at a moderate pace once we got on the bike paths. There were many nice views of reflected light on water tonight as the water was smooth as glass and we had either the Willamette or Columbia next to us for much of the ride.

The group slowed a bit as we added miles. We were pedaling along on Springwater on the Willamette.
There were a splattering of holiday lights along the way, including a few boats on the water and a very large steam engine on the tracks next to us. I didn't get a photo of the engines wheels that were taller than we were on bikes but I did get a photo of the cars behind it.

We soon closed our loop and were ready to call this ride complete. It was a great night to be out for a ride. It was nice to have company on tonight's ride.

Now for the weekend!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........39..............0.............0..........0..........39
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec..........77..............0.............0..........0..........77
YTD........9280..............0............87.........47........9414

dark and darker

2011-12-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

But dry!

I started at 5:15PM tonight, well after dark, to take advantage of a dry evening and ride Portland's 40 mile loop (well, sort of)

It was a good route for a night ride. I rode the first 6 miles in a bike lane separated from the vehicle travel lanes by a painted stripe, but the street was well lit and sightlines were good. From then on it was on dedicated paths. There was a short section on Marine Drive, but no issues.

The I-205 bike path and the Esplanade are well lit, but the Springwater Trail in particular is quite dark. I had my bright light along and used it.

It was a good night for a ride, crisp but dry.

Going to do it again tomorrow with some friends from the social bike club.
Gotta take advantage of the dry December weather! :-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........38..............0.............0..........0..........38
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
Dec..........38..............0.............0..........0..........38
YTD........9241..............0............87.........47........9375

Help me Mr Wizard

2011-11-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

I made my way to Vancouver, WA tonight to ride the longest running ride series in our little bike club. The ride begins along the Columbia River and runs to the end of a road that leads generally northwest out of Vancouver. There were eight of us tonight.

It was dark when we left, and certainly wasn't getting any lighter as we rode. We rode a fairly casual pace, about 15-16 on the way out into a slight wind, and about 19-20 on the way back with the wind behind us. We all had lights, but some of us had a LOT of light. Those of us with bright lights teamed up with those running lesser lights in this dark area. I teamed up with Chris sharing my bright light.

I'm fighting off a cold so the slower pace was just fine by me.

Following the ride we went to a local Mexican restaurant for a post ride debriefing.

Then it got interesting.

I don't ride over the Interstate Bridge often. The bridge was no problem, but the access to and from wasn't real intuitive. I got across the Columbia River just fine but darned if I could find the route across the next body of water. I ended up calling my sister and had her get online and direct me out of my predicament.

By the time it was all over I had ridden about 4 extra miles just making loops around the highway interchange and shopping center parking lots.

All's well that ends well though. Dry night, good friends, good food, and made it home in one piece. ;-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........30..............0.............0..........0..........30
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov........1012..............0.............0.........20........1032
YTD........9203..............0............87.........47........9337

Hello Carbon Bike

2011-11-29T18:08:00.000-08:00

It was a dry day. It was also a dry evening when I prepared to go for a ride. I hopped on the carbon bike for the first time in several hundred miles of riding. The rain bike hung from the hook with a look of despair as I had an ear to ear smile as I pedaled away.

My rain bike has a second set of brake levers on the bars near the stem. My carbon bike has traditional brake levers. I've been riding the rain bike so much lately that it caught me a bit by surprise as I rolled up to a stop sign with oncoming traffic and squeezed the non-existent levers. Oops! Hurriedly grabbed the only brake levers on the bike and came to a stop. Good thing the carbon bike has excellent brakes!

Other than that little issue the only other thing of note on tonight's ride was the sunset. It was spectacular. I did not have a camera with me, but take my word, it was awesome.

I rode my 25 mile night loop then did a few miles of meandering around the better lit side streets of Wilsonville as well as a few laps of big box stores' parking lots.

It was bit chilly, but dry. A good night for a ride.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........35..............0.............0..........0..........35
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........982..............0.............0.........20........1002
YTD........9203..............0............87.........47........9337

in a word............

2011-11-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

WET!

I was invited to join a group today that was riding a 70 mile route from Forest Grove to Vernonia via roads, then take the Banks-Vernonia State Trail back to Banks then Thatcher Rd back to Forest Grove.

A few things had caused me concern, but hey, figured if these folks were going to ride on a day with predicted rain I'd join them.

The first concern was that the map that was sent out pre-ride came with the warning, "we can't figure out how to make the program allow bike paths so it's just approximate". They also said they were planning a lunch stop in Vernonia, yet the map didn't show going into Vernonia far enough to access lunch options. I am familiar with mapping programs so I took the liberty of recreating the route following their description and sending it to them. Was promptly "spanked" and told that there had been a lot of work done on this and paper cue sheets would be handed out at the start. Paper cue sheets and I don't get along at the best of times, let alone rainy days. I loaded my "corrected route" on my gps and went to the ride.

The ride wasn't supposed to start until 10AM, so looking for more miles, I rode to the ride from Hillsboro. The forecast called for significant rain beginning about noon, and since I started riding at 9AM it was dry. ;-) I rode with just a windbreaker over my jersey. As I crossed the city limits of Forest Grove a few drips began to fall, and I noted that the hills to the west were socked in with low clouds. As I arrived at the official start of the ride I took off my windbreaker and put on my rain jacket!

Another concern came when at 10:15 we still hadn't shoved off, in fact, people were still arriving. I decided to "take a chill pill" and just go with the flow. We finally began riding at 10:30 after getting a little pre-ride route overview. We were told "out Ritchey Rd, right on Stringtown, left on Gales Creek Rd". That wasn't what was mapped, but I knew the area and roads, this being my home turf, and noted the turns. There was also talk of this being a pretty flat route. We took off with a sizable group of 16 riders.

In just a matter of a few minutes we arrived at the Ritchey Rd turn only to see the group continue on Hwy 8/Gales Creek Rd. I dallied a bit and began to make the turn and calling attention to the others that this was our turn, only to be told that we were going to stay on Gales Creek Rd.

Okay. :-O

We get less than a mile down the road and the leaders pull off to the right at the Thatcher Rd/Gales Creek Rd junction. They were unsure which way to turn. :-O After some discussion the group pedaled on.

Despite a pace advertised at 17-18 the group pedaled along at 20-23 mph. I was dressed too warmly for that effort. The group was doing too much accordion action for my liking and after about 10 miles I dropped off the back and slowed down to about 16-17. A couple of other riders dropped back with me.

When we arrived at the Timber Junction a couple of guys were waiting for us to make sure we knew the turn. They jumped in front of us and my two fellow slow pokes jumped in their draft and soon disappeared out in front.

I knew some of the group, cat 2 and 3 bike racers, also a couple of Race Across Oregon 4x team record holders. Fast folks.

I decided to ride my ride.

As I pedaled over the nearly 1200 ft summit on the way to Timber I couldn't help but take a photo of this "flat" country we were riding through. ;-)

I made my way to Vernonia and rode through town passing the group's bikes parked outside as the group was at their lunch stop. I pedaled on, knowing that I would not deal so well with real food and that they would likely catch me anyway.

I rode the Banks-Vernonia State Trail into Banks and the group had still not caught me. I stopped under cover and ate some snacks from my pack then used the restroom.
As I came out I saw some of the group riding up. After a few minutes of chatting with them I decided to ride on so I wouldn't get cold, and they said they'd catch me. I didn't doubt that.

Surprisingly I never saw them again. I arrived in Forest Grove and kept right on going since darkness was closing in and I still had to ride back to East Hillsboro.

I had a rear blinkie on most of the day and turned the front blinkie on as I left Forest Grove. I arrived at my pickup with 90 miles for the day. I was already wet, had been for hours with the nonstop rain of the day, but not terribly cold. .... I turned on my bright headlight and pedaled on in search of a century.

Found it!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......104..............0.............0..........0.........104
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........947..............0.............0.........20.........967
YTD........9203..............0............87.........47........9337

A gorgeous day!

2011-11-25T22:16:00.000-08:00

Days in NW Oregon in late November don't get any better than today. Clear skies, but no frost this morning, very light breeze, comfortable temperatures all made for a great day. Dave and I took off for a century ride, plus a little.

We started off at 8:30 AM. We knew that with the short daylight this time of year that we were likely to end up riding in the dark so we brought good lights along. We pedaled southward. We had perfect blue skies, and a sun that was tracking low in the sky. We picked up a very slight headwind about half way to Salem. We smiled, figuring that the wind would increase as the day progressed, and by the time it was an issue it would be at our back.

Dave is a strong rider and we pushed a pretty good pace...me at 150bpm heart rate or more most of the time... until we got to the Union Street Bridge in Salem and made our first stop.

From there we turned west toward Independence. Before leaving West Salem we made a brief stop at a grocery store to stock up on some junk food..er, supplies!

We made it to Independence then crossed the bridge on followed the Willamette Valley Scenic Bike Route for a few miles before turning up Skyline Rd. Neither of us had been up this road before and we got a bit of a surprise when the GPS showed we were at times climbing 27%! As we neared the top, and I was working hard to keep up with Dave, I found out what my Garmin does when I reach 177bpm.... it chirps like a little birdie and displays "maximum heart rate". ;-O

Once on top we had a nice run down Liberty Street into Salem. Things went well but we noted that the expected tailwind hadn't materialized. In fact what wind we had was a cross wind. Before too long we noted that smoke from backyard leaf fires indicated that there was a very slight headwind. Some days that happens!

About 95 miles into the ride we stopped to put on lights. We continued on northward. As we neared Aurora Dave and I talked about just riding across the Boone Bridge rather than taking the Canby Ferry as we had originally planned. It would save a few miles and some climbing.

Never dangle a shortcut in front of a cyclist who's already ridden 100 miles.

The northbound crossing of the Boone Bridge is really not safe right now as there is construction on the interchange that has taken the shoulder. We decided that if we were going to take the Boone Bridge we would find a way to get on a surface street before the Wilsonville exit. We went for it!

As soon as we crossed the bridge we started looking for ways to get off the freeway. We ended up using cyclocross skills and hopped over a guardrail, made our way down an embankment, the lifted our bikes over a fence, while we crawled underneath it.

We survived and finished up the ride on low traffic residential streets.

Days don't get any better that this in late November!

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......106..............0.............0..........0.........106
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........843..............0.............0.........20.........863
YTD........9099..............0............87.........47........9233

wet and wild

2011-11-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

That's the weather outside for the next several days.

What's a bike person to do?

Well, join the League of American Cyclists of course!

In my opinion you won't find a bike organization that does more for cyclist education and advocacy.

I urge you to JOIN THEM today.

And tonight I decided it was time to get back on a "pretend bike" and remind myself why I really like to ride roads on real bikes. I went to 24 Hour Fitness and pedaled a Lifecycle for 20 pretend miles. It was warm, I watched TV, and there was a spa waiting for me as soon as I was finished. ;-)

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........0..............0.............0.........20..........79
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........737..............0.............0.........20.........737
YTD........8993..............0............87.........47........9127

A tale of two cities

2011-11-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

I ride in the Seattle area from time to time and belong to several Facebook bike groups based in the Puget Sound area. Over the years I've met many good folks up that way. Today I met another rider whom I had previously only known by name. John H from the West Sound Cycling Club came down to Portland, lured in part by stories he's heard about the Springwater Corridor trail and Portland's Bike Boulevards. He's been having some knee issues and figured he'd be ok with about a 25 mile ride. I obliged by mapping a 26 mile route that took in some of Portland's bike highlights. We rode the East Bank Esplanade, Springwater Corridor, and made a stop at Cartlandia for lunch.

We then continued to the I-205 bike path, then on designated bikeways and Bike Boulevards back to the Willamette River where we crossed the Hawthorne Bridge famous for it's volume of bicyclists.

We then followed the Waterfront Park bike path back to the Steel Bridge and our start/finish point. There were 5 of us total, and we had a beautiful cloudless blue sky. Not bad for a November day.

Following the ride I went for bonus miles. It was dry weather and daylight, who needs more of an excuse to ride a bike? I didn't have my bright light along, but did have a good blinkie on the front of the bike along with my standard two Planet Bike Super Flashes on the back. I headed back out to the Springwater Corridor and I-205 path and put the hammer down, adding another 53 miles to today's total. ...and yes, it was just a bit chilly, but still darn nice to be pedaling in dry weather. If the forecasters are correct it may be the last dry day for awhile.

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........79..............0.............0..........0..........79
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........737..............0.............0..........0.........737
YTD........8993..............0............87.........27........9107

New territory

2011-11-19T12:07:00.001-08:00

I played with my Garmin mapping program, selected a few points and told it to find me a bike friendly route between them. It was going to be a fun adventure, sending us over many roads I had never cycled before, as well as finding bike paths where I never knew they existed!

The concern this morning was the weather. Last night a black ice warning was issued for the area, and there was supposed to be snow accumulation to quite low elevations and possible freezing temperatures.

As it ended up the morning came with lows in the high 30's so we dodged the black ice bullet, at least on the valley floor. Our route was to take us up to Sandy, about 1000 ft in elevation.

Ken and I started from Tigard today. I drove to the start since I was running too late to bike there, Ken rode about 25 miles from his home in east Portland.

We rode up to Garden Home and over a bit of a hill before dropping down to the Willamette River and crossing the Selwood Bridge. We pedaled along the Springwater Corridor to Gresham then dropped into the Sandy River canyon and crossed the river at Dodge Park.

I guess I cursed our ride today, because as we began the climb away from Dodge Park we experienced a rain shower. It wasn't real hard, but hard enough that I put on my goretex jacket. I rode with it on for just under 10 miles.

After climbing a significant grade to get out of the canyon we dropped right back into it to cross Revenue Bridge. It began to rain lightly again as we neared Sandy. We stopped for lunch at Subway.

From Sandy we turned toward Estacada. After 50 miles of nice cycling roads and paths we were now on a road that had no real shoulder. Not that it made a whole lot of difference, because of the copious leaf debris following a few days of blustery wet weather we were in the lane most of the day. It just wasn't safe to ride on those wet leaves.

Once we got to Estacada our road improved. Ken outrode today, as he usually does. He was 200 hundred feet ahead of me climbing a hill and missed a turn. I waited a bit for him, but knowing we were going to need all the daylight we had today I pedaled on, figured when he called me we'd figure out how to meet back up. I had figured that we were probably riding a parallel route heading toward Oregon City.

He ended up backtracking and coming into Beavercreek the same way I did. It was probably shorter for him to continue on the way he was going and cut over to the "official route" farther down the hill. We ended up meeting in Beavercreek just as it was getting dark.

We lit up and pedaled on. Between New Era and Canby I heard a loud "BANG" behind me. Ken had blown a tubular tire. It was beyond fixing with a can of sealant so we set about changing it. My duties were pretty much holding the light. It took a long time to get the old tire off the rim, probably 20 minutes or more. That Ken sure does a fine job of gluing those tires on! Along with the darkness issue, it was raining. Never a fun time to be standing along the side of a dark rural road changing a tire in the rain.

We made our way to Canby via Territorial Rd and crossed the Canby Ferry. We climbed away from the Willamette River on that short steep hill then rode over the big rollers of Advance Rd. By now neither of us had much spring in our legs, but we did manage to keep forward momentum.

We arrived in Wilsonville then turned toward Tualatin and hopped on another bike path, this one leading us to Cook Park and Tigard.

It was getting late, we finished at nearly 7:30PM. Ken had family plans that were pressing so I offered to drive him home instead of him having to ride another 20+ miles on top of the 120 he'd already pedaled. He eagerly accepted the offer.

It was a good ride, some new country, or at least new roads in old country, always a bonus. No snow or ice, though at Sandy there were white trees not too far above us. The biggest issues were the huge amount of wet leaves on the shoulders, but even those weren't enough to make me wish I hadn't biked today.

I finally rolled over 9000 miles on the bike this year today. :-)

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......102..............0.............0..........0.........102
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........658..............0.............0..........0.........658
YTD........8914..............0............87.........27........9028

what was I thinking?

2011-11-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

The morning started out frosty and foggy, it warmed slightly as the day wore on, but the fog stayed around......... until about 3:30PM when it dissolved away leaving beautiful blue skies. I knew I had to ride. I was thinking that I had about 25 miles to go to reach 9000 miles for the year so figured I had that in the bag and posted as much to Facebook. Alas, I should read my own blog! I was ONE HUNDRED and 25 miles short of 9000!

I started off in the blue sky, but knew it would be dark before I could finish so had good lights along. I rode my 25 mile "night loop" that is well lit with good shoulders. As the sun went down immediately fog began to reform. I was afraid that it would get thick and force me to quit but I was lucky in that visibility was never less than a few hundred feet. I put my faith in my dual Planet Bike Superflashes on the back and the 1 Watt Planet Bike white blinkie on front as well as my Light and Motion Stella 300 LED. Along with boat loads of reflectivity I felt save out there.

My night loop is not quite 25 miles so when I came in with two laps I was just short of 50 miles. A lap around the block fixed that!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........556..............0.............0..........0.........556
YTD........8812..............0............87.........27........8926

5 inches

2011-11-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

There is a saying among ultracycling competitors, "It's not the (x) miles, it's the 5 inches" (between your ears) meaning it's not so much bike fitness but mental attitude that gets you across the finish line.

Call it OCD, call it crazy, but that's what got me across the "finish line" today.
I came in from yesterday's ride with wind blowing hard and rain falling harder. The forecast was for that to continue today.

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when it wasn't raining, and it was reasonably calm. It was a bit cool, and I expected rain so I started out in a goretex jacket and pants, plus booties and full fingered gloves. I was dressed for 40 degrees and rain.

What I got was low 60's and dry.

That's a good thing unless being overheated causes performance issues. :-(

Ken and I were riding from Newberg today with a plan to get 100 miles via Dayton, West Salem, Independence, Liberty Rd, Salem, Keizer, Windsor Island, St Paul, and back to Newberg with a little loop around part of Newberg to get that magic 100 miles in.

The expected head winds did not materialize right away, and that lack of wind movement kept the roads wet until we got to Lincoln, about 5 miles north of West Salem, where we picked up a headwind that made our work a bit harder and dried the roads off.

I was not pushing too hard for fear of really over heating. What I should have done was take my rain jacket off, but by the time I ascertained the problem I couldn't take it off because I was soaked and no protection from the wind would have had me shivering within a mile.

Ken was waiting for me at every rise in the road, at the end of every stretch into the wind, heck, he was waiting for me all day!
It was a tough pedal for me. I should know better, I always have issues when I'm warm. Not warm like hot weather, I can deal with that. Warm like the sauna inside rain gear when it's not cold, and not raining!

I had long pants on under the rain pants, and they had a windproof front panel. When we got to Independence I had an epiphany.... take off the rain pants at least!

That helped quite a bit.

Ken and I continued south through Independence then took a left over the bridge and crossed the Willamette River.

Our route today was relatively flat, but we did have to climb about 1000 ft within a few miles on Liberty Rd. I stopped to take a photo of a rather scenic well groomed farm. (no small feat since the camera was inside a zip lock bag inside my pack, in anticipation of a day of nonstop rain!)

We got to the top of the hill, Ken kindly waited for me. I'd like to say it was all heat related, but it might just be old, out of shape, and slow. :-(

We enjoyed the gentle down slope into downtown Salem.,,.aided by a tailwind now!

We continued on through Salem, and through Keizer. We were supposed to take a bit of a detour to add miles and make a side trip to Windsor Island, but my slow pace had made getting back before dark questionable. We both had good lights along, but still, I don't like to be on roads at night if I can help it, especially this route that had us on busier roads.

We stopped in St Paul to put our lights on, in my case they were in my pack so I had to put them on the bike/helmet.

I turned my front and rear blinkies on as the light began to fade. I wasn't going to turn my bright "driving light" on until I needed it as I had not charged it up after the last use and wasn't sure how much battery life it had remaining.

We got back to Newberg after sundown, but before dark. Our planned route had us making a bit of a circuitous entry to Newberg to add the necessary miles. Both Ken and I decided it just wasn't that important. With the bypass of Windsor Island and the blow off of the loop around Newberg we finished up with 90 miles.

Most of you know me, I just can't stand being that close to 100 and not doing what it takes to get a century ride in.

When I got back home I hopped on this road.

Well lit, low traffic, 2.5 miles per lap, 4 laps. OCD! But the 100 mile day is in the books and on the blog! :-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......100..............0.............0..........0.........100
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........506..............0.............0..........0.........506
YTD........8762..............0............87.........27........8876

a change of venue

2011-11-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

I got the email yesterday, the Santiam Spokes would be riding the Helmick Park short loop. I remember Helmick Park from my college days, but had no idea what the "Helmick Park short loop" was. I did note that the ride started from Albany at 10AM. "Aha" I say, "I have time to ride to the ride!"

Upon closer inspection I really didn't have time to ride to the ride as it would be nearly 65 miles one way. That would be nearly 4 hours of pedaling, and it's pretty darn dark yet shortly after 7AM.

I decided to go for the 100 mile option and started from Salem, which would give me a 32 mile commute. I didn't know how long the Santiam Spokes ride would be but figured I could add more miles if I needed them.

I pedaled from Salem, near the Union Street bridge and headed west on Hwy 22 then turned south through Independence. I turned onto Buena Vista Rd and followed that through the little town of Buena Vista. This was rural country and had all the markings of flood plain. I would presume that in pre-dam days that this land was under water every Spring, now probably only during extraordinary high water events.

It was new country for me to be riding in. It was fun seeing new roads, almost so much fun that I didn't notice the significant headwind I was riding into. Almost.

I arrived in Albany with about 15 minutes to spare. I met up with 16 other riders. I thought this was a pretty good turnout for a day that was supposed to be raining.

Our group pedaled along at a relaxed pace and after a brief stop at a friend of theirs who was home recuperating, eventually made our way to Helmick Park.

Our little group made the turn on our loop route and headed back south. Now the group got to enjoy the headwind I had experienced on the way to meet them this morning! ;-) The wind slowed our pace but did not break our spirit.

We arrived back in Albany, the end of the ride for my new found friends, and 65 miles into my planned 100 for me. We had a bite to eat at a bike friendly Asian restaurant then each went our own way, they home, me back north toward Salem... with a pretty decent wind at my back!

We did not have any rain on our group ride today, but there were a few drops falling as I started out. It was not enough to get me wet and quit pretty quickly. That process of dripping followed by dry continued as I rode back.

I made it to my pickup with 97 miles. I did what anyone would do, I pedaled on past in search of 3 more miles.

By the time I dealt with one way streets I bagged a bonus mile. I'll take it!

I'm off on another century ride tomorrow, I suspect it will be much wetter than today's ride.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......101..............0.............0..........0.........101
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........406..............0.............0..........0.........406
YTD........8662..............0............87.........27........8776

short ride

2011-11-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

but at least I was spinning pedals for a change!

It was a sunny day, frost in the morning, but became reasonable as the day progressed.
I was looking longingly at the blue sky and wishing I were on my bike. I finally had the opportunity to go for a ride with about 1 1/2 hour of daylight left. I made sure I had my lights and went for a ride.

After several days of wishing it was nice to back out pedaling. I stayed pretty close to home, a series of loops and out and backs. I did manage to get a few miles in, not many, but as I posted on facebook, better than sitting at home with a bag of chips and a beer.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........31..............0.............0..........0..........31
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........305..............0.............0..........0.........305
YTD........8561..............0............87.........27........8675

sitting down while standing up

2011-11-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

Tonight I attended a meeting at the Skyline Grange organized by the Skyline Ridge Neighbors. On their website the meeting was advertised thusly:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Getting By, Getting Along: Bikes and Cars on Skyline Roads

Who owns the roads? Can you pass a bike when a double yellow line is present? Drivers and bikers come together to air concerns and find common ground. Bike law expert Mark Ginsburg and Sgt. Timothy Lichatowich of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office will address questions and issues. The meeting will be facilitated by Stan Sitnick, faculty member in PSU's Graduate Program in Conflict Resolution.

Skyline Grange, 11275 NW Skyline Boulevard, Portland 97231
Wednesday, November 9, 7-9 p.m.

Presented by Skyline Ridge Neighbors, your neighborhood association.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I attended just to be counted.... I wanted to make a stand for bikes even if that meant just sitting in a chair.

The meeting was precipitated by a rather high profile resident of the area who feels that bikes don't belong in his neighborhood.

There was a good turnout. I counted over 145 people in attendance.

For the most part the group was polite and listened to each other. Mr Wheeler was the exception. He couldn't quite follow the rules set forth by the moderator and left early.

I think it's fair enough to say that progress was made and that the different factions found more in common than we expected. The president of the Skyline Ridge Neighbors wanted us to know that Mr Wheeler did not represent the mindset of the majority of the folks out that way, and that was a good thing to know!

November on the Oregon Coast

2011-11-06T12:41:00.001-08:00

I extended my stay in Seaside one day to be able to ride some different roads. I had anticipated rain and brought my rain bike as well as rain gear. As it ended up I didn't need either. :-)

I took off from Seaside just a bit before 7:30AM and rode the same road as yesterday, the Lewis and Clark Hwy to Astoria. Despite a forecast for rain there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

From there I got on Hwy 101 and headed south.

By the time I got to Tillamook I began to see a few clouds. I wasn't sure if it was because the clouds were moving in, or perhaps it had always been cloudy here. I was about 50 miles south of where I began this morning.

Once I got through Tillamook I turned onto the Three Capes Scenic Loop and skirted Tillamook Bay.

I had entertained the idea of riding to Pacific City for lunch at the Pelican Brew Pub but changed my mind when I remembered that with the time change today that darkness would arrive just a bit after 5pm. I turned off the Three Capes Scenic Loop after only one cape, Cape Meares, and just south of Oceanside.

From there I short cutted over to Hwy 101 and rode back northward. I arrived back in Seaside with 156 miles, and about 30 minutes after I had turned my lights on.

It was a nice day, temperature was in the 60's, no rain, no wind. Not like November on the Oregon Coast at all, but I'll take it!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......156..............0.............0..........0.........156
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........274..............0.............0..........0.........274
YTD........8530..............0............87.........27........8644

A short little ride

2011-11-05T20:51:00.001-07:00

I was in Seaside, on Oregon's north coast, this weekend for a conference. The conference was wrapped up by mid-afternoon today. I was fortunate enough to have brought my rain bike along and so by late afternoon I was pedaling toward Astoria. I made it there, had a bite to eat, then rode back to Seaside. Given the early sunset this time of year it was just about right. ...oh, and despite having the rain bike, it really didn't rain much, just a few sprinkles from time to time.

Tomorrow I'll ride something a bit longer!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........34..............0.............0..........0..........34
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov.........118..............0.............0..........0.........118
YTD........8374..............0............87.........27........8488

Riding is good for what ails ya

2011-11-02T21:47:00.001-07:00

The day started out foggy and cool, then cleared up to a nice afternoon. I got off work a bit early and couldn't wait to get out and ride hard. Just something I needed to do tonight. I pedaled off toward Salem wanting to get hard fast miles in, rather than hard hills! ;-)

I brought good lights along and a windbreaker, planning on being out past sunset.

I made it down to Keizer, lighted up, and turned around.

A bit of a tailwind helped push me back.

About 10 miles from home rain began to fall.

Dark, wet.... a perfect end to a less than perfect day.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........62..............0.............0..........0..........62
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov..........84..............0.............0..........0..........84
YTD........8340..............0............87.........27........8454

Couldn't pass this up!

2011-11-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

The first day of November, a month in NW Oregon marked by the onset of serious rainfall and the first of the winter storms. Today however was marked by an icy and foggy morning followed by a glorious blue sky afternoon. I have an evening meeting a fair distance away so couldn't ride a long ride but did have time for a brief sprint distance workout. I rode a quick 22 miles, including a climb of Pete's Mountain. Wish I could have ridden farther, but 22 in the sunshine is better than sitting at home whining about not riding.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........22..............0.............0..........0..........22
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
Nov..........22..............0.............0..........0..........22
YTD........8278..............0............87.........27........8392

Woo Hoo!

2011-10-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

I woke up this AM to the sound of rain. I had turned in the night before with a plan to ride either 100 miles in the desert if it was raining here or about 110 miles locally if it was dry. Off I went for Tygh Valley!

Good call!

I rode my Tygh Valley route in the reverse direction of normal because of gravel in the turns on the descent of Bakeoven Road. That meant whatever gravel was still there would be encountered during slow climbing. The fast descent would switch to "Lauren's Hill", the big climb we normally encounter from Shearer's Falls to Grass Valley.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky most of the day and temperatures rose to the mid 60's. Not a drop of rain! Look up the definition of High "Desert" sometime to know why I decided to drive a couple of hours today instead of riding from home. ;-)

There was a brisk wind today, perhaps 15 mph out of the south. That was an unexpected surprise. What it gave me was a good tailwind to go with the gradual downhill on the 30 mile stretch from Shaniko to Grass Valley. Downhill and tailwinds are a good thing!

I cruised it.

I made it back to Tygh Valley with 101 miles, and knowing that would leave me just a couple of miles short of 900 for the abbreviated month I rode an out and back to the fairgrounds to add just a few.

Drove back to Portland where I was greeted by rain!

Sure glad I was riding where I was today! :-)

Fellow social bike club member and friend, Kay, is celebrating her 70th birthday and helping to raise funds for aids research by riding her bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a few weeks. I think she said it was a 500 mile ride that she and the group will be riding in 6 days. Pretty darn ambitious for anyone, let alone a 70 year young person!

Tonight a group of us attended a costume party/dance that raised funds for the riders of that event. It was a fun evening. It's hard enough to recognize folks without their bike gear on but when they are wearing costumes beside....... ;-)

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......104..............0.............0..........0.........104
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........881..............0.............0.........20.........901
YTD........8256..............0............87.........27........8370

dark, rain, fog

2011-10-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

In other words, a perfect way to start a ride that was to go to a graveyard!

It was dark, foggy, and raining when I left this morning. I was wearing rain gear and on the rain bike. Before too long the rain stopped but I was glad to have the full fenders to protect me from the wet roads. Bro-in-law Dave and I rode to the ride.. just because. Dave had a flat on the way in so we rolled into the meeting spot with nary a minute to spare. The weather was improving as we rode, the road was mostly dry and the sun was well into burning the fog and low clouds off as we arrived at the meeting location.

The group ride was a social paced tour of the East Bank Esplanade, Springwater Corridor, then a detour to Davis Graveyard

Following the graveyard stop we continued out the Springwater Corridor to the I-205 Path to Gateway where we took Tillamook St back in. We had a post ride visit and food at Lucky Lab.

Everyone else loaded up and drove home, Dave and I headed out for bonus miles. ;-)
We got on the East Bank Esplanade then eventually made our way to River Road and pedaled toward Oregon City. The Oregon City Bridge is under construction and bikes are prohibited on the I-205 Abernathy Bridge so we followed the "bicycle detour" signs that were posted. NOTE to ODOT: If you post a detour the signs should direct folks to where the would have been if the road were not closed. We followed the bike detour signs up to Beavercreek, where the sign prominently said "bicycle detour ends". Uh, ok. We made a right turn thinking it would bring us out toward New Era where we could get on Territorial Road and make our way to the Canby Ferry. Alas, we rocketed down a different road but the same hill we just climbed...right back into Oregon City, just a few blocks from where we had detoured. Drat!

We climbed back up a road heading south. We eventually dropped back onto Hwy 99E and followed it to Canby then crossed the Canby Ferry and made it back to Wilsonville. Our little hill climbing detour added a few miles to today's ride. I rolled into Wilsonville with 89 miles..... and just over an hour of daylight left. I didn't even get off the bike, I took a turn and pedaled on.

I turned the lights back on as I was finishing up. Started the day wet, foggy, and dark. Finished clear and dark. I guess that's called improving weather!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......100..............0.............0..........0.........100
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........777..............0.............0.........20.........797
YTD........8152..............0............87.........27........8266

Rain

2011-10-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

I got off work a few hours early today. Wish I would have known that in advance, could have had something planned. It was a reasonably nice day, cool but dry. I decided to go for a bike ride. I got lost on Facebook for a bit and when I finally stepped out to ride there were just a few drips of rain falling. The forecast was for rain by evening. I decided to take the rain bike!

Good thing I did. I rode down to Salem and back, pushing a bit of headwind on the way down but enjoying a tailwind on the way back. For those who've never experienced it, I'm here to tell you that rain at your back is better than rain in your face!

All in all, a good ride despite the rain. I finished up well after sundown, dark in fact, but had planned on a longer ride and brought the "good light" along.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........64..............0.............0..........0..........64
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........677..............0.............0.........20.........697
YTD........8052..............0............87.........27........8166

no bike, but very bikey

2011-10-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

I had ordered "Bike Dreams", a documentary of the Race Across America. I just finished watching it. Wow. Just wow.

I plan on incorporating this into a viewing party/dinner/silent auction/door prize event to raise funds to help a potential RAAM participant to be able to compete.

Keep your eyes here, or on the Northwest Butts on Bikes site for notice of when this event will be. It's shaping up to be a fun evening!

a bonus evening

2011-10-25T18:26:00.001-07:00

It is supposed to start raining tomorrow and continue through the weekend. You wouldn't know it by the weather tonight. Clear with a slight north breeze blowing. Like many, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go for a bike ride.

A beautiful evening for a ride.

Fall evenings don't get a whole lot better than tonight was. Even with the flat tire it was a good night for a ride.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........38..............0.............0..........0..........38
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........613..............0.............0.........20.........633
YTD........7988..............0............87.........27........8102

a Full Day!

2011-10-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

I had posted a 100 mile ride today for the social bike group. I said no need to worry about speed, if they could ride 14-15 mph on flat ground they wouldn't get dropped. I said I had all day to ride the 100 miles.

I didn't think they'd actually hold me to that!

I had 8 RSVP's on Saturday afternoon, but that dropped to 6 folks by late Saturday night. Of the six, two didn't show up, so four of us rode today.

There was occasional light drizzle falling. Not bad rain as far as rain goes, but it was enough to give us wet roads for most of the first 40 miles.

We enjoyed a bit of a tailwind on our ride to West Salem. We stopped at a Dairy Queen for snacks then continued on our way. We crossed the Willamette River on the Union Street pedestrian bridge.

We turned back northward into a slight wind. It was enough of a wind to work my riding partners. Our pace slowed considerably with the effects of distance and wind working against us.

When we reached Gervais we stopped for a rest and snack... and a little light hearted fun.

From there we made our way to the Canby Ferry to get back across the Willamette River.

It was a beautiful day despite the wet start, the bright fall colors where everywhere.

Most of our climbing today came late in the ride. Our pace reflected the long day. With each small incline the speed dropped drastically. We finally finished up at 6:10PM, about 15 minutes before sunset, and a full 10 hours after we started! But we did get the 100 miles in.

We celebrated a bit with dinner and drinks then each went our own way. The others by vehicle, me by bike.

I got 5 miles of bike commute plus the 100 mile ride.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......105..............0.............0..........0.........105
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........575..............0.............0.........20.........575
YTD........7950..............0............87.........27........8064

Sing along "I'm on the road again"

2011-10-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

I was on the real bike on real roads again today.

Maria, who has dual citizenship in both NW BOB and the Vancouver Bicycle Club held her monthly French Toast Ride. To start things off she invited us all to her home for a french toast breakfast.

Following some yummy french toast a group of 11 of us saddled up to ride.

We started off on a pretty quick pace. From the SE neighborhood we made our way to the Springwater Trail then to the Esplanade. As we made our way toward Marine Drive things began to slow down a bit. A couple of riders took alternate routes, and we picked up a couple of riders that planned to join us along the route.

By the time we exited Marine Drive and joined the I-205 bike path we were down to three of us.

The pace slowed down considerably. We were riding into a moderate wind, but the biggest factor was hunger. The girls were close to home so opted to just ride through it and get home.

I played burro and carried a few lunch supplies purchased at a grocery store because I had a virtually empty backpack along.

After dropping those supplies off I bid my farewell and took off for my pickup, parked at Oaks Park, just under 4 miles away.

Something strange happened along the way.... it was in the 60's and dry. Conditions will be getting worse as the weeks roll by. I decided to ride lap 2! Once finished with that I was just a few miles off the century mark, so I rode around the neighborhood enough to roll that 3 digit number over. ;-)

Tomorrow I lead a 100 mile ride with 7 attendees. I won't have to ride around the neighborhood to get a century in then!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......100..............0.............0..........0.........100
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........470..............0.............0.........20.........490
YTD........7845..............0............87.........27........7959

Joy Ride

2011-10-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

A friend and I made a trip to Salem tonight to attend a virtual ride on stationary bikes through Napa Valley wine country (got that???) then stayed around for wine, snacks, and bike talk. I'm not a normally a big fan of anything less than real bikes on real roads, but this was fun! If you ever find yourself in Salem check out JoyRide's calendar and catch a ride.

I rode relatively hard for the 70 minute session. Hard enough that I'm going to award myself 20 miles for the effort. If I were on a real bike I would have gone at least that far in 70 minutes at that effort.

On the drive back northward my friend and I noted the beautiful weather for a night ride. 62 degrees, no wind, dry. We should have been riding, but alas, no bikes with us.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........0..............0.............0.........20..........20
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........370..............0.............0.........20.........370
YTD........7745..............0............87.........27........7859

shamed into it

2011-10-19T21:30:00.001-07:00

I couldn't get my head around riding tonight. I was officially the ride leader for a 2x25 mile loop tonight. Ken rode in about 25 miles from SE Portland. We rode 1 lap, a paltry 25 miles for me. There were some really pretty colors showing but I didn't have my camera with me tonight. By the time I thought about using my phone to take a photo the sun had gone down. Take my word for it, these trees were practically electric when the sun was on them.

After the first lap Ken and I visited a bit before he began his commute back home. I watched him pedal off into the night...........looked at the dry roadway and felt the relatively warm temperature, and felt guilty. I unloaded my bike and went on lap two. I figured if Ken could ride 25 miles home I could ride 25 miles in a circle.

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........350..............0.............0..........0.........350
YTD........7655..............0............87..........7........7839

Last minute fun

2011-10-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Grand Poobah of our social bike group posted a ride late this afternoon that would take place at 5PM and ride some hills in the Helvetia area. How fortuitous I think, I've got to make a trip out to the west side tonight anyway! I loaded my bike up and made a mad dash to the ride's starting location. I made it with 15 minutes to spare, plenty of time to get the bike ready to roll.

There were 4 of us, a pretty good showing for a ride that was posted just a couple of hours in advance. The fact that the sky was clear and the temperature was in the mid 70's might have had something to do with it!

We had 3 of us old goats and one young lady about 25 years younger. We'd try our best to not drop her.... or die while riding! ;-)

Dropping her wasn't an issue, she road strongly and was breathing down our necks most of the time.

It was a spirited ride, as much for the sheer pleasure of riding quickly as it was trying to complete the ride before darkness! We rode a 21 mile route that had about 1900 ft of climbing. Our 14.3 mph average was respectable.

We managed to finish just shortly after the sun set.

Not many days left this month, and a whole lot of miles to ride yet if I'm to get a thousand miles for October. :-( But I've been having fun!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........21..............0.............0..........0..........21
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........300..............0.............0..........0.........300
YTD........7605..............0............87..........7........7789

Double Trouble

2011-10-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on my bike since October 2nd, about two weeks ago. I remedied that sorry state of affairs by attending Double Trouble. I was joined by a fellow member of our social bike club.

Double Trouble Route October 15, 2011

Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Maupin, OR

Because of the distance involved in getting to the start, and the early hour of the start I spent the night in Maupin.

Chris and I were riding this, like the majority of participants, as a "ride and tie" event. Short explanation, we were riding a relay with each of us alternating riding and shuttling my pickup up the course. Chris took the first leg, riding from Maupin up out of the Deschutes Canyon over to Tygh Valley then back down to Shearer's Falls on the Deschutes River. She started off at 6:30, still a bit dark but soon the sky lightened up and she was having fun.

After passing her, making sure all was going well, and taking the above photo, I drove to Shearer's Falls where I parked the pickup and started up "Lauren's Hill", an 8 mile climb with 1500 ft of elevation gain. I arrived in Grass Valley just a few minutes before Chris arrived in the area with the pickup. She missed the rest stop but parked the pickup a few miles up the course.

We continued on the course through Moro and Monkland. There were quite a few wind generators in the area but we didn't encounter a whole lot of wind today.

On this stretch I was "treated" to a climb away from the John Day river that climbed 2200 ft in 9 miles. It was one of the more notable climbs in this very hilly course.

Chris and I regrouped at most of the rest stops today and we spent a bit of time at the Condon stop talking with the owner of a hotel there that he had just refurbished. It was a very ornate establishment right out of the wild west.

I rode the next leg from Condon through Fossil and continued up an 8 mile climb with 1200 ft of climbing. I stopped part way up this climb to take a photo and take advantage of the first cell service I had seen in some time.

The pickup was waiting for me on top of this climb where Chris had left it. She was taking the descent to the John Day river.

I loaded my bike and caught up with Chris about 1 mile into the arduous climb out of the canyon. It was another one of those 2200ft in 9 mile deals.

Chris had never ridden more than just over 60 miles before. Today's hilly route would challenge her. When I caught up with her she already had 74 miles for the day, a new personal best for her. (congratulations to her!) ....and she was still smiling.

She decided to call it a day. The majority of the remainder of the route today was downhill and it was awfully tempting to just pedal it out. However, I didn't want Chris to have to wait around while I pedaled, and we did have an awards presentation and costume party to attend in Maupin. We bagged it at mile 162 and headed to Maupin to get cleaned up and into costumes. :-)

We made it back to the finish line where we were met by one of the most ugly podium girls I've ever seen.... actually a participant in tonight's costume party. ;-)

It was a short mileage day for me with only 78 miles, but I did get 7833 ft of climbing in!

FWIW, the costume party was a hoot. I went as a pirate, Chris went as a "badazz pirate's wench. ...and a darn fine wench she was too!

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........78..............0.............0..........0..........78
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........279..............0.............0..........0.........279
YTD........7584..............0............87..........7........7768

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 127th phonecast

2011-10-10T07:43:00.001-07:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 125th phonecast

2011-10-09T01:56:00.001-07:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 124th phonecast

2011-10-08T09:51:00.001-07:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 123rd phonecast

2011-10-08T09:37:00.001-07:00

Desert Coyote returns "home"

2011-10-06T08:31:00.001-07:00

The Desert Coyote is in California, on his way to the Furnace Creek 508 for the 4th consecutive year. In 2008 I crewed for Mike "Siberian Husky" Arenberg, in 2009 and 2010 I was the guy pedaling, and this year I am crewing for John Henry "Hoary Marmot" Maurice. He has expressed it best, "we are going to have so much fun".

I am stopped for the night just under 90 miles from the starting location for the Furnace Creek 508. The rest of the team is about 2 hours behind me and we will meet here for dinner tonight, get a good night's sleep, and in the morning make a dash for inspection at Santa Clarita. The fun is about to begin!

Evening update:
The Hoary Marmot and his crew did indeed manage to gather tonight for dinner. Note for future events.... even "mild" Indian food is quite spicy!

No bike miles to update, I don't even have my bike with me. It will be my longest time off a bike since 2008, when I crewed for Siberian Husky!

The Flying Aquarian RAO training route

2011-10-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

Today Ken and I rode a 100 mile route from Tygh Valley that was pioneered by Lauren and I last year as a training/preview ride for Race Across Oregon. 2 other members of my social bike club didn't come today. One changed her mind and let me know, the other just didn't show up. Grrrr.... I hate no shows.

Ken and I began today's ride in Tygh Valley. The roads were damp from a night shower, but not splashy wet. Good thing, neither of us had fenders.

We had seen 6 road killed deer yesterday and before too long we saw our first of the day.

We hoped it was more a case of errors on part of the deer rather than errors on the part of vehicles.... cyclists don't fair much better than deer when tangling with cars.

Neither of us had time constraints today and Ken had never seen White River Falls so we took the opportunity to play tourist.

We got back on the bikes and made our way down to the Deschutes River at Shearers Falls. It is a site rich in history as a tribal fishing site, and even today Native Americans dip salmon from the river while standing on flimsy looking platforms overhanging the frothy waters.

From Shearers Falls we rode downstream along the Deschutes for a short distance.

In short order we turned toward Grass Valley and rode what we've come to know as "Lauren's Hill" after my 2010 Race Across Oregon partner. She had her heart set on riding this long tortuous climb, and absolutely rocked it. Neither Ken nor I would be riding it that hard today!

Part way up we came across the scene of an apparently recent accident.
Suddenly an old Harry Chapin song began going through my head, lyrics went "he said, 'God, make it a dream' as he rode his last ride down".

Ken continued to show me why I'm not in his league as we climbed this hill to Grass Valley. But a funny thing happened, as we neared Grass Valley I gained on him. We made a brief stop in Grass Valley to rehydrate and refill our calorie reserves, then headed south toward Shaniko, 30 miles in the distance via a continued but gentler climb, and into a noticeable headwind. Before I knew it Ken was lagging behind.

I was not pedaling hard, but it was more than Ken had in him at this point. I arrived in Shaniko with a 17 minute lead on him.
We spent 45 minutes there eating just about everything that little store had on the shelves. ;-)

We then turned northward toward Bakeoven Rd and it's fabled crazy fun descent to the Deschutes River. Before we could do that fun descent though we had to continue to climb a bit to our highest point on today's ride. We reached the Bakeoven Summit then playing in the rolling country a bit. Ken was still lagging. I told him I needed to savor the moment, it's not often that I find myself leading him!

All jest aside, it did make me feel a bit better. Not that I out rode Ken, but that I could ride strong after significant miles and climbing. I have been in the shadow of better riders for the last several months as was beginning to worry about my bike fitness a bit. Today I remembered my little mantra, "I'm not the strongest rider, I'm not the fastest rider, but what I have going for me is that I can ride at a decent pace all day, all night, and all the next day if I have to". I just played around not wanting to drop Ken.

We arrived at the power substation marking the beginning of the descent into the Deschutes Canyon. I took the first sweeping turn at a brisk pace and was picking up speed. Up comes the second curve and I'm on the aerobars and into my groove picking up speed. Up comes the third and whoa, gravel! The next curve same issue. I note that new gravel has been applied to the shoulders of the paved road, and it's been dragged across the turns. Ken and I reluctantly brake our way down the hill at 10-15 mph instead of 50 mph.

We do eventually reach the Deschutes River at Maupin.

We climbed up away from the Deschutes River and headed toward Tygh Valley.

I was still able to ride away from Ken at will.

I was having so much fun today. I was riding strong and it had not so much as rained a single drop on us (and the text messages I was getting was letting us know that it was raining back home!)

I got back to Maupin just a bit ahead of Ken, I took the opportunity to "round up" to the next mile. I stretched the 100 mile route to 101. :-)

We loaded bikes, changed into street clothes and headed to The Dalles for pizza!

You can see the rest of the photos from today's trip HERE

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......101..............0.............0..........0.........101
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........201..............0.............0..........0.........201
YTD........7506..............0............87..........7........7690

gambled... and won!

2011-10-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

The weather gurus predicted rain in the Willamette Valley. I decided that a weekend of riding on the dry side of the Cascade Mountains might be just the ticket.

I arrived in Hood River following the late night out just as the sun was rising.

Today I was joined by Ken and we rode the Cherry Ride route in The Dalles. There were a few clouds but no rain. There was a very brisk wind though!

We began pedaling in Hood River and made our way along the Historic Hwy...
and through the Mosier Twin Tunnels
before beginning the climb of the 1802 ft 7 Mile Hill.

We zoomed down the east side of 7 Mile Hill buffeted by winds to Chenowith Creek Rd where we learned that what goes down must go back up! We rode to Cherry Heights then down to The Dalles where we stopped at a grocery store to rest and resupply.

We then rode along the Columbia River and past The Dalles Dam then began climbing away from the Columbia River up into the rolling wheat country on the Columbia Plateau.

There is a beauty in Oregon's dry side of the state that really must be seen to be appreciated.

Ken had some time constraints so we skipped the out and back on the upper end of the course saving ourselves about 10 miles. We came back down 8 Mile Creek but the wind kept us about 10-15 mph slower than we'd normally be going.

We got back to The Dalles and got onto a water front multi-use path.

After a few miles of that we returned to the Historic Hwy and started toward Rowena Crest.

We rode the graceful Rowena Loops up to Rowena Crest.

We retraced the route through the Mosier Twin Tunnels and arrived back in Hood River with 20 minutes to spare for Ken's hoped for departure time.

I had no such constraints so I pedaled off in search of 11 miles.

Mission accomplished. ;-)

It was a tough ride today, plenty of climbing was expected. The wind was no surprise, but hadn't been planned on. The wind was near 30 mph at times, enough to buffet us around and make pedaling difficult. I had leg warmers on all day and arm warmers for most of it. Once again I learned that when I'm a bit too warm I don't pedal well. Ken is a strong rider and made me earn every mile today.

You can see all the photos of today's ride HERE

.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......100..............0.............0..........0.........100
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
Oct.........100..............0.............0..........0.........100
YTD........7405..............0............87..........7........7589

The end of the month....

2011-09-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

....and two rides after work!

The first was my night route which I lead for my social bike group as a two lap ride beginning at 5PM.

Tonight I had 4 riders total.

We started out from Tualatin and made our way to Wilsonville, as we turned back northward Dave got a flat.

Dave fixing his flat on our first 50 miles of the evening.

The repair didn't take long and we were soon back in Tualatin with 25 miles to show for it. 2 of the riders didn't stay for the dark lap. Dave and I pedaled off on round two, but I had another ride beginning at 9PM so planned to cut round two short. I bid Dave fair travels just a bit beyond half way to Wilsonville. He continued on and I turned around.

I followed the club ride with what we are calling the Waffle Ride 2. What a blast! Rode from 9PM to 3AM, not many miles but what fun!

As I rode to the starting location I met on of tonight's riders admiring the waterfront view.

Chris always has such fun on these rides. Tonight she helped the bronze statue of Vera Katz get into the spirit of the evening.

We rode along the Eastbank Esplanade then out the Springwater Corridor

Then northward on the better illuminated I-205 path.

We made our first stop of the evening near Stark Street. After a short stay there we continued northward to Tillamook Street, a designated "Bike Boulevard". We rode down to 28th, another bike boulevard then made our way over to Burnside Street for the second stop of the evening.

After that brief stop we went across the Hawthorne Bridge and headed for a famous waffle cart on the west side of the river. To our surprise it had moved locations since we were out this way a week ago. Carts will do that I guess, they are on wheels after all! We decided that as much as we had planned on waffles, we could do Voodoo Donuts instead.

Chris was up to her hijinks again. She decide that some poster art could use some improvement.

She tells me you should always carry a supply of "googly eyes" because you never know when you might need one. ;-)

Having done the job of beautifying Portland we headed back across the Steel Bridge to close the loop. It was 3 AM and time to call it a night.

I had to be in Hood River ready to pedal a hilly 100 mile ride at 9AM. I went to the ATM, filled with gas and was ready to go by 4AM.

Yawn.

62 total miles for the day.

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........62..............0.............0..........0..........62
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1153..............0............50..........0........1213
YTD........7305..............0............87..........7........7489

A page turns

2011-09-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the last Rocky Butte Hill Repeats ride of the season. Sunset was officially 6:57 pm this evening meaning it was fully dark by our finishing time of 7:30. Once the rains start it just isn't safe to be rocketing down that hill on dark and wet streets. It's been a fun run. Folks have improved fitness and we've had good times riding as well as post ride food and drink.

Tonight there were 4 of us. Monica and Jim have been quite regular attendees.

Chris has joined in the fun a few times previously too.

It was a nice evening for a ride up that hill. None of us worked really hard at it, but hard enough. Tonight I had my camera with me but the spectacular sunset of last Tuesday did not repeat.

Following the ride, even though 2 had driven to Rocky Butte, we all rode a few miles to our somewhat regular post ride watering hole, Staniches.

This photo, taken with natural light, shows there to be much more light than there really was. It was dark. The photo I took with flash wasn't as good.

We arrived at Staniches and rolled our bikes right in, as they welcome us to do. We sat down to some hearty snacks and cold drinks. (and maybe just a bit of horseplay!)

After a bit of time we rode back to Rocky Butte to return Chris and Jim to their cars.

I parked at 82nd and Johnson Creek Blvd this evening so I only had about 6 miles left to ride via the I-205 and Springwater trail.

It was a very good evening for a ride, thanks so much to all who made these hill repeats so much fun.

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........31..............0.............0..........0..........31
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1091..............0............50..........0........1151
YTD........7243..............0............87..........7........7427

Double the pleasure

2011-09-28T23:08:00.000-07:00

I rode two laps of my "night route" and two people joined me! I have listed this ride on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the social bike club's calendar for a couple of weeks now. I had yet to have anyone sign up to join me, until tonight when Teresa joined me for the first lap and Dave joined me for the second.

It was a beautiful evening for a bike ride!

It was a wouldn't/couldn't night. I told Teresa I wouldn't drop her, and try as I might I couldn't drop Dave. ;-)

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1060..............0............50..........0........1120
YTD........7212..............0............87..........7........7396

In your mind's eye

2011-09-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

What a night not to have brought my camera!

I was leading the Rocky Butte hill repeat ride again tonight. Only two of us tonight but we were treated to an absolutely gorgeous sunset from Rocky Butte. You'll just have to envision it in your mind's eye. Jim and I rode 5 repeats before darkness made it's presence known.

Following the ride Jim and I were adopted for dinner and a card game. I had ridden in from Oaks Park so I raced back to my pickup and drove to the event.

It was our last scheduled Tuesday Rocky Butte ride, Thursday will wrap it up for the season.

It's been fun. We had good turnouts earlier but attendance has been lagging of late. Probably time for something fresh, though my M-W-F 25/50 ride has not caught on either. Maybe nobody likes riding with me! :-O

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........36..............0.............0..........0..........36
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept.......1010..............0............50..........0........1060
YTD........7162..............0............87..........7........7346

Surprised!

2011-09-26T07:38:00.001-07:00

The day started like this......

........and ended up by getting my thousand miles for the month of September!

After getting a good start to the month (404 miles in the first 5 days) I then took the next two weekends off from riding. I had fun wandering around in the Three Sisters Wilderness but figured it would likely cost me my thousand mile month, and the 10,000 mile year, but then a change of circumstances occurred. The weather was very nice and there were reduced hours at work. I hopped on the bike and rode.

An above normal amount of midweek miles coupled with a few longer weekend rides allowed me to hit the thousand mile month mark tonight. I was leading the "night route" for my social bike group. It's an event I've hosted every Monday-Wednesday-Friday for the last couple of weeks. It's been a bit slow to catch on and tonight was no exception. I was the only person signed up. While disappointed that no one would be joining me, it did give me some flexibility. After rain yesterday, and rain this morning, the afternoon was dry but windy. I got off work and was on the bike within an hour, a full hour earlier than the ride was officially supposed to start.

The early start allowed me to get the two laps in just before dark, and just before the rain started again. :-)

2 laps, 50 miles

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........974..............0............50..........0........1024
YTD........7126..............0............87..........7........7310

When rain is not the issue?

2011-09-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, when there's a 20 mph wind along with it of course!

I rode Salem Bicycle Club's "Peach of a Century" today.

The weather forecast called for a 90% chance of rain this morning and a peek out the window and a look at the radar image confirmed that the bike of choice today would be the rain bike. (more robust drive train, full fenders with buddy flaps)

My brother-in-law Dave and I rode together today, and there were about 10 other members of the social bike club there as well along with quite a few folks I've met through cycling over the years.

We got registered for the ride and pedaled off on the full century route, and directly into a 20 mph wind. It's fair enough to say that most of us have ridden into winds of this intensity before, but it doesn't make it any more fun! It was a long slog of about 20 miles into this wind before we made the turn on this somewhat circular course and the wind quartered out of our face.

Now we had rain to add to the fun. I stopped and put my goretex raincoat on, knowing that with the reasonably warm temperatures over heating was a likely outcome. I opened all the vent zippers to help with that issue.

The middle of the route is hilly. We climbed 4000 feet in the one hundred miles, most of it in the middle 35 miles. The rain lasted a couple of hours at varying intensities. It was wet but not cold. The last 30 miles or so we had winds ranging from sideways to directly in our face. After the morning's wind battle, the hilly mid section of the course, and now back into headwinds it turned out to be a tougher ride than expected. I've done The Peach a half dozen times, this was the hardest.

Part of my issue was heat. I knew I was getting hot but only had 15 miles to go. I unzipped as much as I could and just planned to pedal it out. Bad decision. By the time I rolled slowly across the finish my bike clothes were just soaked with sweat.

Oh well, call it training! (and as odd as it seems, call it fun!)

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......100..............0.............0..........0.........100
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........924..............0............50..........0.........974
YTD........7076..............0............87..........7........7260

Perspective

2011-09-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

There was a heavy mist falling this morning as I drove out to ride the Banks-Vernonia linear trail. When I was in San Diego this would have been called rain. Around here this was just mist.
A small group of us assembled and prepared to ride.

Before long we were on our way toward Vernonia.

Steve was breaking in a new stoker today.

As we neared Vernonia there was a definite deterioration in the trails' care. There were cracks, root ridges. Even more of a concern were places where bollards had been removed, leaving holes in the asphalt that have not been repaird.

Two of our riders today went down in separate incidents. They ended up with some scraped up skin.

The tandem team rushed back to our starting location to bring a car to transport the rider. The other rider wasn't injured as badly and figured they could get out on their own.

We finished up in plenty of time for me to make it to Portland where I had an invitation to join a few folks on what promised to be nearly a repeat of what we rode yesterday. The four women responsible for putting this ride together posed for a little pre-event photo.

Maria was feeling a bit "badazz" tonight and decided to ride her single speed as well as show off her new bunny hopping prowess. ;-)

We started off with 9 folks, but after several hours our group had morphed into 4.

It was yet another good night for a ride. The light wind had switched around to now be coming out of the South. In these parts that generally means rain. We will see what tomorrow morning brings, I may be bringing the "rain bike" to tomorrow's Peach of a Century.

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........57..............0.............0..........0..........57
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........824..............0............50..........0.........874
YTD........6976..............0............87..........7........7160

The weekend begins

2011-09-24T02:31:00.001-07:00

I had enough hours in at work this week that I got off in the early afternoon today. I was on the road pedaling by 4PM. I led a ride for my social bike group on a route that I ride often in the winter when I need a few miles, and it's dark and wet. It was neither today as I took off on the 25 mile loop. It didn't make a whole lot of difference that no other club members joined me. I rode two laps and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading out for ride #2 today. The second ride wasn't going to be as long, but was going to be a lot more fun!

Tonight 6 of us got together to ride a route that would take us over bridges, on bike boulevards, and through Portland's night life. Along the way we'd stop at a few bike themed or at least bike friendly food and drink establishments and finish up at a food cart noted for hot waffles made to order!

I arrived just a bit early. I had a few minutes to enjoy the evening. Oregon late summer evenings are just great.

Before too long the others began arriving. Chris had cut short Salsa dancing to attend our little bike adventure. Salsa dresses make pretty snazzy looking riding attire!

Chris came up with the idea for tonight's ride and picked out the stops. I connected the stops with a route on bike boulevards and bike paths. Christine was really into the spirit of things and had brought glow sticks to share with us. Maria found an interesting location to keep her glow stick!

Now all attired in glow sticks and good cheer we pedaled off toward our first stop of the evening, Hopworks Bike Bar.

After a bit of time there to boost calories we pedaled off on a series of bike boulevards. Maria took her leave at this point, having big plans for tomorrow.

We eventually arrived at Doug Fir and pulled in for our second stop.

From there we crossed the Willamette River and rode around the craziness of downtown a bit. We had a guy wearing only a cardboard box ask if he could ride one of our bikes. It was a crazy night and there isn't time or space to describe all that we saw and heard. Keep Portland weird!

Our only issue of the night was one of our riders went down while crossing the light rail tracks. There was a banged up elbow and knee to show for it.

Our last stop for the evening was for some yummy waffles from a food cart. Luckily they were open late because it was nearing 2 AM!

We all had to get up in the morning, some to work, some to ride bikes, so we decided to call it a night. Luis and Wendy pedaled a direct route back from the waffle stop saving perhaps 3/4 mile. Chris, Dave, and I rode a bit longer crossing the river on the Hawthorne Bridge. We got on the Eastbank Esplanade and worked our way back northward. Chris and Dave had parked near OMSI so they split off there.

I continued on to the Steel Bridge than by a series of wrong turns on surface streets added an extra mile or so.

I did eventually get back to my pickup. Good thing, I've got two rides tomorrow, the first requiring me to leave quite early.

Though some of the day's miles were technically in Saturday (well after midnight) I'm going to include them all here.

The waffle ride was a hoot. It was a warm evening, just perfect riding weather. Great company to ride with too!

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........68..............0.............0..........0..........68
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........767..............0............50..........0.........817
YTD........6919..............0............87..........7........7103

The weekend begins

2011-09-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

I had enough hours in at work this week that I got off in the early afternoon today. I was on the road pedaling by 4PM. I led a ride for my social bike group on a route that I ride often in the winter when I need a few miles, and it's dark and wet. It was neither today as I took off on the 25 mile loop. It didn't make a whole lot of difference that no other club members joined me. I rode two laps and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading out for ride #2 today. The second ride wasn't going to be as long, but was going to be a lot more fun!

Tonight 6 of us got together to ride a route that would take us over bridges, on bike boulevards, and through Portland's night life. Along the way we'd stop at a few bike themed or at least bike friendly food and drink establishments and finish up at a food cart noted for hot waffles made to order!

I arrived just a bit early. I had a few minutes to enjoy the evening. Oregon late summer evenings are just great.

Before too long the others began arriving. Chris had cut short Salsa dancing to attend our little bike adventure. Salsa dresses make pretty snazzy looking riding attire!

Chris came up with the idea for tonight's ride and picked out the stops. I connected the stops with a route on bike boulevards and bike paths. Christine was really into the spirit of things and had brought glow sticks to share with us. Maria found an interesting location to keep her glow stick!

Now all attired in glow sticks and good cheer we pedaled off toward our first stop of the evening, Hopworks Bike Bar.

After a bit of time there to boost calories we pedaled off on a series of bike boulevards. Maria took her leave at this point, having big plans for tomorrow.

We eventually arrived at Doug Fir and pulled in for our second stop.

From there we crossed the Willamette River and rode around the craziness of downtown a bit. We had a guy wearing only a cardboard box ask if he could ride one of our bikes. It was a crazy night and there isn't time or space to describe all that we saw and heard. Keep Portland weird!

Our only issue of the night was one of our riders went down while crossing the light rail tracks. There was a banged up elbow and knee to show for it.

Our last stop for the evening was for some yummy waffles from a food cart. Luckily they were open late because it was nearing 2 AM!

We all had to get up in the morning, some to work, some to ride bikes, so we decided to call it a night. Louis and Wendy pedaled a direct route back from the waffle stop saving perhaps 3/4 mile. Chris, Dave, and I rode a bit longer crossing the river on the Hawthorne Bridge. We got on the Eastbank Esplanade and worked our way back northward. Chris and Dave had parked near OMSI so they split off there.

I continued on to the Steel Bridge than by a series of wrong turns on surface streets added an extra mile or so.

I did eventually get back to my pickup. Good thing, I've got two rides tomorrow, the first requiring me to leave quite early.

Though some of the day's miles were technically in Saturday (well after midnight) I'm going to include them all here.

The waffle ride was a hoot. It was a warm evening, just perfect riding weather. Great company to ride with too!

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........68..............0.............0..........0..........68
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........767..............0............50..........0.........817
YTD........6919..............0............87..........7........7103

Another good night

2011-09-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, time to lead the Rocky Butte hill repeats again. I gambled that I could ride the last 10 miles via Springwater Corridor and the I-205 Bike Path faster than I could drive through rush hour traffic. I managed to ride the 10 miles in 36 minutes, arriving at the starting location with 10 minutes to spare. :-) Not bad considering the stop signs and busy road crossings.

A small group again. Technically 3 of us, but one of the riders had a friend along bringing our number to 4.

Jim

Monica

and John

It was another beautiful night for a ride.

After riding 6 repeats (the last one with the bright light on) the group dispersed, Jim returning back across the Columbia River, and the other two heading west. I did what I do, hopped on the bike and enjoyed the perfect weather with some bonus miles.

I once again thought 50 miles would be a good goal for an after work weekday ride. I had 38 miles with just the hill climb and commute from Oaks Park. It didn't take much to ride another 12 via an out and back on the Springwater Corridor.

If I didn't have to work early in the morning I'd still be out riding.

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........699..............0............50..........0.........749
YTD........6851..............0............87..........7........7035

The days are numbered

2011-09-21T21:31:00.001-07:00

A friend and I were planning a Friday evening bike ride because the weather is supposed to be just superb. She said it may be our last dry weekend. I told her that our nice days are numbered, I just don't know what the number is.

Whatever our number of nice days is, you can subtract one from it now. I had a great night on the bike. I rode a 25 mile loop that I began riding last winter when I needed miles and it was going to be dark (and likely rainy too!) Tonight was warm and dry.

It started out daylight, with about an hour of riding before the sun set. I had my Light and Motion "Stella 300" light along, as well as my "always on the bike" Planet Bike 1 watt front blinkie, and two Planet Bike Super Flash red blinkies on the back. Along with copious reflective material I was a veritable Christmas tree. I was ready for the darkness.

I made two laps, good for 50 miles, and self determined to be good enough for tonight. ;-)

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........649..............0............50..........0.........699
YTD........6801..............0............87..........7........6985

Still repeatedly repeating hill repeats

2011-09-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

The cold wet days are coming but tonight was just beautiful. I was leading the Rocky Butte hill repeats ride for my social bike club again tonight. I rode in from Oaks Park again. 4 of us riding Rocky Butte tonight and two of them were first time attendees!

Shannon was on a heavier hybrid but did remarkably well. She got 5 repeats in, and that included the time penalty involved when changing a flat tire!

Following the ride Tom peeled off the back side and headed back home, the rest of us retired to Staniches for post ride carbohydrates and chatter.

It was a gorgeous night for a ride. As I was spinning pedals on the ride back to my pickup I couldn't help but think of the days just around the corner when it will be wet and colder. The new rain bike takes some of the sting off that, but it would still be a shame to not be riding tonight in these nearly perfect conditions.

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........41..............0.............0..........0..........41
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........599..............0............50..........0.........649
YTD........6751..............0............87..........7........6935

Back on the bike

2011-09-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last two weekends doing other things.

It was fun, something I really needed to do after a couple of years of putting it all on the back burner as I focused on a certain finish line in Twentynine Palms. But what it did was really turned around a month where I had over 400 miles in the first week.

If I am to get 1000 miles this month I need to start putting some miles in. As an added impetus, if I am to get my third 10,000 mile year in succession I need to start putting miles in. My mom says "but you really don't NEED to do that" but like most mothers, she just doesn't get it!

I felt a bit lazy, but that was overcome a bit by the sunny sky and temperature in the low 70's. I know that in just a few weeks it may very well be raining and I'll wish I put in some miles when the "putting in" was good.

I had planned to ride a route that I rode often last winter, a nice, well lit, wide shouldered route of just under 25 miles. I planned to do it twice, hoping to get it finished before dark. But alas, Facebook took my time away ;-) so I didn't start until 5:15.

I did get the first lap in well before sunset, but it was getting pretty dark by the time I finished the second lap. I had planned to that possibility and had two Planet Bike Superflashes on back, a 1W Planet Bike blinky on front, and my Light and Motion Stella 300 LED "35 mph light" on the helmet. I was ready to roll in the dark with a full contingent of lights and reflectivity.

It was a good ride and a nice evening to do it in.

I'm going to post it on my social bike club's calendar in case anyone else is looking for a afterwork mid week ride.

I'm thinking M-W-F ought to be just about right. :-)

Oh, and if you are more the urban cyclist type you might enjoy this. Heck, even if you aren't an urban cyclist but just like bikes, you might like it!

Portland's Bike Boulevards Become Neighborhood Greenways from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........50..............0.............0..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........558..............0............50..........0.........608
YTD........6710..............0............87..........7........6892

A change of seasons

2011-09-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

Or so it seemed tonight. I led the twice weekly Rocky Butte hill repeat ride tonight. I commuted in from Oaks Park, saving a slow rush hour drive, and adding 10 miles one way.

At the start of the ride there were only two of us. Monica has dual citizenship and was there to sign in fellow Portland Wheelmen as well as ride. No other Wheelmen showed up. At 6 PM we started up the hill. By our second repeat Dean arrived. Dean was on of the 140 mile Ride Around Mt Hood ride a week and a half ago. I didn't know he was coming but Monica did I guess.

We proceeded to go up and down the hill. There were some drizzly looking clouds around this evening, and sure enough by about 45 minutes into our 90 minute ride a light rain started falling. I had a jacket along in my pack, along with a good light for the commute back after dark. I stopped and put the jacket on.

My riding partners weren't prepared for the rain. By 10 minutes after 7, about 20 minutes before our scheduled finish, they were cold and wet and called it quits.
We sat at the bottom of the hill and chatted just a bit before they pedaled off into the sunset... except it was too cloudy to see the sun set.

I did what I'm best at... I just rode my bike. I pedaled back along the I-205 path, to the Springwater trail. By the time I got about half way along the Springwater the rain stopped. I had my 1w LED blinky on the handlebars and my Light and Motion Stella LED on the helmet. I had plenty of light and was warm enough. I reached to Willamette River and rather than stop at my pickup I headed toward downtown Portland. I reached the East Bank Esplanade and rode up to the Steel Bridge then crossed the river and rode on the west side until I crossed the river on the Ross Island Bridge. I returned back to Oaks Park with 51 total miles for tonight. Even with the rain, it was a good night for a ride.

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........51..............0.............0..........0..........51
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........508..............0............50..........0.........558
YTD........6660..............0............87..........7........6842

The Couve

2011-09-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

I've been unable to join my social bike group's Vancouver contingent on their Wednesday evening rides, until tonight. I got off work early enough, and the traffic was light enough, that I was able to make it through Portland and into Vancouver to ride tonight.

I think there were 14 of us tonight. A surprisingly large group for a mid week after work ride. We started off from about a mile east of I-5 with about 8 of us, then met up with a half dozen other riders at the base of the I-5 bridge.

We rode northward toward Ridgefield along the river. The road was a low traffic dead end road. When we reached the end we regrouped then started on our way back, but not before i took the chance to take a photo.

We took advantage of the low traffic to ride back a bit casually.

The ride had folks with a wide range of biking experience. I rode "sweep" on the return trip. I was riding with a guy who was really struggling to maintain a 13 mph pace. We had a slight tailwind and the route was pretty flat. He was working hard to maintain that pace, breathing hard, sweating, etc. I was truly amazed at how hard he was working to hold a pace that most of us would call a slow social pace. I know I must have been at that point some time in the past, but am glad I'm beyond that now. My congratulations to him for digging deep and finishing the ride.

We gathered on the back patio of Who Song and Larry's for chat and snacks. Summer is coming to an end, kids are back in school and it's too damn cold to sit on the patio after an evening bike ride!

I rode around the neighborhood a little while waiting for the ride to begin. I got enough extra tootling around to bring me up to 32 miles tonight.

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........32..............0.............0..........0..........32
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........457..............0............50..........0.........507
YTD........6609..............0............87..........7........6791

the kinda, sorta, group ride

2011-09-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

It is Tuesday, time for the Rocky Butte hill repeats ride. Rocky Butte is a hill, not a mountain by most people's estimation. I rode my mountain bike tonight, calling it a mountain bike is laughable by my friends who ride in the dirt. And one last thing, only two of us tonight, and the other rider left a bit early.
Kinda a hill, sorta a mountain bike, and hardly a group!

But it was a good night for a ride and I got 6 repeats on the heavy mtn bike. The temperature was in the upper 60's. I wore a long sleeved dry weave shirt, gym shorts, and tennis shoes (despite the fact that my mtn bike has pedals that have SPD clips on one side, flat pedal on the other) I figured if I was going to ride a mtn bike with slicks up and down Rocky Butte I just as well dress the part!

I commuted in from Oaks Park tonight, giving me an additional 20 miles. When I got back to Oaks Park I had 39 miles, and still nice dry and warm weather. I turned back around rode back out the Springwater Trail for a nice little 5.5 mile out and back, just because in the not too distant future I'll be wishing for weather like this to ride in.

,,,,......road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........0..............0............50..........0..........50
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........425..............0............50..........0.........475
YTD........6575..............0............87..........7........6759

not quite fast enough

2011-09-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

I led the Rocky Butte hill repeats again tonight. Only one other rider this evening. My fellow rider is a regular and has noticed improvement over the weeks we've been riding. We are getting faster, but not fast enough to beat the ever shorter daylight. The sun set within 15 minutes of us finishing the ride tonight. Before too long I'll have to move the finish time of the ride up to avoid descending that hill in the dark.

It was a good evening, make that a great evening for a ride. Not overly warm, though it was in the upper 80's. I was to have 2 other riders tonight but one was a no show. On the bright side, the one who showed up was good company to ride with. ;-)

.......road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........21..............0.............0..........0..........21
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........425..............0.............0..........0.........425
YTD........6575..............0............37..........7........6709

A TRUE intermediate ride. ;-)

2011-09-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

I led a ride today for my social bike group advertising a pace of 13-14 mph clock time average, in the words of one of the other ride leaders, a "true intermediate ride". The plan was to ride the Wilsonville Century route, however with the road construction on I-5 in the Wilsonville area we changed plans by consensus and rode the "one ferry ride" instead. We'd get our 100 miles without having to deal with I-5. Ken is traditionally a strong rider but is coming off a broken collar bone and has only been riding 2 weeks since early July. Dave can drop me at will. It was going to be a bit of a guess on just how fast we'd end up going today.

It didn't take long for me to figure out that it was going to be fast. We rode from Wilsonville and went to Newberg via Wilsonville Rd then to Dayton where we made our first stop for water.

From there it was south to Salem. When we got to Salem we had an 18+mph average. That's moving along pretty quickly for me. To have an 18 mph average you've got to be seeing 20+ most of the time to allow for stop signs etc.

We stopped in West Salem at Dairy Queen for some cold snacks then rode across the Union Street pedestrian bridge to get across the Willamette River.

We had a very slight north wind today, meaning that we would be riding back into that on the last half of our ride. We morphed into a 3 man paceline and shared the work. We maintained 20 mph for most of the way. We came across a few folks today out enjoying the nice weather... on flat bar hybrid bikes. The first one came up from behind as we were pedaling about 18-19 on Windsor Island. We saw him coming up and had just a bit of warning before he was among us. He had changed position to be casually laying across the handlebars and smiled and said "howdy, how's it going" as he cruised seemingly effortlessly by. He got by Ken, rolled past me, and Dave decided that this guy on a flat bar bike was not going to pass him! We were just coming up to a steep little pitch. I could see that Dave was switching into race mode. At about the same instant the flat bar dude stood up and poured it on. I looked back at Ken and said "race on". The flat bar dude not only had flat bars, but also front suspension. As we climbed up the pitch I gained on him. Dave was safely putting distance on this guy who had obviously spent most of his chips trying to catch us. As I passed him I noted the front suspension compressing and rebounding. The smirk on his face had morphed into a sweat streaked grimace. As I crested the hills the flat bar dude as a distant speck in my mirror. Dave and I kept the power on to let this guy know the folly of showing up to race road bikes on a hybrid. Ken passed the guy too and within a mile or so we were back in our group making good speed.... just to let this guy know he was outclassed today. My friend Cecil Ann would rightly describe this situation as "testosterone poisoning". ;-)

We came across several more "social riders" today. We passed them all, and passed them "with authority". Silly boys be we.

We made our way northward and over to Canby where we took the Canby Ferry back across the Willamette River. We had the most hills of the ride in our last 10 miles. It was a warm day, but a great ride!

As we pulled into Kraven's Sports Bar I noted to my riding partners that this ride leader had led a ride true to the ride description. I said we'd return to Wilsonville around 4:30 pm or so. We sat down at 4:45 pm. A "true intermediate" ride, and a great day on the bikes!

102 miles today for me, and 404 miles for the month. Now I get to think about biking, but not do much biking for the next two weeks.

.......road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......102..............0.............0..........0.........102
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........404..............0.............0..........0.........404
YTD........6554..............0............37..........7........6688

Eyes all a mist from the smoke of a distant fire

2011-09-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

The haze from, and smell of, smoke from the forest fire on Mt Hood was heavy in the Willamette Valley this morning.

I was leading a ride from the Willamette River in Portland along the Eastbank Esplanade then Springwater trail to Gresham where we diverted to roads, including part of the Race Across Oregon 2008 course, to the Stark Street bridge over the Sandy River then out to Multnomah Falls. We'd return on some slightly different roads made popular by Paul J's Corbett Hills rides then along Marine Drive, I-205 bike path, and finally back on the Springwater trail closing the loop.

I arrived at the start location about 30 minutes early. I just enjoyed the morning sun and took in the view.

I had 4 affirmative RSVP's but as is all too common in Meetup, as the 9AM start time arrived, I was the only one there. No problem, I hopped on the bike a pedaled off. Well there was one problem.... I had forgotten my cell phone. :-O

Before I reached the Springwater Trail I saw one of the other riders coming toward me. Carol turned around and we pedaled on out to Gresham.

Before too long we were in The Columbia River Gorge on the Historic Highway.

I haven't been getting much sleep the last week or so. That along with 6 days in a row riding played into today's ride. I felt tired this morning. I was more than happy to ride a very social pace. That improved as the day progressed and I took advantage of opportunities to eat and drink. I devoured ice cream, V-8 juice, even a hot dog at Multnomah Falls. Probably not the most balanced diet, but it was enough fluids and calories to recharge me a bit. I rode much stronger at the end of the day than at the beginning.

It was a busy day in the Gorge. There was a lot of traffic and it was stopped with about 3/4 mile still to go to reach Multnomah Falls. We were bad bikes and wove our way to the right, to the left, everything but over, to get to the falls.

We reached Multnomah Falls and of course spent a bit of time EATING! ;-)

Carol was quite proud of reaching the falls.

I'm not sure she quite realized that we still had to ride back!

Carol and I got separated on the way back. She had wanted to stop at a store to resupply so I stopped at the little store in Springdale. She was a bit behind me at that point, but saw me as she passed.... and kept on pedaling!

I had posted a map and cue sheet on the club's site, but she hadn't printed it off. So, I knew the route, and she didn't! Never a good thing to pass the ride leader if you don't know the route. It was the last I saw of her today. (remember that I didn't have my cell phone with me today!)

I reached Troutdale then got on Marine Drive and followed the Columbia River westward toward the I-205 bike path.

I took the I-205 path to the Springwater Trail then along the Willamette River via the Eastbank Esplanade.

The ride came to an end a few blocks from the Steel Bridge where I had parked this morning. Today felt warmer than yesterday, and with much less wind. A good day for a bike ride. I ended up with 86 miles.

Tomorrow 3 of us are planning a 100 mile ride. Originally planned on riding the "Wilsonville Century" but the segment over the Boone Bridge on I-5 is under construction and just not bike friendly at all. There is talk about doing an alternate route. I'll have to map something out yet tonight!

.......road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........86..............0.............0..........0..........86
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........302..............0.............0..........0.........302
YTD........6452..............0............37..........7........6586

Joe Knows

2011-09-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

What is it that Joe knows you ask? Well Joe knows how to put on a great ride! I was waiting to get all the photos gathered together, then I had a busy week at work, then I had two weekends out of town, then, well then I just didn't get back to this yet. Priorities, priorities. I'll get back here eventually to update and provide details. I'll post a notice when it's updated.

In the meantime............

You can see all the photos, the good, the bad, and the ugly HERE

.......road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......140..............0.............0..........0.........140
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
Sept........216..............0.............0..........0.........216
YTD........6366..............0............37..........7........6500

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 114th phonecast

2011-09-03T13:37:00.001-07:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 113th phonecast

2011-09-03T10:58:00.001-07:00

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 112th phonecast

2011-09-03T08:58:00.001-07:00