A different kind of TNR

Thursday again, and time for the Thursday Night Ride.  I had some time today and the weather was decent, so I rode the 40 Mile Loop as a warm up.  I finished up a bit early, so I rode into the Lloyd District for a quick bite to eat. I recognized a couple of other guys who would be at TNR, also grabbing some snacks.

I still got to the start a bit early, but the crowd was already beginning to gather.

We rolled out "in a big chill group", just like normal.  Nathan led us across the Burnside Bridge, taking all three lanes.  Nobody complained, we outnumbered them!

You can see me in my bright yellow jacket right above the guy taking the photo

Michael's photo

We stopped at Fred Meyer to allow folks to grab some snacks.  Most of us had no need for snacks so we just sat in the parking lot visiting for a bit.

Nathan led us out again.  After a couple of miles the front of the group came to a quick halt. I'm normally somewhere near the front of the pack, but today I was quite a way back.  I didn't see what happened, but could tell that it wasn't good.

The group behaved like good citizens.  We cleared the street, and Chad B. in the red hat,  stepped right up and did a fine job of directing traffic. I came to find out that Nathan's bike's head tube broke off. (Friday update: From photos it appears the forks broke near the head tube)

Mike H photo

 For non bikey people reading here, that means that the front wheel was no longer attached to the bike.  Not good!

Yes, the ambulance was there to attend to him.

We were led away by a substitute ride leader to clear the scene.  As I rode by I could see Nathan, and it appeared that he was quite bloody.

The after party still happened, but was a bit more subdued than normal.

Ronaldo's photo

Nathan posted to Facebook later in the evening saying he was fine.  I suppose it is all relative.

I did manage to get 60 miles in on the fixed gear bike today.

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .........60................0...................0.......................0............60
Jan...............0................0...............,...0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........363...............0..................0.......................0...........363
YTD...... 1323...............0...................0.......................0..........1323

Investments

Today was a day to deal with investments. I made a 4PM appointment with my Edward D Jones guy in Forest Grove to make some adjustments in my investment portfolio and also decided to invest in myself by cycling to and from.  I left a bit later than I wanted to so I had to ride pretty hard on the way out there.  I guess you can call it training. I covered the 31 miles in 2 hours and 4 min.  Not bad given that there is about 8 miles of multi-use path (sunny weather and the I-podded masses!) and a lot of urban riding with traffic signals and stop signs.

I spent a half hour planning the transfer of a lackluster investment into something with higher expectations.  Todd also rides, so we spent about half that time talking bike.

On the way back I slowed down a bit, having no time constraints other than impending darkness and no headlight along.

As I rode near Hillsboro I found a small light duty combination wrench along the road.

As I rode through Tualatin I found a "hide a key" that had fallen off someone's vehicle. It is of no value to me, but I'll post it on Craigslist on the outside chance that the owner 1)knows it is missing, and 2) is trolling craigslist looking for it.

I got back home about an hour before dark. Though I was biking during heavy commuter traffic I really didn't notice it.  My route skips busy roads, instead taking paths and empty residential streets.
It was a nice ride!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .........63................0...................0.......................0............63
Jan...............0................0...............,...0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........303...............0..................0.......................0...........303
YTD...... 1263...............0...................0.......................0..........1263

Those that train, DO; those that don't, CREW!

It was going to be a wet day in NW Oregon, what better excuse to travel to the "dry side" and do a little biking.  After being reminded by Facebook that I had been there before, the plan today was to ride 100 miles starting from Tygh Valley.  The route would include 70 miles of the Race Across Oregon course. Highly accomplished ultra distance athlete, Lisa, decided to join the fun today, primarily as a way to preview part of the RAO course.

It was a 130 mile drive for me to get there, and I ran windshield wipers for the first 105 miles, before breaking out of the rain.

Within 15 minutes of arriving, Lisa drove in.  She was coming from the opposite direction and a slightly farther distance away.  Before long we were on our bikes and pedaling.  Our first stop was White River Falls. Lisa had never seen the falls before, and I'm always up for a repeat.

The first drop of this multi drop falls

Today we would satisfy ourselves with the sights from the overlook and  not take the hike down to the old powerhouse.

Before long we were back on the road.  It was going to be a nice day for a hundred mile bike ride.

We took the fun descent down to Shearer's Falls and began the climb up "Lauren's Hill" toward Grass Valley.  Lisa is in training for some big races, I haven't biked a century since September 11th, 2015, and am not in training for anything. While she has been training, I've been watching others ride. Needless to say, she is able to ride circles around me.  I knew that she'd want to challenge Lauren's Hill. so I told her to hammer away and we'd meet at the top.

She accepted that offer with a big smile and she was off!

I wouldn't see her again for nearly 45 minutes. She reached the top of the serious climbing and turned around to repeat the hill. She met me before she had to go too far back down.

Lisa's photo

We rode into Grass Valley planning on a rest stop at the little convenience store there, only to find that it was closed (as in out of business closed).  No problem, we were both carrying enough supplies to continue on.

The weather was nice, but windy.  We rode against a 20 mph headwind toward Shaniko.  This 30 mile segment can be a chore, and today would be. Luckily, the roadway has been resurfaced and was as smooth as butter.

The road between Grass Valley and Shaniko might look flat, but it is ascending.  With the uphill pull, and the wind, this slow old guy was slowing Lisa down.  I had plenty of time to think.  I decided that if she wanted to get a bonus hill in, and see 10 more miles of the RAO course, she could ride the hill from Antelope to Shaniko while waiting for me.  She again accepted the invitation and rode off.  This time it would be several hours before I saw her again. The clouds had been building for the last few hours, and finally some of those clouds were dropping rain. While Lisa was off the front searching for bonus climbing I got hit with one 11 minute hail storm.  I put on my windbreaker, rethinking my earlier decision to leave the rain coat in my pickup.  Luckily, that storm blew over quickly and the sky cleared up again.

As it ended up, Lisa suffered through one rain shower, but was having a good time.

Lisa's photo

The ill hatched plan was for me to arrive in Shaniko and soft pedal along, allowing Lisa to catch me.  As I pedaled into Shaniko I realized the flaw.  I didn't know if she was still out by Antelope, or if she was ahead of me pedaling hard to catch up with me.  I pedaled along moderately, keeping an eye on my mirror.  The road turned into the wind.  It was hard going.  I finally stopped and sent a text to her, knowing that in this part of Oregon, cell signals are few and far between.  It might be a long time before she'd see the message.
As it ended up, she was behind me.  ....a long way behind me.  I told her I would stop at the second power substation.  That marks the beginning of the descent to the Deschutes River, and I wanted to warn her about possible gravel in the turns. As I pedaled along I took a few photos.

Tygh Valley in the distance

I saw quite a few deer, most scampered away before I could get my camera out.

About 30 minutes later she rolls up and catches me resting.

Lisa's photo

She too found it to be a very challenging segment.  We compared notes on the day so far, then began the descent.  With the wind blowing in the canyon what normally is a 40+ mph descent turned into a 25 mph descent.

We rolled through Maupin, then began the climb out of the canyon.  My legs were feeling a bit tired, Lisa of course felt fine. She was kind and waited for me at the top.

We continued along toward Tygh Valley, taking advantage of the low traffic numbers to ride side by side visiting.  Finally we took the fun 2 mile descent into Tygh Valley, carefully taking the left turn into "down town".  The end surprised Lisa, who was expecting more miles, and was looking forward to the down hill stretch just ahead.

Today she'd have to be satisfied with her 121 miles, I was satisfied with my 100 miles.

We loaded bikes and drove down to The Dalles for a bite to eat before each heading our separate ways.

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........100................0...................0.......................0...........100
Jan...............0................0...............,...0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........240...............0..................0.......................0...........240
YTD...... 1200...............0...................0.......................0..........1200

Back on a bike

I spent some time recently being crew chief for a 4 man 50-59 team at the SoCal RAAM Challenge. They came in first!  While it was definitely "bikey", it kept me off my bike.  I've been back in the Pacific Northwest a few days, but have been busy with preparations for my next crew chief job, the Race Across the West.    

Today, a rare dry day in Seattle, got me back on the bike.  By early afternoon I was on the fixed gear bike with a few hours to spend.  I pedaled out to Golden Gardens Park, then back to the Chittenden Locks.  I pedaled across to the residential street that morphed into a single track and bridge over the railroad tracks, then back to a roadway and on up to Magnolia. 

There was some pretty steep climbing for the fixed gear bike, but I made it.  Once up, the gentle grades and wide roads were a joy to ride on.  The sky had some high overcast that made the views less than ideal but it was still worth taking a photo or two.

 Looking west to the Olympic Mountains 

Looking southeast to Mt Rainier

Early this month I entertained the notion of riding 1000 miles this month to keep my streak of doubling mileage each month alive.  That of course went out the window when SoCal beckoned, and instead of getting a thousand mile month, today I got 1100 miles for the year.  Oh well.


.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........16................0...................0.......................0...........16
Jan...............0................0...............,...0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........140...............0..................0.......................0...........140
YTD...... 1100...............0...................0.......................0..........1100

A warm Thursday

I had fire district business to attend to in Forest Grove this morning, but expected to be finished up around noon. I brought the fixie along with hopes of getting out for a little ride. The temperature was in the high eighties as I shoved off for a lap around Hagg Lake from the Lake Stop Store.

It is early in the season yet, the admission booth is not yet manned.  There is an automated process to collect the toll from automobiles though.  Bikes are free!

As I pedaled across the dam I took this photo facing upstream.

I'm ancient.  I remember when this now flooded valley was a collection of farmland, a few homes, and a church. As a young guy I would travel with my dad through this valley to hunt deer in the surrounding hills, and to haul water for my dad's custom spraying operation.  The dam was completed in 1975.

This is the view downstream with the view of the Stimson Mill. The best location for the dam would have been just downstream from the mill, where the valley narrows. The economics of moving a major sawmill meant that the dam was built upstream, where the valley was wider and left the mill in the path of a wall of water if the dam were to fail. We are much more cognizant of the risks of a major subduction zone earthquake now.  Recent studies have determined that the dam is at risk during a major earthquake.  I wonder if that weighs on the minds of mill workers?

The road around the lake is going to need a little work after a winter of rain.

The route around the lake is challenging for a fixed gear bike, with many ups and downs.  The weather was beautiful and I was able to negotiate the hills better than I expected.

I wasn't able to dilly dally however, since it is Thursday (and the Thursday Night Ride!)  I made haste around the lake and rode down the most challenging part of today's ride, the long steep descent past the dam.

I pedaled the last few miles back to the Lake Stop Store where I happened to see Max, preparing to ride his mountain bike on the trail around the lake.

I loaded my bike and hurried along toward Portland.  It was rush hour, and I probably could have biked there quicker.  I eventually got there, today starting at Milwaukie.

I road down to the river via a trail down the bluff.

I figured the ride around Hagg Lake was causing me to hallucinate. As I pedaled along the Willamette River I could swear I was seeing dragons!

I arrived at the TNR's starting point and it was obvious that there was going to be a large turnout.

There were the usual sights.

and the not so usual.

The Unipiper!

There was the usual collection of fixed gear bikes, tall bikes, fat bikes, and just regular old bike bikes. Tonight there seemed to be more bikes with sound systems, and far more women riders.  There were over 200 of us as we rolled into the streets.

                                                                 (Austin M's video)

It was a bit crazy in the peloton tonight.  I had to be constantly on my toes to keep from getting clipped.  I attributed it to a large percentage of folks with inexperience riding in tight groups.
A few bikes went down, but I didn't see any injuries.  We were having fun!

Even some of our furry friends were out enjoying the evening.

As we were nearing the end of the ride Neal, a friend from a meetup group I used to belong to rode up and said hi. This was his first TNR. We pulled into Jackson's for a chance to get some picnic supplies

We then rode the short distance to the Hawthorne Bridge, where the gang would socialize.  I didn't stay tonight, and instead rode back to my pickup.

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........32................0...................0.......................0...........32
Jan...............0................0...............,...0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........124...............0..................0.......................0...........124
YTD...... 1084...............0...................0.......................0..........1084

RAAM Challenge

I was a late addition to the support team for Team Skipper, a 4 man 50-59 age group team entry in this weekend's SoCal RAAM Challenge. The race covers over 400 miles of Southern California beginning and finishing in Oceanside and travelling over Mt Palomar on it's way past the Salton Sea and turning around at the Imperial Dunes near Glamis, CA.

At the last minute the original crew chief was delayed and couldn't make the start.  I was asked to fill in for him.  Stepping in at the last minute is difficult, as I wasn't involved in the planning decisions. Despite some difficulties with lack of gear, we persevered and all went well. (or at least well enough!) The guys did great, in a race that saw a 66% DNF rate.  They finished in first place overall, covering the 401.7 mile course in 27 hrs and 7 minutes. (avg clock time speed of 14.82)

A Century

Well, a metric century.

Today I took off from Gasworks Park with a soft plan to either ride around Lake Washington or continue on the Sammamish River Trail out past Marymoor Park.  Around Lake Washington would put me on streets for just over half of the +/- 55 mile route.  Marymoor would put me on smoother trail and no traffic.  The potential for more miles was also there as it would be an out and back.

The Burke-Gilman Trail is Seattle's pride and joy, but it is rough to ride. Root ridges and poor repairs make it a pounding ride.  Once I got to the end of that (15 miles) I got on the Sammamish River Trail. The sun was out and it was a great ride along the river.

When I got to Redmond the trail began to fork.  Not knowing the area, I just guessed and took the Bear Creek Trail, thinking that might bring me along the eastern side of Lake Sammamish. Instead I found myself heading northerly. Soon the trail ended and I was on roads. I began seeing directional signs for Union Hill and Novelty Hill.  I remembered riding those hills in rides a few years ago.  I knew that they were not along Lake Sammamish.  No problem, the road had wide shoulders with bike markings.  I continued out on Avondale Rd until I reached the 31 mile mark......and the road began climbing.  I turned around.

As I got to Redmond I stopped at Dudley Carter Park to check out a replica of a Haida Longhouse. There was a small totem pole at the front integral to the longhouse.

As I rode along the Sammamish River there was a Great Blue Heron looking for lunch.

From here on I kept the bike moving, as I had afternoon plans and wanted to be back in Queen Ann no later than 2PM.  It's easy to keep up the pace when the scenery is nice.  ;-)

The only delay of game was at the University of Washington, where they have a had a trail detour taking us through campus for several years now.

It was a good ride.  I got back to Queen Ann at 1:30PM :-)

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ........62................0...................0.......................0...........62
Jan...............0................0...............,...0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May..........92...............0..................0.......................0............92
YTD...... 1052...............0...................0.......................0..........1052