Day 12 of #ridingeverydayinNovember

Today is day 12 of the #ridingeverydayinNovember cycling challenge.

Earlier this week I had on my metal fabricator's hat (well, welding helmet!).  Today I'll put on my electrician's hat.  Before getting down to work I hopped on the fixie and went on a donut ride.

There was a definite winter feel to the air this morning.  It was in the mid 30's with grey skies and a brisk wind blowing. If the wind were from the east instead of the south, and it were January instead of November, I'd say we were going to get snow.  ....not that we haven't had snow in November. (5" of snow fell in Portland on Nov 22nd, 1977!)

I'll get more riding in before the day is over.  If nothing else, it is Thursday, and time for the Thursday Night Ride!

Evening update:
I had hoped to ride the 40 mile loop prior to the Thursday Night Ride, but the cold dry grey skies of morning turned to cold wet grey skies by early afternoon. I sat in my warm and dry pickup and watched real riders go by in the rain.

I was hoping for "the shower to pass" but alas, it rained all afternoon.

I finally geared up and rode from Sellwood Riverfront Park to the Salmon Street Springs to meet the rest of the Thursday Night Ride. The rain had cleared the air and the lights of the city twinkled like stars.

The rain and cold thinned the crowd a bit. We only had about 30% of the usual crowd, but that still meant that there were 35-40 riders pedaling out tonight.

photo by Mariana

The rain had tapered off, but it was cold and a brisk wind remained. I had brought the rain bike.  Surprisingly, several of the others asked what happened to the fixie.  I thought I had been riding under the radar.

We took to the streets in our normal manner.  Near the end of the ride we stopped for supplies.

We then rode a few blocks to a Willamette River beach.  I knew that if I stopped I was going to get cold, so I pedaled on.

I was the only rider I saw as I pedaled along the Springwater Corridor back to Sellwood. A swirling 20-25 mph headwind made the ride interesting.

With my commute to and from, I ended up with 20 miles tonight, bringing the total for the day to 22 miles.

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.....MTB.....Lifecycle..Total
Today ......22...............0...............0.............0..............22
Jan.........765..............0...............0.............0............765
Feb........248..............0...............0.............0............248
March....183..............0...............0.............0.............183
April......228...............0..............0..............0.............228
May.......200...............0..............0..............0.............200
June........199..............0..............26............0.............225
July.........246.............0...............0..............0.............246
Aug.........502.............0...............0..............0.............502
Sept.........974.............0,,,,,,,,,,,,,,44.............0............1018
Oct.......... 962.............0..............45.............0............1007
Nov..........226..............0................3.............0.............229
_________________________________________
total.......4734.............0.............118............0...........4852