I had a full day of duties that would keep me off the bike until well after dark. A few friends were planning on riding a Two Bridges Loop (Interstate Bridge and Jackson Bridge, both cross the Columbia River). I planned to ride to the ride, which started in North Portland. The day was blustery and wet, and unfortunately the evening was going to be worse. There were power outages, local flooding, and downed trees before darkness even fell. (TV coverage is HERE)
I geared up and took off from near Sellwood Riverfront Park under heavy wind and rain. Riding toward Portland would put the wind (with gusts to 50!) at my back. I gave the pedals a couple of good pushes, then coasted as I futzed with my Garmin and speedometer. I hadn't reset either of them before the ride. It probably took me nearly a minute to get them both ready to go. I looked down at my speedometer and noted that I was travelling at 20 mph...... without pedaling!
I arrived in Portland quickly. Now that there were streetlights around I stopped for a photo of the rain. It had been coming down unbelievably hard and I was hoping to get a photo showing that. I was only moderately successful.
Even with the stops for red lights, I crossed Portland in 30 minutes. Seeing the freeways nearly at a standstill, it was obvious that I had the faster mode of transport tonight!
There were supposed to be 4 of us tonight, but one of the riders decided that it was just too wet and windy. That left three of us to "enjoy" the evening. We started off riding north to the Columbia River. We of course had a tailwind. The wind was a bit of a problem as we crossed the Interstate Bridge. The pathway for bikes is very narrow (less than 3 feet in many places) and the gusty wind made for treacherous riding. One small wobble at the wrong time and it would be into the iron girders!
We all made it across safely.
We turned eastward and rode through Vancouver, WA. As we turned onto MacArthur Blvd there was a lane merging in from our right. Between our travel lane and the lane that was merging there was a raised curb, about 2" wide and 2" tall. It was painted yellow. One of our riders mistook it for a painted line and attempted to cross it. He of course went down, and as luck would have it, there was a vehicle merging in. Luckily, the car wasn't going too fast, and was able to stop, as our rider had been thrown into that travel lane. He was shaken up a bit, but seemingly uninjured.
We continued on, slowly for a few miles, before picking the speed back up a bit. We crossed the Glenn Jackson bridge, back into Oregon. I had expected a brisk headwind, but surprisingly, we did not have one. The first half of the crossing, to Government Island, was practically wind free. I reached my maximum speed tonight as I rolled down the bridge's gentle arch, 34 mph. From the island to the Oregon mainland, there was a gusty crosswind, but at least on this bridge the pathway is 12 feet wide, and there are no metal girders trying to grab us!
When we got off the bridge and it's ramps we regrouped. Our rider who had taken the tumble decided that he had enough fun for the night. He had arrived at the ride by taking the MAX light rail. We decided to change our planned route to accompany him to a MAX station so he could get back home. We continued on our planned route north on the I-205 path. We had a bit of tailwind. We turned west on the Marine Drive path, now into a quartering headwind. When we got to the intersection to go to Cascade Station we turned toward the shopping center, and it's MAX station. We had timed it perfectly, our man rode his bike right up to the waiting train, dismounted and walked in. The doors closed and he was off!
We were down to two now. We weighed going back out to Marine Drive against taking some inner streets. The Marine Drive path would likely have more wind since it is more exposed. The alternate route isn't as bike friendly in places. We decided to stay inland.
By now the wind seemed to have subsided considerably, and the rain had stopped. It was actually quite enjoyable, with the temperature in the low 50's.
We eventually got back on our planned route as it arced southward into our westward path. Soon we were at Vancouver Ave, where I had planned to turn back south for the ride back to Sellwood. The ride leader was down now to just leading himself!
We said our goodbyes and pedaled our separate ways.
Amazingly, the wind had really died down. There would be a little gust one way or another from time to time, but really not an issue. There was no rain as I pedaled along at 18-20 mph toward downtown.
As I rolled onto the Eastbank Esplanade I stopped for a couple of photos.
I rode a short distance then stopped again to take a photo of the Morrison Bridge and it's homage to France.
A few drops of rain fell so I started pedaling again. As I pedaled past Ross Island, I saw the doe and fawns again. They obviously live close by, I've probably seen them on 30% or more of my night rides through that section.
The rain never amounted to anything, and I arrived back at my pickup safely.
What might have been an epic ride turned into just a night ride..........well, after the first 10 miles anyway!
It was fun!
The modification we made to accompany our rider to MAX cut off a few tenths of a mile. Not much, but enough to change the planned 44 mile ride into a 43 mile ride. That is okay, it's still good enough to count for #ridingeverydayinNovember.
.........Road Bike.....Rollers.....MTB.....Lifecycle..Total
Today .....43...............0...............0.............0..............43
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..........374..............0................3.............0.............377
_________________________________________
total.......4872.............0.............118............0...........4990
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