I was almost an Oregon Randonneur today

I joined Oregon Randonneurs a few months back. While I'm a member I just am not driven by having my name in a book in France or winning shiny medals for long mileage. My battles are more personal, as are my victories. For that reason I just don't find the need to register for rides and jump through all the hoops to get "credit" for the ride. I just ride the miles.

Today my miles were with John Henry and Joanne who were on one of their tandems.



We began from Wilsonville at 7AM, a few others started at 8AM. Our "permanent" of choice today was the 125.1 mile Scio Covered Bridges Permanent.

The weather was dry and mild as we took off. We had some really good riding conditions for the first 50 miles or so and rode through 3 covered bridges.







It began raining about 55 miles into our ride and kept it up continuously until we reached mile 88. It seemed like the kind of rain that would last all day so we were really surprised when it not only quit, but eventually cleared up!



We really enjoyed the improving conditions........as well as the noticeable tailwind.



We pedaled into our finish with a 15.4 mph average. Not shabby for this old guy.

Tomorrow a group of us are doing a repeat of the 100k Snoozeville Populaire route.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today...........125...............0................125
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....406.....+.........0........=.......406
Year to date...1522.....+.........30.......=......1552
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

short term plans?

prepare for rain! ;-)

April 4th has been set as the date for the third annual De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia.

I've participated in both of the previous renditions of this hill climbing madness, rained both times! A new slightly longer route this year with a little more climbing. I'll be there this time too, might as well expect rain. ;-) There are rumors that a noted local television program will be there to document the pain.
The first De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia was memorialized on Youtube:


More imminent than that is this Saturday's Scio Covered Bridges Permanent with some Oregon Randonneurs. 125 miles of riding around the Cascade foothills and over multiple covered bridges. Bridges cross rivers, rivers are in canyons, getting from one canyon to another requires climbing hills. Hills in the rain seems to be the subject of my riding plans!

BEEEE YOU TEE FULL!

The weather gurus said today was supposed to be the best day this week. It surprised me (and probably them too) just exactly how nice it got. I drew the short straw and brought my mom to an appointment at OHSU today. She was told to plan about 3-4 hours and I figured that was plenty of time to go for a ride while waiting for her.

I rode along the waterfront and made my way across the river then headed north. I made it as far as Alberta St when mom called. They had moved her through pretty quickly and she was ready to go. I turned around and rode back. I had a good tour of Portland "bike boxes", green bike lanes, and bike specific signals. I didn't get very many miles, but it was the first ride this year that I had just a short sleeved jersey on, no arm warmers, no windbreaker, no winter gloves or raincoats! A gorgeous day for a ride!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............13...............0.................13
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....281.....+.........0........=.......281
Year to date...1397.....+.........30.......=......1427
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WWJD?

perhaps turn the other cheek?

But my comment on what would the police do if THEY were the ones on the bike when a car threatened has been answered.


I'm still in Salem working on issues revolving around YOUR safety, but the weather appears to be improving slightly. In between the heavy rain showers the sun comes out a bit. If I had time (and had my bike with me!) I'd probably go out for a short ride in between the rain showers. Maybe tomorrow!

In Marion County

I'm in Salem today preparing for a meeting. As I am sitting here at my computer I get a call from Marion County Deputy Chris Helbling, the officer who responded to my incident.

He informs me that the Marion County District Attorney's Office has chosen not to prosecute the case. Evidently neither me, nor the guy who menaced my friends and I, showed a reckless disregard for life by driving closely to us, threatened me, intentionally ran into me with his vehicle, then drove away without performing the duties of a driver. The driver was never charged with violation of any of the laws I thought he should have been charged with.

I'll verify when and if I get official notification that the case against me has been dropped in writing via US Mail.

No worries cycling friends, there will be more updates coming.

no riding, but very bikey

The organizer of the ride I was going to participate in today said it would cancel if it rained. I removed my affirmative RSVP about Thursday when it became obvious that there would be rain today......lots of rain. I volunteered for the OBRA Banana Belt race today instead.



My morning duties were driving support vehicle for Women's 4 and Masters Women. The ladies were troopers, diligently riding through wind, rain, slick roads,.....and OBRA mandated neutralization when faster divisions wanted to pass.

I'd be ticked if I had busted my behind to open a gap on the field only to have them all catch back up when the group was required to ride 10mph in double lines so the faster folks could pass.

No wonder there is a saying that the women ride 2 laps and race 1. It is a waste of energy to race too early.

In the afternoon I filled in for a no show and became a corner marshal for turn 1.

I had one "self-entitled" motorhome driver pulling a trailer full of ORV's honk at me as I was holding up the stop sign. I went back to talk to him (gee, haven't I learned my lesson yet?) I went back to tell him it would just be a minute, the racers were coming around the corner in a matter of moments.
He responded with an "Are they taking up the whole f$%^ing road?"
I didn't hit his mirror.... I just said "yes they are" and walked away.

As the racers rounded the corner he roared past me. I radioed ahead to the officials that we had a motorhome with an attitude heading their way.

The day was wet, windy, and just a few degrees warmer than yesterday.
It got windier in the afternoon and the continuous rain turned to sporadic intense showers.

No bike miles for me today, I for the most part stayed warm and dry in my pickup!

As far as the legal issue goes, Marion County Deputy Chris Helbling tried to reach me today about 3PM.... a full 6 1/2 days after I called and Marion County dispatch and they said he would return my call shortly. I was still up at Hagg Lake and cell reception is spotty at best. After playing a bit of phone tag MC Dispatch said he was off on other duties and would try again later. I don't have a direct number for him, I always have to go through dispatch, so when I'm in poor reception areas it's very difficult.

As of 8PM he has not called back.

Snoozeville Populaire

(photo taken by Tangobiker)

That it happens to ride through Snooseville is beside the point.

Today the weather prognosticators said it would be cool, windy, and rainy. They were right. It started raining about 5 minutes before the ride started.

I always say that when you are training some days are really fun, some days are homework. Today was homework.

Here I am pulling into the Maggie's Buns control. This is about 50 miles into the cold, wet, slog that was today.

Photo taken by control worker Greg


Wet, cold, windy. Not much else to add other than I was out there in it for 62 miles.
Oh, and it took 40 minutes after I stopped riding to have my fingers thaw enough to be able to type!

Yup, homework.

UPDATE: The finishing results have been posted.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............62...............0.................62
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....268.....+.........0........=.......268
Year to date...1384.....+.........30.......=......1414
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A two ride day

Just came in from a 33 mile ride with Dave




and Erinn


It was an absolutely gorgeous day. About 40 degrees as we shoved of from OMSI at 9:30 but warmed to the mid 50's by the time we finished up. We rode out the Springwater Corridor then turned around and rode with Erinn back up Terwilliger past OHSU and then on to her home near Taylor's Ferry Rd and I-5. After our goodbye's Dave and I rode back to OMSI. This was probably my last ride with Erinn. :-( I'll miss her.

We wanted to be back to Wilsonville to meet Dave's brother who was coming into town, but as we pulled into Dave's place we were told that plans had changed and his brother wouldn't be arriving until much later in the day.

The weather is just way too nice to stop riding for the day, it's supposed to rain tomorrow. Dave and I are working on plans to go ride a bit more.

I'll update later today when we finish up.

UPDATE:

Dave and I took advantage of the last nice day for awhile and added to our ride. We rode out to Pete's Mountain and on into the little historic burg of Willamette. I've never been in that part of the country before. We had some good hills (if there is such a thing!) and a great ride.

We ended the day with 57 total miles.

Tomorrow I'm joining a few folks to ride the 100k Snoozeville Populaire that's sponsored by the Oregon Randonneurs. Just how many folks will depend no doubt on how much rain we get. It's predicted to be quite wet.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............57...............0.................57
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....206.....+.........0........=.......206
Year to date...1322.....+.........30.......=......1352
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Wondering

I'm in Salem, the State Capital as well as the County Seat of ......Marion County.
My road bike is sitting in my LBS getting an estimate on how much it will cost to repair the damage caused by the guy who thinks he owns the whole %^$#^% road.
It would seem that at least some members of the Marion County Sheriff's Office agree with him. The saying "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" should certainly apply to the police as well as the public.

Sorry, I digress.

Since my road bike is in the shop my plan to ride from Forest Grove to Salem to attend a late morning meeting then ride back is scuttled. I did bring my mountain bike along with me to Salem. After my meeting I hope to press it into road service and ride part of the Peach of a Century route. Of course the fact that this will require riding on roads in Marion County is weighing on my mind. How should one prepare for riding in such a bike hostile environment? Helmet cam video? Pepper spray? 3000 of my closest bike friends riding along?

RING RING!

Did you hear that? That's the alarm going off letting Marion County Sheriff Deputy Chris Helbling know that time has expired. On Monday I had called the Marion County DA's Office to inquire about which charges had been filed against the guy who intentionally ran into me with his SUV then fled the scene. They tell me that they cannot comment because the case has not been filed with them. They go on to tell me I should contact the deputy who investigated.

Just over 48 hours have passed since Marion County Dispatch told me that Deputy Helbling was on duty, had been paged, and would return my call shortly. No call yet. Seems unless you drive a motor vehicle you are a second class citizen in Marion County.

A motor vehicle driver can threaten you, intentionally run into you, then flee the scene evidently without facing serious charges. If you are on a bicycle and in response to a threat to your life you hit a mirror with your hand you get the full measure of enforcement.

Maybe I should enlist a few folks in joining me in spending my bicycling dollars outside of Marion County. (with my apologies to Salem Bicycle Club and Santiam Cycle)