Dealing with Ignorance

I had thought about joining a 50ish mile ride that started from Monroe today. but the late night out last night dealing with an Epic Corn Maze Adventure precluded that. Fall back plans revolved around taking a kayak tour of the doomed WA 520 freeway access ramps in Lake Washington, and a musical presentation in Tacoma.  As time ticked by, it became obvious that if I were going to get out, I'd have to make my own plans.

I hopped on the bike and headed toward Marymoor Park. After last night's big blow there were a lot of sticks and debris on the trail. but nothing big enough to bring the adventure to an end.  I made it to Marymoor then retraced my route back to Fremont.

I continued to the Hiram Chittenden Locks. I've been there a few times, but had never toured the museum.  I locked my bike and walked in.  I was in there for less than 30 seconds when the man behind the welcome desk asked about my shoes.  I was wearing bike shoes with rain booties covering them. I thought he was questioning those.  No, he wanted to point out that I was wearing bike shoes.  He was concerned that my cleats would damage the carpet.  I highly doubt it, and  told him that I didn't think it would be an issue, but it's "his house" and I took off my booties and shoes.

No more than did I get those off, then the woman behind the desk questioned my socks.
I was wearing my bright yellow Panache  socks.

She remarked that they were very bright and  did I have any other socks I could put on.
I thought she was kidding.
One look at her told me she wasn't.
I told her I didn't have another pair of socks with me.

I left my shoes, helmet,  gloves,and booties in a corner and walked around the displays in my "obnoxiously bright" socks.

 The short film that normally plays in their auditorium was off line today, and a good portion of the 2nd floor display space was closed for updating. After about a half hour I grabbed my helmet, shoes, gloves, and booties and exited the museum. Per posted rules, I walked my bike back to the property boundary, then rode to Golden Gardens. It was an unexpectedly nice day.

After watching a guy try to trailer his boat for over 30 minutes, and the sun getting low on the horizon,  I turned back.  As I was riding through Ballard I crossed paths with the Cycle Saloon.

It appeared that the patrons where enjoying themselves.  In Oregon bicycles are considered vehicles and are subject to the same rules and regulations (except those that by their nature can't apply) I'm pretty sure that open container prohibitions would apply in Oregon, but here in Washington, home of legalized recreational marijuana, there doesn't seem to be a concern.

I finished up just after 6PM.  It was a  nice pedal.


..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today............66...............0..............0...............0.............66 Jan.............710...............0..............0...............0............710
Feb............ 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ..........701...............0..............0...............0............701
April...........749...............0..............0...............0............749
May.............613...............0..............0...............0............613
June............309...............0..............0...............0............309
July............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August..........359...............0..............0...............0............359
Sept............292...............0..............0...............0............292
Oct.............658...............0..............0...............0............658 Total..........5483...............0..............0...............0...........5483

A Tale of Two Cities

I started off the day with a pre-sunrise ride in Portland to make a bus connection. Yesterday it literally rained all day. This morning was a continuation of that, at least this time I had my rain bike. I expected rain and had full rain gear on.

The weather was pretty wild as I rode the bus up I-5. Hard rain from time to time, and even a tornado just north of Portland in Longview, WA.

When I got to Seattle I unloaded my bike and headed toward Bellvue. I was pleased that it wasn't raining. I pedaled over Capital Hill as the sky continued to clear. As I crossed the I-90 floating bridge I couldn't believe my luck. It was a bit windy, but dry.

As scenic as the Puget Sound area is, it doesn't take much to see that it isn't all as pristine as it might appear.

I arrived at Meydenbauer Bay without much more problem that some cross wind and being overheated due to wearing rain gear.

When I left home this morning I expected wind and rain on both ends of today's ride. I was very surprised to have the nice weather up this way, but it didn't last.  Before dinner was prepared there was wind, torrential rain, and lightning, but I had a good ride!


..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today............13...............0..............0...............0.............13 Jan.............710...............0..............0...............0............710
Feb............ 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ..........701...............0..............0...............0............701
April...........749...............0..............0...............0............749
May.............613...............0..............0...............0............613
June............309...............0..............0...............0............309
July............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August..........359...............0..............0...............0............359
Sept............292...............0..............0...............0............292
Oct.............592...............0..............0...............0............592 Total..........5417...............0..............0...............0...........5417

What a difference a day makes

 I had a Legislative breakfast meeting today.  It was only 2.5 miles away.  It was raining.  I figured I could take the fixie to that meeting since it has flat pedals, and avoid having to wear bike shoes.  It currently has a clip on rear fender.  I put on my silicone coated windbreaker.  I figured with only 2 1/2  miles, how wet could I get?

Well, wet.

It was dark as I pedaled out.  My headlight caught the water flying off the front tire and blowing back on me, from above the handlebars and from off each side of the downtube.  I couldn't believe how much water was flying back on me.  I was rethinking my decision to not ride the rain bike and just carry street shoes along.

I arrived, took off my wet jacket, took my seat in the audience and listened.

Following the meeting I put my meager weather protection back on and pedaled out.  The rain had slowed down a bit, but it was still wet.

It would rain all day, but at least I didn't have to bike in it anymore.




..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today.............5...............0..............0...............0..............5 Jan.............710...............0..............0...............0............710
Feb............ 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ..........701...............0..............0...............0............701
April...........749...............0..............0...............0............749
May.............613...............0..............0...............0............613
June............309...............0..............0...............0............309
July............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August..........359...............0..............0...............0............359
Sept............292...............0..............0...............0............292
Oct.............579...............0..............0...............0............579 Total..........5404...............0..............0...............0...........5403

Hunting without a license

It was supposed to be a wet day. Instead it was dry. I prepared to ride to Gales Creek for a community meeting. I packed rain gear because the forecast said I should and it did feel like it was going to rain as I rolled out.

Within 8 miles it looked pretty darn good.

Nearing Cook Park from the south

I followed the Fanno Creek trail most of the way to Beaverton then turned west on a series of residential streets just north of busy Hwy 8.  I did have to get on Hwy 8 for about a quarter mile and was surprised to see deer!

One of them was a pretty nice buck. I always chuckle when someone asks about hunting status.  I always hunt for deer.  I can't legally shoot one, I don't have a license or tag this year, but that doesn't mean I can't hunt for them!

After the deer excitement, I continued on.  About this point there was just a little mist falling for a couple of miles.  The road never got wet.

As I rolled through Hillsboro I detoured out to my mother's to move a big potted plant into the garage for the winter.

I continued my way westward. I made it to Gales Creek about a half hour early.  Just about right.

As the event went on, the sun went down.  My preride plan included a multimodal return trip utilizing  a TriMet bus and MAX train.  I had expected it to be dark, raining, and windy.  I figured that the 10 miles on the west end to access the bus, and the 8 miles from the bus back home would be plenty if I was wet and cold.

As it ended up, it was dark, but it was dry and not terribly windy.  After riding back to Forest Grove I just continued to ride east.  I figured I'd ride until it started raining then hop on a bus or light rail.

It never rained, and I never got on transit.

It ended up being a nice night for a ride.  I did get a few random drops of rain with about 2 miles to go, but not enough to worry about, or stop and put rain gear on for.


..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today............88...............0..............0...............0.............88 Jan.............710...............0..............0...............0............710
Feb............ 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ..........701...............0..............0...............0............701
April...........749...............0..............0...............0............749
May.............613...............0..............0...............0............613
June............309...............0..............0...............0............309
July............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August..........359...............0..............0...............0............359
Sept............292...............0..............0...............0............292
Oct.............574...............0..............0...............0............574 Total..........5399...............0..............0...............0...........5399

Food

It was supposed to rain today. It did some, but not much. I managed to get out the bike a couple of times today and never got rained on either time. The first was in the morning to satisfy a need for a fresh maple bar and chocolate milk. Later in the day I pedaled to the lunch special at Love Teriyaki. A pretty good day!


..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today............11...............0..............0...............0.............11 Jan.............710...............0..............0...............0............710
Feb............ 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ..........701...............0..............0...............0............701
April...........749...............0..............0...............0............749
May.............613...............0..............0...............0............613
June............309...............0..............0...............0............309
July............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August..........359...............0..............0...............0............359
Sept............292...............0..............0...............0............292
Oct............486...............0..............0...............0............486 Total..........5311...............0..............0...............0...........5311

A day worth 100 miles

My friend Art posted an invitation to join him on a ride up the Clackamas River to a facebook group I belong to. He started late enough in the day that a ride to the ride worked out perfectly.

The commute by bike was just under 19 miles.  There was a bit of fog for the first 10 miles so I turned on the front light. (the back blinky is always on). By the time I passed Oregon City and began my way up the Clackamas River the sky had cleared and it was going to be a gorgeous day.

I arrived at Carver Park, our meeting point, to find that we were going to be a group of 5.  We started counter-clockwise on the 42 mile route that Art had planned.

We exited Hwy 224 and took E. Faraday Rd.  We took one detour to take a look at Faraday Forebay, which added less than a mile to our route. It was "just water" and evidently none of us found it interesting enough to snap a photo. :-O

E Faraday Rd is closed to unauthorized motor vehicles but open to bikes and pedestrians.  It offers some great views of the river.

 

 

 

 

We arrived at the North Fork Reservoir and dam.

The group rode up the road away where there was boat access, and room for us to grab some snacks that we had been carrying.

 I had a good day on the bike, when it was my turn to take a pull I held it between 20-24 mph.  Not bad for a old out of shape guy.

We had some rude drivers.  Nothing terribly dangerous, but just rude.  One oncoming pickup driver layed on the horn and flew a middle fingered salute. The only thing we could figure out was that he was mad that he was stuck in a vehicle instead of enjoying the day as we were.  We had some close passes as we made our way back down through Estacada.  It's been my experience that if we are going to have issues, it's in timber towns.  Estacada and Mollala rarely disappoint.

We still had good views of the river though.

We arrived back at Carver Park and Kent continued on down the road.  He lives not too far away from there.  Max, Art, and Peter loaded their bikes in cars and headed back home.  I exited the park and continued back downstream.  I retraced my inbound commute back. 

I took a detour as neared Tualatin and took a brief soak in the hot tub. ;-)

I got near home and noted that I had 98 miles.  Just like the old days, I found a road that needed riding and offered 2 miles to complete a century.  It evidently was my first century since April 7th, 2014.   I used to ride 2 each weekend.  I guess I've got to start somewhere.

UPDATE:  Silly me, I rode more than 100 miles on STP in July.

 ..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today..........100...............0..............0...............0............100 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August.........359................0..............0...............0.............359
Sept............292................0...............0...............0.............292
 Oct............475....................0..............0...............0............475  Total..........5300...............0..............0...............0............5300

A test ride

It was not raining today, but I still took the rain bike out for a spin. The first thing I noticed was how much smoother it rode with the 28mm tires instead of the 23's it had previously.  25psi lower pressure accounts for part of that, but the added width helps too.  The vibration and chatter experienced with the 23mm tires has all but disappeared.  I stopped at Performance Bicycles on the way by and picked up a spare tube, then pedaled out to CREST Farm where my nephew is officially the "Urban Farmer In Charge".  The program helps teach students the value of sustainable agriculture.  Today was Harvest Festival and hundreds of folks came by to take a tour, help make apple cider, buy some produce and .............listen to some music.



The gentleman on the left played violin most of the time, but also had a "Banjolin" a hybrid of a mandolin and a banjo.  The woman seated in the middle was playing what she called a "small pipe" and also played a penny whistle. The woman seated on the right was playing a hammer dulcimer. 

It was a nice day.

 ..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today...........17...............0..............0...............0.............17 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August.........359................0..............0...............0.............359
Sept............292................0...............0...............0.............292
 Oct............375....................0..............0...............0............375  Total..........5200...............0..............0...............0............5200

Thriftway, Fry's, Costco, and the library

 I took the fixed gear bike out on a shopping trip.  Notice I said "shopping" and not "buying".  I did get a maple bar and chocolate milk at Thriftway, but other than that it was purely research for upcoming purchases.  I took the fixed gear bike because it has flat pedals and I don't need bike shoes.  Every place I had to go today I could get to by riding on sidewalks or deserted residential streets.

 Before leaving home I put the clip on rear fender on the bike, not being sure it would stay dry. But I did  manage to miss the scattered showers today.

 ..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today...........11...............0..............0...............0.............11 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August.........359................0..............0...............0.............359
Sept............292................0...............0...............0.............292
 Oct............358....................0..............0...............0............358  Total..........5193...............0..............0...............0..........5193

What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday was windy and wet, not the most enjoyable day on the bike.  Today was blue skies and calm.
I spent the morning organizing bike stuff, and installed the new tires/wheels/brake pads on the rain bike. I also installed new reflective material to the new wheels.  The brakes will help me stop, the wider tires will give me a smoother ride, the reflectivity will help keep me visible.

One would think that after doing all that upgrading that I'd be anxious to give the bike a test drive.

Instead, it was a perfect day for a fixed gear ride.  I puttered around town, had lunch, puttered around some more.  It was a perfect fall day.

 ..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today...........26...............0..............0...............0.............26 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August.........359................0..............0...............0.............359
Sept............292................0...............0...............0.............292
 Oct............347....................0..............0...............0............347  Total..........5182...............0..............0...............0..........5182

A wet ride to a wet activity

There was a high wind warning for south winds in the Willamette Valley this morning.  It wasn't too many years ago when identical weather was predicted (strong south wind and rain) I hopped on the bike and rode 35 miles straight into the wind then turned around a let it blow me home.  I thought it would be perfect training for Furnace Creek 508, I was right.  I'm no longer training, so today I rode with the wind, and only 9 miles, to the hot tub at 24 hr Fitness! It rained quite hard, but it was at my back.  After a long soak I expected to ride back into the wind, but was pleasantly surprised to find the wind had weakened, and the rain had tapered off.  Most of my ride back was dry.  I stopped at Performance Bicycles to get two new 28mm tires and new brake pads for my rain bike.  Maybe the bike will stick to the road better, and stop when needed now.

..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today...........22...............0..............0...............0.............22 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August.........359................0..............0...............0.............359
Sept............292................0...............0...............0.............292
 Oct............321....................0..............0...............0............321  Total..........5156...............0..............0...............0..........5156