so close but.................

Once again I find myself near the end of the month with 1000 miles for the month so close.........but with virtually no chance of reaching the milestone. My monthly mileage sat just over 900 miles as of last Sunday evening but my many other hats have gotten in the way and I'm probably not going to get time to get on the bike to ride those last few miles.

Last Saturday I dropped my carbon bike off at the bike shop to have them look into a creaking sound that seemed to be coming from the bottom bracket. It became noticeable a few weeks ago as I'd put more power on the pedals and had been getting progressively worse. Today in the late afternoon I picked it back up. They had taken the bottom bracket apart, cleaned, relubed, applied locktite, and retorqued. I couldn't help but take it out for a short test spin.

I rode a short and mostly flat 22 mile out in a westerly direction and back.
All seems well. We'll see if if it holds. I had the same issue about 7 months ago. The bike shop was on the verge of providing a new frame when they tried the locktite trick. It held for a few months. Hopefully this either holds or fails quickly. I'd really rather not have to use my steel bike as the primary ride on Race Across Oregon and the Furnace Creek 508.

....and so the month will likely end the same way last month did.........with my total sitting over 900 miles......but not to 1000



............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......22................0.............0..........22
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......934...............0..............0.........934
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3198...............0..............5.........3203

Monster Cookies and other delights

Lauren, Dave, Max, and I started at 6:20 from Wilsonville this morning and commuted to Salem for the Salem Bicycle Club's Monster Cookie Metric Century.

The weather was a bit brisk at 40 degrees but we persevered. There was a hint of tailwind the helped us along. We arrived at the State Capital at 8:05 with an 18.5 mph average. The sun was shining and literally thousands of people were there with bikes. It was like old home week, almost everybody who's anybody on a bike was there today.

We pedaled with the masses back northward into the increasing wind. By the time we arrived at the northern most point on the route (Champoeg Park) our average had dropped to 17.4 mph. We spent a long time at both rest stop locations talking to the many friends we ran into. The Monster Cookie ride is nothing if not a great social event! From Champoeg Park back to Salem we had a now brisk tail wind. We were flying! Dave and Max were happy to extend today's ride from 100k to 100 miles and after the cookie stop on Comcomly Road they headed back through Gervais to Wilsonville. Lauren and I continued to the end of the Monster Cookie Metric Century then pedaled back into the wind and back to Wilsonville.

We ended up with 130 miles for the day.

It was a pretty darn nice day to be on a bike!

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today......130................0.............0.........130
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......912...............0..............0.........912
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3176...............0..............5.........3181

flying aquarians were flying today

Lauren, Gary, Fred, John, Donald, and I began the morning at Newberg with plans to ride an 80 mile loop that included a crossing of the Wheatland Ferry. For reasons known only to some strange connection between cyclist and bike today was a fast pace.
This route could easily be ridden as a mostly flat and fast course but we chose to add some climbing in the West Salem area by taking Doak's Ferry Rd bringing our total to 2880 ft. We still managed to keep a pretty fast pace. We finished the day with a 17.5 avg.

We rode into a headwind on the way to Dallas. It wasn't bad by some standards but was a bit pesky. I rode along at about 17-19 mph with a line of bikes behind me. No problem, I'm the Desert Coyote!

At Dallas our course turned and we were done with headwinds. We also stopped to rehydrate and ate some snacks. Gary showed off his new "Banana Bunker". You too can get one if you don't want to have the experience of a smashed banana in your jersey pocket. ;-O



We had a cross wind to Salem then turned northward and put the wind to our backs.
At one point I looked down to my GPS and noted I was pedaling a 75 cadence at 26 mph....at a 115 bpm heart rate!
As the miles stretched out some of our group began to tire a bit even with the tail wind. My RAO Partner Lauren showed just why she has earned her position on the team. Even after 70+ miles she just powered along.

This was a good warm up for tomorrow's Monster Cookie Metric Century. Lauren and I plan on commuting to that ride from Wilsonville bringing the total to around 130 miles give or take a mile or two.


............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......81................0.............0..........81
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......782...............0..............0.........782
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....3046...............0..............5.........3051

short test ride

I was signed up to ride in the Helvetia area with my social bike group this evening but ended up having to work late so missed the ride. :-(

I had hoped to jump on the bike and at least get my 25 mile hilly local ride in but forgot that I had changed some things so my RAO partner could ride my bike yesterday while her's was in the shop. I spent some time cleaning the chain and sprockets, readjusting the seat height, putting the seat post reflector back on, and sliding the rear light back down the seat post. Tim has a Garmin 305 also and I noted that his rear sensor was on differently than mine. His cadence reads properly, mine doesn't. I turned my sensor around (ahem, ME put something on backwards? !!!) I needed to take it out for a test ride to see if I had everything adjusted properly.

I went out for a short test ride with blue jeans and tennis shoes. :-O

I rode 3 miles, 16.3 mph average........and a 91 avg cadence. Looks like the fix worked.

Tomorrow may be a late work day also. It would also be the night before an 80 mile day, to be followed by a 133 mile day on Sunday. I really should have done more tonight........ but alas.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today........3................0.............0...........3
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......701...............0..............0.........701
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....2965...............0..............5.........2970

Flying Aqurarians are out in force!

The Flying Aquarians were on the road tonight. The entire team (cyclists and crew) went for a ride in Portland's West Hills tonight. It seems that perhaps we've got our team roles in the wrong order. Crew member Tim and crew chief Dave were strong on the climb up through Washington Park tonight. Lauren was on an ill fitting loaner bike since her Fuji has a broken shifter. I had no excuse other than I'm getting old! In all honesty, I am a little concerned. When I'm pushing hard my limiting factor seems to be my ability to breathe enough air. I've never had that problem before. Are my legs stronger this year? Is my lung capacity decreasing? I didn't have my heart rate monitor on tonight but on other rides when I'm breathing that hard my heart rate is above 170. Like I said, maybe I'm just getting old!

Here's the course we rode:


I missed a turn onto Cornell and got a little bonus climbing and an additional 2 miles before rejoining the others. I was the only rider without GPS tonight so I can only report that my teammates climbed 2295 feet.

It was a good ride. I wish I could get them to join me on the Pete's Mountain ride that I did several times last week but three of them work very near where we started this evening and I get off work earlier in the day than they do so I have time to travel to the start.

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......27................0.............0..........27
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......698...............0..............0.........698
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....2962...............0..............5.........2967

2 for 2

Two weekend centuries two weeks in a row.

Today my Race Across Oregon partner and Doak joined me and about 350 other riders on the Cherry Ride beginning from The Dalles. One of those other 350 riders included Sandy Earl who will be the first female to finish RAAM on a recumbent.

Lauren had ridden just over 50 miles yesterday, Doak had hammered the Tour De van Oeste Portlandia yesterday, and after having participated in the first 3 van Oeste's I had to miss this one because of a morning meeting in Salem. I still managed to pedal 100 miles however. Obviously we all needed to ride more miles today! The weather was beautiful with a temperature of 77 when we finished up.


We pedaled along the Columbia River



We pedaled up hills




and when we were finished riding the Cherry Ride we ate cherry cobbler!


My riding partners pretty much kicked my behind today. I did well for the first 48 miles. We logged 2600 ft of climbing and had a 17.4 average. I kept up a good pace another 20 miles to Hood River then it all fell apart. My legs just didn't respond when I needed them too. The gentle slope back through the twin tunnels wasn't too much trouble but the climb of 7 Mile Hill was a killer. I didn't fall too far behind but it was hard work. I flew down the back side. (have I mentioned that I LOVE downhills and tailwinds!) We then turned up Brown Creek and I just plain fell off the back. My partners waited at the top of Cherry Heights for me to slog up the hill. The slope from there down to The Dalles was great fun ....I have mentioned I LOVE downhills and tailwinds, right? ;-)

When I checked the bike computer at the end of the ride I noted that my 17.4 avg to the halfway point fell to a 14.9 average for the full 100 mile ride with 7200 ft of climbing. That's a testament to just how slow I rode the last 30 miles.



............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today......101................0.............0.........101
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......671...............0..............0.........671
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....2935...............0..............5.........2940

one down

Since my weekday riding is now limited and I still have these crazy riding goals I've been trying to ride two centuries each weekend. It won't always be possible but I did manage to do it last weekend, and have the first one checked off the list this weekend with plans to ride another tomorrow.

Today I had a mid morning meeting in Salem so took the opportunity to commute to Salem by bike. It was a nice ride. I picked up just a bit of headwind for the last 25 miles but still managed to hold just over a 19 mph average all the way there.

After the meeting was over I took a longer route back. I didn't have anything particularly planned other than reaching 100 miles for the day. I pedaled a few new roads to me as well as crossed the Gallon House covered bridge.



After leaving Salem I managed to pedal through Silverton, Mt Angel, Monitor, Needy, Mollala, Liberal, and Canby. I was still a bit short of the 100 mile mark so I took a few "wrong turns" to add a few zigs and zags as I neared the end. I ended up with 100.3 miles. Good enough for today!

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today......100................0.............0.........100
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......570...............0..............0.........570
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....2834...............0..............5.........2839

bonus miles, bonus hills, bonus smiles!

I am a morning person, by the time early evening comes around my energy level begins to wane and my desire to do anything "real" disappears rather quickly. I really didn't feel like riding this evening but finally got on the bike at 6PM. I would have preferred to sit down with friends with a cold brew ......... but alas, I'm the DESERT COYOTE and I need to ride.

Once on the bike with a couple of miles behind me it began to feel right. I headed out on the same route I've ridden the last few evenings but with the sun shining and the temperatures quite comfortable I modified the course and took in a few additional miles and a bit more climbing.

(both loops clockwise)

Tonight I extended the ride into West Linn then tackled a climb of Pete's Mountain from "the hard side". I needed to do that because Dave rode 101 miles today and I was unable to join him. My Race Across Oregon partner is riding 100 miles on Sunday.
My social bike club has THREE rides scheduled tomorrow. Seems that everyone is logging more miles than me! :-(

I will be leading a 70 mile ride on the Oregon Coast on Sunday and will commute by bike to a meeting that I have in Salem tomorrow but all in all I'm not getting as many miles logged as I'd like to be getting.

I ended up with 22 miles and 2346 ft of climbing tonight according to my Garmin 305.




............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......22................0.............0..........22
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......470...............0..............0.........470
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....2734...............0..............5.........2739

deja vu

I had such a good time yesterday that I couldn't resist repeating the ride this evening. It was a warm sunny evening as I pedaled off. I think it was my first ride this season in shorts. I did manage to finish in a bit less time than yesterday, probably because I didn't have to stop to put on a jacket!

............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......17................0.............0..........17
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......465...............0..............0.........465
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....2729...............0..............5.........2734

and he who was first shall be last

After yesterday's strong showing, today I was dead last. Oh, I was also first. Uh huh, I was the only rider today! ;-)

I attached the cadence and speed sensors for the Garmin 305 on my bike and took off for a little shakedown ride this evening.

Everything seems to work except that the cadence seems to be reading 2x. Haven't quite figured out why yet.

It was a good route. I was biking at what should have been the height of evening commute for most folks and still didn't have much traffic.

After a beautiful sunny day the dark clouds rolled in tonight and I started getting very light rain as I neared the summit of Pete's Mountain. I did manage to finish this little 17 mile route with ~1800 ft of climbing before things got too wet.





............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......17................0.............0..........17
Jan........618...............0..............0.........618
Feb........692...............0..............0.........692
March......940...............0..............5.........940
April......448...............0..............0.........448
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....2712...............0..............5.........2717