Even less miles!

Today I managed to get 2 miles. That's right, TWO miles. I was at Lake Louise and crowds are pretty heavy. I had to park the car a mile away. Luckily, the fixie was on the back so I didn't have to walk any more than necessary.  I rode 1 mile up to the Chateau.

Once there I locked the bike up to a light post.........no bike racks around.... and hiked 5.7 miles to The Plain of 6 Glaciers Tea House.

It was a minimal bike ride, though the gradient was about the maximum I could ride on the fixed gear.  The hike was good though!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ..........2................0..................0.......................0............2
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........271...............0..................0.......................0...........271
YTD...... 1979.............0...................0.......................0..........1979

Another 3 mile ride

But at least this one was more interesting!  Julie and I are on our way to Lake Louise to staff a control for the Rocky Mountain 1200.  An interim stop would be in Kelowna, BC to deliver some bike wheels.  We had a couple of hours to burn, so we decided to take a tour of the Othello Tunnels at Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park. Julie had one of her mountain bikes along, I had the fixed gear bike.  The former rail bed is gravel, in some places quite deep.  Needless to say, her choice of bikes was better than mine.  The ride was short, but the scenery was great.  The river was crystal clear.

The path of the old Kettle Valley Railway was wide enough to drive motor vehicles on, but once we got past the 4th tunnel the path narrowed considerably.  The crowds also dissipated. We saw two women, both Canadian, who offered condolences to us on our choices for president. They said we had the difficult choice to make between an idiot or a crook.  I guess Canadians get TV too!
It would have been nice to continue our ride down the trail, but we had a dinner date to make in Kelowna and needed to get going.

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ..........3................0..................0.......................0............3
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........269...............0..................0.......................0...........269
YTD...... 1977.............0...................0.......................0..........1977

A Rocky Butte non repeat

Back when I led rides for a Meetup group I used to lead Rocky Butte hill repeats on Tuesday and Thursdays.  It was way more fun than it should have been.  But that was many years ago.

Today was Thursday and tonight the Thursday Night Ride would climb up Rocky Butte to join another bunch of people on bikes for a little gathering on the top of the hill.

As per usual, I started in Sellwood, and today had time to pre ride out to Boring and back. I had 42 miles before TNR began. Considering I rode a total of 6 miles in the last two weeks, I was pleased to say the least.

Despite the nice weather (86 today in Portland) the gathering crowd was smaller than normal.  I believe there were a couple of other bike events tonight that siphoned some away.  A piano had been placed at the fountain with signage inviting anyone to play. Kids of course took advantage.  A few rather accomplished adults did as well.

As we were preparing to ride, I noticed Michael C, a fellow RAHOOer (Ride Around Mt Hood) was in attendance as well.

He had just completed his first Seattle to Portland (STP) so we visited a bit about that experience.

We finally rolled out.  Despite the lower numbers, we were still quite the sight as we pedaled along the city streets.

Michael C's photo

When we neared Rocky Butte our fearless leader made a stop so that we could get supplies.

There were several options for shopping, most went to Plaid Pantry.
Michael, not being well versed in TNR protocol, milled around waiting for the others.

Michael is wearing the green helmet

From there it was just a short ride up to the top of Rocky Butte.  I was happy to see that our leader chose to go up the "back side" since it isn't as steep as the other way.  It was still steep enough for a fixed gear bike! When we reached the top we joined other people on bikes who were already there.

Having 15+ miles to ride back yet, and a busy day tomorrow, I decided that once up the hill would be just fine tonight.  There would be no repeat.  I paused a moment to get this photo as I was leaving.

I rode down to the I-205 bike path then followed it to the Springwater Corridor, then followed that back to Sellwood.  It was a perfect night for a ride.

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .........68................0..................0.......................0............68
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........266...............0..................0.......................0...........266
YTD...... 1974.............0...................0.......................0..........1974

Riding a bike!

Well, I finally got most of the supplies from Race Across Oregon put back away. (only to be taking it all back out in a month for the Hoodoo 500!)  It was time to ride a bike!

Bev and I took a spin to happy hour.  It was my first ride in 7 days, and Bev's first ride in months!  We are lucky we remembered how to stay upright. I took my fixed gear bike and Bev took her "comfort bike".

It was a comfortable pedal along sidewalks and parking lots for the most part.

I have some chores to take care of tomorrow, but hopefully will get out for a couple of miles.  It might be the last chance for a ride this month, as early Friday I take off for Lake Louise to support the BC Randonneurs' Rocky Mountain 1200k.

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ..........3................0..................0.......................0.............3
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........198...............0..................0.......................0...........198
YTD...... 1906.............0...................0.......................0..........1906

Race Across Oregon

I am in The Dalles in advance of tomorrow's Race Across Oregon.  I designed the course and created the route book.  I'm taking a bit of glee in the fact that this is the toughest RAAM qualifier, with 522 miles, and more importantly, 41,717 feet of elevation gain. At least the weather will cooperate, it may be a bit windy, but is predicted to be about 25-30 degrees cooler than normal.  There shouldn't be any long climbs in 100 degree temperatures this year.

I am on the support crew for Lisa Bliss, rider number 505.

Me, Csilla, Lisa, and Tim, ready for action!

You can view satellite tracking of her and the other competitors HERE.

Frozen Yogurt break

After a good first week of biking in July, I spent this week preparing for this weekend's Race Across Oregon.  I'll be on Lisa Bliss' crew, after my crew chief job fell through when Barry Dickson withdrew.  Rumor has it that satellite tracking will be available at the RAO website.

As any rate, I took a break from preparations and took the fixed gear bike into town for a bowl of frozen yogurt. .....the only time I was on a bike all week. :-(


.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ..........3................0..................0.......................0.............3
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........195...............0..................0.......................0...........195
YTD...... 1903.............0...................0.......................0..........1903

God loves TNR

After several weeks of warm and dry weather, today changed a bit.  Clouds built in the morning and by middle of the afternoon it was raining lightly.  None of that matters to the Thursday Night Ride, we were going to ride regardless!  I put on rain gear, loaded my bike and drove to Sellwood in search of bonus miles.  I unloaded and started pedaling.  It wasn't raining hard and was near 70 degrees.  I got to Boring and turned around and started pedaling back.

I arrived at Salmon Street Springs to find about 150 people waiting to join the fun.  While down a bit from recent TNRs, it was still a respectable number of people on bikes given the weather....  except the weather broke just before we pedaled out.  There wasn't a drop of rain for the entire ride!  Our ride leader said God must love us.  No doubt, and God must love TNR! Nathan changed the route up a bit tonight, it was nice to have a change!

I didn't bring my camera (or phone) because of the anticipated rain, but Joe got one of me. I'm the guy on a fendered rain bike wearing rain gear and a helmet. I'm not the guy on a tall bike!  ;-)

Joe "Wheels"  photo

As the ride wrapped up, the group was going to build a fire and party a bit. I rode on.    Wouldn't you know it, it started raining again!  It rained on me the entire way back to my vehicle at Sellwood, and continued to rain as I drove the nearly half hour back to Wilsonville.

At least it was warm, and fun!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .........53................0..................0.......................0............53
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........192...............0..................0.......................0...........192
YTD...... 1900.............0...................0.......................0..........1900

Errands

I was working on Race Across Oregon preparations today.  In doing so I noted that I needed some hardware to get things ready to go.  I took the fixed gear bike to the hardware store, then had lunch, before riding back home.  I would have biked to my board meeting tonight in Forest Grove, but had to bring a pickup load of race supplies back from storage while I was out that way.  I didn't get much biking done today, but got a lot of bikey things done!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ..........3................0..................0.......................0.............3
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........139...............0..................0.......................0...........139
YTD...... 1847.............0...................0.......................0..........1847

4th Down, and Long Yardage.............

What to do?  Well, punt of course!

I had some "honey do's" for my mom.  I decided to drive there rather than bike, because we had planned to continue out to Forest Grove to take in fireworks.  I got the jobs done, then mom decided that she really didn't feel up to fireworks.  Drat, if I had known that I would have at least got a 50 mile ride in.

So, I scrambled like a quarterback dodging a blitz, and came up with an alternate plan.  I drove back home, loaded my fixie, and drove back into Sellwood.  My plan was to get a few miles pedaling before settling in to watch the fireworks launched from near Tom McCall Waterfront Park, where it was the last day of the Blues Festival.

I pedaled in, tootled around the Blues Festival a bit, and finally settled in on the Hawthorne Bridge, with front row seats for fireworks.  They'd be launching them from a barge not more than 300 ft away.

The morning's cloudy skies had cleared up nicely. While not as warm as it had been, it was a comfortable 72 degrees as I started out.

Plenty of musical entertainment to keep me occupied

It wasn't a long ride, but watching those in automobiles trying to get home, it was the best choice tonight!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .........17................0..................0.......................0............17
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........136...............0..................0.......................0...........136
YTD...... 1844.............0...................0.......................0..........1844

Fun!

It was going to be another gorgeous day.  Remembering the grey, wet, blustery days of Winter, I decided I should be on my bike today!

I decided to start from Willamette (to avoid the hill between home and there!) and ride the 40 Mile Loop. I took the fixed gear bike, for the fun factor!

I parked in Willamette Park and began pedaling toward historic Oregon City. After passing through Oregon City I accessed the Clackamas River Trail.

The path wound it's way along the Clackamas River.  The shade was welcome on this warm day.

The river is mostly blocked from view, but I did manage to get a look at it.

In short order I reached the end of the trail at an abandoned highway bridge, now repurposed  as a pedestrian and bicycle crossing. I was early enough in the day that the rocks were unoccupied.

I had been here 4 years ago, that time with a pretty lass. Today I was alone again, naturally.

I pedaled along a few streets until I could get on the southern terminus of the I-205 bike path.

I had forgotten how segmented the section of the I-205 path is south of the Springwater Corridor.  There are many orphaned segments, with riding on roads required to connect them.  Riding a road bike on a road?  The horror!  ;-)

Once I connected with the Springwater Corridor, I turned left and headed toward the Willamette River.  I prefer to ride the 40 Mile Loop clockwise.  There are some areas on Going Street near Swan Island that are just safer in that direction.

I continued on the 40 Mile Loop and despite a nearly cloudless day, there managed to be a few clouds over Mt Hood when I got to the I-205 path.

I continued south on the I-205 path, passing through the city within a city, Maywood Park.

Click on the photo to get a readable sized version

I came across a good example of why a cable lock is pretty much worthless.

I made slow but sure progress with my southbound riding.  Eventually the clouds over the Cascade Mountains, and Mt Hood, had cleared.  I was stopped at a red light and managed to get a quick photo, but could not get a good position to get that pesky sign out of the way.

I was soon back on the segmented southern portion of the I-205 path, being aided by a brisk tailwind!

In no time at all, I was back in Willamette, finishing up a 65 mile day, and a 380 mile week.

Fun, fun, fun!

.........Road Bike.....Rollers.............MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today .........65................0..................0.......................0............65
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........119...............0..................0.......................0...........119
YTD...... 1827.............0...................0.......................0..........1827