Last Ride of 5772

Time constrained this weekend, only had time for a permanent populaire. Kevin suggested I ride one of his routes. Not wanting to climb much, I selected Cedric Diggory. 9am seemed like a civilized start time.



Over to Kevin's before 9am. We coasted over to the start, and I learned that David P would be joining us. Kevin and David have turned into monsters, and I hoped I'd be able to hang on. David had ridden a sub-15 hour 300k the day before. There might be a chance.



Slow working our way north and east through north Portland to Kelley Point, then picking up speed on the Marine Drive MUP. Big trucks out there, even on a Sunday.



Then a lot of looping around to get onto the I-5 bridge.  The new wayfinding signs are a big help, but the route over Hayden Island is convoluted.



Then through Vancouver, and west through town out to Fourth Plain and points NW.  Once out of town, we could just ride, no more traffic control devices.  There was a bit of a headwind, but we plowed northward at 15-16 mph.  Vancouver Lake Park, cornfields (lots of cornfields), a marina or two, views of the Columbia River to the west (and Sauvie Island on the far shore), and into the south end of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, where the road came to an end.





We checked out the blackberry bushes, admired the river and answered the info question.  David and Kevin went down a steep path to the river; I thought I'd stay up by the bike and eat a banana.





Flew back to Vancouver with the tailwind.  I was desperately hanging on, at speeds of 18-20mph.  And all was good until we got to the railroad overpass in town, just shy of 10 miles, where I fell off.  That was my interval for the day.

Stopped at Esther Short Park to top up water bottles and snack a bit.  Then back over the I-5 bridge, more convoluted wandering around, and we were on Marine Drive headed west.  Hopped onto the bike path just before the airport, and enjoyed the ride all the way to the I-205 bike path.





South there, (Lynne looks sadly in her bag for more food) all the way to Harold, where we turned west and worked our way back to the start on the streets.   The route called for a short stretch on SE Foster, but David proposed a parallel alternative which avoided Foster altogether.  A good thing.

And a few miles later we were done.  Rolled through the finish parking lot to get a time (control had gone out of business!  Kevin has to find another convenience store!), then over the few blocks to Kevin's house where we loafed on the back steps, socialized with Roxie and Bindi, beers were consumed, finish rituals completed, and we went our separate ways.



In my case, home, shower, tidy clothes and off to the parents for Rosh Hashana dinner.  Happy 5773 everyone!  A good, sweet and prosperous year!

69+ miles, moving average of 14.4.  In town riding will do that. Total elapsed time of 5:25.
All the pictures here