JRA With The Niece

A is the oldest niece on my husband's side.  She (along with many other family members) made the trek west for our son's wedding.  What with preparations and all, I hadn't been on a bike, any bike, not even to ride to the library, since the first weekend in August.  She had asked if she could borrow a bike and ride around Portland.  I had a perfectly nice old Gitane hanging out at the daughter's house, so it was arranged for her to use that.  (We are all about the same size).

Given that it was before the wedding, I couldn't take off and ride with her, but I did plot her out a totally Portland route (Springwater Trail, food carts, coffee shops, bike boulevards) on Ride With GPS, then used the Print Map with PDF feature, which produces an excellent "Triptik" style cue sheet  (remember the old paper ones?  My parents always got one for our cross-country trips!) with maps.  I also made her a standard cue sheet, but, not being from around here, I thought she might like context.  She had a great time!

Then, after the wedding, and, after most folks had gone home, she was wondering where else to ride.  I thought about it for a few minutes, and as it was going to be another overly hot day, offered up the Banks-Vernonia Trail.  We could ride out as far as she wanted, and then come back.  Found a rack trunk for her bike, and made Gatorade bottles for us both.  I picked her up at our transit station, and we headed off to Banks.  She was happy about the rack trunk; she wouldn't need to wear her backpack.



She thought it was beautiful.  I, in turn, learned about her teaching experiences, and what she's doing with her art.  Turns out she rides her bike to her school in Brooklyn, every day during the school year.







We weren't in any hurry, but she did just fine.  At the summit, I double-checked - she was good to go, so we went all the way to Vernonia, and had a great lunch at the Black Bear.  Learning - you can order a half sandwich.





We stopped on the return to get pictures of the red barn she liked on the outgoing leg, but, sadly, the cows eating up in the trees like giraffes had moved on.  Cute calf by the barn, though.





The shade was excellent; we didn't notice the heat until we popped out just south of Pongratz Rd.

Post-ride ice cream at the Banks Trailhead Cafe.



All the pictures here