Lynne's Mostly-Cycling Blog

Andrew's Birthday Ride

2012-01-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

Way, way back in 2003, when I was returning to bicycling after an almost 10 year lapse, one of the first folks I met was Andrew B. And through him, the entire Team Bag Balm herd. We've ridden together off and on over the years since then. One of the TBB traditions was the Birthday Ride, wherein you collect a group of friends, ride your birthday in miles, and then eat something. It was Andrew's birthday yesterday, and he hosted a ride today. In km, though, because 1) he's not been riding much, and 2) this is easier if your birthday is in the summer.

I figured to ride over, and Fitz would show up when we finished, with a change of clothes for me. Wasn't supposed to get very wet (we are under a BLIZZARD OF 2012 WATCH from our excitable news media) until later. Warmest jersey (a fleecy Novara thing), wind vest, Showers Pass jacket, which I was planning on shedding, wool cap with earflaps, PI AmFib gloves (really old ones. My winter commute gloves), Sugoi Firewall tights, PI shoes. No booties. Wasn't going to get that wet.

The ride over was totally uneventful, until I got past OMSI, and my directions said to go E on SE Division and turn R onto SE 13th. There was a big train sitting right there, not moving. I kept heading south, looking for ways to go east. Hopefully sometime before SE Holgate, which goes over the tracks at Brooklyn Yard. Somewhere in there, my rear tire went squashy. Called over to say I was Not Far, and was blocked by a train and a flat. Pumped the tire back up some, and eventually did have to take Holgate east.

Apologized all around. At that point, I just wanted to change out the tire and tube altogether. I have decided that tire is now done (2 flats in the last 3 rides). I did have a spare tire - a brand new Grand Bois. Philippe commented on the durability of that particular tire (not. I am living dangerously. It has supple sidewalls.). While it went onto the Aerohead rim somewhat easier than the Michelin, it was still a touch tight. Maybe it will loosen up a bit. No flats for the balance of the ride.

And so, finally off, through parts of the east side I recognized, all the way up to the summit of Mt Tabor. We then kept heading east. And east. I usually go north to the Columbia River, and then head east. Or Cecil takes us east another way (182nd to Halsey, to Troutdale and beyond).

So. The mist was persistent, but not too bad. I was plenty warm. Introduced myself to the riders I did not know (Jim H. and Jim H.). They were both professors at OGI when Fitz was getting his Masters in CS. They were both HIS professors :-) Now all at PSU, as is Andrew.

Caught up with Andrew and Diane. Heard about Nat's first grandchild. Talked about generator hubs and lighting with Jim H. Also recruited. I know he wants to be a randonneur :-)

Heavier mist. Perhaps even rain. We misplaced Diane and Nat - turns out they went another way, and we'd find them further along. Started south (headwind, rain) through Outer Troutdale. I have probably ridden here on a Livestrong Ride, or the Barlow Trail Century. After some wandering around, we eventually dropped onto the Springwater Corridor. The rain had really picked up, and the road down to the trail had a impressive head of water coming down the gutter. We stayed out of the bike lane :-)

By this point, my shoes had given it up, and my feet were gone. The tights weren't helping much, either. Serious dry clothing fantasies. Stopped under I-205 to call Fitz, because we were about 20 or so minutes out. Andrew and I convinced Diane to peel off, go home and get dry clothes, and then come over to eat; she doesn't live too far from Andrew.

Turned off the Springwater to ride...up a wall. SE Flavel. I made it. Didn't stop. Was even gaining on Andrew. Bike computer reveals incline of 14-16%. I'll die later. A bit further along Flavel, a guy out walking commented that we had really nice bikes (thank you!) and were real troopers for riding today. Progressing through SE Portland. When we crossed SE Woodstock, I knew it wasn't much further. Dry clothes, dry clothes, dry clothes...

Put my bike on the porch, and was taking off my sopping wet shoes prior to going inside. Fitz drove up, so I stuffed my feet back in the shoes, and we loaded the bike in the car. Dry clothes, dry clothes, dry clothes...

Whereupon I ~~inhaled~~ ate some REALLY GREAT Thai-inspired squash soup created by Patty, lots of bread with butter, cheese, and some excellent plum preserve (not all on the same pieces of bread), salad, gingerbread, hot cider, hot tea... And enjoyed more visiting around. Got to see pics of Nat's grandson. Caught up with Patty (she had a cold and didn't ride), as well as Dave and Edna.

The cold air return at home is working hard on drying my shoes and gloves.

The route
48.9 miles by my bike computer, avg pace 11.83.
A fair amount of stopping, none initiated by me. :-)
Maybe I'll host a birthday 200k...

Permanent #1401: Beaverton-Hagg Lake-Carlton 203km

2012-01-08T18:07:00.001-08:00

Or, wandering around (mostly) rural Washington County, visiting an amazing number of info controls along the way.

I rode most of the route in early January and saw very, very few cars. Can't guarantee this for you, but it was delightful for me.

You start in beautiful suburban Beaverton, right at the corner of SW 117th and SW Canyon Rd. There's many, many places to get a starting receipt. If you don't want to ride over the hill from Portland, you can hop the MAX; the Beaverton Transit Center is one block over to the west.

Working your way west and north, you will escape the Urban Growth Boundary at West Union and Cornelius Pass roads, not to be seen again until you re-enter Hillsboro toward the end.

The route takes you through Helvetia, one of the prettiest bits of countryside around, up the Jackson Quarry Hill (not steep, and be sure to look off to the left as you ascend), and then an up one side and down the other around a valley just outside North Plains.

Through Roy, info control at the church, and ALSO flush toilets in the building to the left of the church back by the garage doors. There is a donation box on the wall in the hallway on the right. Let's keep the hot water, flush, paper towels and TP coming.

Then on through Banks (Thriftway on the right after crossing under Hwy 6), out Cedar Canyon, and back on Hwy 6/Stafford Rd/and so on, ending up at the first timed control in Forest Grove. I recommend Maggie's Buns on 21st. Best sticky buns ever, and as big as your head. She's not open on Sundays, but you can get receipts and food at the convenience store and Pizza Schmizza.

Following the pause in Forest Grove, you'll circumnavigate Hagg Lake. The initial ramp after entering the park can be a bit of a downer, but it is all fun rollers after that. The park is closed in the winter, but spring through fall, there are facilities at several picnic areas.

Then south, entering Yamhill Country and wine country. You'll pass through Yamhill, and the next timed control in Carlton. There's wineries and tasting rooms all along here. Disclaimer- most of them are at the top of steep gravel roads, but there are are few right in Carlton along the route. There is also at least one convenience store in Carlton, on the right side on Main.

Now you are heading back north, along the familiar (to the local riders) Kuehne-Ribbon Ridge-North Valley-Spring Hill-Fern Hill leg before turning east and skirting the southern boundaries of Forest Grove, Cornelius, and Hillsboro.

Somewhere along Rood Bridge Rd you find yourself in Hillsboro, and back within the Urban Growth Boundary. One last timed control at Borwick and Baseline (Jackson's Store at the gas station is handy; there is also a coffee shop a bit further east).

Then a stretch along Baseline; bike lane the entire way. Exercise a bit of caution after crossing SW 185th - after crossing, the right two lanes cloverleaf off to get onto northbound 185th. I move into the second right lane and take the lane to avoid the potential of getting right-hooked.

After passing Nike and Tektronix, you'll turn right onto Hocken and head back the way you came.

Enjoy the ride!

the cue sheet
and map
and registration form

Please contact me if you'd like to ride the permanent for RUSA credit.
This is how I like to get your card and receipts back.

Overdrawn at the Stupidity Bank

2012-01-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

This permanent surely takes the prize...

There was a call for folks to ride the Volcanoes vs Farmland 200k on Jan 2. I'd be back in town Jan 2. My bike could easily be reassembled by Jan 2. Other than the discouraging stretch on Ridge Rd, shouldn't have been anything epic...

Careful reading of the cue sheet discovered a few occurrences of the word "gravel". One occurrence coupled with the word "descent". I generally don't ride off-road. I used to ride on the Banks Vernonia trail when it WAS gravel, and downhill at that, but that was a few years ago.

So, there we were at Marsee Baking in Sellwood, before sunrise. The weather could have been anything from "chance of showers" to "rain all day". I did bring some extra clothes and gloves. David P, the perm owner, was there to check everyone in and hand out cards. Had some coffee, visited with Cyndi, introduced myself to Maria, and generally visited around.

At 7am, David turned us loose. Still dark, of course, but not raining. South for awhile, watching red lights vanish up ahead, then hopped on the bike path along the Willamette River (I've been there before), then onto River Rd for a good long while. Nice sunrise. Michal: "are you familiar with this part of town?". Mmm. Sort of. I did know which way to go to get to Clackamette Park, our first control.

Then wandering eastward, on unfamiliar roads. The stretch along the Clackamas River was very pretty. We rode all the way out to the Barton Store (next control) and stopped for awhile. Banana, Doubleshot and a Payday bar; consumed the whole thing right there. Took off the jacket, hat and heavy gloves - it was sunny!

Doubled back, and eventually ended up on the up and down Ridge Road through the Boring Lava Flow (hence the "Volcanoes" part of the name). Picked up Jeff A along here; the three of us rode together for the rest of the ride. The headwind from the south coupled with the seemingly unending up and down was a bit discouraging. Another info control. I was speculating that David may have put multiple colors of zipties on the road sign, so as to have multiple info control questions. Sure enough. Michal and I had one question, and Jeff had another. Devious! Then up and DOWN Buckner Creek Rd. Put the jacket back on. Then steeply up again. Oops. The rain put in a short appearance.

Eventually into Canby, right along the triathlon bicycle finish and run route. No cheering crowds today. We paused at the Thriftway. I now know where they hide the Doubleshots, and no longer need to search the entire store. Pulled out my pbj, and started working on it. Through Champoeg Park (conversation around Guns, Germs and Steel), then into Newberg.

Well, almost into Newberg. I came up with a rear flat. Took some serious muscle (not mine!) to get that tire off. Put the Hutchinson tire on. There was some worry that we were now behind time, but not so. Whew. Mochas at the coffee shop, and off again. Stretch of gravel road out of Newberg - not so bad, but I wasn't trying to take it fast. It occurred to Jeff that we'd be doing the gravel descent (Saltzman) after dark. I was in total denial. Dark. Downhill. Gravel. Raining...

We almost had a tailwind after turning north on North Valley. Eventually it did become a tailwind. Finally finished that pbj sandwich. Another brief stop in Gaston, then pushing onward to North Plains, our final on-course control. Pause in the market for some Pringles and a Doubleshot; caught a few minutes of the Rose Bowl on the big screen. Then to the McD's for plumbing (nothing between here and the finish...), and off in the swiftly falling darkness. Off and on rain.

Found the Jackson Quarry turnoff from West Union... I haven't approached it from this direction, but there was a handy sign before the actual road. Then east on Helvetia, and calling out to Jeff and Michal when they missed the Phillips Rd turn. And time to Go Up. Jeff had it in his head that we were climbing Old Germantown, and that it would be really hard (it would be), but we were going up Old Cornelius Pass. A gentle climb. Better than this past summer when I was riding it with the world's most awful cold, for sure. But it was dark, raining off and on, and rollering upward. I was not feeling particularly zippy. We paused at Germantown to look at a GPS to figure out where the turn onto Saltzman might be.

Now for the really stupid part...

We arrived at Saltzman. Sorted out how we'd go about this. We were definitely sticking together. Jeff has a fabulous headlight on his helmet, so he went first. He'd actually ridden up it once, in daylight. Me next, Michal sweeping. After a bit, I had to stop. I was shaking so badly I couldn't control the bike. Cold. Wet. My head was buzzing. It was very, very strange. I did eat a banana. And a gel. Michal produced some chemical handwarmers to put in my gloves. And we walked a bit until I was shaking somewhat less. Then rode downhill for awhile, maybe with two more stops. Lots of squeezing the brakes. I couldn't see far enough ahead (for me) to completely relax. We could see the lights from Linnton and St Johns through the trees. I did start to relax a bit, but never warmed up. I think the grade backed off. I was figuring we'd be here forever. Finally, a gate, some really bad pavement, and then Hwy 30. Jeff wanted to know if I was going to do it again next weekend. No. I think this is really a dry summer route.

Conversations about doing stupid stuff on a bike. I hate crossing the Hwy 219 bridge south of Newberg. Granted, it isn't as bad as the Boone Bridge in its current construction state in Wilsonville. Michal isn't all that fond of Bridge of the Gods. Neither is Jeff. I love crossing it. Even when it is raining. They'd both rather ride down some gravel fire road at night in the rain (!)

Zipped into Portland on Hwy 30/St Helens Rd. Warmed up with the pedaling. Up Wardway, through NW, onto Naito, across the Steel Bridge, really gorgeous bit on the Esplanade (many photographers out there with cameras and tripods, getting shots of downtown and the river, all lit up), past OMSI, onto 4th...

"There you are!". David P was riding back along the route to see if he could find us. We were at the very tail end, and had 10 minutes left... Buzzed down the Springwater, and then David stopped and said: this is Sellwood. You are done. (and with three minutes to spare!)

He was off to get some groceries, and would meet us at the Oaks Bottom Pub in a few...

Rode with slightly less urgency back to the pub next to Marsee Baking, put the bike away (thank you Cyndi!), and got some 7-Up and snacks. Visited with Jeff. Did the perm card rituals with David. Went home. Took a very long hot shower, trying to not fall asleep IN the shower, and crashed. The bike and stuff finally moved out of the car this evening after work.

The numbers:
134.86 mi
12.14 avg mph
7342 vertical feet. Rather more than the route description claimed...

Year in Review - Cycling

2011-12-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

I'll come right out and say it - this has been an amazing year. Whatever made it happen, I sure hope I don't lose it.

Total miles: 5805. Almost 1400 more than last year, and highest annual mileage ever.I rode my bike 213 days this year.

Commuted about 1500 of those miles. If I don't ride to work, I face a gauntlet starting with the receptionist, all the way to my desk..."where's your bike?". I love my current contract - lots of meetings on the main campus, our building is not on the main campus, and it is quicker to ride the bike than to drive. And I can park in the buildings and never have to worry about locking up. I had a 100% commute rate in the BTA Bike Commute Challenge.

17 rides of more than 100 miles.

2 centuries

12 200km

1 300km

1 400km

1 600km

I would have to say that Sweetpea got the bulk of the riding love this year - all but a couple of the Rando rides, plus trips to Ireland and California. Bleriot got all the commutes, and poor Lemond has probably less than 300 miles ridden on it in total.

Organized rides - only two, RSVP and RAPSody. I'll probably ride them again next year, lots of fun.

Randonneurs USA riding

4524 km. Most ever.

Completed my second R-12 in September.

Earned my first-ever Super Randonneur by completing a 200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k in a calendar year. I am still stupidly pleased and insufferably proud about this.

Rode a couple of sub-10 hour 200km rides. Whoever that Lynne was, I'd like her to show up more often :-)

The hardest rides I did were:

1. Bikenfest, the Oct 200k. 11522 vertical feet. I am not sure I ever wanted to just lay down and die on any other ride I have done.

2. The 400k. I couldn't stay awake, which made riding through the night somewhat of a challenge. Did get to see two sunrises!

3. The 600k, because, well, it was a 600. Way outside of my comfort zone. I was never worried about not finishing in time on the second day. Well, ok, there were a few bad hours in there on day 1.

Learnings: I CAN pull myself out of a massive bonk. Still to learn: don't bonk in the first place.

I CAN ride >10000 vertical feet in a day. RAMROD is definitely a possibility (I am shallow. I want the jersey.)

Goals. Hmm. More 300km rides. I need to get to where I can just go out and ride one, rather like I approach a 200km ride now. Quit being terrified of 400km rides. A 1000km would be very cool.

Acknowledgements:

Sweetpea, for being such a great bike (thank you Natalie)

Fitz, because I'm out riding a lot.

Cecil, Susan, Michal, and Lesli, for being such great riding buddies. Looking forward to more rides with you in the coming year!

Riding in the Desert

2011-12-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

We are here for a week, so I figured to get in some rides. Rummaging around on bikely.com, I found a 60 mile loop by a jckramer. I've met him. Went back later, and that entry was gone, but there was a similar one. Remapped it in bike route toaster, so I'd get a cue sheet. More on that later.

Packed Sweetpea, but left the fenders at home. Yes, Sweetpea will get a sunburn. Little Pink Bear forgot to hop in the bike case. Guess I'd have to talk to myself.

So here is the route, more or less: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Palm-Springs-60-mi-loop. I did modify it slightly at the end.

Got on the road about 9am. Made sure I had a couple snacks, and two full bottles of water/NUUN. And sunscreen.

The route headed north past an extensive wind farm. They weren't turning, so maybe I was safe. Through some annoying road construction, and gently up to turn right on Pierson heading through Desert Hot Springs. I did pause at a 7-11. They did not have a restroom for customers. Except... "are you on a bicycle?" Nice. Bought and consumed a Gatorade, removed the arm (long since shoved down to my wrists) and knee warmers, applied sunscreen, went to put on some lip glop... Went back into the store and bought a Chapstick.

Now heading SE, down Hacienda Rd. It was supposed to turn into Bennett, but never did. Still dumped me onto Dillon, which was where I needed to be, but sooner than the cue sheet indicated. According to my AAA road map, there is no Bennett Rd, so I did not miss anything. Careful viewing of the satellite images reveals that there might be a DIRT road there, but I didn't see it intersect with Hacienda. Gentle climbing again, about 2%. With a slight headwind. I kept pushing myself to keep it above 12mph, with varying success.

Starting to get much less populated, and, past Sky Valley, nothing but desert and scrub. The bike computer indicated that I should have found Thousand Palms Canyon Rd by now, but nothing. Pulled out my phone and tried Google Maps (cheating, I know), but it couldn't connect. I had signal and all, but no maps. The AAA map had stuck a big street index right over that whole area. Ok then. I'd go for another mile or so and see if I ran into it. I couldn't see any road, but I did see three cars turning into what looked no different than the surrounding scrub. And there it was.

This was a very fun descent. Eventually I found the thousand palms (in the canyon, naturally) in the Coachella Valley Nature Preserve. Then 5 or so more miles and I was back in civilization. Indian Wells, to be precise. Their roads are paved with the nicest asphalt and mostly have wide outer lanes, which, for me, is heaven. There was a stretch of shopping districts that eventually took me to CA-111, where I'd spend the next 16 miles. It started out with a really nice buffered bike lane. And, finally, a tailwind. I was thinking this could be really nice.

Not so much. The next town along, Palm Desert, didn't believe in such niceties as shoulders or bike lanes. The road varied from 2-3 lanes in each direction, so you'd think there would be enough room for everyone. Mostly, but it was cozier than I would have liked. Many parking lot entries, and more traffic lights than SW Beaverton Hillsdale, all of them red. But yet, there was that tailwind. Rancho Mirage wasn't much better, and I kept looking at my odometer muttering "5 more miles...". Fitz called while I was passing through Crystal City; we figured we'd get back about the same time.

The route had me continuing on Business CA-111. I should have taken the right to stay on CA-111; I could have gotten back from there as well. Eventually got onto the Palm Springs bike path system. I don't like them. They are meant for riders pootling along on cruiser bikes. They meander. They cross driveways. It is not clear who has right of way at intersections. I stopped and looked; didn't want to get run over by a right-turning motorist. I couldn't stand it any longer,and turned onto Tahquitz Way; on street bike lanes. By now I was just about finished.

Turning into the parking lot, I spied a familiar person unloading his golf clubs. Perfect timing!

On that bike route toaster comment - it appears to get its rights and lefts mixed up from time to time. Plus it throws in a "take the first..." when the turn is not the first left or right. Insert control points, rather than a track point at each turn, or they won't appear on the cue sheet. Takeaway - proofread the cue sheet!

The Pie Ride

2011-12-11T21:37:00.001-08:00

Usually sometime on a Wednesday, I start plotting what ride I'll be doing on the weekend. This time of the year, I have to (heavily) recruit folks, or go with the local club ride. When Dr. Codfish mentioned that there would be a Permanent Populaire out of his town (Oakville, WA), well, I was tempted. Oakville isn't too far away from Centralia. When he mentioned Pain au Chocolat... that sealed it. I was completely planning to go by myself, but the lure of baked goods put Susan over the edge.

She showed up right around 7am, so we'd get there in plenty of time for the 10am start. Then she went back home to get something she'd forgotten (15-20 min round trip), and I loaded the car. I knew we'd still get there in plenty of time for the 10am start. We arrived at 9:27am, lots of time to change shoes, decide I didn't need to wear any more than I wore last weekend (starting temperature 33 degrees), and faff around some more. And watch Albert assemble his S&S-coupled Co Motion tandem. That's how you put a tandem in a Camaro. :-)

In all we were me, Susan, Paul, Albert, Allison, and Alan. Off to Harry's Market for starting receipts, and then away we went. It was cold, and it took about 15 minutes for my hands to join the rest of me. We headed east-ish, to Rochester, Grand Mound and Centralia. Somewhere around Grand Mound I realized I had ridden here before - the Capital Cycling Club (Olympia) used run the Two County Double Metric Century out here, and over some of the same roads.

We needed a stop in Centralia, and after some discussion (Texaco or Starbucks?), stopped at Starbucks. And who should be there but John V! We had hoped he'd be riding, but this was the next best thing. A cheese danish and a Pumpkin Spice Latte (mostly into my thermal jug) later, off again, through Chehalis and another 10 or so miles to the turnaround at Mary's Corner. Pretty farm country, but looking kind of bleak in the cold and clouds. The last couple miles to Mary's Corner were uphill, and with a ~~tailwind~~ headwind. Discouraging. But Mary's Corner finally appeared. I found everyone but Paul inside. Got some Pringles and my receipt, and we all loitered around and visited, waiting for Paul.

And Paul arrived, got some snacks, and we all set out again. I had been wearing lightweight long finger gloves. The downhill and cold proved too much for them; I stopped to pull on the lobster claws. Still not wearing a jacket :-) We did have a lovely tailwind and it blew me all the way back to Chehalis. It blew almost everyone else back faster. Oh well.

The ride through Chehalis was interesting. My bike computer display completely checked out, and none of the streets I was riding on (which seemed to be the correct ones) matched the street names on the cue sheet. Right around Market and Cascade, the road went onto Cascade... Ack. I turned left onto Washington, and it eventually dumped me onto National, which is where I was supposed to end up. Paul is going to revisit the cue sheet.

Then things got bouncy. And flat. Rear tire flat. Pulled over into a handy parking lot, such that Paul would see me when he rode by. It being cold and rather damp (aggressive mist for the past 4 or so miles, not that I'd know, because my bike computer was sulking), I elected to just swap out the tube AND tire. All good, until I went to get the spare tire on. I'd forgotten how very tight those Michelins are on the Aerohead rims. Fortunately Paul came along, and we managed to wrestle the tire back on. A woman exiting the parking lot asked if we were ok. Yes, just finishing up, having great fun here. She said we should be careful, because we could get very cold standing around. Yes, I've heard that :-)

Given my lack of navigational cues, I figured I'd stick with Paul through Centralia. Pulled ahead on Hwy 99, eventually made the turn onto Old Hwy 9 (navigation was easier at this point), and thought I saw Paul's headlight behind me. It was a bicycle headlight. Actually several of them - Albert, Allison, Susan and Alan had stopped at the Starbucks again for hot drinks. Paul came up shortly thereafter, and we continued on the last 10-ish miles. The stretch on Hwy 12 and Elma Gate Road had beautiful views to the west (sun getting very low) and north (misty hills).

Into Harry's Market again. The cashier: "you all need the receipts, right?". She even called out to Paul as he was leaving - "you forgot your receipt!" From there we all coasted back to Paul's (about a mile), and feasted on cheese and crackers, pasta with sundried tomatoes and walnuts, fruit, various hot beverages, Susan's pumpkin muffins, and the promised Pain au Chocolat. All very wonderful, followed by an equally wonderful hot shower. Thank you!

Brief pause in Centralia on the way back. Of course, at the Chevron, and my favorite night cashier was working. We exchanged greetings.

Turned on the radio to keep us both awake. The station I listen to usually plays music from my HS/University years, but it was House of Hair hour, so Susan got to sing along; I didn't know any of them!

The route itself was 68 miles, total for the day 70 miles. Riding average 13.89mph. It did not get above 37 degrees; avg temp was 34.9.

December, Check

2011-12-05T20:33:00.001-08:00

Mindful of what happened right after I finished my first R-12 (Dec 2008, three weeks solid of snow and ice!), I planned to get the December ride in as early as possible. The route was Hillsboro-Dallas-Hillsboro. Not epic, and not likely to get interestingly icy. Weather was to be sunny and cold (30-45 degrees F)

I thought awhile about riding Lemond, but Sweetpea has the lighting, the carrying capacity, and the comfort.

Recruited Michal to join me. He and his wife got up at 3:30am (ow), and drove up from Eugene so he could ride. We arranged to meet in the Freddie's parking lot. I got there, and watched them drive in, and wander around a bit before parking :-) Rode over, and arranged with Cyndi to meet up at my house at the end.

The store opened at 7, so we had to wait until then to go in and get a receipt. On the road by 7:15. Still very dim.

The exit from Hillsboro out to SW Fern Hill south of Forest Grove is very familiar to me - I had ridden this route 3 times previously, plus my local club rides all over this part of the county. Probably didn't even need to print out the cue sheet.

The sun had trouble coming out. We didn't see it the entire outbound leg. That said, I still ditched my jacket and heavy gloves in the first 8 miles. Rode the rest of the way in a long sleeved wool baselayer, long sleeved OrRando jersey, thermal Shebeest vest, summer mesh gloves with ragg gloves over them, shorts, Craft Storm tights, wool cap, wool socks, PI X-Alp Goretex shoes, and some old Louis Garneau booties that are worthless when it rains. And chemical toe warmers. Michal had on a few more layers, and I think he shivered every time he looked at me.

The scenery riding south along Spring Hill/North Valley/Ribbon Ridge/Kuehne/Abbey was its usual outstanding self. My favorite clerk was working at the Dayton Center Market, our first control. It was slowly (sort of) warming up.

The boring stretch to Amity, then 6+ miles on Hwy 99, then onto Bethel Rd. We saw some other cyclists headed north. Clearly we weren't the only idiots out this day. Fields of grazing sheep. Cute fluffy grazing sheep. Also a few llamas, cattle, and some horses. Big fields turning green with winter wheat. Farm buildings. The antique fire truck at the corner of Bethel and Perrydale. Whereupon Michal took the only picture of the day.... "that firetruck is a lot more antique than I thought it would be"

Then, over the rollers to Dallas, and into the Safeway, with the indoor seating, hot deli counter and Starbucks. More sesame chicken and a Pumpkin Spice Latte for me; Michal had soup and a wrap, and expressed doubt that I was drinking actual coffee.

After a 45 or so minute pause, we headed back out. There was a bit of sun, but sadly, also a bit of headwind. The view from the tops of the hills (I refuse to call them rollers) to the north was outstanding. No stops between Dallas and Dayton. Michal wanted to flip his cue sheet, but I pointed out that there was absolutely no way we were getting lost. The headwind finally gave it up around Dayton. My bike computer display decided it was too cold, and hid. It was still recording, but not sharing. Last battery change was in April; might be time to do it again.

Topped up various liquids, ate something (I started working on a muffin; took almost to Ribbon Ridge to finish off). Michal took off his shoes for a bit. Called spouses to give them an ETA.

Last push northward. Long slanting rays of the sun as it dropped below the hills. Stopped at the corner of Ribbon Ridge and North Valley to turn on all the lights and swap in the clear lenses. We hadn't taken off the reflective gear all day; nothing to do there. North on North Valley, north on Spring Hill, climbed the last rise of any significance just past Catherine and Rick's house. A car honked at us (friendly honk) - thought it was Catherine and Rick, but she says it wasn't them.

Pretty sunset. Rode past the wetlands at the north end, on to Fern Hill. Starting to get dim... Sucked down a gel (Cherry Chocolate. Tasty.) for the final push. Full dark showed up somewhere on Geiger/LaFollett. It wasn't really DARK dark - waxing moon and some ambient light from our surroundings as we skirted the southern boundaries of Forest Grove, Cornelius, and Hillsboro. Finally, north on Minter Bridge, right on River, and the last turn onto Davis. (Still a black hole past Brookwood).

Into Starbucks for the receipt (free with purchase of coffee). The barista asked about our ride, then offered that she had ridden to Forest Grove once (15 miles? tops?). I asked if she had fun, and yes, she did. We then loaded the bikes into the Element and drove home. Cyndi had arrived. I put the last ingredients in the soup and took a very hot shower. Dinner. Visiting. Completing the perm cards (in the mail, Ray :-) ). Plotting for next month. Maybe Donuts to Total Domination. Or Three Prairies. Michal wants to see that part of the valley in daylight.

All in all, a pleasant ride with great company!

Feeling awfully creaky today.

126 miles, 11:16 elapsed time, 13.74 avg mph. Slowdown after lunch. Power-mass improvement indicated.

Errata (the cue sheet was correct)

2011-11-16T12:46:00.001-08:00

In the previous post I alluded to what we interpreted as a cue sheet error for the Perm 1177 Eugene-Beaverton 200km . We followed Howell Prairie Rd to its intersection with Hwy 99E, dutifully turned left and... were misplaced.

Except we weren't on Howell Prairie Rd. It crosses Mt Angel-Gervais Road. Despite the impression that Google Maps gives, Mt Angel-Gervais is very much the major road, and Howell Prairie looks like a slightly upgraded driveway. The road curves to the left, and we followed right along...

See below for details. Should have gone straight (red line). Won't make that mistake again!

Sorry Bill...

Eugene to Portland 200 km Adventure

2011-11-13T12:00:00.001-08:00

The forecast for Saturday, Nov 12 called for "rain late", late defined as noon. The forecast for Woodburn called for .25" of rain. We'd be passing though in late afternoon. Was this permanent going to be fun or what?

It did not take any arm-twisting at all to get Lesli and Michal on board with a permanent for November. They both live in Eugene, so I thought we should start or finish there. Bill A has perms going in both directions. The prevailing winds in November are from the south. Eugene to Portland it was. Kevin was a delightful addition.The route ended barely a mile from my house, so all were invited to come over for a post-ride feed, and, for the Eugene crowd, showers. Michal's wife Cyndi was driving up to take them back to Eugene, as the train schedule was not as accommodating.

For maximum adventure bonus, I purchased tickets for myself and Sweetpea on the Friday evening train to Eugene. I had planned to ride to the Sunset Transit center, catch the MAX downtown, and ride over to Union Station. Fitz was not working late this Friday, and offered to drop me off instead. I took him up on it.

(Brief sidebar) I go for really long rides. But it is still just the most amazing thing for me when I do a significant ride that starts or ends at my house. So, yeah, I was going to RIDE from Eugene to my house. Cool!

Got my ticket from the machine, got Sweetpea a baggage tag, sat around for a bit, then it was time to board. The baggage car was at the far end. Sweetpea and a nice Co-Motion went up on the bike racks. I am pretty sure they had a nice visit.I do love a train ride. Got myself some Mac and Cheese in the food car, then walked back to my seat, knitted on my sock, and watched the light out the window.

Lesli collected me at the train station. She and Sara fed me some more, we dithered on what to take on the bikes. Met their delightful dog Chaz - so calm and friendly, and exhibits that "I worship anything you might be intending to do" behavior. I admired the Sidi shoe display in their bike room, and finally got some sleep.

We had a great pre-ride breakfast - eggs, cheese, tortillas, granola (made by Sara, yummy!) and coffee, then went outside to await the arrival of Michal, Kevin, and Cyndi. They showed up almost immediately, and we started into a round of pre-ride documentation and snack-swapping (cookies and well-buttered Rye Molasses muffins). Lesli and I gave Cyndi our bags, and the four of us set out for the official start, Full City Coffee.

Got a mocha to go, and, with some degree of difficulty, managed to secure a starting receipt. A couple walking by... "where are you riding today?" Beaverton. Got the usual response :-)

Followed Lesli and Michal out of Eugene, and then we were out in the country, with much less stressful navigation requirements.

It sprinkled for a bit, then stopped. And stayed stopped for a very long time. We worked our way north, first through Coburg, then threading our way through the hills to Brownsville (Sutterdown, if you are a Dies the Fire fan). Took off my jacket, cap, and heavy gloves along the way. Rode for most of the rest of the ride in shortfinger gloves and a wind vest. I think I made some of my fellow riders chilly just looking at me :-)

Brief pause there for a pause, where I learned that Lesli is a football fan (big game this Saturday, UO vs Stanford). She was recording the game for subsequent playback. Other conversations on mapping, maps, bits of SF reading, Archival Clothing,...

The valley was full-on autumn - really bright colors from the non-native species, green fields where the winter wheat, hay, and grass were starting, brown stubble in the freshly plowed fields, and lots of goats, sheep, cows and horses. A couple of chaser dogs, but with two dog owners along, I wasn't worried - they had nice commanding NO. STOP. GO HOME voices.

Lesli - "so, does this remind you of Ireland?". No. In Ireland, the green goes to 11. I was pretty amazed by that, but there does exist a place that is greener than the Willamette Valley!

We had a consistent strong tailwind all day. Got to love that.

From Brownsville we continued north through Lebanon and Crabtree, and onto Hungry Hill Road, for the sole covered bridge on this route. After rummaging around for the info control answer, we headed into Scio for a pause at the Scio Market. Started getting overcast here.

After Scio, the route took us to Stayton on a route that did not include Richardson Gap or Cole School Rd. Wonderful, I thought. No 15% grades! Then we came around a corner and... a wall. Both Michal and Lesli had completely edited this out of their memory from the last time they rode this route. Ground our way to the top. Well, most of us did. Michal has bionic climbing legs, and dropped us. Bike computer post-ride analysis shares a blip of 14%, mostly 11-12%.

Then rolling along the top of the ridge (amazing view off to the NW) and.... Michal came up with a flat. We pulled into a handy driveway and did the pit crew thing. He had a spare tire and went directly to that. I deflated the tube, and found the wire in the tire. Kevin extracted the wire. We packed everything back up. 10 minutes total.

Then into Stayton, for our lunch stop. At this point, we really were on track for a 10-ish hour total ride time. Perused the deli counter. I really didn't want a sandwich. Safeway has a great hot food deli... I went for .45 lbs of sesame chicken and a banana. Oh, that was yummy.

From Stayton on through Aumsville (site of a really destructive tornado not too long ago. We don't HAVE tornadoes in Oregon, which makes it really disturbing) and then onto Howell Prairie Road.

Howell Prairie Road is 18 miles long, and, as I have said before, a prime location for wind farms. I cannot remember a time I have ridden it when the winds were favorable. Until this ride. We had a killer tailwind, and flew north, usually at speeds in excess of 17mph. Complete enjoyment and lots of pictures. Fresh autumn air. This was fun.

Arrived at the intersection at Hwy 99E, where we were to go to Woodburn. Turned L as instructed on the cue sheet, and were supposed to find Boone's Ferry Rd within a half mile. After about a mile of beating our way into a headwind, we didn't find it. I pulled up Google Maps on my phone, and discovered that we should have turned R. At least we'd get blown back to the turn. And so, After an error on our part, we corrected and headed into Woodburn and the taqueria. Mmmm. I had asada tacos with tomatillo sauce and lime. I had two, and they were tiny (and only $1 in total). Might get 3 or 4 next time.

It was now starting to rain, and getting...dim. Also, chilly. I started shaking, and pulled the jacket, cap, heavy gloves and reflective gear back on, and headed out to Hubbard. With the wind at our backs, the rain wasn't so annoying, and we all quickly warmed up. By the time we hit the outskirts of Canby, it was dark.

Headed north on Airport Rd, and then it was time to get onto I-5, to cross the Willamette River. Picture it - dark. raining. Freeway shoulder. Freeway shoulder under construction. I ran over some interesting-sounding things on the Boone Bridge (I second Bill and probably every other cyclist in a 200 mile radius wanting that non-motorized traffic bridge built from the northern terminus of Boone's Ferry Rd across the Willamette. Soon. It is funded.), and hoped I would not flat. Then the construction barrels started encroaching on more and more of the shoulder, to the point where we were just about riding in the lane... Down the off-ramp, left on Wilsonville Rd and (this was going to continue until we got into Beaverton proper) stopped to check the cue sheet and street signs. When we could see the street signs.

Through the office park for several miles, then a pause at the Chevron before the last 13 miles. Note to self - print future cue sheets out in 16pt font. If it hadn't been for Kevin's sharp eyes, we'd have gone off-route a few times. A passer-by at the Chevron station... "I do not envy you folks". We were quick to assure him that this was best fun ever. Not sure he was convinced.

The stretch to Tualatin was not much fun, but eventually we got a bike lane back (busy, narrow road in what used to be a quiet backwater).

Then through some parks, popping out into Tigard (lots of cue sheet checks), then around the back of Washington Square, at which point we didn't need much cue sheet checking at all; this is within 4 miles of my house. I scooted very cautiously across the Tracks of Death on SW 5th Ave. No way was I getting this close to the end to wipe out on those tracks. We did miss the turn onto Griffith in the dark, so went around the corner on Lombard and Canyon. Lesli got a finishing receipt at Starbucks.

Now, the last bit home. Cyndi had just arrived. We walked in, and it smelled like somewhat more than the split pea soup, cornbread and apple cake I was expecting... Fitz upped the ante and added meatloaf and a cabbage-apple slaw.

Perm card completions (had to get all the references to shared receipts straight), dishes and eating utensils, habanero jelly for the cornbread (thank you Cecil!), and we settled down to eat. And eat. The UO-Stanford game was still on, so the football fans (Cyndi and Lesli) were checking on that, and were very happy with the result.

Total time: 12:14
Total distance: 136.49mi
My riding average 14.5mph. It WAS 15.5 by the time we got to Woodburn, but all the start-stop the last 13 miles didn't help.
All the pictures here
Michal's pics

Great November perm. Now, which to do for December?

Annual Verboort Sausage Populaire

2011-11-05T21:57:00.000-07:00

It is November again, time for the Verboort Sausage Festival, and so, time for the Oregon Randonneurs Verboort Populaire. Any ride that ends up at a sausage festival is one to do. (Also rides that include ferries, or cross international boundaries.)

Getting ready - not so much. The weather was going to be rainy and 40's. Wool, wool, wool, Craft Storm Tights and the Showers Pass Elite jacket. And food. I get home from rides, sometimes with more food than I started with, so I toss it in the freezer and pull it out for the next ride. This ride, I retrieved some cookies from the last ride with Michal.

Lots of socializing around at the start; big crowd, despite the weather. Lesli and I had planned to ride together to continue our conversation from the Bikenfest, and Diane (riding buddy since 2003!) joined us. Andy S. gave me a fair amount of trash talk about the quantity of food I had been carrying along on the 600 last June... "I got a hernia just lifting up your bike". Wish I could figure out how to carry less stuff, but it just doesn't work out that way. And I am happy to have the food and spare clothing along!

Turned loose at 9am (drizzling), heading east to Longbottoms Coffee in Hillsboro, our first control about 12 miles along. Rode along with former co-worker Ian for a bit; we caught up on doings at my former place of employ (layoffs again. boo.)

Got there, got my card signed, and.... Lesli wanted an espresso. Service there is, um, not fast. So we stood around and waited. And got a bit chilly. And finally, she got it, sucked it down and we left. But we didn't get very far, because my front tire became exceedingly squashy. (Crud)

Back to fix it. Couldn't find anything in the tire, so crossed my fingers and changed out the tube. BikePortland's participant took my picture. First flat I've had in months (and second flat all year), and that's what I'll be remembered for. Fortunately, it was possibly the fastest tire change EVER. No messing around with tire levers to put the tire back on. I like that.

Off again, heading north over Hwy 26. I saw on the cue sheet that we were going up the fabled Jackson Quarry Hill, and mentally deduced the route was Helvetia to Jackson Quarry. I mean, why go any other way when that way is so darn pretty? Well, it wasn't, it was Helvetia to West Union to Jackson Quarry. Our alternate was .2 mile longer, but much, much, much nicer scenery. Lesli hadn't ridden there before, because no brevet or perm uses that route (I have a perm design in process which does; stay tuned), and I enjoyed pointing out my favorite parts (most of them). A teeny bit more climbing, but worth it for the view. (What it looks like in nicer weather)

Back on the published route, around a few turns, and at the base of the Jackson Quarry Hill. I only know one way to go up it, so punched it and made myself work all the way to the top. Too many years racing Jason to the top (score, Jason: some really big number, Lynne: 1). Then down Mason Hill (wheeee!) and back to Jackson School/Shadybrook/...

Chatting all the way north on Dairy Creek made it go pretty quickly. Consumed that entire bag of cookies. They were very, very good. Could have eaten more! The field of alpacas had 4 cute baby ones this year. Don't know where the grownups were. Vegan sausage and a rando mocha, chatting w/Susan F and Lesli about how I am leading her astray (what? ride in the WINTER?) and time to head back down. It was chilly for a few miles until we warmed up. The trees at the ornamental nursery were spectacular - rows of green, then yellow, then red. We plotted next weekend's adventure - Bill Alsup's Eugene to Portland 200k permanent. I've got the train ticket for me and Sweetpea for next Friday evening already. Also ordered a rack for Sweetpea, for the inevitable pannier of stuff.

Crossed at Frogger Junction, and then off to Banks, quick pause, and west on Cedar Canyon. The wetlands haven't really filled up yet. In a month they should be spectacular. Back along Hwy 6, up Stafford Rd, and the last short number of miles to the end. Except the stretch on Kemper/Visitation seems to take much too long.

Lesli: "I know we are there when I hear polka music and see oxygen tanks and walkers." We got the polka music and a couple of walkers, but no oxygen tanks this year. Diane and I rehashed some previous year's rides - "remember when it was sunny?"

Finished and cards signed, we set off in search of sausage on a stick, coffee, and uncooked sausage to take home. Got the sausage and coffee in the bingo tent (visited with Brian from Olympia, who was having an amazing run at bingo). Located the bulk sausage sales, and managed to buy somewhat less than 2 pounds this year.

Back to the Grand Lodge, where Lesli, Diane, and I were all completely prepared to soak in the hot pool. Frozen feet and hot water is an exquisite feeling, I must say. We defrosted for a good 20-30 minutes. Great finish to a great day.

Stats: 65 miles in total, 62 and a bit for the populaire.
total elapsed time for the populaire 5:27. Analysis: about 15 minutes more riding, a flat, and a bit too much faffing.
Riding pace for the populaire: 14.03 avg mph
Overall pace (includes the coast back to the start) 13.83 avg mph

Not Entirely Recovered From The Half Marathon

2011-10-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

Which bike ride to do this weekend? If I had been quicker to commit, could have ridden a 100k populaire and rolled over 4000 RUSA km. Or, I could ride with Portland Velo, which I have not done for a few months. So, out the door shortly after 8am, to be in Hillsboro for the 9am start. I was riding Sweetpea, as it was supposed to rain. Attached myself to Dana and JRod's 16-18mph group. Someone looked at Sweetpea and wondered if I did a little randonneuring. I do a lot of randonneuring :-) and he was rando-curious. So I suggested he come out for the Verboort ride in a couple of weeks and did a fair amount of evangelizing.

The route was Carpenter Creek, starting at LaCie in Hillsboro, heading west, through Verboort, and skirting Forest Grove to the west. We stopped at the new park at the corner of Thatcher and David Hill (plumbing!). Everyone was pulling off jackets and gloves and really didn't have a place to stow them. There was a movement afoot to stash them all in my Carradice, but I wasn't going for it. Swung my leg up to get back on the bike and REALLY whacked my shin on a bike rack. It smarted for a good 5 miles, and I will probably have a spectacular bruise. We continued up David Hill and turned left on Forest Gale rather than getting there via Thatcher. Nicer route.

Pause at a convenience store for one rider who had forgotten his water. I'd been moving through my water bottles, so bought some water to top up. No one accepted my offer of water, and we still had at least 20 miles to go. Okay then. Difference between club riders and randos. Always top up the water bottles.

Over to Stringtown Rd, then onto Carpenter Creek and up. Maybe a mile climb, not hard. The view from the top was breathtaking - autumn scenery to the south and west, and an amazing color display at the ornamental nursery just past the summit and then looking down to Dilley Rd from Plumlee. The group paused, but I continued on. Working hard to keep up, so I elected to not stop; they'd catch up.

Crossed HWY 47 at Spring Hill, and listened to what appeared to be a million geese honking on the approach to Fern Hill. North on Fern Hill, east on Geiger, watching huge flocks of geese wheel in the sky.I was fading (yes, I was eating). More to the point, my quads and hamstrings were hurting. Through Cornelius, chatting with Ellen, on complete autopilot back to the start. Dana stayed back with us, which was nice, but not needed. (I am also a ride leader, but not playing one today). And done.

Chatted with KRhea; he promised the triathlon pictures he took that we have not seen yet. He told me about his new bike, which will be purple - we got to this thread because Sweetpea is purple and he really likes purple and "you don't see it often".

Joined Dana, JRod, and Ron at Longbottoms for a Farm Plate and a nice long visit before heading out the 10 miles back home. While we were sitting there, an older woman came over and said: "I just have to tell you - you look so fit and healthy. So many women don't these days." Um. Thank you. That was novel and unexpected, for sure.

Then headed home, with not quite so much zip. Stopped in Cedar Hills and took a couple of ibuprofen. Sloooow. Must not be recovered, because this is too short a distance with not much climbing to make me hurt this much.

62.7 miles for the day, for an overall average of 13.9. The average up until the last 10 miles was 14.5mph.Just 29 miles shy of 5000 miles ridden this year. It should happen in the next week.

Postscript: It did not rain. Not even drizzle. However, my brilliantly reflective and long red mudflaps got a lot of love. You can get them here: Rainy Day Biking

Don't Try This At Home

2011-10-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

A year ago, I ran my first half marathon. I was pretty pleased to have finished, and signed up for it again this year. Started running, took a break some time before the 400k, and finally made myself start running again, in September. Right. Get myself in shape for a half in less than two months. Clearly spending too much time on the bicycle.

Longest run since September was 8 miles; most were between 4 and 5 miles. A total of 11 runs. Denial works really well, it does.

Yesterday Cecil and I rode out from her house to pick up our race packets in Vancouver, WA. We took the scenic route (well, mostly scenic; not possible to make Hayden Island or parts of Interstate Blvd scenic), including two crossings of the I-5 bridge and a stop for late lunch at Cup and Saucer in Kenton. All told, about 35 miles.

Bonus encounter - riding into Vancouver... Cecil: "I recognize the fairings on those bents!". Yes, indeed. Random, unannounced ride on the east side (ok, this ride east side AND Vancouver), and yes, we run into Dave and/or Edna. Every single time. Went inside and visited for a bit, then went and picked up our race packets.

Heading out of Vancouver, I heard a "Lynne! Lynne!"... Whereupon a person I had never met before introduced himself and said he recognized the bear. (!)

Great ride with Cecil. We should do this more often. I think we will.
(oh, right, I was talking about a run.)

Met Cecil right at 7am at Kettleman's for pre-race bagels and coffee. About 7:45, we thought we should go North.

Parking was a teeny bit of a challenge; we got a space 3 (or so) blocks away. Stood around. Dropped my bag in the bag drop. Visiting with Laura R. We knew other folks were running, but did not see them beforehand. Half-heartedly participated in the pre-race warmup. Got our iPods going (me - Box of Rain. Cecil - Velvet Underground. I do not think there is any intersection at all on our iPods)

13.1 miles in front of me, and face it, I had not properly trained. All I could count on was that I had run the distance before, had done a bit of running, and had the endurance from all that cycling. Finishing would be good.

We filtered up to the front, to get out ahead of the walkers. Aaaaand we were off. Cecil zipped off (she's a real jackrabbit), and I plonked along at a relatively steady pace. Got passed by all the fast girls. Out east along the river, through an industrial park, keep going... I walked through the water stops (roughly every two miles) and got some water, and sucked down a gel every 30 minutes (roughly every three miles). What? Every three miles? I was running right at 10:00? I could tell when the gel kicked in. I could also tell when it was wearing off. Turn around and head back. Lots of folks still heading out.

Plonk plonk plonk... Right around mile 9, we turned right, ran up a ramp, and down into Fort Vancouver. Well, the park that is Fort Vancouver - the fort (or a reasonably accurate reproduction) is over a bit to the east in the park. East past Pearson Field (airport). East out of the park/airfield, past some malls, then north (and up a bit of a hill), and....turning west for the last time. Still keeping close to that 10 minute mile. I don't reliably run that fast in training.

Lots of little kids all holding out their hands for high fives. Fun for both of us. West back into Fort Vancouver, then up another hill, past Officers' Row, across I-5. Getting close now!

A few more blocks, crowds getting larger, then right, up one block, right again and done!

I just finished! (picture by Susan Otcenas)

Susan O was cheering from the sidelines. Gave them back my timing chip, and went off to find Cecil and food. Also found Susan O, Linda and Scott (Linda ran fast! Scott cheered.), Jill and Catherine.

Jill, Catherine, Cecil and me at the finish (picture by Susan Otcenas)

Much hugging and picture taking!

And, checking my time...
bib number: 820
age: 55
gender: F
location: Portland, OR
overall place: 722 out of 1922
division place: 25 out of 86
time: 2:12:30
pace: 10:07

new personal record!

But, about that don't try this at home... Aftermath. More than 24 hours after, I still hurt. Don't skimp on the training and think your awesome endurance will carry you through. I mean, it WILL, but, at least in my case, I was writing checks my legs couldn't cash.

Vertical Feet. Most ever.

2011-10-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

This song played in my head for most of the climb to Lost Lake. I was pretty sure I was not going to make the control by the cut-off time - I'd need to average 7mph the whole way up...

But back to the beginning. The October OrRando brevet is traditionally John Kramer's Bikenfest, out of Hood River or Bingen. This year John proposed a two-loop route out of Hood River, with over 10,000 vertical feet of climbing. I'll come right out and say that I voted for last year's route. Really pretty, and only 7800 vertical feet. I've never done anything more than that in one go. There was a 40% (at least) chance of rain forecasted. Three years ago I DNFed on this very ride in miserable conditions, and was very much hoping that would NOT be the case this time.

But here I was, admiring a glorious sunrise from the Twin Tunnels West Trailhead and visiting with the other riders, waiting for the start. Lesli was riding (yay!) along with the other usual suspects. Well, most of them. Lesli: "Where's Michal?"

John mentioned that there were some sharp curves descending from Lost Lake, and recommended we be off the Lost Lake descent by dark. And so, at 7:30, off we went.

The first loop was out to The Dalles and a bit beyond. First we rode on the Twin Tunnels (Mosier Tunnels) trail into Mosier. Wish I'd been quicker with the camera; there was a great shot of the pack silhouetted against the Columbia River down below. Then some climbing. When we topped out, I could see what had to be Chenoweth in the distance at the bottom - we were headed in that general direction. The descent was pretty scary - lots of gusty crosswinds. I started getting tense, which meant the bike started to shimmy a bit. Knee against the top tube put an end to that, but I was happy to get down to the bottom.

My left foot was not staying attached to the pedal particularly well. Perhaps it is time to replace the cleat.

Conversations with Lesli about wool jerseys, specifically the upcoming OrRando wool jersey, triathlons, mid-life crises (or, how I ended up doing really long rides), life at UO, PBP,... Lesli never runs out of conversation, which is great. Every so often we'd look back and wonder what happened to Michal. And then... there he was! Some confusion about getting to the correct end of the trailhead, so he started about 15 minutes later, and pushed it ("flexed his awesome") to catch up. He was just hoping he wouldn't pay for that later.

Approaching a control, we found John waiting for us - a secret control :-)

More wandering around up and down, through The Dalles and out, with Lesli, Michal, Bill, Jeff, and Norm, eventually ending up somewhere east of The Dalles, and then turned around to head back to the start. We paused in The Dalles for some supplies (Industrial Size Payday Bar for me) and water, then headed west on Old Hwy 30. This is a beautiful stretch of road, above I-84, with great views of the Columbia River, and a gentle climb (many switchbacks) up to Rowena Crest. Same highway engineer who designed the climb to Crown Point, but this one is somewhat longer.

Then along the tops of the ridge, and down to Mosier for some food. The place with espresso, sandwiches and ice cream was CLOSED :-( so we went next door to the market. I had an eggroll. Should have had two. Lesli bought a corndog. Lingering issues from the Alabama public schools have rendered me unable to face a corndog. Plus, they make them with substandard cheap turkey hot dogs (an abomination all by themselves), and wrap them in the worst cornbread ever. My sister-in-law says I'd change my mind if I had one made with decent cornbread and a good Kosher hot dog. But I digress...

Checking my bike, because it was handling strangely and the shifting was off... both my S&S couplers were loose! Why, I don't know, because I crank them down pretty tight. Must have been the chipseal a couple of weeks ago. Brief pause to tighten them up. And remind myself to go back to checking them before each ride.

Up to the trailhead; brief confusion as to where the trailhead actually WAS, then up and through the tunnels again, eventually ending back at our cars. Some people had sandwiches. Others ate cookies and other junk :-) Proceeding onward, up a truly vicious climb (I walked, max grade 14%), and then southward towards Parkdale. Very pretty. This loop of the ride followed The Fruit Loop. I saw several purveyors from our farmer's market. Pears were looking about ready to harvest. Then onto a very discouraging stretch of Hwy 35. Bits of drizzle, but nothing very exciting. I stopped and removed the leg warmers. Uphill, and a nasty chipseal surface. Lesli and Michal pulled away here; I wouldn't see them again for a very long time. Caught up to Bill, then moved on.

Great view of Mt Hood from the north.

Finally a descent (not that anyone should get excited here; lots more climbing to come), and some rollers into Parkdale. Greg came by at this point, and we arrived in Parkdale together. I desperately needed something to eat, and bought a turkey wrap. Consumed half of it right on the spot (it was very big).

Then off toward Dee (more orchards; the Hood River Valley is really pretty), and the turnoff to the final really big climb of the day. John thoughtfully provided the cumulative elevation gain on the cue sheet, and I could see that between miles 90 and 96, it would be interesting.

Greg came by and went ahead. I eventually caught and passed another rider. This is so very rare that I do feel compelled to mention it :-) Made it to the Wahtum Lake turnoff. Slog, slog, slog. I had to keep my average above 7mph to make the Lost Lake Store (14 mi from the turnoff) by the cutoff time; 5:51. Every so often I'd see a rider headed down. I was surprised how long it did take to see the riders. I figured they'd be long gone. Never did see the Lolo Pass turn, but eventually realized I was on the miles 90-96 stretch. Every so often I'd take a few bites of the turkey wrap. It was helping. And every so often I'd stop. It was a very pretty stretch of road, but it was also a soul-sucking slog uphill. Never got above 7%; mostly 5% with bits of 3%. I liked those. Stopped and sucked down a gel. Conversations in my head about turning around, or laying down and dying right there. It was getting maybe a bit damp; pulled on the TBB vest. Saw a few more riders headed down. Then, glory, hallelujah, a rider said - the turn is right there! Down to the store; saw Lesli leaving. She told me Michal was still inside and pretty cold. Got the store with over 20 minutes to spare. Greg said he should have told me it was an info control; the times are just on the cue sheet for pacing... "I knew you'd kill yourself getting up here". Yeah.

Went inside for some food. Found Michal. He was pretty cold and shaky. It wasn't almost a bonk. It was a real bonk. I have done this to myself enough times that I know it when I see it. Refilled my bottles (consumed the ENTIRE bottle of Nuun on the way up). Drank a hot chocolate. Should have eaten something myself. Stupid. Visited with the proprietor. Washed my face - I was covered in salt crust. That felt so good. Went back out to the bike to get all the clothing I was going to put on for the descent. Preteen girl walking by: "that is SUCH a pretty bike. Purple is my favorite color!" :-)

A couple of riders came and left. Added a few layers (dry baselayer. heaven.). Michal moved past the "if I eat that I am going to throw up" phase, and we headed back down. Really nice pavement at the top. We leapfrogged down - Michal is a faster descender, and he'd stop every so often, I'd zip by, and then he'd come flying by. Then we hit the road construction and slowed down somewhat, making it to the bottom before dark. Barely. Removed a couple of layers, as it was now much warmer (dropping about 2000 feet will do that), and headed out for the last 15 miles.

And then I bonked. We walked one uphill. I finished off the Payday bar and extracted my tortilla- Nutella wrap and finished it off. We were both getting stupid and forgot we made one turn and made it again at the next intersection... And we were lost. Michal called John, and I finally remembered I had Google Maps on my phone. Between all that we got un-lost, and found Jeff back at the intersection where we should have gone straight.

More wandering through Hood River in the pitch black, but I caught a lot of the road signs at crucial points. Lesli and Sarah cheered us on through downtown. Lesli looked like she'd already had her shower. Sigh. Then, with 7 minutes left, up the last half mile. The food had kicked in and I wasn't bonking anymore. Would we make it? It would be very, very close.

We did. On the final minute. John said it would have been a photo finish, but, of course, it was 9pm and pitch dark.

A bit of visiting, some stargazing (WOW! lots of stars!), a Coke, a nice crunchy Honeycrisp apple, and it was time to drive home. Put the iPod on the Epic playlist, cranked up the volume and headed west. Home by 10:30. Still must unload the car. A visit to the scale says I dropped 6 pounds. They'll be back, but I guess I rode really hard yesterday.

All the pics here

Stats: 130.2 mi
11522 vertical feet (OW)
11.66mph avg

I Did This Ride Just Because

2011-09-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

The R-12 is complete. I didn't NEED to do another Rando ride this month. But there it was - the SIR Fall 200km. Starting in Olympia and heading west. The Kitsap and areas south. Bill wanted to ride, but was undecided about going up the night before or driving up in the morning. Portland Timbers game the night before, so I'd have to drive up. We joined forces.

Due to the aforementioned Timbers game (they won!) and pre-ride preparations, I had a grand total of 3.5 hours of sleep when my alarm went off at 3:30am.

Collected Bill (who had an alarm clock mishap) and started north, only 45 minutes past our planned departure time. Would we make it before the 7am start? Yes indeed, arrived at 6:45am, fell out of Shiny Red Element (Bill now covets my car. He can get in line.), registered, pulled on my shoes, jacket, helmet and reflective gear, and pulled out with the group at 7am.

Of course, 5 miles into it, that was mostly the last I'd see of anyone else. The first part of the ride had us working our way up to Steamboat Island. Saw a pack of riders headed back. It was grey and gloomy, and after Steamboat Island, it commenced to rain. I had a rain jacket. I did not have booties, and I was wearing my Keen sandals. My feet did get cold and wet.

Then more riding around Kamilche Point and the Little Skookum Inlet (I think) by Taylor Towne, where I checked the route sheet and elected to press on to Arcadia before buying any food. I had plenty. The controls on this route were mostly info controls in remote locations. Only two on-course timed controls.

Rained off and on, finally giving it up a bit before Arcadia. I felt the lack of my usual coffee intake. But wait! I had Penguin Caffeinated Mints! Time to give them a try. Not only were they tasty, and perked me up a bit, but my poor frozen feet warmed up as well. Found another rider at the store in Arcadia, which the map reveals as just SE of Shelton (hey! I've been THERE!). I also found an Industrial Size Payday Bar, which kept me going all the way to the timed control at 75 miles.

After Arcadia-Shelton, it finally warmed up enough that I took off the jacket and started taking a few pictures. The sun came out a few times.

Long stretch on Cloquallum Road, followed by another long stretch on Cloquallum-Satsop Road, and finally at 75 miles, the timed and staffed control at Schafer State Park.

Found Ian and Mill and lots of food. I stuck around for probably longer than I should have, but it was nice to have a conversation with someone other than myself for a bit. Ian did tell me that there were 8-10 riders still behind me. He also said there would be a fun descent from the Satsop (never finished) nuclear power plant, which we'd ride right by.

Satsop road was pretty, if long. Lots of long stretches on this route, most in what seemed to be pretty remote areas. Not hardly any traffic. I had to keep eating. Still working on that Payday bar. Yes, it was that big.

Through the town of Satsop, across Hwy 12, and the flats to the last real climb up to the nuclear plant.

Not a hard climb by any means, but after the wind and rolling hills and chipseal, I was starting to fade a bit. Paused at the summit to get a picture or two, take some Ibuprofen, and eat. The descent was every bit as wonderful as promised. I don't believe I have EVER seen nicer pavement.

Another long, mostly flat and headwindy stretch to get to Hwy 12, a couple miles there, and the next timed control in Malone. I was definitely tired, bought Fritos and a Doubleshot, sat on the store steps and consumed them. Mox Chehalis road wound its way through a valley. More chipseal and headwinds. And some idiots in a pickup with the entire road wide open, who felt the need to pass with less than a foot of room between us. They were the only ones all day - every other driver was very considerate.

Finally popped out for the 10.9 mile stretch on SR 8. Slight climb for the first 5 or 6 miles. But I had my very own lane (a very wide, non-chipseal shoulder) and no headwind. And then... a descent. For the rest of the SR-8 leg, and the next bit on Old Hwy 410.

Finally, crossing (I honestly don't remember if there was an overpass or underpass) Hwy 101, and back onto Mud Bay Rd. Past the Blue Heron Coffee Co, up the hill, and into Olympia. About a mile from the end it started to rain with extreme prejudice, so a brief stop to pull the jacket back on. Past the Safeway where we started, looking for Division St and the pizza place.... And there it was.

Mill came out and grabbed my bike, pointed me inside, and got me some hot tea. Enjoyed visiting with the other riders and volunteers and Narayan (who dropped by). Pizza. Hot tea. Listening to many PBP stories. Gradually feeling less disoriented. Rode back to the Safeway with John and Jesse to get the car (and the dry change of clothes). Back to Vic's Pizza as Bill arrived. Dry clothes, more visiting, and negotiating with Bill on who would drive. More to the point, if I drove first, Bill could have a beer.

The drive home was interesting. It was pouring and dark, with the attendant limited visibility. I finally had to give it up at the rest stop around exit 45. Bill took over, and, of course, it stopped raining. Brief stop for refueling (both the car and us), and home. I kept conking out once we crossed the I-5 bridge, but did get alert enough to drive the 1.2 miles from Bill's home to mine. I didn't even unpack the car. Shower and bed.

So, 11:06 total elapsed time, 127.52 miles, 13.09 avg (oh, that's slow), 6240 vertical feet.

Bridge of the Gods 200km, Second R-12 Completed

2011-09-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

The Portland Crew (David P, Theo and Ed) volunteered to run the Bridge of the Gods 200km route as the Oregon Randonneurs September brevet. Excellent. I didn't have to do anything but show up and ride.

I was very familiar with this route - I usually ride it in the other direction, and over Cape Horn on SR-14, rather than via Canyon Creek. But Cecil and I had done the Workers' Ride for the RUSA 10th Anniversary, which was the route in its entirety. I should note that the 10th anniversary was in Aug 2008, and Cecil and I have been riding together for longer than that... 2006? Sadly, no Cecil riding this day.

Michal came up from Eugene to ride as well. So, there we all were, on a cool but-not-going-to-stay-that-way morning, heading out to the Columbia River and points east.

As Michal had not done this ride before, I made him stop at all the photo stops :-)

Up to Crown Point, where the east wind was trying to blow us out of the parking lot. At times, standing up was a challenge.

The descent was similarly challenging for the first 3 or 4 turns down - every time I rounded a corner, a wind gust would almost knock me off the bike. Finally down to "the bottom", Latourell Falls. Beautiful stretch from Latourell Falls to Shepperd's Dell - alders over the road, completely shaded, with the falling leaves crunching under my tires.

Multnomah Falls wasn't too far ahead, and I was jonesing for the famous ice cream sandwich. Not that it was a control, but there are many stops on this route that are not controls! Mmm. Ice cream. Helped settle the nerves from the descent from Crown Point.

Then back into the headwind, and, eventually onto the I-84 shoulder. Other than the first bridge, not too bad. Big, wide shoulders, not too much traffic (for an interstate freeway). Off at Bonneville and onto the trail. Nice. Carrying the bike down the stairs, and another couple miles into Cascade Locks.

Strategizing under the bridge, we elected to cross the bridge and stop in Stevenson for food. If it hadn't been so gusty, I might have finally gotten some pictures looking down. Maybe next time. Michal's first Bridge of the Gods crossing; he's happy to have survived it :-) And so, on to the Stevenson grocery, where we found some riders finishing up their snacks. Got a jug of water, gatorade, something with salt and a Doubleshot. Thus fortified, we set out to conquer Wind River Rd.

Michal has wanted to know about my experiences with the Agile development methodology, and Wind River Rd is just the long stretch to talk about such things. {TOTAL geek interlude. I shall not bore you with the details}. Gentle 8+ mile climb up, and eventually we could see the info control up ahead. But wait! There was Ed, ready to sign our cards!

To this point, the wind had been screaming in from the east, and ALL of us were ready to start heading back west. But the wind was causing a bit of anxiety on the descent back to Carson - we had a headwind. Besides being a good descent spoiled, what would it be doing when we got back to the Gorge? Since it was supposed to remain HOT for the next few days, I was betting on a continued east wind.

And I was right. Whew. Back to Stevenson, where the unused part of the water jug was still waiting, as well as a Sobe and some cookies and a banana. The forest fires just over the ridge on the Oregon side were blotting out the sun - we could see it shining red through the smoke cover (Darkover anyone?)

It did lower the temperature a bit. We then pressed on all the way to Krogstad Rd, paused briefly, then continued along on Krogstad and Canyon Creek, to the Washougal River Mercantile, our last on-course control. Fritos. Water. Sitting. The riders immediately previous had left an almost full cup of coffee. We didn't drink it.

The next stretch was 9+ miles of Washougal River Road. The workers' ride had commented on, mmm, impaired rafters heading home, so I was a bit worried. Fortunately, we rode through before they started leaving the river. Whew.

Into Camas, out onto 6th, then the Old Evergreen Highway. Bumpy, but very little traffic. Pedal, pedal, pedal. I finally called for a cookie halt. Fortunately we looked that the street sign before proceeding - we were at our turn onto Ellsworth.

Across the I-205 bridge (downhill from the Washington side, but, again, the wind spoiled a good downhill), past the airport on the south side, over Columbia Blvd, and then just a few quiet miles to the finish.

My second R-12 completed! Fitz joined Michal, Cyndi (Ms. Michal) and me at Kennedy School for a post-ride celebration.

128 miles, 14.41 avg mph, 5997 vertical feet

11:03 elapsed time. 2:08 off the bike.

more pics

RAPSody 2011

2011-09-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

This year, I had planned to ride with Ross. The rest of the group I rode with last year, had, for various reasons, not signed up for the ride. Realized on Wed night that I had not packed. Oops. Packed in 30 minutes. It helped that I really had MENTALLY packed earlier, and had ascertained that the sleeping pad and fleece sleepsack were indeed in the house. Plus, not hardly any food to worry about, just something caloric for the Saturday morning.

RAPSody is on the kinder, gentler parts of the Kitsap Peninsula, not like my last ride there.

Dinner at the Burgerville in Centralia on the way up, slept at the basic, yet adequate Days Inn in Tacoma. Breakfast was Nutella in a flatbread. Oh, so yummy and caloric. But I didn't get enough coffee.

Found Ross and Dianne (she dropped him off) at the start. Dumped my bag, visited with Gene from Tacoma (hi Gene!) and snagged a banana for later.

Nice surprise - Einar was riding! Einar is a former coworker and fellow Portland Velo member. We spent many years chatting outside the building while we stretched after our respective lunchtime running outings.

Ross and I headed over the bridge, through Gig Harbor, chatting and taking pictures.

I ate the banana about 15 miles into the ride. Then, after wandering around in the woods, with brief views of the Sound, we were back along the coast, and eventually into the first stop at Manchester. Mmm. Yogurt. Cookies.

Then off to Port Orchard , playing with the cameras, finding a Bactrian camel (!) riding up and over a spine, down to Victor and around to Allyn.

I remembered to eat something about an hour after Manchester, so no bonking this year. I may be a slow learner, but I get there.

Calzones, other snacks, the community band...

Visited with Dave E and Einar. Then off again to Shelton. This had the most deadly dull stretch of riding - 10+ miles with the sense of not getting anywhere. It was REALLY hot by now. The water stop was most welcome. Ross outed me to another rider (he had asked Ross if the dimples on my fenders made me go faster, like on a golf ball), so I got to explain randonneuring. I'll just call it recruiting, and I'll have to get better at it. For the record, it isn't the dimples on the fenders, it is Little Pink Bear that makes me go faster :-)

Then we finally arrived in Shelton, where I went off to score a wrestling mat to sleep on in the gym, and Ross got us root beer floats. He was trying to call Dianne, but she wasn't picking up (still on her hike). So we went around the back and got post-ride massages. My masseuse showed me some stuff to teach my riding partners to unkink my shoulders and neck. I will happily return the favor, as well :-)

Eric S showed up, and we visited for some time, then he was off to his hotel room.

Eventually Ross located someone to collect him (he was staying at a friend's home), Dianne called back, and all was good. I went off and took a very long shower, and then joined Einar and Dave for dinner. Some visiting after dinner, but I turned in early.

Set my alarm for 6am. Someone's alarm went off at 5am (what WERE they thinking?), so I was trying to sleep through a lot of packing up trying to be quiet rustling around. Finally gave it up just before 6am, and started rustling around myself. Got all packed up, dropped my bag on the truck, and enjoyed breakfast with Einar and some others before heading out at 7:20am

Ross and I had made plans to meet up at mile 9 at 8am. I was going to have to hustle. Through Shelton and up, passing many people. People in Ironman jerseys. People on carbon fiber bikes.

But yet, I got to the meetup point first :-)

There was a stretch of riding off and on Hwy 101. We stopped at Blue Heron Coffee, but the line was too long, so we elected to push on to the rest stop. Ross said they'd have coffee. The Ironman riders were admiring my bike. "Coolest bike on the ride." :-)

Off to the rest stop, where I got some more coffee and food. They had Nutella, too. By this point, my sports drink bottle was a mixture of Fruit Punch Gatorade, Tangerine-Ginger Nuun and Subtle Mandarin Orange HEED. Suprisingly tasty. I think the HEED gave it a slight Creamsicle overtone. So, not a long stop, and off we went through Olympia. Ross went to Evergreen; he's familiar with the area, and was being a great tourguide.

After Olympia, we eventually go onto the delight that is the Chehalis-Western Trail - a really long rail trail.

Last rest stop - much warmer than last year. More food was consumed.

North down to the Nisqually River (there is a good descent wasted), then up, riding around on busier roads. Skipped the mile on the I-5 shoulder by cutting through a neighborhood (very brief gravel portage), up a hill. Ross really didn't like that hill. I didn't think it was too bad. My bike computer read out 8%. His had 12% at times. Review of the data does show TEENY bits of 12%.

Ride along JBLM (formerly Fort Lewis and McChord AFB), then a climb up and then down (wheee!) into Steilacoom. Turned right, rode through town. Steilacoom is a cute little town. We were meant to ride through here last year, but were re-routed due to some big golf tournament. Ross called Dianne to give our estimated arrival (about 3pm) and ask for a Diet Coke. I held up a finger and that was amended to two Diet Cokes :-)

Pretty ride through town, some more winding around, and some incredibly evil RR tracks with a police car and a bunch of bicyclists standing around. We rode by, but I can't help but wonder if someone crashed. A bit further along, a cyclist came flying by at what must have been 30mph. Wow.

Got to the climb up from Steilacoom that everyone had been obsessing over. Again, no big deal. Passed many people, as, indeed, I did for much of this ride. The women were supportive - "You GO!". The guys... not so much. Possibly the combination of blatantly pink bicycle with full metal fenders, mudflaps, canvas luggage, and a little teddy bear... I would only have made it worse if I had been wearing a wool jersey (not this year).

The ride back from there to Tacoma Community College was shorter than I thought it would be. The hills, which Ross assured me that we climbed last year, seemed... rather less significant.

Picture by Ross Carey

The finish - great band (CD purchased), ice cream, snacks, the promised Diet Coke. Eric S wanted to know if I wanted to get something to eat before heading home, so I got my shower, and we strategized on dinner stops.

We were aiming for Thai, but that one was closed. Following him around the strip mall parking lot, we found a Japanese restaurant, and elected to eat there. Bento with tempura, salad, sushi, gyoza and some hamachi (extra. worth it). Bliss. And a nice visit.

Uneventful drive home. Looking forward to next year!

Day 1: 87 miles, 13.84 mph avg, 4900 vertical feet
Day 2: 82 miles, 13.18 mph avg, 3850 vertical feet

Lots more pics here

Eleven, Essentially Solo

2011-08-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

It was time for my August R-12 ride. For various reasons,the usual suspects were unavailable. Many were satisfying their R-12 requirement on some little brevet in France. Figuring I'd be riding solo, I picked a non-epic route. Hillsboro-Dallas. Ken also signed up, and at the start I was pleasantly surprised to see Ray.

Weather was supposed to be great, so, riding Lemond and wearing a sleeveless jersey.

I was on a bit of a mission. I wanted to finish in under 10 hours. I also wanted to finish in time to catch a ride with the spouse to his company picnic. He figured I wouldn't be done in less than 12 hours. I didn't think so :-)

Started out with Ken and Ray, but there was a bit of pace differential. At the corner of Geiger and Fern Hill, Ray and Ken continued together and I went on ahead.

I kept my stops short, and made it to Dallas in 4.5 hours. There I did stop long enough to eat a yogurt. Passed Ray and Ken approaching the Hwy 22 crossing on my way back.

Haying was in full swing, and I do like pictures of stripey fields. The sun made a cameo 3 second appearance; otherwise, cloudy all day.

Back to Dayton, where I sat and ate and drank. Felt a bit less zippy by this point. My hands were hurting. Apparently, Lemond and I are not as good friends as we used to be.

And north, ending up in Marcello's driveway right at 9:23 elapsed time. He was surprised to see me back so soon :-) Fastest 200k for me EVER. Moving average was 15.56mph.

Off to the picnic. Coworker of husband, also a cyclist: " you didn't ride over?" No, it's ok, really, I got in another ride earlier today...

I'll cop to being tough, but not crazy

2011-08-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

So, here I find myself riding RSVP for the 7th time. Through a series of things, I was riding solo. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do prefer the company of people I know.

Sent out an email foraging for a place to sleep the night before. Everyone came through (thank you all!), and I chose to stay with Ross, because he was also riding. Plus I'd get to see the killer view of the Sound from his house.

Icky long drive, with a pause in Centralia for dinner. Upon arrival, we visited while Ross organized medical supplies for the ride. I asked Ross which was the best way to the start (UW this year due to the Burke-Gilman construction detour). The best way was to follow him, so that's what I did.

After I had gotten relatively organized at the start (Ross had gone off to find his posse), and was standing around, a woman came by and admired Sweetpea, and we got to chatting and eventually I introduced myself. Except I only got to my first name and she filled in the rest :-) it was Joan O., a fellow denizen of the Google Rivendell group. Of course, neither of us were riding our Rivs for this ride. She came all the way from the East Coast and was on her Bike Friday.

And so, off to the ride. They did promise a bit of a climb right at first, and there it was, but it didn't last very long. I will say that I much prefer riding on the surface streets to the Burke-Gilman Trail. At least at that hour of the morning.

It was cooler than I thought it might be, but I was sufficiently prepared. And very misty. I ran ALL my lights until later in the afternoon. Saw a few other Rando bikes (and Randonneurs!), but not ones that were known to me.

So, wandering north, eventually picking up the BG Trail, up the Woodinville Hill, surfing the rollers on the other side, dropping into Snohomish (one of my favorite bits, breaking out of the edge cities), on to the Centennial Trail and... "Hey Sweetpea!" It was Ross and his friends. So I got to meet Rick and Diana S, and some others. I was introduced as "Lynne who rode that 600k, she's a randonneur." So, of course, the standard "you people are crazy", followed by the "you must be pretty tough." Mind you, Rick was having knee surgery on Monday and had just done RAMROD on that disintegrating knee. I think he wins the crazy contest. We rode on to Arlington together, then they split off to avoid the nasty hill climb, and I went off to find some food. Headed right to the Mirkwood Cafe. It was 10:40am; they weren't yet open. Coasted back though the main drag looking for something else. Didn't want the Bluebird Cafe. Not that anything is wrong with it, but my stomach was wanting something else. The Thai restaurant was open, and I inhaled a bowl of green curry with tofu and a glass of Thai iced tea.

Quick stops at the water stop and the Mt Vernon stop - ate. left. did not sit down.

We were detoured in Burlington past the WalMart and other big box stores. A car ahead of me (we were on a nice wide shoulder) had stopped to let the cyclist ahead of me go straight, the car behind it stopped, the car towing a trailer even with me... didn't. Slamming of brakes, watching the front end of the car turning my way... crunch into the stopped car. We stealthily proceeded on, and stuck together as a group until we got out of Burlington!

No headwinds to speak of across the Skagit flats. A rider was wondering where we were headed; I pointed at the headlands away in the distance.

We did the whole way to the former Bow Hill store (now a deli) on Chuckanut Drive. Evil, evil rumble strips, partway into the shoulder. Evil.

A rider at the store was admiring my bike. " With that steel frame, generator hub and fenders, it gives it a nice Rando look" Duh. Out of my mouth: "thank you. That's because it is a Rando bike".

Chuckanut Drive along Samish Bay was gorgeous as usual. Stopped at a pullout, where the awesome Scott offered to take a picture of me for evidence of participation. It seemed shorter this year. Got to the Famous Lemonade Stand. Michaiah has an apprentice now, her younger sister.

Into Bellingham proper, and UP Ferry St - 15%, Rode the whole way up, yay me!

Hoofed it into town to Boundary Bay - joined a table in the tap room. Turned out to be sitting with a Timbers Army member, so dinner table conversation was assured. He likes Kenny Cooper, go figure. So, after a yummy dinner and bottle of Spire apple cide, it took only 37 minutes to walk BACK from the Boundary Bay Brewery to Buchanan Towers (quit whining Jason!)

On the road by 7, stopped for breakfast at Old Town Cafe, and finally underway at 7:45. Came upon Joan O, we rode together and visited until Lynden. She's retired and plans fun bike trips for herself and her friends. Very cool.

After Lynden, I rode to the border with a couple on a red Cannondale tandem. As the former ace stoker of Clifford, I had to visit :-) Their tandem is the Millenium Falcon. Love it.

At the border - "off with you now! have a nice ride!"

I was starting to get hungry again and the Fort Langley rest stop was getting close. Ate, applied sunscreen, departed. Rode out of town on their version of the Urban Growth Boundary - neighborhood on one side of the road, farms on the other side. It was humid heading over to the Golden Ears Bridge. As I am on the Fanno Creek Crossing committee, did some research on the incline on the twirly ramp up and the straight ramp down. 3% in both cases, and I could get going really fast just coasting down. Not good for small children. Maybe a surface crossing would be, on the whole, safer.

I love riding over the Golden Ears Bridge.

So, riding along through neighborhoods and edge cities, not checking the cue sheet much, spending more time in the big ring than I EVER have... And craving watermelon. Must be coming up on Rocky Point Park. Got there before they started rationing the watermelon, and ate four pieces. The woman slicing the watermelon and I got to talking. She goes to Portland to shop, and asked if I felt used. No, we like people to come and spend money. Walked over to the ice cream shop for an espresso flake waffle cone, and had to fend off many cyclists on the way back to my bike.

The Barnet Highway had a nice cooling breeze and felt much shorter and flatter this time. Up to the Frances-Union bike route. I was trailing a group of cyclists, and did not see who entered the roundabout first, but the motorist definitely misplaced his Canadian card, and got out of his car and started yelling. Quietly slithered by and distanced myself from that group!

More bike route, then Chinatown, Gastown, a blessedly less-trafficked part of downtown Vancouver, and done! Finished a little before 3, and, for the first time ever, the bike racks were not yet full!

Upstairs, got my finisher patch, and found myself in posession of a few more food and drink tickets. Got my burger and juice, and helped Ross hand out patches and one Ibuprofen packet per customer. You'd think folks would bring their OWN Ibuprofen.

More visiting, plotting a RAPSody meet-up, a beer, then off to the hostel. Had dinner with former coworker and now SFU grad student and friend Evan. We ate at Beaver and Mullet. The name alone made it enticing.

Waited for the bus with Rick and Diana. I finally said I'd cop to being tough, but not crazy.

Lots of knitting on the bus trip back, helped unload the bicycle trucks, and then drove home. I did stop in Centralia, where my chicken soup savior of the 600k was working. He remembered that night, too. I thanked him again :-)

What? Another Sprint Triathlon?

2011-08-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

Maybe I needed to use my new triathlon top more than once a year. Maybe Cecil wanted company. :-) So here I was, finding myself getting ready for the Blue Lake All-Women's Sprint Triathlon. By "getting ready", I meant locating the triathlon gear and packing my bag. Training? Not so much. Hadn't run OR swam since the Canby triathlon. The last time I was on this course, it was my very first sprint triathlon ever, back in 2003.

Packet pickup was the day before. I was attending Sock Summit at the Convention Center, so ducked out at lunch, caught a bus to Fit Right NW, collected my packet, and had a very nice visit with Marc F, a former co-worker who works there now. When he isn't running marathons. I think he runs one or two a month, at least. Then back to Sock Summit and lots of yarny and knitty goodness. But I digress.

Collected Cecil bright and early. We got there, got our numbers written on our calves (better to check out the competition during the event) set up our transition areas, and walked over to the lake to check out the swim course. Lots of colorful buoys out there, and we couldn't figure out WHAT was going on. Walked back for the pre-race briefing. The buoys were explained - we were swimming around the green ones. The third green one was waaaaaaay down the lake. 800m open water swim in murky Blue Lake. No wetsuit needed; the water temp was just right.

We ran into KRhea (Portland Velo cycling club prez) and Mrs. KRhea, doing her very first triathlon (the short intro one). Scoped out the competition (women in green swim caps). We decided our gooses were cooked; they all looked scary serious. Group by group we were herded into the start pen (no escape now!). Then into the water. Icky lake grass. KRhea was cheering us on.

Finally, we were swimming. I picked a spot to the outside of the mob; I do not like getting swum over. That swim took a very long time. I felt like I was swimming to Cuba. Finally, FINALLY, I was done, and trotted the very long way back to the transition area for the bike leg. Tried to dry off somewhat (maybe I shouldn't do that; wastes too much time), pulled on my sandals, gloves, glasses, and helmet, and I was off, trotting another long way to the bike course.

My bike leg was amazing. No one passed me. I passed all of them like they were standing still. Saw Cecil maybe 1/2 mile before the turnaround; she was, of course, already heading back. Sadly, I did not pass anyone in my age group. But it was still really, really amazing.

Back to the transition area, into my running shoes and cap, and off again. KRhea was standing there, and he very enthusiastically cheered me on for quite some time (he's got a big voice). Kept up a steady pace, and eventually saw Cecil heading the other way. Plunk plunk plunk plunk... I knew the return was not the same as the outbound route, so was not discouraged when we went the "wrong" way.

Finally, the finish! Yay! Cecil was waiting, and we went off to find snacks (there were roaming Jamba smoothie servers) and such. Found KRhea and Mrs. KRhea. She did really well.

Ate some food. For what they charge for this event, the food ought to be better. And parts of it ought to be vegan-friendly. Waited for results. Eventually we determined that we were both out of the hardware - me 4/11, 112/259. Not too bad. 49th place overall for the bike leg.

Rummaged around for my previous results on this course (athlinks.com will aggregate every result you ever had). Back in 2003, I trained - I ran, I swam, I biked. Did the course with the very same bike (it was brand new in 2003). 2011 - 3:39 faster! Yay me!

If there are pictures, I do not have any of them yet.

Kerry Head Loop

2011-08-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

So, back to the Ireland bike rides. The last few days there, we stayed at Ballybunion, because, apparently, that's one of the courses golfers dream about playing. I understand the courses were VERY challenging - links courses with really rough, steep, rough. (If you are a golfer, you know what that means).

What to do? This area of Ireland is bypassed by both my cycling Ireland books. One book suggested just riding straight through on the National road from whatever town is to the south (off my map) to Kilrush, and not detouring by the quieter coast road. Why, I don't know.

For my first ride, I thought I'd ride out to and around Kerry Head, and then back up the coast. I followed the R551 all the way to Ballyheige, took the road around Kerry Head, then back up the coast on the "Coast Route" road, back to R551, and then back to Ballybunion. All in all, about 40 miles.

It was really pretty! There were some hilly, windy bits before Ballyheige, where I stopped to get some provisions at a convenience store. I love the Irish convenience stores. They've got Cadbury chocolate bars and rice pudding and...

I could see the Dingle peninsula to the south over the water. Lots of dairy cows in fields.

Got out to the point, turned north and then west, and picked up a tailwind and a delightful descent. Eventually I ran out of Coast Road and was back on R551, then retracing to the start.

I beat the golfers back this day.

Ten out of Twelve, or, the UGB 200, revisited

2011-07-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

I needed a 200k (or longer) for my July R-12 ride. Accordingly, I sent out an email to the Usual Suspects, proposing a few routes. Just back from a two week vacation, and starting to get the Dreaded Awful Family Cold, I didn't want anything epic. We settled on the UGB 200. Lesli and Michal thought they'd come up from Eugene to ride with us, and David P and Kevin joined in.

The cold got worse. I did not go to work from Tuesday afternoon through Friday. Mostly I moped around the house, when I wasn't coughing up a lung. Yeah, it was that bad. The spousal unit was strongly, strongly discouraging my participation. The Rando Brain does not work that way:-)

And, indeed, Saturday morning early, I didn't feel all THAT bad. Lots of cold medicine later, plus breakfast, I drove over to the start point (concession to the cold, not tacking on the Sylvan Hill twice and 20 additional miles).

Lesli and Michal pulled up as I was unloading the bike. After a double-take at Michal's incredibly appropriate Share the Road plate (computer geek related), we headed over to Kettleman's, found Susan already there, and ordered breakfast. One by one, everyone trickled in, and, at the appointed hour, we all headed out.

I will apologize now for no pictures, because the camera battery chose to die. Time for a new battery; I had just charged it.

East on the Springwater. I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses, and it was a very bright and sunny day. Our first control was the Bell Market, where I bought a Milky Way Dark and some very cheap sunglasses. Then off again. Michal and I were a bit slow off the mark, and we got to see everyone else vanish up ahead.

Michal was relying on me for navigation. I'd ridden this route once before, and I have ridden out SE, but don't feel as familiar with this area as I do with, say, Washington County. We did fine, and found everyone at the Boring Shell station. The one with the bathroom that one must practically rappel down to get to. Again, everyone took off, and I figured that was the last we'd see of them.

Michal was trying to ensure that I finished the ride with more food than I started with - he was pushing apple slices and cookies. Yum.

Perfect weather. The clouds were so perfect, they looked fake. Mt Hood was visible from most points in the ride.

Heading into Canby, we came upon a solo rider in Portland Velo kit. Chatting him up, it was a former co-worker, now at FLIR, which also makes him a former co-worker of husband and son. Small world. He was interested in randonneuring, so we recruited for awhile :-) In Canby, he headed on to Wilsonville (sucks having to work on a Saturday), and we headed to the Thriftway. Spent much less time there than the last pass through.

Now that we were in Canby, I was on completely familiar routes for the rest of the ride. Rollered our way west on North Valley Rd, wheel-sucking my way north to the Gaston store (junk food consumed sitting on the curb), north and a bit east, through Cornelius and north to the Rock Creek Tavern (RC Colas consumed sitting at the bar, plus forcing down a pbj sandwich afterward). Michal: "looks like you are having trouble getting that down". Yup.

The last 20 miles was hard. Climbing Old Cornelius Pass, while not as challenging as it was in 1992, was still hard. I had to walk the stretch from Cornelius Pass to past Skyline School. My voice kept checking in and out all day - couldn't talk much, because it would make me cough.

Stair-step rollers along NW Skyline. Got a message from Lesli - they'd finished and were at the Lucky Lab. A good a place as any to finish the ride - beverages, food, bicycle-welcoming establishment... Once we passed the cemetery, I knew it wasn't too much further before we'd get to Cornell and could descend. I did turn on the rear lights in preparation for the tunnels. The route says to descend on Thompson, but it is closed due to landslides. Still daylight, and would be for quite some time.

A really fun drop down Cornell, through the tunnels, and now looking for that obscure left turn on the cue sheet (we missed it last time). I found it this time, and we wandered around NW Portland, looking for that right turn onto NW Vaughn. There is no right turn onto NW Vaughn. Turning left is Vaughn, right is Thurman.

Found our way down to Naito, looking for the Steel Bridge lower deck path. Michal: "Maybe I should just follow you here". Good plan - I know what I'm looking for, but not exactly were it is :-)

Across the Steel Bridge, south on the Eastbank Esplanade, looping up onto Hawthorne, into the back lot of the Lucky Lab... and Lesli and Susan were sitting on the back patio. Parked the bikes, ordered some food, and visited. Susan told me that Lesli was wondering if I'd DNF somewhere around a point where I could easily ride home. She and Cecil were apparently quite emphatic that no, I wouldn't.

Oh... 12:21 total time. Really less, but Lucky Lab's service staff probably got training from the McMenamin's staff. They'll take your drink order really quickly, but the food order line is mostly unstaffed. In any case, faster than that 13:21 of March.

Thank you Michal for riding with me!

Route notes: Spangler Rd (before Canby) bears right and turns into Casto Rd. Going straight it is still Spangler, but it is a dead end.
the left turn onto Shute Rd from Evergreen - you won't find it now. It is a left turn onto Brookwood.
The right turn in NW Portland (onto Thurman rather than Vaughn) was noted before. Basically, you find yourself staring at US HWY 30. Turn right :-)

Aftermath: the cold returned with extreme prejudice on Sunday. I tried to go into work on Tuesday and was sent home. Got in to see the doctor (I'd been doing everything they suggested since early the previous week) and got some narcotic cough medicine which FINALLY got the cough under control. Yesterday I stopped taking all the cold medication. They said I'd be coughing for some time after the cold gave it up, but it is nothing like the coughing earlier.

Cycling the Burren

2011-07-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

The Burren is a major karst landscape formation in County Clare, Ireland. One of my cycling books proposed a loop ride from Doolin, where we were staying.

So, after a substantial full Irish breakfast, off I went. First there was the climb out of Doolin, a slight miss of Lisdoonvarna, and into Kilfenora and the Burren centre.

Then I made a wrong turn, and about four miles later found myself at the wrong intersection entirely. So, back to Kilfenora and the getting of the correct directions!

The guidebook said I'd find Leahmaneh Castle, which I did. Basically a big house (Ruins, naturally) with cows grazing around it. Not worth stopping. On to Caran, and the heart of the Burren. Limestone hills everywhere; rolling countryside. Sunny day, too.

Continued north from Caran to the intersection with N67 (a national road) and Galway Bay.

From there I elected to head west, into Ballyvaughn for lunch (I'd been subsisting on chocolate bars and Nuun). Riding N67 wasn't that bad; Irish drivers are courteous. But the big buses and trucks on those skinny roads can be a bit intimidating. So, Ballyvaughn and the soda shop. I had a crepe and a salad and pink lemonade. And applied sunscreen (!) A nice pause.

From Ballyvaughn I took the coast road. The Burren extends right out to the Atlantic Ocean. The scenery was amazing. There was a headwind, so I didn't make particularly good time (the same can be said about all my riding in Ireland). More time to enjoy the view!

Then finally I had to turn inland and up.

The sign said Doolin to the right, and I kept thinking I'd be there. 2km more. Then 2km more.... Then 2km more.... If it had been flat or back downhill, it wouldn't have been quite so annoying. But I did get there, and treated myself to an ice cream cone before walking back up to the B&B.

All the pics here.
A nice 63 mile loop.

Inishbofin bike ride

2011-06-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

If nothing else, I should write about the bike rides. Friend Cecil was wondering where I would be riding. Since Week Two of the Ireland trip was to be the Irish Golf Pilgrimage for Fitz, his brother Mark, and Fitz's golf buddies Ethan and Rich, my cycling was necessarily to be around whichever Renowned Golf Course we were at that day.

Our first stop was Clifden. "Excellent!" said Cecil. "Ride over to Cleggan, take the ferry to Inishbofin and spend the day there. It is the most beautiful place in the world!"

That was easy. I reassembled Sweetpea when we arrived at Mallmore House (recommended!). Rich was fascinated. Checked the ferry schedule ("at half eleven" said our host Alan), and I was set. It did not depart Inishbofin until 5, so Fitz thought he'd pick me up after, so we could eat dinner at a reasonable hour.

Rode over to the ferry after a traditional Irish breakfast (passing on the black pudding). Easy, peaceful ride. Hardly any traffic, so I could acclimate to riding on the opposite side of the road with little stress. Made it to Cleggan in good time, bought my ferry ticket (€20 plus €5 for the bicycle). Pricey ferry.

After a bouncy ride over, I hopped on the bike and started riding. I am not entirely sure where I rode, but I was aiming for some of the off road hiking trails. I'd follow one until I couldn't ride it anymore, and then I'd turn back.

It was raining. After a couple of hours of that, I took refuge in the Doonmore Hotel bar, ordered a pot of tea and seafood chowder, commandeered the fireplace, and did not leave for an hour.

The bar started filling up; big Gaelic football match was coming on. I was now relatively dry, so set out for more exploration. Lots of sheep, free range chickens, horses and the occasional cow. Possibly some people, but they were all probably inside watching the match. The rain had stopped.

I found the east part of the island, and wandered around there for awhile, then found another hiking path, which eventually connected up with a spot I'd been by in the morning. Found a place to sit, and ate some chocolate.

Then, back to the ferry dock. Some people walking around asked if I had hired the bike on the island. No, it was my own bike. "But surely you didn't bring it all the way from America!" :-)

The ferry pulled in. I was witness to some effortless and skilled pitching of short cases of Budweiser up to someone waiting on the dock. Provisions for the week, no doubt.

A less bouncy ride back, and Fitz was there to collect me.

About 23 miles.

Recovery ride

2011-06-22T01:58:00.000-07:00

So after the Tahuya adventure, you'd think I'd not ride for awhile. I did not get onto the bike until Friday, to commute to work, and to see if riding the North Plains - Vernonia permanent populaire was a possibility. Susan did say "conversation pace." Cecil joined in, and Jeff, fresh from climbing Mt. Hood AND participating in a sprint triathlon, joined us as well.

If I rode to Susan and Jeff's, rode to the start, did the ride and rode home, it would be almost a century. I elected to drive to their house.

Cecil rode over from her house. She'd gotten there early, and elected to do hill loops for 30 minutes. I'll never get to drop her on a hill again. It was fun while it lasted.

The four of us zipped over to North Plains to get a receipt and start the permanent. The ride was great, as usual, but clearly Susan and Cecil were talking much faster than I was. Jeff kept me company. We reminisced about the trail before it was paved. Jeff: "I miss the muddy dirt section". Got some pictures on the trestle this time.

So, got to Vernonia. Cecil and Susan were waiting. Cecil wanted to know if I had gotten a flat. Yeah, right. My heart rate was certainly still flat!

Leisurely lunch. There was a huge crowd of cyclists at the Black Bear Coffee Company. And then headed back. It drizzled a bit, and everyone but me was having a rapidly paced conversation. Flats. That was it.

Back to North Plains, then back to the house. We consumed half of a yummy strawberry rhubarb pie.

Then back home. 75 miles.

Tahuya 600km Brevet

2011-06-07T23:33:00.000-07:00

(working title: "Fly Dumbo, Fly!")

A couple of weeks ago I stepped way out of my comfort zone (to somewhere in the next galaxy over) by registering for the Seattle International Randonneurs Tahuya Hills 600km brevet. I needed to complete a 600 to earn my Super Randonneur award. I set myself to do this in December 2008. Then, well, as some of you know, things happened. In the rear view mirror now, and I am physically much stronger than I was back then.

I would be doing this ride without a ride partner. In territory I was not familiar with.

Stressed. Made lists. My lists had lists. Packed food. Picked out clothes. Stared in total disbelief at the weather forecast (sunny, 80's). Made my co-workers crazy. (They were very supportive.) Got lots of very good advice from best friends ever (varied from supportive to swift kicks in the butt). Was buried under an avalanche of replacement 650B tires. Loaded everything into shiny red Element on Friday, and drove north. Got to the hostel (oh, INTERESTING neighborhood), and easily found dinner at one of the 5 million Asian restaurants in the neighborhood. Did last minute organization and had an early bedtime.

Up at 4:15. Loaded everything up, then ate my breakfast (Cheerios, fruit, milk, and Greek yogurt). Drove to the start - interesting, in that every road I wanted to take wouldn't let me go there. But I did find it, parked, got my bike and drop bag and headed over to register.

Got a big HI! from Mark and a "You are going to ROCK IT!" (and a hug) from Vinny. Checked in. Found Mike R, one of my tire saviors. Chatted with Jennifer C. Stood around. Decided I could start with dark lenses and a vest instead of the light jacket.

And then it was 6am, and off we went. As the first 11 or so miles of the route was heading east through Seattle, Mercer Island and suburbs, on both roads and bike paths, my goal was to keep a pack in sight so I would not get lost. I did have to stop and fiddle with my bike computer pickup (learning: check the bike computer functionality BEFORE starting the ride). Chasing the pack, I eventually heard a Hi Lynne!, which turned out to be Narayan. We are internet friends, but have only met in person once. So I stuck to him like a burr! You know, there's not a lot of contiguous flat at the beginning of this ride.

Eventually we were out of the city and on roads with real names and no turns every 0.2 miles, so I could relax and ride. May Valley Road was really pretty. And riding along and so forth. Narayan said that this route was one of the perms he rides often. He clearly wasn't going to get misplaced here. And then... secret control! Cards signed, off again.

I'd leapfrog several riders along this stretch - Narayan, Jeff, Mitchel, and Jennifer. Eventually we popped out on Rt 410, which I remembered from the SIR Chili Feed several years ago, except we were going the other way. The first control was in Buckley. Bought some water and a Starbucks Doubleshot, took care of business and headed out. The water went into the water bottle and the hydration bottle (either Gatorade powder or Nuun, depending on what my mood was). Narayan had said he was aiming for Total Control Efficiency. He was very efficient. So much so that his water bottles were sadly waiting for him on the counter in the store. I'd gone to the next major turn (1.7 miles) to spot him heading back :-)

More riding and then eventually arriving at the Eatonville control in the company of Jennifer. Found Alan W heading out of the Truly Scrumptious Bakery, but I was not stopping there - time suck. Stopped at the grocery, more water, another Doubleshot, and a sandwich and banana. I also applied sunscreen.

Jennifer and I headed out; this started the long gradual ascent of the day, heading up to the National Park (we didn't go quite that far). Lots of pretty lakes, farms, scenery and so on. I actually passed several riders (!) Every time I passed Jeff - "you go get 'em!". Made me smile every time. Met Mill - I've seen his name on ride results lots of times, but never connected the name with the face. Really gradual climb. Up. Stopped to get a picture of a pretty lake outside Elbe; Jennifer came by at that point.

Through Elbe, continuing up. I was moving right along.

There must have been a tailwind. The grade increased a bit, up to "slightly annoying". A bike bell jingled behind me, and it turned out to be Noel (of the pink socks in the Stayton Safeway and the cue sheet on a napkin after the fleche). We rode together all the way to the summit. The road varied in quality ("potholes all over"), so some attention did have to be paid to it. I was quite ready to get to the summit, and the amazing descent down Skate Creek Rd.

It was gorgeous. I did stop and take one picture, but I was mostly enjoying the descent. Dappled sunlight, trees leafed out, the creek rushing down by the roadside, people camping. All good. Then it leveled out, and I could see what had to be Packwood down the road. I was also looking at the clock. Packwood was at 200km. My riding time was less than 10 hours. Oh my.

Saw two deer as we crossed the bridge into Packwood. And, at the control, I was at 9:27 total time. My fastest 200km ever. By about 40 minutes!

There were many, many riders at the Packwood control. I had a bit of a problem finding a place to lean my bike! Joined Jennifer inside - water, sandwich (hummus in flatbread), another Doubleshot. Changed into clean shorts. And then off again, headed for Morton.

The ride to Morton was 33+ miles on SR-12. Gently downhill, very busy road, but with a really wide shoulder. It was HOT. Bike computer said 93 degrees. While I don't quite believe that, it was hot. I was zipping right along, thinking I was drinking enough. This road is my new standard for long and deadly. Peoria Road and Buena Vista Road have been eclipsed.

So, riding along, and then I heard the merry jingle of bells and... "Lynne! You are working too hard! Join in!". 8 riders, happily zipping along in a double rotating paceline. I was quickly brought up to speed on how it worked, and we were off. Chatted with Corey of the pretty blue bicycle and Andy, who told me that as a newbie 600 rider, I had to buy all the guys snacks at the finish. My reflective mudflaps got lots of love (not that they were needed on this ride). They've got some real fans in Seattle. While this was great fun, we did eventually hit an uphill, at which point I had to back off.

Finally got to Morton, and, while it was not a control, there was a convenience store. I stopped... and darn near fell over. Just like my first 400km attempt last August. I was shaking and nauseous. Dave H, who was sitting on a bench outside, looked at me and said: "when I feel like that, it is time to quit."

Me: "I. am. NOT. quitting. this. ride. here". Sounded very heroic, anyway. Went in and bought some juice and Fritos. Sat inside for awhile getting them down. Alan W. took one look at me and brought me a gel and a Coke. Chris W. sat there awhile, and then they moved on. I was getting chilly inside, so took my food and drink back outside. Dave: "do you have a jacket? Put it on. Do you have arm warmers? Put them on." Which I did. Mind you, it wasn't cold! Worked my way though the food and drink, and finally stopped shaking and felt much less nauseous. Right at 7pm I headed off for Centralia, 41 miles away.

Some ups and downs, but nothing particularly stressful. I saw no other riders along this stretch. The sunset was very pretty. I tried to keep drinking and eating. The eating was a TJ's Sesame Crepe (I have a stash in the freezer at home), which was mostly chewing and eventually forcing myself to swallow.

Crossed over 300km at 9:13pm, for a total riding time of 15:13. Best 300k time ever by 2 hours! I was really not at all sure what was powering my bicycle, but this was amazing, even though I didn't feel all that great.

Then finally full dark and into Centralia, riding slowly to catch the street signs. And then onto Factory Outlet Row (Harrison Ave) and into the control at the Chevron (10:35pm). No riders there. I was looking for something hot and salty, and they had Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup. The kind clerk heated it up for me. I was slurping it down, when Narayan rode up with Dan?. Dave H appeared shortly afterward and promptly sat down on the floor slumped against a cabinet. I don't think he was having a good day.

We elected to ride on to Elma (35 miles) together, and found a few more riders on our way out of town. They were pacelining and I was shamelessly staying to the back and being a wheelsucker. I was waiting for the stars to come out, since it was a clear night. Eventually two of the guys dropped back, and the three of us continued on. (Did I mention that there were only 4 women registered out of a total of 75 participants?) I was glad they knew where they were going. I only had to hang on. We did back the pace off a bit a few miles before Elma (thank you!), and arrived at 1:35 am.

Did not get sleepy on the bike at all. Not once!

Don J (the organizer) said he was happy to see me, and that other riders had told him I was in a bad way in Morton. Ooh. Didn't realize I looked that bad.

Most of the riders were already in. Ate some pizza, grabbed my drop bag and headed off to my room. 4 women, I knew where I'd be. Some riders were already there sleeping, Jennifer was finishing up in the shower. I got a wonderful shower, brushed my teeth (amazing!), took out my contacts and gave myself 2 hours and 15 minutes to sleep. The women that were there vacated the room while I was in the shower, so I had a bed all to myself.

Up at 4:15 (creak. groan). Put the contacts back in, grabbed my stuff, and went in search of breakfast. I had an English muffin with lots of butter, some juice, and one of the avocados from my bag. Then found my bike, rearranged the contents of bags, refilled bottles (thanks Don J!), and hit the road at 5:50am.

Somewhere on W Highland Rd, I crossed over 400km. Fastest ever, there too. Although it would not be hard to beat my only previous 400km time :-)

The sun was rising right into my face. I had to stop and shade my eyes from time to time to see the road signs. So happy to finally turn into some direction other than east! Found Jennifer along here; we leapfrogged for quite some time. Got to the Potlatch control. Alan W was eating a sandwich; I thanked him for his help the day before. Doubleshot (trend here?), water, potato chips. I looked at Corey's pretty blue bike again, and asked if he built it. Yeah, he's that Corey. Off again, working my way to the control at Tahuya.

First a nice ride on SR-3 along the Sound. Cute houses, views of the Olympics. Then, looping down the other side of that branch of the Sound, heading toward Tahuya. Not so much fun. Headwind, and the rollers got more annoying. I stopped to put on sunscreen, and kept heading west. The road seemed to go on forever, and I was starting to hear the banjos. This should have been a hint to EAT MORE.

Finally found the road I'd turn onto on the return bit, passed some riders headed that way, and FINALLY, the Tahuya control. Elaine J (Mrs. Organizer) offered me yummy chocolates, asked how I was, got me some soup and a Sprite, watched me get a sandwich (apricot jam w/brie on flatbread) from my bag, gave me some Tums and told me I couldn't leave until I ate it all. So we sat and chatted and I ate it all. Thank you Elaine!

Time to go climb some hills. There had been much on the SIR boards about the deadly Tahuya Hills. Mostly it was along the lines of "you are going to DIE, fool!". My co-worker Carl (that would be Cat 1 racer Carl) told me that as long as I wasn't pulling 500 watts (as IF) and trying to race up them, they were really quite doable. I was banking on that.

First hill (Tahuya) - mostly not too bad. I'm a stander on climbs, and, if they aren't too long, can stomp up an 8% grade with the best of them. I can also spin up really steep stuff (like, say Bald Peak), but perhaps not with over 300 miles just ridden. But there was no rhythm to these hills. They'd go up and down and back up again. But the time I'd gotten to the top of the first one, I'd probably climbed it 6 times.

Second hill (Dewatto) - the bottom is quite nice and very pretty. The early climbing isn't bad. But then the climb transitioned to a road with no center line. And the climbing got steep. More of the up and down.

Then a nice descent and immediately into the third hill (Seabeck Holly Rd). I found myself staring at a wall. No. Walking IS an option, and I did. It was 12% the whole way up. Before I started up, a huge group of Harley riders came by. Every single one raised their left hand and made what I would call a Hook'em Horns sign. Never did figure out what that meant.

Once at the top of that ramp, it rolled for quite some distance; nothing over the top hard.

Then another fun descent into Seabeck, which was a control and I was hungry. One of the riders there (wow, still other riders around!) pointed me at the cafe and said the soup was really good. I went in and found more riders, and sat down with Corey. Ordered the full bowl of the soup and slurped down every single bit. No problems eating!

Great rant from a local on "those da*n motorcyclists on their hogs, making that loud blatting sound all day and those bicyclists who think they are such hot stuff for riding 373 miles and...." He was grinning through the whole thing and Andy was teasing him on it. Asked him how old he was... My response: "I'm older than that!". Snicker.

Dr. Ken came in as I was leaving, and he filled me on in on Anderson Hill Road. I made it halfway up the first ramp and then walked it to the top. The second ramp had a big drop beforehand, and I made it to the top. Walked the third ramp. Then more manageable rolling climbs and a reasonably level stretch, and on into Port Gamble, the final on-course control. Port Gamble is way too cute for its own good.

Found Dan at the control, but the store had closed, so I had to use the info control question and watch him eat his ice cream cone :-( He offered up some wonderful cookies as consolation. I ate them both.

Dan headed out, and Ken arrived. I finished the cookies and we headed out together. It seemed really chilly on SR-104, so I pulled over and added layers, and turned on the lights. It wasn't anywhere near dark, but it had clouded up a bit.

And finally, Port Gamble Rd. Ow. Some ridiculous climbs there. I walked another one. But there was an amazing descent, a bit more riding, past the casino, over the Agate Pass Bridge, and we were on Bainbridge Island.

Only 6 miles to go. Three long grinders. Again, that feeling of hearing the banjos. I thought people actually LIVED on Bainbridge Island, but clearly not along SR-305. At this point, the body, which had done amazingly well all weekend was..."can we be done now plz?"

Found the turn at the Final Control sign, found the hotel. Mark was out in the parking lot and took my bike. I wobbled into the room. 8:22pm. Got the card signed. Mark: "and I expect to see that on Facebook in 22 seconds!". Thought I should call Fitz first. He didn't pick up, so I was getting ready to update my status, and he called back :-)

Congratulations all around!

Then some pizza and Squirt, visiting with Narayan, Corey, Dan, Ken, Don, and Lyn Gill. Lyn was there giving massages. I wasn't moving so well, so I got one. Thank you Lyn!

Then eventually headed off to catch the ferry back to Seattle. Both Lyn and I missed it, so I sat in her car and visited while we waited. Duane W rode down, and I went over and joined him. As I was not from around there, I figured I should stick with someone who knew the "bikes on really big ferry" routine. We loaded and hooked our bikes over a railing. Then we all (Duane, me, Lyn, and Don J) went upstairs. I couldn't even tell that we were moving. And my legs started twitching again, so I had to get up and walk around :-)

Docked, and Duane pointed me in the direction to get back to the start (a couple of miles). Rode through Seattle down 1st Ave S just after 11pm. Fun, in a surreal sort of way. Stuffed everything in the car, drove back to the hostel, unloaded the car, and finally got a well-deserved shower and bed.

Aftermath: up the next morning at 8, had breakfast, and drove home. Stopped in Centralia and consumed 1250 tasty calories at Burgerville. Then went into work for a couple of hours. I may have even done some work.

Tip of right little finger is numb. Outsides of big toes are numb. Two days later, the rest of me is not so badly off. I am sore, but not dying. The post-ride migraine set in today. Blah. Must forage for some medication. I think there is some in my bike bag.

The 600km medal is ordered. The Super Randonneur application will be in the mail tomorrow.

Ride details:
373 miles, 12.96 riding average. 38:22 total ride time - approximately 9:27 off the bike.
All the pictures here

Acknowledgements:
Thank you Natalie, for building me such an amazing bicycle!

Thank you everyone who sent me texts and FB messages (they show up as email on my phone) during the ride! I felt you pushing me along the whole ride.

Thank you co-workers, who had to listen to me stress out for a couple weeks.

Thank you Narayan, Dan, Ken, Andy, Corey, Jeff, Chris, and Jennifer for riding along in my general vicinity. Thank you Narayan and Dan for the company from Centralia to Elma!
Thank you Alan W for your help in Morton.

Thank you Michal for riding the 300 and 400 with me, and for all your messages during the ride.

Thank you Fitz for putting up with a high-maintainence wife the weeks before the ride.

Thank you to Don and Elaine for putting on such a great ride, and thank you to all the volunteers!

and finally, BIG thank yous to Cecil (enabler in chief) and Susan O (other enabler) for supporting me, for advice, for encouragement, and for believing in me when I wasn't entirely sure I could believe in myself.

Bonus Sunny Snooseville Populaire

2011-05-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

Yawn. Up at 5:50am, so as to arrive at the start of the Snooseville Populaire before the 8am start. Preferably by 7:45am. Stumbled around the house, ate breakfast, argued with my booties, and headed out at 7:02.

9 miles later (and a bit warm), I rolled into the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse parking lot, to find James B and Susan F checking riders in. I was the last registered rider to show up. There were maybe 9 riders in total.

Susan: "who will be back first? how long will it take?" I guessed Tom D. Tom D thought he'd take about 5 hours. Susan said no one finish before 5 hours, because James didn't want to have to get back to CPR before then. Remember that.

I was awfully warm (I'd removed my cap on the way over), and swapped the jacket for a vest and the tights for some knee warmers. And, throwing caution to the winds, also removed the booties. Could have saved myself some weight carrying all that, but the weather forecast was chancy. If it started dumping rain like yesterday, I would have been very sorry. And wet and cold.

8am. Off we went. The cue sheet was mostly decoration, as the route is one I ride frequently. Saw a cyclist heading east on Evergreen as we were heading west - friend John O, back from his volunteer stint at the Amgen Tour of California.

Got to North Plains by the shortest cycling route possible. I was riding by myself, but knew I was in the middle of the group.

Vibrant field of canola right before the turn onto Dairy Creek Rd.

North on Dairy Creek to the very end, then right on Fern Flat to the intersection with Greener Rd. James was there with doughnuts and hot cocoa. Had a bit of hot cocoa and a doughnut to go. I could see Ray and another rider up ahead, and set myself to catch Ray. Flying down Dairy Creek (it tends downhill on the way out), not quite catching them. Onto Mountaindale, heading west. I'd see them up ahead, mark the time and check the clock when passed the same point... Not even a minute ahead by this point. Inching closer...

Finally caught them at the Frogger Junction crossing of Hwy 26. The other rider was Tom D. We crossed. Ray: "If I'd known you were trying to catch us, I'd have ridden faster." Into Banks, out Cedar Canyon (Lynne retrieves and eats a banana from her bag, while riding)

Rode with them all the way into Forest Grove. It tried to drizzle on us a bit, but stopped, and that was all there was for attempts at rain. Maggie's was closed for Memorial Day weekend (oh NO), so we stopped at the Kwicki-Mart. The clerk was so happy to see us: "I get to come out of the freezer!".

Bought a Starbucks Doubleshot, and ate some buttered fig bread and a piece of cheese. We weren't there long at all, but Tom was getting chilly and left. Ray and I finished our drinks and headed out very shortly thereafter.

I was now completely on auto-pilot - this is the standard Portland Velo return route back to Hillsboro. Ray and I chatted the entire way back.

A Portland Velo group passed us just before the 231st street intersection. To be precise, MY Portland Velo group - Hi Brian! Hi Jim!

Pulled into the Roadhouse, locked my bike, and it was... 12:36. A bit faster than the 5 hours, and my fastest 100km ever. Went in, found James, his friend Kim, David P (who finished in a blistering 3:41). Tom came in - he'd gotten a finishing receipt from across the street and changed into warmer clothes. Ray took off to get home.

I knew David P was likely riding home into Portland, and I also knew our routes would coincide. We rode together all the way to my house (I had lots of Penguin Caffeinated Mints and parted with a tin).

And, major milestone... Sweetpea rolled over 3000 miles!

Great day! Grand total for me: 80.15 miles, 3300 vertical feet, 14.46 avg mph.

Nothing but Rim

2011-05-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

"Given the conditions of the flat, a trip to Bike Gallery to discuss brake adjustment/modification options should be considered. And I guess I'll be getting to try out those Soma Xpress tires somewhat sooner than I planned."

The flat occurred because the drive-side rear brake rubbed on the tire. The brake could not be adjusted to not rub on the tire. I didn't notice it until a month ago, when I was giving Sweetpea a good clean. It didn't seem to be a problem. At least until yesterday, a few miles from home.

The brakes are Tektro R556, purchased on-line, on sale in the fall of 2008. Perhaps there was a reason they were on sale.

I couldn't decide what was up - I've got supposedly the Very Same Brakes on Bleriot (also a 650B bike), and there is still room for adjustment on that side. The Silvers are the Rivendell-branded Tektro brake. I bought the Silvers in winter 2007.

Now that I knew what was going on... ack. Big ride next month, didn't need a tire flatting because of this. I understand there are many other reasons a tire will flat out there in eastern Washington, and indeed, a friend riding a 400k out there yesterday had a ton of flats, as did the folks she was riding with. They had a flat-patching party in the Safeway in the middle of the night to repair all their tubes. No, don't need more opportunities to get a flat tire, especially with the amount of wrestling it takes to get tires off the Aerohead rims.

Took the bike into Bike Gallery this morning, and had a long conference with Mechanic Tim. (for the record, I prefer working with Mechanic Tim, Mechanic Mark, or Mechanic Michael. I am sure the other mechanics are competent, but these guys completely understand what my bikes have to put up with)

We stared at it for a good long while. He thought the brake arm might be a bit short. I did, too, but a cursory once over with a precision measuring instrument didn't seem to indicate that. He suggested I try the rear brake from Bleriot, to determine once and for all if it was the brake.

Went home, hauled out the repair stand, cable and housing cutter, third hand, allen wrenches, little bag of ferrules and crimps, some tunes and a cup of coffee.

Pulled both brakes, and compared them side by side. The Tektro did look shorter. Hmm.

Put the Silver on the Sweetpea, dropped the brake pad to the bottom of the notch. Nothing but rim. Relief! Got everything adusted, put a new crimp on the cable, one down.

Then, put the Tektro on Bleriot. Nothing but rim; no adjustment needed (good, because there was no more adjustment to be had). Finished that up.

Called Mechanic Tim to let him know all was good.

Now just waiting for the new tires to arrive.

Multnomah Falls with Best Cycling Buddy Ever

2011-05-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Continuing on my path of keeping the mileage up as I prepare for next month's epic ride, Cecil and I planned an out and back to Multnomah Falls. I hadn't ridden to the falls since last June, and was a bit behind in my "rides to the Falls" count for the year. From my front door, approximately 100 miles. (80 for Cecil)

Up at 5:30 for a 6:30am departure (I am SO pokey in the mornings). Stopped 5 times in the first half mile to fiddle with the bike computer. :-) That resolved, up and over, down through Washington Park, passing three joggers who were using the whole road on SW Salmon where it is the jog over from SW Park. They wanted to know if I followed Lance, and recommended that I stay away from the drugs. I told them it was too late, and doping was good stuff. They thought it was the best thing they'd heard all day. They also thought I was joking.

We met at Kettleman's at 7:30. Probably first breakfast for Cecil, second breakfast for me. I will point out that we RODE our bikes there, as several cars were outside with bikes on top. Young man behind the counter wanted to know if we were finishing a ride. Mmm. Awfully early for that, unless one is finishing a 400k. Told him we were riding out to Multnomah Falls. He didn't know where that was, or what it was. (Lynne is rendered speechless)

Suitably fortified, headed out east to the I-205 bike path, north to Marine Drive, and east again, to Troutdale, taking the nice off-road path behind the Troutdale Airport. And then, right around 30 miles for me, the ride finally started. :-) Back in the day, I'd drive out here and start the ride.

Oh, not raining. Only wool on the body was socks and armwarmers. Wearing a lightweight vest, no base layer, no rain tights, Keen sandals, no booties, lightweight gloves, and the day ride helmet without a rain cover.

Brief pause for photos at the Job Corps dragon sculpture in Springdale.

Riding through Springdale, saw evidence of the rapture on the shoulder - clothes and shoes with no occupant.

Changed to shortfinger gloves and removed my vest... while riding.

Summit at Women's Forum, down to Vista House (not far behind Cecil), down to Latourell Falls (again, not far behind Cecil), then east to Multnomah Falls. Pretty little pinkish wildflowers blooming (Cranesbills?). Not much traffic, but there was a wedding at Wahkeena Falls. I'd say most of the traffic was cyclists. Lots of them!

We had a long pause at the Falls. I could not decide between the amazing ice cream sandwich and hot cocoa, so went for both.

One gentlemen in a "Dude" Pendleton sweater was waxing enthusiastic over our lovely Sweetpea bicycles. Someone walked by mine later and said "oh, what a cute bicycle!". Cute AND functional, thank you!

And then back. A bit more auto traffic, but nothing too annoying. Throughout the ride, Cecil shared "how to be successful on a 600k" hints. Must figure out the timer thing - drink every 15 minutes, eat every 45 minutes. Plus carry avocados and bananas. And hummus wraps. (I am getting similar advice from Susan O)

I think I had my quickest ascent ever back up to Vista House/Crown Point - 19 minutes. I could see Cecil at the railing from below, she was just removing her helmet. Another pause (soda, chips) and generally appreciating the view. Every time I ride by Vista House, I tell myself that I am so very fortunate to live here.

Applied sunscreen for the first time this year.

Up the last mile, pause for pictures in full-on sunlight, then...

Cecil: "um...?"
Lynne: "Bell Rd?"
Cecil: "that is just what I was going to ask!"

Down my favorite descent (never too steep, big sweeping curves, great scenery, with, of course, the Bell Rd option (screaming straight descent on great pavement).

Stopped for snacks before getting back on the path by the Troutdale airport (well-buttered chunk of fig bread). Another pause at Blue Lake Park for fluid exchange, west on Marine Drive.

Then south on the I-205 bike path. Started fading around Maywood Park, so pulled out a bar and munched away. Eventually found Cecil at one of the transit stations... "I must take you home and feed you. I'm bonking too!"

The bar did eventually kick in, but I still stopped at Cecil's - hummus, baba ghanouj, Strawberry-Banana smoothie and a garden tour.

Then moved along, because we were meeting up again at the Portland Timbers game in 4 hours. Heading up through Washington Park (you know, not quite as fresh as I was at 7am), looking at the mileage, I knew I'd have to find a few extra miles somewhere to make it a true century. I could loop around my neighborhood (boring). Then, flash of brilliance! I could do an out and back on SW Hewett (south of Hwy 26, right where I cross Skyline/Scholls Ferry), which would be just about right.

Great out and back (SW Hewett is on my Council Crest climb route), then across SW Scholls Ferry onto Raab and... pshhhhhhhhh. There went my rear tire. First flat on Sweetpea in 2900 miles of riding.

Much struggling to remove the tire (gosh those Aerohead rims are a LOT tighter than the Synergys; note to self, put a metal core tire iron in the bag). There was a hole near the tire bead, so changed the tire as well. While struggling to get it back on, a couple walking their dog stopped. 6 hands made it much easier. :-) As I was doing the post-patch, reinstall get-everything-back-in-the-bag activity, a cyclist stopped to ask if I had everything I needed. Yes, thank you, just about done.

Given the conditions of the flat, a trip to Bike Gallery to discuss brake adjustment/modification options should be considered. And I guess I'll be getting to try out those Soma Xpress tires somewhat sooner than I planned.

So, home. 101.68 miles. 12.54 avg mph, 6200 vertical feet. Elapsed time... well, let's just say that efficiency and discipline were not part of the plan for this ride.

Aftermath: Portland Timbers 1 Columbus Crew 0. Greg was a bit bemused, as Cecil and I kept ducking out to the concession stand for more food.

And best of all, Cecil's sense of fun and adventure has returned!

Triathlon!

2011-05-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

Once a year, whether I need it or not. :-)

The Gator Grinder sprint triathlon in Canby, again, hanging with Team Estrogen and Friends. I'm in the "Friends" group.

Upgraded my triathlon wear to a new Sugoi top.

Collected Cecil and we carpooled on over. I had a 9:30am start; hers was 9:45, so no need to rush. The weather was... damp-ish. Coolest, wettest triathlon I've ever participated in. I had extra layers ready for the bike and run legs, and a big plastic bag to put over the top of them so they wouldn't get wet in the rain.

Much visiting and twitching beforehand. I don't usually get this worked up before a bike ride anymore, but this was a race. Starting with swimming. My pre-swim-meet jitters completely took over.

pic by Cecil Reniche-Smith

Good swim lane, no demented frogs this year. Wish I could say the same about my swim. A few seconds faster than last year is all I can say. Transition to bike took a bit longer - with the cold wet, I elected to pull on knee warmers. This was a good thing. 2:45 faster than last year.

Didn't feel like I was running on wooden legs on the transition to the run. Cecil was coming in on her bike as I was about a half mile or so into the run. To the school, around the track twice, pass Cecil again, back to the start. Big TE and Friends crowd at the finish :-) Hugs, congratulations, pictures, waiting for Cecil. And there she was.

3:00 faster on the run.

Pic by Jeff Mendenhall

pic by Jeff Mendenhall

We walked back to the start area to put away our bikes and get our shower stuff. Once we were clean and warm, headed out to the post-race TE tailgate party area.

Many fabulous door prizes were won. I got a gift cert, which I promptly turned into a Transition Mat (think small yoga mat. works as a transition mat, something to sit on, all sorts of uses). Results were slowly announced. I had a cheeseburger and sides and cookies while waiting for my age group... Our group picked up MANY of the ribbons.

Waiting... 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd... They weren't calling times, and I heard the 2nd place called, and, well, she always beats me. Or so I told Cecil, right before they called my name for 1st in my age group. Squeak! First out of seven in my age group, and I took first place by 5 minutes.

A good day!

And great fun on Monday, sharing at our group standup. To quote a co-worker: "you CRUSHED!".

Nestucca Rivers Permanent

2011-05-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Continuing on for my second R-12 (4 more to go) and keeping in shape for next month's DRR 600km brevet (oops. did I just say that?), needed a ride for May. A 200km would be fine. Heck, the Three Prairies 200km would be fine. That is the easiest 200km you'll ever do. Even when the weather is bad.

Put out a call for riding companions. Susan joined up, and suggested Marcello's Nestucca Rivers 210km permanent. Basically, Reach the Beach until the turn to go to Pacific City - go right, through Hebo, Beaver, and Blaine, over, and back down to Carlton and thence returning to Newberg. How hard could it be?

Susan was on a mission. She's got a ride in August she's planning on, so she's working on not wasting time. I am a champion time-waster. I was allotted three short stops - Willamina, Beaver, and Carlton. Ok, then. I've done STP in a day twice. It isn't like I don't know HOW to be efficient :-)

Weather was going to s*ck. 90% chance of rain, and we were riding through the Coast Range twice. The only good thing was that it wasn't meant to get too cold - mid 40's maybe.

Clothing selected and packed (2 extra pairs of gloves, dry socks, dry baselayer, nylon vest). Food prepared. Chain wiped off and fresh lube applied. Tires pumped up. Little Pink Bear (freshly washed) reinstalled.

Met in the Newberg public parking lot (traditional rando departure point). Susan was heading over to the Thriftway; I would be right behind her. Heard a big thump-bang sound, but couldn't see what it was. When I got to Thriftway, Susan was contemplating not riding. That sound was her going down on the very wet tracks. I decided to not say anything, and go get my banana and starting receipt. She elected to ride. Which was good, because the way the sky was dumping rain on us, I wouldn't have needed much of an excuse to DNS.

The ride west was pretty uneventful. Headwind, of course, lots of rain, a brief pause to get the answer to the info control in Ballston. On the road between Dayton and Amity Susan said: "I've got to design a route that does not use this road". Laudable goal. It does rank up there for the most boring stretch ever. Well, not Peoria Road or Buena Vista boring. But pretty close to Timber Rd from Hwy 26 to Vernonia boring.

Finally into Willamina. Note: the Center Market in Willamina will not let you use their bathroom, even if you are buying something, unlike the friendly folks in Dayton. We went to the grocery. Ate one of my sandwiches (I'd eaten a bar and some other stuff enroute), refilled one bottle with a Starbucks Doubleshot and topped off the water.

Through Willamina, under the highway, and onto Little Yamhill Rd. Such a nice road. Quiet. Wonderful pavement. The only question - how were we going to get across Hwy 18/22? Going east, it is easy. West, not so much.

We went over the overpass, and took the now dead-end road that loops behind the gas station and restaurant at Fort Hill that are no longer accessible, then portaged our bikes over the jersey barriers to the shoulder of the highway. As the barriers are pretty tall, if there is just one of you, probably better to get onto the highway from the overpass.

West until Grand Ronde road, where the climbing started (and the wind finally became more of a crosswind). Still raining.

The climb up to Sourgrass Summit was gentle and uneventful. I could see Susan up ahead from time to time when the road was less curvy. The rain lightened up a bit, but after summiting (no Susan), it returned. Or course, after summiting I descended into fairy-tale forest - trees finally leafing out for spring and very bright green moss on the trees. Down to Dolph Junction, the split where left would go to Pacific City (not today) and right would go to Hebo. New road for me here. I had been to Hebo once, a very long time ago. All I remember was rain. Nothing had changed in that aspect :-)

Rain, rain, rain, rain. Eventually I found Susan, and we pressed on. I really wasn't cold, and really not wet. My gloves were sopping, but my hands were warm. Feet were still not wet. A first. Intersected Hwy 101 at Hebo, and headed north to Beaver. Not much traffic. Second stop of the day (and first timed control) at 74 miles. Another Doubleshot for the bottle, more water, and a nice well-buttered Rye Molasses muffin. We had over two hours in the bank.

Susan: "13 minutes. Gotta go!" Yes, Drill Sergeant Susie. Then, as I was flipping my cue sheet... "Oh, you've got it printed in old-lady font!". With all due respect and affection... "F*&# you!" (channeling Jason here.) Okay then.

Picture by Susan Otcenas

Still raining. Off to climb the Coast Range a second time. After the turn onto Upper Nestucca Rd at Blaine, we'd be on that road for about 40 miles, until we got to Carlton. It was very pretty. The rain eventually let up, and we even had bits of sunshine. We followed the river all the way up - a reasonably gentle climb for most of it. Up. Up. Up. I didn't know where the summit was. Up.

Then the pavement ended. I knew it was going to do that. Pretty hard pack, but it had been raining for 5 or 6 months straight, so it was perhaps a bit slick. Not bad going up, but when it started down (not to be confused with the summit, or finishing climbing), it was a bit challenging. So, pavement ends somewhere between 93 and 94 miles, and goes on for 2.5 miles. I saw Susan from time to time, but not much.

Up. Up. Passed several campgrounds. Up. Passed Dovre Campground, which I have actually heard of. Up. Found Susan. "This climb is NEVER going to end". That was my thought as well. I passed the time reliving Aerin's climb in The Hero and the Crown. All I needed was my sword, and I'd be set.

Several false summits later, including a nasty pitch by the reservoir (Lynne stops to recompose), I found Susan again. She was peeling off all her wet clothing and changing into dry. I was actually fine. I had even ditched the sopping gloves and was wearing my mesh shortfingers with some wool gloves over them. The rain had let up. Summit is around 105 miles.

Then down. The road was nice, but quite wet and curvy. Then it got much less nice and no less steep. Being well acquainted with hitting a pothole at speed, I kept my speed way down. Then the road improved again, and got a little less steep. Then rolling. Blah. I was hoping at some point that I would end up in Carlton, as there were NO signs on the road that I was approaching anything! Finally out of the forest, into rolling farms and vineyards.

Then, glory, hallelujah, I could see the white building at the intersection in Carlton. Wobbled over to the gas station on the corner; it was closed. Started coasting through Carlton, and saw Susan's bike leaning up outside a store. I was shaking - not from cold. And it wasn't like I was not eating constantly. Bought some grapefruit juice and sucked it down. Only 11 miles to Newberg.

The cue sheet didn't say, exactly, but Main turns into Hendricks, which turns into Kuehne, at which point I knew exactly where I was. The juice started having an effect (the tailwind didn't hurt, either) along this stretch. Got a bit misplaced in Newberg, but I've done enough rides through there that I quickly got myself back to the Thriftway. Susan had been there a couple of minutes already.

132 miles, 11:20 elapsed time, 13.20 avg mph, 5800+ vertical feet. 1:15 off the bike.

Picture by Susan Otcenas

(the distance and time uphill are wrong)

Susan: "I didn't want an EASY 200". I'd recommend this one for summer - nice and cool when it is too hot in the valley!

Props to Susan for doing a very challenging ride after crashing on the tracks! She had a headache the whole ride, and was working on some very nasty bruises.

Another banana and a receipt, whereupon we returned to the cars and adjourned to Burgerville. Dry clothes, cheeseburger, fries and a Timber Joey milkshake.

Visiting an old friend

2011-04-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I rode the Banks Vernonia trail with friends.

I had never ridden it in the spring, only in the fall, where I could ride my mountain bike and pretend I was mountain biking. The trail was not finished, mostly not paved (dirt, gravel, sucking mudpit) and in some places, downright (to me) exciting. Like the descent and ascent at Tophill, with the baby-head-sized rocks on the ascent. I walked. Not to mention the memorable ride where we got to Vernonia, had a snack and came out to watch the sun setting. 17 miles back, and between the two of us, a rear blinkie and a faint front blinkie. In pouring rain. Good times. My last visit was in 2005. Since then, there have been floods and major trail washouts, and I just haven't gone back to ride it since.

Friend Susan suggested we ride Ray's North Plains Banks Vernonia permanent populaire. We weren't clear on the pavement status. I planned to ride Sweetpea - fat tires, in case of non-pavement. Fenders in case of wet. Turned out, there was total pavement, and no wet.

Met up at Susan's, rode in a pack over to North Plains to meet up with Ray to exchange releases and cards, and headed off. Uneventful zip up to Banks, interrupted by one info control. Candy bar in Banks, then to the other end of town to hop on the trail.

First we rode through a tunnel of trees, then popped out into open farmland. Then back into the trees again, paralleling Hwy 26. I was looking for the Manning trailhead (the former start of the trail), but missed it. No riding on the washboard Pongratz Road anymore - the trail went straight along, south of it. I did not recognize anything! Then we crossed an amazing trestle, and the Buxton trailhead. Locational cues re-established. Used to have to ride DOWN and then UP (was she going to make it? or bail?).

Sun! Warming up!

The Roundhouse turn is now full of trees. Passed through Stub Stewart State Park (formerly the deep sucking mudpit part of the trail), crossed over Hwy 47, and eventually rode down the drop to Tophill. Now all nice and paved and switchbacked. We had been ever so gently climbing, and after riding up the other side (more switchbacks), it was flat/downhill all the way into Vernonia.

Susan and I went off to find the info control, and then joined the others at the Black Bear Coffee Company for a lazy lunch. An hour-long lunch.

And then back. After summiting Tophill, it was quite warm enough to remove the arm warmers, vest, and wool cap. And, after summiting Tophill, it was a 1% descent for miles and miles and miles...

Passing through Stub Stewart, we started running into more trail users - runners, dog walkers, cyclists, horses, and the idiots on the ATV. Susan called that one in. The additional trail traffic caught me a few times, and I fell back. Through Buxton, through Manning (found it going the other way), then the farmland, the tree tunnel (cool) and the trailhead.

One more control before the end, where we all got stuff to drink. We were warm and thirsty. How strange. Then back to the North Plains gas station for the final receipt (and more to drink) and back to Susan's.

75 amazing miles, 14.28mph. We finished the perm in plenty of time, even with the long lunch stop.

Victorious!

2011-04-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

The Eden's Gate 400km brevet and I had some unfinished business. I was hoping it would be settled to my satisfaction this time.

Michal and I had planned to ride it together. In preparation, we both enhanced the mudflaps on our bikes. I also did a fair amount of stressing, and spent way too much time haunting weather.com. The weather was going to be Not Good, then it turned to Not All That Bad, and then, finally at 3:30am on Saturday, it predicted a headwind both coming and going. Joy.

Packed an almost-complete change of clothes, and 2.5 lbs of food. Joel may have packed more food, but it was close.

Big gathering at the Wilsonville LaQuinta at 4:15am. Many riders from Seattle (hi Vinnie!) and the usual local suspects.

A few minutes after 5am, Susan F released us. South through the industrial park, hop onto I-5 southbound to cross the Willamette River, then south on Airport Rd, passing the Aurora Airport, through Aurora, onto Lone Elder, and then Meridian, where we'd be riding for the next quite a long while. We passed a group stopped at Meridian and Whisky Hill (If I sound really familiar with the area - I used to ride this area a lot. I'm good until Sweet Home, and then it is less familiar). We later found out that a rider had been struck by a car. I heard the rider will be ok, but that was the end of their ride.

Note to self: continue coming to a full stop at each and every stop sign.

Eventually the sun rose, a bit before we passed the location of the Tulip Festival. Fortunately, HOURS before it started - cars parked all over, tense parents trying to get pictures of their children in the tulip fields...

Through Monitor, still heading south, eventually turning onto Downs Rd and our first info control, the Gallon House Bridge. So named, because that's where the bootleggers would leave merchandise for later pickup. We leapfrogged Sarah, Lesli, Joel, David, and Kevin through here.

Through Silverton, but not stopping, and onto the Cascade Hwy. Hill after hill after hill, spaced too far apart to be rollers. Michal: "a roller is supposed to leave you with some momentum to get a ways up the next one". Removed my jacket somewhere along there, and switched to my mesh shortfinger gloves. Really, I wasn't THAT cold.

Passed Joel, Sarah, Lesli, David and Kevin while they stopped at the Sublimity convenience store. South through Stayton (not stopping), and onto Cole School Road.

Was I riding up those rollers or walking? Out of four tries to date, I've only ridden up the second (steeper) one once, on Lemond. Sweetpea was going through its chain-throwing stage, and providentially dropped the chain right at the bottom the most recent attempt.

Extremely adorable lambs seen on the first roller. Then...

Ha HAAAA! Success!

Down to the Shimanek Covered Bridge (second info control) and off to Scio, our first timed control. Which we made in plenty of time. Bought myself a wonderful Nestle Dark Chocolate bar with the cranberries and blueberries. Oh yum. Ate a few other things out of my bag, and we were off again, just as Lesli and Co. arrived.

Updated my progress on Facebook. Found an encouraging text and email from co-workers and friends (made my day!)

Wandered around collecting railroad crossing (Gilkey) and covered bridge (Hoffman) info controls, finally heading to the Larwood Covered Bridge. Again Lesli and Co. arrived just as we were departing.

It started raining again, and it finally got heavy enough that I pulled my jacket on, but did not bother with heavier gloves.

Then, a part of the route that I must have edited out of my head. The first half of this route really isn't flat. And there's a few hills between the Larwood Covered Bridge and Sweet Home. Snow Peak. Ouch. Finally though, when it looks like we are going to head up another wall, we turn instead.

I think it is missing some of the not-riding time...

The rain intensity steadily increased. By the time we were just about to Sweet Home, it was that heavy rain with extra wetting agent. Into the Thriftway, where sandwiches were ordered, other business taken care of, sandwiches consumed inside (we were dripping on the floor), visiting with Lesli and Co., and then taking off again.

Michal and I winched ourselves out of Sweet Home, and now that we were in his territory, he was the navigator. More wandering around, another covered bridge at Crawfordsville, then onto Brush Creek, for what would eventually be the major climb of the day. The rain was refusing to let up. The climb is really not bad - only 4+ miles, and never more than 5%. Waited for Michal at the top.

Then the descent, which would have been MUCH more fun if it had not been raining so hard.

One last covered bridge, and then we headed out. The wrong way. Michal quickly realized that and we went back. Lesli and Co. were entertained. All of us headed off to the Mohawk Post Store (127 mi). They have a TABLE and CHAIRS inside now! We all bought something, got our cards signed, and settled down for a big snack and a short break. Phone calls to respective spouses were made. Then, after looking outside, went out and started riding again. Stopping, even if it is warm inside gets me all chilled and shaking, but I do know that I will warm up in a couple of miles.

The 8 of us headed east along the McKenzie river, headed for Coburg, then on to Harrisburg (150 mi). If there was a headwind, I didn't really notice. Rain, rain, rain.

The convenience store in Harrisburg also had a table and chairs, and a clerk who tossed us a handful of bar towels to dry off. I took my change of clothes and snuck into the bathroom and changed from the waist up, and then came back out and put on dry socks and a dry hat. I felt EVER so much better.

More eating. The clerk caught more folks headed back to the bathroom and told us we couldn't go back there because of all the liquor stored in the back. Really, we were not interested. Kevin decided to end his ride here, and offered up his wool baselayer. Not that we were robbing his corpse for dry clothing or anything...

Now, off to Peoria Road, 19 miles of...nothing. Flat. Straight. Last time there was a nasty headwind. This time, not so much. We rode as a pack of eight, at least until I really couldn't hang on anymore. The Starbucks Doubleshot must have worn off. I was getting really sleepy, too. Fortunately, it had stopped raining. We could see sky and sunset up ahead.

Thus started the first of the roadside catnaps. I'd find myself lurching all over the road, and pull into a handy driveway, sit down, put my head on my knees and conk out for 5-10 minutes. Then get up and ride some more. Michal would wait, which was incredibly nice of him.

Conversation when I wasn't trying to fall asleep: geeky stuff (we are both CS, although I went over to the User Experience side almost 20 years ago and Michal is an academic), reading (Ursula K LeGuin and other speculative fiction), other hobbies, travel, etc.

Made it past the turn on White Oak Rd. Yay! We made it to Albany and decided to stop at Pop's Branding Iron (open 24 hours) for some hot food. We split a burger and fries. Holden and Jeff came in as we were eating.

Then, north to Independence. Another long stretch, this time on Buena Vista Rd, which, in the dark, is pretty desolate. A couple more naps, at least. Then into Independence, where the only place open was the bar. Barely.

We went in, and I put my head down on a table. The few patrons there were dumbfounded that we were riding to Wilsonville at 2am. Michal didn't help by telling them we'd already ridden 200 miles... Coffee (sort of). 15-20 minute nap. We closed out the bar. And off again.

Another remote stretch of about 10 miles, then into the outskirts of Salem, and finally into Salem. After riding out in the sticks in the dark, Salem was pretty bright and distracting. Through Salem (note: don't obsess over the turns on the cue sheet - the roads are just about all the same road), and out into my reasonably familiar riding territory, although I don't ride on River Rd - usually riding on Wheatland Rd for this stretch.

By now, the temperature had dropped to 35 degrees. I had put on the Firewall gloves way back in Harrisburg, so I was plenty warm. Amazing that I could sit down and get a nap when it was THAT cold.

While I was taking yet another nap, Jeff found us. Holden elected to end his ride in Albany. Too bad. We headed north, and found Keene Rd. We could see the sun starting to rise. I think I took one more nap, and then the sun came up and I was ok. Really pretty sunrise. Best sunrise ever.

Wandering our way north and east; this stretch from Keene Road is always considerably longer than I think it should be. And... cross over I-5, down the on-ramp, over the river, down the off-ramp (the construction is very messy), north though the industrial park, back over I-5 and.....

Done.
400km (250 miles), 26:25 total time.
Cyndi (Mrs. Michal) was there to take our pictures.

(picture by Cynthia Wenks)

Susan F wanted to know why I wasn't taking caffeine pills. Let me tell you about that... I'll have to find something. Maybe choc-covered espresso beans. Starbucks Doubleshots are good, but not available at every convenience store.

Shower. Piece of pizza and a soda. Short nap, then an errand and home. For another nap. And then a Portland Timbers game. Still behind on my sleep, but getting better.

Longest continuous ride I have EVER done. No numb fingers. Both arms work. I haven't ridden or run since then, but I'll be back on the bike tomorrow, and should be just fine.

The Route

David P's pics
Lesli L's pics

Riding Solo

2011-04-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

I don't ride solo much, as I might have mentioned before. But, with this past week not being a great week for bike commuting (only 1 day ?!?), and a 400km ride coming up in a couple of weekends, about which I experiencing extreme trepidation.. gotta ride.

There WERE plans to ride on Sunday that fell through on Saturday afternoon. What to do? Marcello's West County 100km permanent populaire seemed attractive. I could ride to/from the start, do the ride, and be home before dinner. Long before dinner, since I'm the one that cooks it.

Email exchange with Marcello, and all was arranged.

The plan was to depart my house about 9:15, start at 10, and be home around, mmm, 4. As I was doing the taxes last night (sigh), no ride preparation took place, other than the bike was very clean because I was installing longer mudflaps. But this is a 100k, with stores very reasonably spaced; no worries. The weather was also to be decent - the important part - no rain.

Departed around 9:45. Oops. So, while the official start was 10am; I started 18 minutes after that. Ah well. Nice ride. Lots of daffodils and flowering plum to admire, a field of alpaca, cows, goats, creeks, rivers, nursery fields... There was no place on this route that I hadn't ridden before.

The wind was mostly SSW, so the stretch from Hwy 6/Gales Creek Rd to Gaston had some elements of a slog to it. My face was so red in Gaston that I thought it was a sunburn, but apparently not; just wind.

The only parts which feel remote are the stretch from Cedar Canyon Rd to Gales Creek Rd on Hwy 6 (shoulder is now nice and clean), and most of Gales Creek Rd.

Started with a jacket, but took it off at the beginning of the route. Other than a hint of drizzle on Gales Creek, perfectly fine weather, mostly in the mid-50's.

Sweetpea was wonderful, as always. I really should set up the final fit, though.

My official 100km time was 5:12. Unofficially, 4:57.
Totals 77.23 miles, 14.44 avg mph. Not too shabby.
So, what did I think about, all by myself for the 6:24 I was out there? Not very much. Or, not much that I remember :-)

All Good Things

2011-03-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Three Capes 300km brevet had lots of good.

My goals for the ride:
Finish before midnight - previous best was 2007, at 12:33am. Last year: 12:47am.
Don't bonk
Drink enough
Have fun (which I seem to, anyway, even if the wind/weather is adverse)

The weather was supposed to be AWFUL - "‎80% chance of rain. Winds S, 22mph. Temp low 40s. Possible thunder. All the makings of an Epic Bike Ride". So awful that I bought yet another pair of rain tights (Craft Storm Tight), and packed an entire change of clothing, just in case.

Usual suspect riding buddy was not riding. Looking at who had registered, I figured I wouldn't be ALONE or LAST, but still...

Last year, I had a spectacular bonk at mile 123, followed by 60 miles of meltdown. Didn't want to repeat that THIS year.

Got home a bit early on Friday. Early enough that two bicycles had their drivetrains cleaned. Probably futile, given the weather, but I'd at least start with a clean drivetrain.

In an amazing burst of organization, bike was clean, food and spare clothing was on the bike, bike was in the car, bag for after the ride was in the car, breakfast and coffee setup was done... before 9pm. So I set the alarm for 4am and conked out.

Woke up to, of course, rain. Got to the Grand Lodge - it was raining, but it wasn't a heavy rain. A quick check of the weather radar before leaving the house showed rain over the area, but pretty clear to the west. Hmm.

There was a HUGE crowd at the start. Voice from the crowd (a really tall voice): "Nice jacket!", referring, of course to my electric blue RUSA-logo Showers Pass Elite 2.0. I did see another one on the ride today, so I guess they have been released into the wild.

I'm always a little jittery at the beginning, so I let most of them go before I started. Too many bicycles, rain, darkness. Nah.

Found Michal on the way out of Forest Grove. We'd ridden together on the second loop of the Grab Bag in February and he wasn't riding with anyone else either. So we joined forces.

Did the stretch on Stringtown Rd (the ferocious chihuahua pack was still asleep), merged onto Gales Creek and headed NW. Enjoyed the sight of many red blinkies strung out ahead. Brief stop at the Glenwood Store (daylight now), then up to the Timber Rd turnaround control. Saw a HUGE crowd heading back - all the fast folks putting in some early distance consumption. Susan F. mentioned to Michal that if he stuck with me, he wouldn't get lost. True that. At least on this route.

So continuing on in the light rain, up to the summit on Wilson River Hwy (Hwy 6), about 1500'. There was snow by the roadside. Then down. Miles and miles through the Tillamook State Forest, not hardly having to pedal. The scenery is spectacular, more so for not being filtered/framed by a car windshield.

Michal and I both need longer mudflaps :-)

Working on one goal, the one involving eating enough, I ate a couple of bars through this stretch.

Eventually it got to where we did need to pedal some, if only to keep our speed up. By this point I was QUITE ready to pop out of the forest and onto the flat stretch into town. It seemed to go on for quite a while. But eventually we did come out onto the flat, and I amused myself by watching the breathtaking amount of water sheeting down another rider's rear mudflap.

Arrived at the Tillamook Safeway in less than 5 hours. Several riders noted that I should clean off my face before going in. :-) Much wiping and I was presentable. Bought a mocha ("do you want a double shot?" um, yes), and sat down with a well buttered rye molasses muffin and a hard boiled egg. Michal had a sandwich. I followed that up with a Bonbel cheese bit. Yum.

Off to the Three Capes, really the most challenging stretch of this ride. To my mind, the first one, Cape Meares is the hardest. The road surface is TERRIBLE, and it has the longest sustained steep pitches. Plus there are four summits :-) Pretty, though. The promised "gale force winds" did not manifest; I was not blown to a stop at any point. Divested of the jacket and heavy gloves on the first climb. Changed to sunglasses from the clear lenses.

Michal: "do I need to remind you to eat?" Yes, thank you.

Pretty ride along Netarts Bay, then up Cape Lookout. Obligatory picture stop at Anderson's Wayside.

Humorous interlude with muggles: "is there a race?"
No. Best described as a car rally, except with bicycles.
"Where did you start?"
Forest Grove. Finishing in Forest Grove, too (Michal was doing the talking)
"What's that, about 40 miles?"
More like 186.
"No way!"
Together: way.

And then finished it off. The descent had been publicized as "worse than last year, potholes, cracks, road falling off". Hmm. I was more careful on the descent than usual, and only saw one or two bad spots.

Continued south to Cape Kiwanda and Pacific City. Longish stretch inland, then over the Cape (EZ!) and into Pacific City. All roads lead to Grateful Bread, and that's where we ended up. I had soup and a tuna sandwich; Michal had soup and a turkey sandwich. As we were finishing up, Holden, and then Marcello joined us for awhile. Just over halfway (97 miles). Holden: "you've gotten faster". Me: yes.

Michal was looking sadly at his empty Vitamin I container. I had just refilled mine, so I shared. We headed outside, to find it raining again. Crud. Back into the rain jacket and heavier gloves. Of course, once we started out, it finished.

Heading over to HWY 101, Michal came up with a flat; pause while that was remedied. Finally onto the Little Nestucca Road, heading gently upward to what must be the lowest pass through the Coast Range (657 feet). The river was spectacular. We eventually caught Holden and Marcello, who had passed us during the flat repair. Finally summiting, there was a rainbow!

Zipped everything up in preparation for the descent. The grooved pavement is still there, but there seemed to be less of it. Also, there was a tailwind, so it was a more satisfying trip down this year. Into Grand Ronde (123 miles), where I found a Starbucks Doubleshot at the little market. Consumed that along with another muffin and piece of cheese. (another goal for this ride - finish with less food than I started with.) I should mention that I was not bonking.

East on Hwy 18, looking for the spot where we jump off the road, do a bit of cross-country action and get onto Little Yamhill River Rd. It used to be connected to the main road, but isn't any more. Glass-smooth pavement, no traffic, more river scenery. We had gotten to the "not chatty" portion of the ride :-) Through Willamina, through Sheridan (brief pause to pull out the night riding gear and turn on (more) lights), then up the hill past the Federal Correctional Institution, turn east and... tailwind! Whee!

Blown into Ballston, located the info control (cool. Still light out. I could see what color the zipties were without using my headlamp!). Blown into Amity. Elected to continue on the Dayton before pausing. Brief pause before Dayton to unkink my very unhappy upper back/neck/shoulders (thanks Michal!). Into Dayton, to the Center Market, where I have stopped at every ride that passes through Dayton since November. As that is most of them, they know me there. "Cold, wet, and tired?" Just a bit tired. "How do you folks ride after dark?" Really good lights. Like car headlights. Michal and I shared a bag of pretzels sitting on the curb. If this was an even longer ride, I'd have eaten more, but right then, a bag of salty pretzels was about right.

Back to the light thing - my Supernova E3 is so wonderfully bright, it seems like there should be a car coming up behind me. But there is nothing there. Love it!

Last 26 miles to go. Heading out of Dayton, there was a brief encounter with a young man with a big mouth and big pickup. I was pretty sure he was yelling encouragement in between the obscenities. Michal: "maybe he's overcompensating for something?" Me: "as Cecil says, inversely proportional..." Michal just about fell off his bike; he was laughing so hard :-)

Short bit to Lafayette, Abbey, Kuehne, Ribbon Ridge (wheeeeeeee!), then onto North Valley. While I'd been on autopilot since Amity, I was REALLY on autopilot now. Tailwind was still with us. Michal: "how much further, do you think?". I figured 10+ miles from the intersection with Flett Rd; we weren't quite there yet.

Almost to the Fern Hill turn, and the wetlands right there were FULL of frogs. Billions and billions of frogs. Almost deafening. Same with the Fern Hill wetlands just before the end.

Rolled into the parking lot. Michal's wife was waiting for us with congratulations. Nice. Hauled the bike inside right by Susan's room. Mmm. Pizza. Soda. Cindy (Ms. Michal) walked me out to the car and helped me load the bike. Grabbed the bag, went back to Susan's room, and started peeling off the outer layers preparatory to getting a shower (across the hall; Susan gave me her key). Received offers of peeling assistance from Marcello's wife ("I'm good at this; he can't bend over after rides :-) ) and other random riders in the room for post-ride socializing. Thanks guys.

Lovely shower. Working my way into the compression tights without a chair or bed was a bit of a challenge, but I did eventually succeed. Back for more post-ride socializing. Received a lot of advice on how to stay awake for the 30 minute drive home. Did make it home without falling asleep, but it was a challenge. Cold air, loud music...

186.59 miles., 13.42 avg mph. 2:25 hours stoppage time. 17:11 elapsed time. Whoo!

all goals met!
all the pics here

Bike Shorts - My Favorite Ones

2011-03-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

For the last number of long rides, the cycling shorts I have grabbed out of the drawer have been my She-wool (or Smart-beest) hybrid shorts. Mind you, I have a BREATHTAKING number of cycling shorts; they all fit, but these are the ones I wear.

I reviewed the Smartwool Ewetopia shorts for Road Bike Review a couple of years ago. I really, really liked the fabric and the fit, except that I just couldn't wear the wool-faced chamois for any length of time.

Now, I have no reservations remodeling clothing that needs it. And I had an unattached Shebeest chamois (my all-time favorite one, I might add). After some quality time with a seam ripper, and some careful pinning and sewing (note: wooly nylon thread does not work in a standard sewing machine), I had the perfect pair.

Better and Better

2011-03-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Rode the Birkie 200km brevet this weekend, like I do every March that I am in town.

Not riding with anyone this year, sadly, someone had to work :-( and someone else was on a mission. So I thought I'd be on my own mission, and see how quickly I could accomplish this ride.

Weather - ick. Rain, 40's, some wind. Did I forget to mention rain? Not that I don't have the gear. I thought it would be too warm for the Sugoi Firewall-Z gloves, and left them home, electing to take the Descente Wombats, and some shortfinger gloves with wool gloves to pull over them, if it got nicer. And knee warmers and spare socks.

Sweetpea was still grubby from last weekend. I wiped off the chain and applied a fresh coat of Finish Line Cross Country lube; that would have to do. And it did. No squeaky chain :-)

Had a bowl of well-accessorized oatmeal and some Greek yogurt with fruit for breakfast, in an attempt to get more protein early on.

It was not raining at my house, but a mere 5 miles west and it started. Darn.

Big crowd at the start, said my hellos all around. Went to check my front light and it did not light up. Brief moment of panic, then I remembered that I had disconnected it last Saturday. Joel helpfully held the bike while I reconnected the wiring.

And off. Rode with Eric A through Forest Grove, but, as he is MUCH faster than I, it was short lived. Once we hit the first uphill, I watched a lot of people go by. Oh well.

Saw Susan with a flat on Hwy 6. She assured me all was fine, so I continued on. Brief stop at the Glenwood Store. Ran into Oliver (from the Verboort ride last November) there. Then off Hwy 6 heading up to Timber. I felt pretty strong. There must have been a tailwind. The abandoned ATM machine that had been by the side of the road in November was cleared away. Bits of snow beside the road the entire way up.

It was raining. My hands were wet, and getting colder. Feet still not soaked through, but it was only a matter of time. I have yet to find a rain tight/bootie combination that stands up to persistent, heavy rain.

Caught up with a crowd heading north from Hwy 26 to Vernonia - Lyn G, Geoff S, Marcello, Holden, Harth and some others. Lyn said she had wanted to meet the OTHER Lynne, and I had wanted to meet her :-) Lots of position changing - I'd be ahead, they'd catch me, I'd pull ahead again... Finally, into Vernonia. My gloves were SO WET and my hands were really cold. And it was only 9:30am (!) 2 hours 30 minutes to go just over 36 miles with a climb. I like it.

Refilled my thermos with a rando mocha, had a banana and some baked goods, and visited with Susan and Joel. He was pretty cold and wet as well, but philosophical about it. David P shared some of the fruitcake he'd baked. Susan O. came in just before I left.

(this pic by Lesli Larson; that's my bike in the back right of the frame, click for the whole thing)

The ride out to the info control at the corner of Keasey and C Burn Rd was a non-event. Found a few folks writing the answer, filled out my card and zipped off the other way. Had a very scary moment on a right bend in the road, where a loaded log truck decided to pass me ON THE TURN and started squeezing me over... Good brakes (mine). Eeek. But I am still here. Whew.

My frozen thumb chose the descent on Stoney Point to return. Ow ow ow ow. But it stayed defrosted for the rest of the ride. Susan O. caught and passed me on the descent. Too much rain and gravel; I was not in a hurry.

North on Hwy 47. What with all the rain, the Nehalem River was pretty spectacular. Also, with all the rain, I wasn't taking pictures. Sorry. So, happily riding along at speeds which said "tailwind assistance", I eventually came up on Susan and John and someone else. John Henry came along and kept right on going. Eventually I decided to keep right on going as well, and went on ahead.

I am very pleased to say that I did not see ANY returning riders (Ken Bonner, specifically) until mile 58.75. The turnaround is at mile 66 :-) Last year I saw returning riders at Big Eddy Park, which is somewhat earlier in the ride.

Riding along, and I could see something in the road, but couldn't quite make it out. It was tall and not moving. Got closer...closer... There was a HORSE in the road! An untethered, unattended horse. Slowed down, so as not to spook it. It decided discretion was the better part of valor and went back down the driveway.

I did not see a lot of returning riders, so figured there must be a big party going on at the Birkenfeld General Store. When I arrived, a large group was just leaving. Asta shared some of her peanut butter balls. Tasty. Did I mention that I arrived at the store in 5:04 elapsed time? :-)

Fitz texted me asking about the weather and the ride. My reply: "sunny, 80's, mai tais". Got my card signed, bought a canned mocha and Fritos, and got some food out of my bag. Susan O. arrived and bought a bowl of soup, so I joined her, Nick, and Kevin inside. She was bummed that her mission wasn't going to happen (25 minutes to change that flat with frozen fingers), so I invited her along on mine, as long as it worked out for her. Nick wasn't inclined to eat his entire sandwich, and offered up half. I took some of it. Nick and Kevin had lots of rando strategy questions, so we shared. Time to go. Nick's sandwich still sitting there... "you gonna eat that?". Yum.

Spent 40 minutes there, which was, perhaps, a tad excessive.

Headed back. Gloves were still wet, but it had warmed up a bit, and it was no longer raining much. The rain eventually gave it up. Susan and I rode on back to Vernonia, finding Kevin and Nick at the gas station (a faster stop than the Black Bear bakery, yummy as it is). Topped off our water from the communal jug; clued the guys into the custom. Filled my thermos with more hot chocolate, ate a banana and some fruitcake. The four of us continued on south. I took off my jacket on the road between Vernonia and Timber. Susan shivered. The sun came out! I also changed to dry shortfinger gloves.

Some driver in a red pickup with poor road manners buzzed us at high speed along there, and (wait for it) Susan yelled at him. She's often on me for having words (usually to the air and nearby cyclists; the offending driver is long gone), and I guess she finally hit the edge of her comfort zone.

We stopped at the Hwy 26 crossing for a more extensive clothing rearrangement - off with the rain tights and booties, on with the knee warmers and dry socks. Also more eating - the Cran-Lemon twister ProBar.

Then across Hwy 26, up to Timber, up over Timber Summit (last climb of the day), where I fell back and lost everyone.

Cautious descent (gravel on the road), then down to Hwy 6 and east to the Shell Station (last on-course control). Susan and the guys were there. I had no pressing needs, so bought a candy bar, got my card signed, stuffed the candy bar in my mouth and headed off. 5 minutes, tops.

They caught me a few miles down Gales Creek Rd. The wind was not entirely favorable, and I was feeling it. We attempted to paceline. Eventually Susan and I pacelined and they went on ahead.

A few miles out of Forest Grove, it started to drizzle. Then drizzle more heavily. We did not stop. Too close! The guys stopped to put on jackets, so we all ended up finishing together.

10:17 total time. 14.56 moving average, 1:40 faffing around. Best time ever for the Birkie.
(to compare to last year, 10:27 total time, perfect weather, and I was riding the Lemond... 5 minutes less faffing, 5 minutes less riding)

I mentioned at dinner last night that I'd had a good ride. Daughter's partner: "do you ever have a ride where you don't have a good ride?" No, not really. Sometimes it is a type 2 good ride, but I can really only think of one or two that might have been not fun.

More pics here
Bill A's pics
Lesli's pics (good pics of how wet it was...)

5 minutes to spare, or, we got our money's worth on THIS 200k

2011-03-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

20:21. That's what my finishing control receipt from the Chevron convenience market says. We started at 7am, so, yes, our elapsed time was 13:21. Whew.

So, back to the beginning. Susan proposed that we ride Michael Wolfe's Urban Growth Boundary 200km permanent. Cecil and I were in. We asked for a dispensation to start from Kettleman's Bagels, rather than under the Hawthorne Bridge, as Kettleman's has food, restrooms, is in a much less sketchy location, and the distance difference is nil.

Michael's email on the registration: "Kettleman's is an inspired choice for a start to the UGB 200. I think you'll like the ride; no new territory, other than climbing through the Boring Lava flow (which is more interesting than it sounds), but it's got a really nice flow to it. Think of it as a greatest hits mix-tape of roads in the country around Portland."

Since I sometimes plan ahead, I had scored some 2032 batteries and changed the batteries in my headlight, and also in one of my PB Superflashes. The Radbot had a battery change last week, so I was feeling pretty bright and flashy, if you know what I mean. Also upgraded my "torso reflectivity".

Working on upping my bad-ass cred, I decided to ride to the start. Susan offered to give me a lift home. It's a start. :-)

Weather was predicted to be not bad at all, really, but I was prepared for Rain, just in case. Generous bowl of oatmeal with walnuts, brown sugar and Craisins, cup of coffee, brief argument with the rain booties and...

On the road at 5:40am, climbing over Sylvan, down through Washington Park, downtown Portland, over the Hawthorne Bridge (oh SO pretty, the river at dawn!) and thence to Kettleman's. Cecil was already there with her bagel; I ordered mine along with more coffee.

Susan arrived. We then proceeded to do final assembly - well, Susan did. Cecil and I had ridden over (in Cecil's case, we are talking a few blocks, lucky her) and had everything we needed. We did spend some time trying to outdo each other in listing all the extra clothing we had brought along. Susan started listing her stuff, and we both looked at her trunk rack in total disbelief. If she opened it, it would have exploded.

South to the Springwater Corridor, to our first control, a convenience market. The hardest part was finding the door (!) Quick purchase of a Snicker's Dark candy bar ("receipt please") and we were off. The control was so close to the start (7.64 mi), so no wasting time getting there, or we'd miss the closing time.

Another 12 miles on the Springwater, through parts which Cecil characterizes as "very sketchy; best ridden with others". Mostly we just saw folks out walking their dogs (same effect, I guess) and the occasional runner.

Into Boring, where we found a gas station/convenience store, and a cheery employee who also was a cyclist. Frappucino plus a Lemon Fruition bar from my bag.

It might have drizzled a bit, but not really. By this point I had shed my rain jacket and was wearing a ls Luna wool-silk jersey and a Shebeest thermal vest and was perfectly comfortable.

We then continued heading south, to cross the Clackamas River just past Barton State Park, and found ourselves on Ridge Road, which, I think is where we cross the Boring Lava Flow. It was a lot of up and down, which is what should be expected, when a road has the word "ridge" in its name. (See also: view, panorama, sky, hill, mountain, top, upper...)

After (or before, I forget), we came across a llama ranch ("if it is grazing, it is a ranch"). All the llamas had to come over and look. We looked back.

A bit further along, we found a castle! Picture stop! Also, I peel off the Sugoi Firewall tights and switch to knee warmers stop. I was suffocating. MUCH better.

On the outskirts of Canby we came onto Carus Rd and Central Point Rd, at which point I was back in familiar territory. Clearly I need to do more riding in the far SE :-) In to Canby and the Thriftway (50 miles on the route). It was about 11:30, and we were hungry. I went inside, not sure what I was looking for - I did have a tasty muffin along with me, so I guess I was foraging for protein. After much wandering around (too many lights and signs; on long rides grocery stores are like walking into a pinball machine.) I found a nice little brie cheese, cracker and fruit plate, and after MORE wandering around, some bottled water, and bought that. Back outside to eat. Opened the muffin ziploc so I could munch on the road, and, after too long a pause (for which I take full responsibility), off again.

Canby to Champoeg to the Willamette River crossing. Susan came up with a flat just across the river. Sharp, nasty piece of glass. Fortunately we were at a place in the road where it went from one lane to two, so my proximity sensors weren't TOO disturbed (yes, I have space issues). She swapped both the tube and tire; I changed to shortfinger gloves with the Smartwool liners at the ready, ate some more, and patched her punctured tube. Cecil fed us pretzels.

Tire patched, we headed into Newberg, with a stop at the Thriftway - not a control, but I needed a stop. Took advantage of that to put fresh hot water in my thermos and dump in Susan's Special Hot Cocoa mix.

Then off again, on the very familiar roads north, with a side trip to the Gaston Market (84 mi) as a control. Susan zipped on ahead, flexing her awesome wattage, Cecil and I arrived a bit later. I found a Starbucks Doubleshot (my new drink of choice), and Susan and I shared her bag of wonderfully salty Tim's Vinegar and Salt chips and my Cran-Lemon Twister ProBar (this one is a winner!) A store patron admired the bikes and we all talked cycling for a bit, but we had to get a move on...

North again. Cecil stopped and told us she'd meet us at the next control (Rock Creek Tavern). She was, I think, a bit tired by now. We reluctantly went on. On Hornecker (just outside Hillsboro), we decided to pause for a snack and a stretch, then rode through Hillsboro. Cecil called when we were just the other side of town, and told us not to wait. We waited anyway.

She showed up about 10 minutes later. "You two don't take instruction well, do you?" Uh, no. Dispensed some Advil and bribed her with the offer of tater tots at the Rock Creek Tavern.

After crossing Hwy 26, we started climbing again. We'd had about a 50 mile stretch of mostly flat. Phillips Rd is big rollers, then we were at the tavern. It was not dark yet, but I'd gotten across 26 and Cecil and Susan were stopped by the light, so I took advantage of that to turn on the helmet blinkie and Radbot. The Superflash on the bike had been on all day.

Parked our bikes in the covered employee smoking area, went in, and got a table. Ordered various things to drink - the waiter was telling us what was on tap, but we couldn't drink that now and expect to complete the ride :-) Lemonade (me), Diet Coke (Susan), water (Cecil), two orders of tots and the avocado cakes. McMenamin's same-day service did not disappoint; I had to get a register receipt before our food even arrived, just in case. As it turned out, our real receipt was still barely within the control's closing time :-) Eating. Sitting. Nice, but we'd pay for that when we got back on the bikes.

Cecil went out and came back and told me it was raining. {Expletive} Got my rain pants out of my bag and put them back on. This takes longer than you'd think; I have to take my shoes off to do it. Fortunately I can do THAT without removing the booties...

By now it was almost full dark, so reflective gear and lights all on. We were to climb up Old Cornelius Pass and then head east on Skyline (which, I might add is STILL climbing). Now, back when I started training for Cycle Oregon V (1992), I'd make myself ride up Old CP. I thought it was a really hard climb. I have since learned what a really hard climb is :-) So, easy spin up, cross Cornelius Pass onto Skyline and eastward. Very little traffic (yay!); Skyline (mostly) has a white edge line, and Cecil and Susan were usually a bit ahead of me, so knowing where to go was not an issue. My job was to call out cars coming in from behind. The rain stopped, whew.

We got to Thompson, where we were supposed to descend (and join onto Cornell), but it was closed. Landslide (!) Ok; we'd continue onto Cornell and descend into Portland there. I had been trying NOT to obsess (or, at least, obsess out loud) about that descent. I reef on my brakes the whole way down in DAYLIGHT, and here it was, pitch black. The top of Cornell is steep, and, as we are headed through Forest Park, no lighting because no houses. Yes, I do have a really good headlight. It doesn't make me feel that much more relaxed about it :-) Followed Cecil down; she called out gravel. As we were descending, I heard a distinctive rattling sound on my right. Another (small) landslide. Ok then. Fortunately, hardly any (none) traffic; I stayed more toward the centerline, where there was no gravel. Got to the Audobon Society, with streetlights and much less steep. Susan was waiting there.

Then, through the tunnels (hey, with all our lighting and reflectivity, I wasn't at all stressed about THAT today), then into Portland. My bike was exhibiting a bit of a shimmy, which was, in all probability me being stressed. Slowed down, tried to relax. Right.

We were supposed to turn left on something that "looked like a driveway but wasn't" and go through town that way. We didn't find it (subsequent examination of google maps shows it before the hairpins), so took the NW Overton bike boulevard down to the river, crossed the Steel Bridge, and headed south on the Esplanande to the Hawthorne Bridge. Very pretty and colorful, but also kind of surreal. Paying close attention so as not to hit a random bollard or something.

The convenience store in Ladd's was our best bet for a quick receipt (time was running out...). Susan bought something, I got a Sweet Salty Bar, and Cecil bought a ~~quart bottle of~~ 22oz bottle of Lagunitas IPA beer. Heck, she just had a few blocks to go :-) Whew. Done. Just about wrung every minute out of this one. We felt just like another rando who is known for using every possible minute allowed.

Loaded the bikes in Susan's truck. Got home. Took a shower, pulled on the compression tights, and fell asleep in the family room.

Starting from home:
136.58 miles, 12.74 mph avg, 7821 vertical feet
YTD miles: 1021, and it is only the first week of March :-)

a few more pics here

Beware, Roving Chihuahua Pack...

2011-02-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

After a week of rain mixed with snow (causing me to abort my Thursday bicycle commute), I was looking forward to this weekend. All the weather reports were promising SUN SUN SUN! Friday was more rain and cold, and a run through the Nature Park on the sucking mudpit trail, so I was dubious. Then the weather reports said, yes indeed, SUN, but beware of icy roads early.

Susan and I were to meet at Insomnia Coffee on Baseline in Hillsboro at 10am, and ride a slightly abbreviated version of Marcello's new Westside Populaire Perm.

Decisions. Which bike to ride? Dry and sunny, no need for lighting, no need to carry lots of stuff... Walked into the Bike Room in the garage, and Lemond was jumping up and down, going "me! me! me!, pick ME!" Haven't ridden Lemond since, um, maybe June? Clearly the tires needed air :-), and I quickly transferred the tire pump and the first aid kit (standard stuff I carry on every ride) to the Detours HighTail bag. Each bike has its own multitool, spare tube and patch kit; no need to worry about that.

The most direct way to Insomnia is straight out Jenkins/Baseline. Getting to Jenkins is a bit trickier, on a bike. Walker Rd east of SW Cedar Hills is inadvisable, and SW Cedar Hills south of Walker to Jenkins is similarly inadvisable. So, about 9:20am, I cautiously dropped down my street (remember the icy road part?), got myself onto SW Cabot/SW Center, did the one block sprint on SW Hall, then through the Cedar Hills Crossing mall onto W Hocken, which connects with Jenkins.

Sunny, roads were still wet, and there were frosty patches. I'm ok with untracked frost.

My co-worker who multi-modes (bicycle/MAX) to work from SW 205th/Baseline to SW 158th/Walker is not going to appreciate me telling her on Monday that I rode that distance in about 20 minutes. She probably spends twice that time waiting for the train, and riding the train :-)

So. I arrived. Susan arrived right after me, and wanted coffee. I'm always up for more coffee. Quirky little coffee shop :-) Also, great coffee and vegan pastries, for those so inclined. Susan: "you rode the Lemond!" Me: "so I don't have to work quite to hard to keep up with you when you are taking it easy". Decided it was too warm to wear the TBB jacket over my Luna wool-silk LS jersey and Shebeest thermal vest, so packed it away. Susan looked at me and shivered :-) Although she did like my cycling clothing supplier.

Then off, heading north on SW 231st/SW229th to SW Evergreen and west. No unfamiliar roads. Susan's coach had her doing a 4 hour EASY ride, with 5 spinning intervals along the way. Brief stop outside Roy to get a picture of a silo. I am usually riding in the other direction, so miss this:

Susan finally warmed up enough to remove the sleeves from HER jacket.

A brief pause IN Roy (as if Roy actually had an "IN"). Susan dusted all the dried mud spatter off my back - hazard of no fenders. Then west again on Wilkesboro and into Banks. We stopped to admire the new Banks-Vernonia trailhead, and Susan shared some of her hot cocoa mix. I also learned that I need more calories in the bottle. If they taste like that (yum), I'll consider it. Apparently my hot tea-gatorade is all the wrong kinds of sugar :-)

Then west again, pausing for wetlands photos on Cedar Canyon, and further west on Hwy 6. I stopped for a photo I had not taken the last time I was out this way.

After summiting, downhill to Gales Creek Rd. The shoulder was gravelled, so I felt like a loaf of bread on a cornmeal-covered baking sheet. Hope it is swept away by the time the Three Capes 300k rolls around.

Found Susan at the intersection, where she shared her Lemon Fruition bar. (Lynne clicks off to order some)

Did I mention that it was bright and sunny? We'd had a bit (ok, more than a bit) of headwind from the NW, and we were now heading SE on Gales Creek. Wheee! Gales Creek - nice rural scenery, and best enjoyed with a tailwind.

Turned onto Stringtown Rd, and stopped at the historical marker (Gales Creek had a mill), where Susan shared her Black Bean Brownies.

Now, "black bean" and "brownies" are not words or ingredients I myself would expect to find in such close proximity, but they were surprisingly tasty. A couple of women stopped, possibly also to read the historical marker, and told us we were "brave". Susan went into cycling PR mode; I just listened in admiration. Really, Stringtown road is very low traffic! (One cannot, perhaps, say quite the same about Gales Creek. Low traffic, but high speed.).

Pulled away, and, a bit further down the road, things felt... bouncy. Crud. Rear flat. Pulled over at a handy gravel driveway, only to be greeted by ferocious barking. Much ferocious barking, coming from somewhere in the vicinity of our ankles. The house across the road was home to 3 chubby Chihuahuas, all of which were intent on protecting their territory. They all came over to chase us away. Susan would growl at them, and they'd back off a bit. I was too busy laughing, and pulling flat repair stuff out. They shut up and started sniffing the supplies. No, that tube is not edible.

We found the hole, and I picked the offending bit of glass out of the tire. Susan patched the tube while I was swapping in the new tube. The chihuahuas supervised. Susan shared a learning from Vinnie: "if you get a flat, and you are carrying a spare tire, swap that in too - saves lots of time".

FINALLY, off again, into Forest Grove. By now, Maggie's was closed, so we settled on the Jack in the Box. They've got decent coffee, fries (mmmm, hot and salty.), indoor plumbing and a big window to supervise the bikes through.

Then east again, working our way back to Insomnia Coffee. A bit of a miscue (got my Portland Velo return routes crossed), so we ended up heading north on Brookwood (ick), rather than River, but did pop out on Baseline in just the right spot.

A long pause at Insomnia for paninis and chai. Former co-worker of husband was there; we caught up. Eventually, it was time to head on home, and we went our separate ways. Really nice ride!

69+ miles 14 avg mph.
The route
And pics

Pics from Worst Day Ride

2011-02-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

Diane, Dave VG and me afterwards.

And Little Pink Bear made a new friend:

All pictures by Eric S.

Look Ma! No Hands!

2011-02-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

As the husband needed to be dropped at the airport on Saturday, a ride on Saturday of any decent length was not going to happen. Fortunately, the Worst Day of the Year Ride was on Sunday, Seattle friend Eric was coming down to ride it, and local friend Diane K was looking for company as well.

I didn't figure that I'd actually RIDE with Eric, but we'd at least meet up somewhere along the route.

Weather was to be 40's to 50's, rain starting later in the day. Sleeveless wool baselayer, Luna silk/wool jersey (that fabric feels WONDERFUL), Showers Pass Elite 2.0 jacket, Smartwool shorts, Sugoi Firewall tights, wool socks, PI shoes w/Sugoi Firewall booties over them, old PI AmFib gloves. Extra gloves, and the Shebeest loose capris and Team Bag Balm windvest, if I got too warm.

Bicycle was Sweetpea.

The ride was to depart from the Lucky Lab on SE Hawthorne at 9am (the Challenge Route. Which one did you think I'd be riding? :-) ), so I was on the road at 7:40am. I wanted to get there for the pre-ride donuts and coffee. Not that I didn't have breakfast at home, first.

Found Diane when I arrived; she already had her donut in hand, and pointed me to the source. Called Eric; he wasn't planning to start until later.

We were off shortly after 9am (started in waves), wandered around a bit, got on the Esplanade, across the Steel Bridge, and finally on some less-crowded roadway heading north on Naito. The REI stop did not disappoint - Dragonfly Chai. I had two cups. Next time, I'll plan on an empty thermal bottle and fill it up :-) Then over the hill. First the climb through Washington Park (changed out the jacket for the vest, and switched to shortfinger gloves), over Sylvan Hill, down, and I'm on my commute to work.

Uneventful ride west. Many riders who are incapable of saying "on your left". Diane was getting hungry; fortunately we were almost at the Hillsboro REI. Eric called; they elected to do the urban route, so he could take pictures. We'd try to meet up at the finish.

My bicycle had a serious admirer. After some of that, we went to find food - pbj sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, Larabars. Pretzels. Only beverages were water and Heed. I didn't need anything, so passed on that.

A bit more riding west, then we turned east, for the more interesting climb of the day. Old Germantown. I've ridden it many times, but not in the past 2 or 3 years. I will say I was pleased with my ascent - no stopping, and even passed some people. I did not realize it was mostly 8-9%. Then on to the very top, zipped everything up, and headed down. Diane: "won't you be cold?" No.

NW Germantown was very clean and smooth, but also steep. I had been warned about the hairpins, so had no problems.

Got to the St Johns Bridge, and suggested to the riders shoaled up at the light that we'd all be much safer if we just took a whole lane (4 lane bridge). And so we did, and it was way fun! Much nicer than the return during the November permanent! After getting through St Johns, I had it in my head that we were somewhat closer to the Community Cycling Center than we really were. Once we popped out onto Willamette Drive, I figured that out.

Peeve: cyclists who pass then slow down because they don't know where they are going.

The Team Bag Balm windvest got lots of attention - clearly TBB has not been representing at events recently!

Got to the Community Cycling Center - hot chocolate and cookies. Lots of cookies. While I realize that it is the midpoint stop for the 18 mile urban route, and they get fed every 3 or 4 miles, the CCC is the first stop after 20+ miles of riding with a stiff climb in the middle for the challenge route riders. Something more substantial than cookies would not be a bad idea. Note to self: score an extra pbj from the REI stop for later.

So, anyway, 5 cookies later, Diane and I set out for the last 10 miles. Mindless east side riding; after following Cecil around, I'm getting better at knowing where I am. As we were back on the urban route, lots of slower riders. Lots of them. We'd filter up to the front at lights and then take off :-) We elected to give the Bike Gallery stop a pass; we wanted to finish by now.

Oh... Riding through NE PDX, I sat up and rode no hands! I've been trying to get where I could ride no hands on Sweetpea since last August, and might have finally succeeded! Wonderful! I can now snack with impunity on long rides!

Eric called - he was at the finish; I thought we'd be there in about 20 minutes, tops. Sure enough. Found him there; Diane and I got our soup and cheese bread and joined him and his friend Mike on the curb. He was worried about the fine accommodations. I reminded him that people who drink beer out of paper bags in WalMart parking lots weren't picky :-)

We talked a bit about randonneuring. Eric: "but you are a real randonneur". Me: "For $20 a year, you can be one too".

We saw Slug; he came over to say hi. Not that he was on the ride, he was just visiting. As always, I usually run into him any time I ride on the east side :-) More visiting. Eric took pictures. Diane was getting chilled, so she took off. Then it started to drizzle with some degree of intensity. I pulled on my jacket, said my good-byes, and headed on home. Took the jacket OFF before the climb, and didn't bother to put it back on, even when the drizzle got more insistent. It just wasn't quite that cold. Noticed that the camellias were starting to bloom in Washington Park - spring is on the way!

In all, 63 miles, 5000 vertical feet.

The Hills Have Eyes...

2011-02-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

February. Must be time for another OrRando brevet. Marcello organized the Grab Bag 200/300, a series of loops out of Newberg. One had a real climb, the others were "flat". More on that later.

Weather was 20% chance of "drizzle", temps mid 40s to mid 50s. I forgot to toss in some booties, and hoped for the best. I did, at the last minute, grab a wool camisole base layer to wear under my long-sleeve OrRando wool jersey. Good plan :-)

Ended up following Bill A down Hwy 99 to Newberg. We both wandered up and down Hayes, looking for a place to park.

Checked in, found Cecil (we were riding together), saw Susan, who clearly had her game face on. She was riding the 300, we weren't. Next month (Three Capes 300k) is soon enough for me, anyway. Better scenery, too.

So. Off at 7am. Still dark, so we were all lighted and reflectored. Not that it stopped someone from pulling out of the McD's right on top of us. An alert yell from Cecil and he stopped, just in time.

First loop was out of Newberg via SR240, Old Yamhill Rd, Tangen, and then North Valley, headed up to Forest Grove, then back via Sherwood and the climb up Kruger Rd. The drizzle promptly set in, and stayed with us for quite awhile. Not enough to soak through, but enough to be annoying. We mindlessly headed north ("we can do this stretch in our sleep"). Perhaps a little TOO mindless. We turned off Spring Hill onto Fern Hill, and found ourselves at the intersection of Hwy 47 because it said turn on Hwy 47, except it said L. We KNEW that was wrong, and turned R, and found ourselves by the Grand Lodge, except Marcello wanted us to end up at Maggies. No problem. Except the route map had us continuing on Spring Hill, then heading into Forest Grove on Hwy 47. Two bonus miles. :-) Cecil hadn't wanted to stop at Maggies ("Time Suck"), but there was no one there. I scarfed a yummy apricot croissant thing from the day old bin, and inhaled it, along with my banana.

What was totally different about this ride is that there were OTHER RIDERS in our vicinity. Cecil and I are used to riding in relative solitude for hours and hours and hours.

Then, off to Sherwood, via more roads we could ride in our sleep (basically, the return stretch from the fleche in reverse). The drizzle went away somewhere along here. I was running out of steam on Roy Rogers Rd, so we pulled over for a snack (mmm, rye-molasses muffin and sunflower seeds). Not that we were that far from Sherwood. Into Sherwood, wandering through subdivisions, eventually to find the Historic Downtown and our control. Which turned out to be the yummy Sesame Donuts. There is one not far from my house; didn't know they'd expanded. I got a cocoa and a sesame donut, the delightful Yusuf signed my card. Cecil, Ray, Bill and I had a nice little sit-down. Other patrons gave us funny looks.

More Sherwood, then it was time to cross back over 99W and climb. First the drop down Kruger with a few hairpins, and then up. It is a reasonably consistent climb for 3 miles, except for the last pitch on Leander to the Gibbs Cemetery, our next control. I will just modestly say that I'm really happy with my ascent of the hill. Really happy :-) 12 less pounds since Jan 1 helps a LOT.

Faffed around a bit, took pictures, then enjoyed the descent. A few very tight hairpins, a really nice straight drop, then we were back into Newberg, finished with the first loop.

Kathy and Marcello were in the first hotel room by the back door, Marcello signing cards and Kathy pushing food ("we have grilled cheese, grilled ham and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, chips, fruit, drinks, soup, cocoa...") Aaaaah. I myself enjoyed a grilled cheese and some Fritos.

I had brought along a complete change of riding gear, but decided I didn't need it. And off again. Michal thought he'd join us, since we clearly knew where we were going. West on 99W all the way into Lafayette. Ick. My opinion of the shoulder has not changed, although there do appear to be some nicely repaved sections. In Lafayette... "must.. not.. turn.. right.. on.. Bridge..". I didn't. A rider we caught up with did. Took some convincing that we weren't going that way today.

Right on Mineral Springs, left on Gun Club, left on Hwy 47, and then we were on a stretch I had not ridden before. There was an annoying, but not killer headwind. It was flat. For awhile. Turned onto the Westside Highway, where the speed limit appeared to be about 80mph. Happily, we were only on it for a mile before turning west again. Then things started to get interesting.

We started wandering around a low rolling hilly area with occasional farms, bleak stands of trees and empty winter fields. It was a lot of up and down, with the headwind, and the sense of making no forward progress whatsoever. Yes, it did creep me out. It might even be described as claustrophobic. Cecil: "the hills have eyes?" And it seemingly went on for hours, even though I see it was no more than 10 miles.

The bright spot was the alpaca ranch. Huge herd of alpaca. They were totally cute and fluffy, and I wanted to buy their fleece and have a wonderful time spinning it up. There was a brief pause for documentation, and Cecil explained to Michal how to tell the difference between alpacas and llamas.

FINALLY made it to the Sheridan DQ, our last on-route control. Asta (riding her first brevet and she was having a WONDERFUL time) and Tomas were there. Got some coffee and ate another banana and more sunflower seeds. I was at a mental and physical low point right then, for sure. The temperature was dropping a bit, and we pulled on our night riding gear.

Then we FINALLY turned ENE, and had the tailwind. 30 miles to go, and we made darn good time. We did stop at the Dayton convenience store, sat on the curb and had a bite to eat before the last 10 miles. Cecil: "we look like homeless people". Me: "yes. Expensively dressed ones"

For the first time in a long time, we were headed back to Newberg from Dayton (10 miles), rather than Forest Grove or Hillsboro (20-30 miles). Except we were also headed back on 99W. Sigh. Darkness was falling as we headed east. The terrain is slightly rolling (feels more rolling at the end of a ride), Cecil and I were tired, traffic is fast and heavy, and the shoulder wasn't much better than it has been in the past. I shut my mind to all the bad possibilities and pedaled east. I didn't want to ride too close to Cecil and Michal, because then I couldn't see junk in the shoulder (and junk there was). Finally, though Dundee, past the gas station and DQ, past the Thriftway (traditional permanent stopping point), another mile through town (clean, well-lit bike lanes, ahhhhh) and back to the Travelodge.

Card signed, I went out to put the bike away and get my change of clothes. Kathy and Marcello had lasagna and soup and rice, but Cecil and I had plans to hit up the Burgerville. Ate some oranges while waiting for the shower and enjoyed the post-ride (for most of the folks in the room; some were headed out for the last loop of the 300km) party. Showered and with clean clothes, Cecil and I headed over to the Burgerville, where I had too much to eat. :-)

11:10 total time (not bad)
125.9 miles, 13.91 avg mph
all pics here

Small World

2011-02-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

So, I'm cycling over after work to get my hair cut this past Thursday. At the corner of Jenkins and Murray, there appears a cyclist from behind.

"Wow! That bike is really set up for touring!". (Bleriot w/nifty new Ortlieb panniers) "Is that a Rivendell?" "Love the fenders!" I never pass up compliments to my bike :-)

So, his name is Donald, and he's got front AND rear panniers, because he's a massage therapist and all his work stuff is in there. As I was headed for a haircut, and not home, I was happy to chat routes with him. I am evasive as to my route and where I'm headed when I'm riding home.

So we talked bikes, and rode together through Tektronix, south on Hocken, left on Farmington, right on whatever that street is west of Beaverton High School, left on 5th... and, as we approached Main, I told him I'd be leaving him here.

"Oh! Are you going to Suyapa's?" Well, yes, I was. She's been cutting my hair for about 30 years now. Very Small World!

Suyapa cracked up when I told her.

A Longish Weekend Ride with Many High Points

2011-01-25T22:21:00.000-08:00

As I understand it, Cecil was planning to ride out to the BTA board retreat in Hillsboro at Team Estrogen. Susan thought she'd ride into Portland, meet Cecil and they'd ride back together. That's 34 miles for Susan, 17 miles for Cecil. They invited me to join in on the ride part, and, as Team Estrogen isn't all that far from Longbottom's, I'd be back in plenty of time to lead a Portland Velo ride. And then ride home. But of course.

Bicycle of choice was Sweetpea because I'd need the lights, and it is the default bike for winter club rides (fast, yet fendered and luggaged).

Susan was riding in over Springville-Skyline-Thompson-Cornell. That's kind of out of my way. So, up at 4:15am, riding by 5am along the Sunset Hwy bike path, down through Washington Park, through downtown, over the Hawthorne Bridge, then right on 11th to meet at Kettleman's around 6am. It being dark, I didn't bomb down the hills with quite my usual verve, and arrived a bit after 6. Cecil was there, eating a bagel. I'd had peanut butter toast and a banana at home, and, as Cecil said: "well, it got you over the hill". Time for an everything bagel with lox cream cheese and a cup of coffee.

I had started out with a long sleeved wool knit shirt under a long sleeved wool jersey. Ride leader vest over that, and Portland Velo Showers Pass jacket. Took off the wool base layer and Showers Pass jacket - too hot!

Did I mention the three of us are in a weight loss death pact? I was looking forward to the ride today because I could EAT with relative impunity.

So. No Susan. She appeared at 6:25am, and, at 6:30am, give or take, we were headed back west. I'd never ridden UP Cornell-Thompson, but it was not a big deal. 4+ miles of climbing, no traffic. It got light somewhere along there. Then a delightful zip along Skyline, and the steep drop down Springville.

We passed the historic house on NW Kaiser, completely surrounded by suburbs. I remember riding by it when there was Nothing There At All but Fields. Nothing. Kind of sad.

Susan took us on the Bethany Meadows Trail from NW Kaiser to NW West Union. Nice!

A wander through her neighborhood with a brief stop, then they headed off for the meeting, and I headed off to Longbottom's. 30 miles, 2500 vertical feet, climbing the West Hills twice. I had 90 minutes to kill, but I had brought some knitting along, and a full coffee card. So I redeemed it for the largest orange-mocha they offered, and settled down to knit.

Eventually JRod came by and some others, and then it was time to go out and lead a 40 mile ride. Brian C was in my group (yay!), Bill, and Ron. Ron left us, and Mike Y joined us until Forest Grove. Ate a well-buttered Rye-Molasses muffin in Forest Grove (brought from home, I add raisins and walnuts to the recipe). I'd get ahead and then slow down for Bill to catch up. We finished about 1:20, and Brian and I found a spot at the tables of Portland Velo riders and enjoyed a leisurely, um, fourth breakfast. 70 miles.

Time to head home. A reasonably mindless 10 miles.

80 miles in all, 4400 vertical feet, My average for the Velo portion of the ride was 14.15 mph.

High points. Well. Sylvan summit. Skyline at Thompson. Riding with Cecil and Susan. Eating with Impunity. Nice day. Riding with Brian C. What else is there?

Meanwhile, back on the fiber front...

2011-01-13T23:22:00.000-08:00

A longish while back, Rebecca and Jessica presented me with 20 oz of alpaca - 10 oz of Suri and 10 oz of Brown Huacaya. The brown may have been dyed; they weren't clear. In any case, 10 oz was too much for socks or a scarf, and not quite enough for anything else :-)

But wait! I could blend it with another fiber and have MORE. I eventually bought 8 oz of a mahogany heather colonial wool top (love it when they say that, what kind of sheep is that, exactly?) and started casting around for a drum carder. Not to BUY one, but borrow it for awhile.

Turns out that Dana in my cycling club has a drum carder. Actually it is Dana and his wife, and they've got wheels, the drum carder and a couple of honking big looms. I took myself over for a tour (I am so jealous), got a drum carder lesson and off I went. (That's me, I don't always know what I'm doing, but usually I can figure it out, to some extent)

So, last summer, carded away, and ended up with 18 batts of blended fiber.

I finally pulled out the wheel and got back to spinning it up. The first few batts were not much fun to spin. It just didn't draft very smoothly. But I got halfway through and had to stop and ply, because I don't have enough bobbins to hold 18 oz of singles, plus more bobbins to ply onto.

Turns out it was me. The last 3 batts have been amazing. I turned it into one long strip, then did some serious predrafting before starting spinning. It now almost spins itself. This is SO COOL! (Maybe I should take a class...)

I was aiming to replicate Reynolds Turnberry Tweed, which a very kind fellow Raveler send me a sample of. I think I'm pretty much there.

The yarn wants to be a vest, but hasn't said which one.

New Year's Brevet 2011

2011-01-02T23:17:00.000-08:00

How best to start out the New Year? Go for a bike ride!

Marcello organized the OrRando New Year's Brevet; essentially the same route as the Hillsboro-Dallas-Hillsboro permanent, with a tweak at the beginning and end to avoid the flooded roads. It has been a bit wet here.

Happily, THIS time it was not going to rain. Granted, the temperature range was expected to be 29/35 deg F, but it wouldn't be raining.

Even MORE happily, Cecil's doctor cleared to her ride her bicycle up small hills. The hills from Perrydale to Dallas are small. Sort of. For some definitions of small. (in the greater scheme of things, they are, really)

The usual over-obsession of what to wear (which is why I write these things down, so I can go back and spend less time obsessing), plus the new wrinkle of how to load my bike into my new car. Fortunately, this car was bought with the EXPRESS purpose of stuffing bikes in it, but as I bought it the day before the ride, I had to work things out quickly.

Food - baked up a batch of Rye-Molasses muffins, tossed in a few bars and a banana. Thermos of Gatorade-Tea and water bottle of, well, water.

Extra chemical hand and foot warmers.

And off to Marcello's early Saturday morning. It being dark, I really didn't know who was there, except for Susan and Cecil and Ray and Ken.

We were promptly off at 7:30, after a warning to keep an eye out for ice. It had been dry but "sometimes people water their lawns..." Didn't need the route map much, except for the Singing Woods-Smith-Morgan part - my regular club rides traverse this particular route often. Cecil and I left a bit after the herd, heading out into the brightening day.

After much wending around, and a brief stop on Tongue Road for me to remove my jacket, we FINALLY exited Hillsboro and it felt like the ride really started. Admired the frozen wetlands as we headed south on Fern Hill/Spring Hill. Found Marcello just past the Laughlin intersection with hot water and fixings for hot cocoa and tea, and lots of cookies and snackies. This was a Secret Control, so placed to ensure that no one took the shortcut over Bald Peak. Ken Bonner was there - he'd broken his rear derailleur and was going to catch a ride back with Marcello. Too bad, since he'd travelled the furthest to do this ride.

We figured we were at the end (I should rename this blog "The Continuing Adventures of Lanterne Rouge"), but as we turned onto Abbey Road, Ray and Ken came in from Hendricks Road. Bonus miles. Ray: "I ride out here often enough, you'd think I'd know better". Heading into Dayton, we saw a bike headlight approaching (that LED gleam is unmistakeable). Who could it be? We thought maybe Ken decided to attempt a roadside repair and continue on, but it turned out to be someone I did not know. Cecil did, and they chatted all the way into Dayton.

Several riders at the Dayton convenience store; I greeted the cashier. She thought I looked a lot drier this time. Purchased and consumed a dark chocolate Milky Way, met the mystery rider (Tomas), who had fabulous naked-lady helmuffs, and headed out again. Quick control, there.

Though Amity, with a nice little tailwind speeding us along. South on 99W (no continuous conversation possible; traffic), then onto Bethel Road. Started eating a yummy muffin. Ziploc bags are hard to manage on the bike; I shall have to try wax paper next time. Left on Perrydale, stopping to chat briefly with Marcello, who was now parked at the Perrydale School. Most fun ever on Perrydale Road - the tailwind made the rollers almost fun, the sun peeked out, and it was DRY.

Even managed to do a no-hands stretch on Sweetpea (still working on that)

Cecil wondered if I had noticed that I was beating her up every hill. Yeah, sort of. But as she hasn't been riding for months and all, I figured I had unfair advantage and wasn't going to mention it. But, as this is probably the only time in my entire life that I'll be in this position :-) I was trying not to stand on the hills in solidarity, since she wasn't supposed to be standing either.

We only saw three riders returning (two guys and Susan, who was on a mission to do a sub-10 hr ride), and wondered where they were. I figured they were sitting down for a three course meal with tablecloths, china and silverware in Dallas.

They were all at the Dallas Safeway, getting ready to head back. We went in and bought hot drinks (mmm. Mocha!), and I applied fresh chemical footwarmers. Ate another muffin. Got more water. Came out to find Ken, Ray, Joe M, Jeff A and Tomas arriving.

Ken and Ray left with us, but quickly fell behind. There was a bit of a headwind; nothing showstopping. Returning on Perrydale did not seem as endless as it did a couple of weeks ago - dry, pretty scenery, great views over the distance from the tops of the rollers...

Found Marcello again and had a nice Cup of Noodles. We chatted about the lead group and how they did have time to take a nice long break in Dallas. Marcello: "I have heard that faster riders can do that. Not that I'd know". Me either :-)

Ray passed by, he didn't want to waste the sunshine. We found him on Bethel Road. Back through Amity, the endless stretch to Dayton (in reality 8.6 miles) and the Dayton convenience store. Another dark chocolate bar (Snickers, a better choice) and my banana. Still daylight, but we pulled our reflective gear back on, so we wouldn't have to later.

Off through Lafayette, then onto Abbey and then Kuehne. RUDE drivers on Kuehne - several passed us with oncoming traffic and the oncoming traffic had to swerve to avoid them. Stupid stupid stupid.

Swooped down onto Ribbon Ridge, at which point it was statutory sunset, so we turned on the rest of our lights. I was still not wearing my jacket. I was hoping we'd get to Flett before it was full dark, but we did better than that. The sunset was spectacular, and the wetlands were amazing in the fading light.

At Flett, most of the traffic turns onto it, and Spring Hill gets even less busy. We could see the lights of Gaston ahead to the left, eventually falling behind us. Turned right onto Geiger before Forest Grove and had a small snack (we were both feeling a touch of the bonk. It was now 28 degrees. Did I put on my jacket? No.)

Worked our way east - again, back in very familiar territory (the entire route is familiar territory, what am I saying?), but rarely ridden in the dark. One busy crossing that was uneventful, then north on Minter Bridge to the cut-through for Minter Bridge. We found Morgan. But there was no Smith. Looped through the neighborhood, ending up on Minter Bridge again. SLOWLY headed down Morgan again. No Smith. Pulled out the phone and checked google maps. There it was. Except it was labeled Singing Woods at this end. Very Strange. Ray and Ken came up - they were similarly confounded. Cecil and I knew exactly where to go at this point, and we all rode together. Heading into the Dark Hole that is the undeveloped end of Davis... Ray: "Is this right?".

A few more turns and we were back at Marcello's. We went inside and... I started shaking and couldn't stop. Two bowls of Mac and Cheese, two big mugs of hot tea, and a big serving of warm peach cobbler, nice visiting all around, and I was finally warm again. Whew.

12 hours elapsed time, 9:52 riding time.

all the pics here
Cecil's pics here

What I wore:
long sleeve Joneswares wool baselayer
long sleeve OrRando wool jersey
Shebeest thermal vest
Sugoi Firewall gloves (the lobster claw ones)
Smartwool shorts
PI AmFib tights
wool socks
PI shoes
Sugoi Firewall booties
Sugoi Wallaroo cap
Showers Pass Elite jacket (for awhile, anyway)
Bell Metro helmet with the fitted helmet cover
chemical toe warmers
I had chemical hand warmers, but they made my hands too hot, so I took them out. My hands were fine all day.
Except for the last 12 miles, this was perfect.

Year in Review - Cycling

2010-12-31T20:00:00.000-08:00

Just the totals :-)

Lemond: 1492 miles
Bleriot: 1575 miles
Sweetpea: 1353 miles
Grand total 4420 miles (must have missed recording something...)

So, none of the bikes can complain of neglect or favoritism. This year, anyway.

Rides of at least 100 miles in 2010: 11

Organized rides: Monster Cookie Metric Century, RSVP, and RAPSody
OrRando brevets/populaires/permanents: 8. 1509 km worth
Disorganized rides: most of them. Best kind.

That said, there is a 200km brevet tomorrow, must get ready.

Best to you all in the new year!

Deliveries and a Milestone

2010-12-28T17:44:00.000-08:00

I needed 23 more miles on the bike to get a nice round number for 2010. I also had some new socks to deliver. The distance was about right. The weather wasn't. Two out of three gets it.

I was headed in the vicinity of the SW corner of West Union and Cornelius Pass, coming in from the east and south. No problem, I'd do the standard westward route to Longbottom's, but turn north on Cornelius Pass and worry about turning left across it when I got to there (5 lanes, speeds well in excess of the posted limit).

A brief disheartening encounter at the corner of Park Way and Marlow. Someone (not me) did not fully learn the concept of right of way and taking turns at 4 way stops.

Onward west, through a very heavy and persistent rain. After passing the trail entrance on Evergreen, I thought - I could go under Hwy 26 on the path, and have a nice quiet neighborhood cruise and skip Cornelius Pass altogether (I'd just have to cross it at a light). Did I mention heavy and persistent rain? Most of the way along the path it was good, then the path just... vanished. To be replaced by class 5 rapids! :-( Turn around, go back, follow the original plan.

Arrived at my destination. Jeff opened the back door for me - best workplace bike parking ever. Hung up the bike, peeled off layers of wet clothing and hung THEM up. Gave Jeff a tour of Sweetpea - I've had it for several months now, but not a lot of folks have seen it in person. Mostly just randos and some Portland Velo folks :-)

Delivery accomplished, we settled down for some visiting before the boss had to get back to work.

I thought I'd try heading home north of Hwy 26, but didn't particularly want to ride on the major roads (West Union, Bethany, etc). You can't get there from here. The entire area bounded by NW West Union, NW 185th, NW 143rd, and Hwy 26 is a collection of subdivisions with winding rounds, cul de sacs, and exits only at busy, high-speed roads, with poor sight lines (NW 174th). So you CAN get there from here, but it gets a little confusing. I hadn't ridden that stretch for some time, and some roads were renamed (the northern terminus is NW 143rd is now NW Kaiser). Joy. Eventually found myself at the northern terminus of Murray Rd, and headed south over the highway to eventually cross Murray at Butner, at which point it was reasonably quiet roads all the way home.

(addendum 12/30) email exchange with Tualatin Hills Park and Rec reveals that in 2013 there will be a path from Somerset to Oak Hills through Spyglass Park/Crystal Creek Park, as part of the Waterhouse Trail extension. This will cut out the necessity of ending up on West Union. Of course, one will still have to cross Bethany, which, by that time will be 5 lanes/high speed :-(

At the corner of Laidlaw and West Union, I was surprised by a cyclist asking if I had planned to do the upcoming New Years 200k. (yes). Not someone I knew, and not a name I recognized, but he recognized the bike and Little Pink Bear :-)

Milestone accomplished - 4400 miles for 2010. Most ever!

Not Epic - the Bakery 61km

2010-12-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

After the past two weekends of epic rides, I, at least wanted a break. A month ago we had planned a Sweetpea ride - Natalie (Ms. Sweetpea herself), Cecil, Susan, and me. We'd meet up at a coffee shop/bakery in Portland, and ride between other ones. And take a few pictures.

Since then, Cecil hurt herself, but she is allowed to GENTLY ride a bicycle. Natalie is a bit slower these days, but still faster than me :-) Susan and I are maintaining, except my lower back is not my friend. I am laying off running for awhile, in the hope that it gets better.

So. Easy ride. Later start. We agreed to meet up at the Kettleman's by Cecil's home at 9am. The weather forecast was not promising. So much so that snow was forecasted. Susan and I were going to ride in from our side of the hill, but if it snows anywhere in Portland, it snows on THAT hill. Susan got on the MAX (our light rail) out by her house; I joined her at my stop. Yes, there was some snow.

Two stops later we were at the Goose Hollow stop, where we disembarked, headed east through downtown, and over the Hawthorne Bridge. Got to Kettlemans, locked up the bikes, sat where we could SEE said bikes (Susan thinks Lynne is very paranoid. Damn right.) and dug into our beverage and food.

Cecil arrived, followed shortly by Natalie. We sat and ate and talked for a very long time. Cecil: "in the event that we actually go and RIDE our bikes, here is a proposed itinerary..."

We started wending our way a bit east and then north. Eventually we arrived at Cup and Saucer on N. Denver. Coffee, tea, fruit cups, basket of scones...

While unlocking the bikes afterward, a girl out with her mother allowed as how they were cool bikes. Cecil (or Susan) said it was even cooler that (pointing to Natalie) built all of them. :-)

It hadn't rained, and the sun was peeking out. We headed off to Smith and Bybee Lakes, only to be presented with a possible roadblock of a very long train sitting right on the crossing we needed to cross. We noticed that the end wasn't far away, and there was another crossing of sorts there, so a bit of cross-wet soggy grass later, we were headed back to the lakes. Birds in the Slough, ducks in the lakes. Brief pause for a few pictures of my favorite spot at the lakes.

Then back, where Natalie peeled off to go home and we continued on to the New Deal Cafe. Mmm. I went for the amazing hash and chai (I was coffeed out. It happens). Susan had the cranberry-walnut pancakes with cranberry-orange sauce; Cecil had the hummus plate.

It was raining lightly when we finally left. After some discussion Susan and I elected to ride back to the Goose Hollow station, rather than catching the MAX on the east side (Slow. Many stops. We can ride faster.)

From my MAX station, 1.5 miles downhill to home. Fabulous company, and a great ride!

The Armageddon 200km

2010-12-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

No, there really isn't a ride by that name. It is a name that could be assigned to any ride, depending on the circumstances. :-)

Susan and I were set to ride Marcello's Hillsboro-Dallas-Hillsboro 200km. The weather report, a week ahead was not discouraging. As the week progressed, it turned into this: "However, a strong wave of rain was expected to push in Saturday, bringing anywhere from 1-3 inches of rainfall for the metro area and Willamette Valley. From 3-5 inches of rainfall was possible in the Coast Range and, with slightly less for the Cascades. As the system approaches, some east wind will kick in giving us the potential for some wintry precipitation for the Upper Hood River Valley."

So, what's a little rain? haha. Susan offered up a pair of rain pants to wear (I don't have any, I find that my PI Amfib tights and Sugoi Firewall tights do a decent job of keeping me warm enough and not terribly wet). Someone who shall not be named, because it is SO out of character for her thought we might consider waiting for another day. Nothing like developing common sense in your old age. Remind me to guard against that.

In deference to the probable presence of overwhelming amounts of water, I did pack extra socks, gloves, my Firewall tights, and another baselayer. I've pretty much given up carrying extra clothes on rides, except for socks, because I've never yet broken into them.

Put some Finish Line Cross Country (sturdiest chain lube I've got) on the already very grubby bike, and figured out a way to mount my new RadBot500 rear flasher, so I'd be running two very bright rear lights. A Gino mount might be a better long-term solution.

Met up with Susan and Tom D (also riding) at Marcello's, and headed out at 7:03am. It was still quite dark, and, you guessed it, raining. Got a bit of the way down Baseline, only to realize we had lost Susan. I stopped and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually I saw a bike light in the distance and started up again, knowing Susan would catch me. It turned out that a piece of Marcello's landscaping had insinuated itself around her cassette and was difficult to extract.

So, west on Baseline, though Hillsboro proper. A place I don't usually go. They've spiffed it up over the years. Pretty with the rain and Christmas lights. Eventually it merged with TV Highway, and so did we, continuing west. Just before Cornelius, Susan came up with a flat. We pulled off, and, after a brief discussion (all this writing, and we'd gone maybe 7 miles), I continued on. Susan would fix the flat, and get to flex her wattage catching me. I figured she'd find me on Fern Hill or Spring Hill.

Cornelius/Forest Grove was the first control, to ensure we did not shortcut the route by riding over Bald Peak. Right. Like ANYONE would shortcut the route by 3-4 miles by voluntarily riding up Bald Peak. I pulled in at a gas station, bought some sunflower seeds, made a little stop, and pulled away singing along with the Christmas carols blaring over their loudspeaker. Daylight joined me! Yay!

Southwest on Hwy 47, south on Fern Hill. Still raining heavily. The Fern Hill wetlands and the fields on the west side of the road were full. Not to the road yet, but I did wonder what the conditions would be on our return. Turned onto Spring Hill. No Susan. Started to wonder how long I'd be riding solo. No traffic. I love riding Fern Hill/Spring Hill - wetlands, hills on either side. Got a kick out of the homes to the west with the long flooded driveways. One was for sale. Wonder if they tossed in a small ferry for days like this.

The rain pants Susan loaned me gave it up at about 24 miles; I could feel my shoes filling up. I was still warm enough, no worries yet.

No Susan. Ribbon Ridge/Kuehne/Abbey/Lafayette. Then Dayton, first control at 35 miles. Stopped in at the Center Market for hot chocolate, Fritos and a receipt. The folks in line in front of me INSISTED on paying for my stuff too. Susan showed up a few minutes later. Whew!

She vanished into the restroom to change her baselayer. I chatted up the cashier. Nice guy. Eventually, off again, into the rain. We both agreed that the stretch from Dayton to Amity seems longer than it really is. Through Amity, south on 99W. This is where the route quits being flat. Big rollers. Eventually right on Bethel, then left on Perrydale. The antique firetruck at the corner of Bethel and Perrydale is tastefully decorated with twinkle lights.

Conversations included variations on "But I will be an Iron Man" theme.

Rollering our way south, we found Tom heading back, just before the US-22 crossing. More climbing (I always forget that the steepish climb into Dallas is only the first of two. You'd think I'd remember by now.), then into Dallas proper. The control (another Center Market on Washington/Kings Valley Hwy) is a ways into town. We planned to go there, get a receipt, and head back to the Safeway, with its indoor seating, restroom, and hot soup. The cashier at the Center Market signed my card with no instructions needed, and I bought and inhaled a Milky Way Dark. Not too big, not overly sweet. Have to remember that.

Back to the Safeway. Susan had a lock and cable, so we secured the bikes and took over the women's employee restroom (the customer restroom was out of order). Giant puddles formed on the floor as we removed successive layers of supersaturated clothing. Admired our frozen feet (Susan's were white, I was part way there) I squeezed out my gloves, and wrung out the insoles of my shoes. Stuffed the shoes with paper towels. Squeezed out my booties. Blotted moisture from my (wool) cap, (wool) jersey and (wool) shorts. Changed the paper towels in my shoes. Realized my dry socks were still on the bike. Wiped up the puddles. Pulled on a dry baselayer (Smartwool microweight LS; received a big shipment of woolly goodness on Friday, yes I did) Pulled on the damp jersey. Pulled on the dry Sugoi Firewall tights. Put all the wet clothing in the plastic bag. Walked, with bare feet, stopping in the produce department to snag some more bags and put things into them, out to the bikes, where I got Susan's tire pump and my dry socks.

Found Susan working on her bowl of soup. Bought some for myself - cashier called me "dearie" in that "aren't YOU mentally deficient!" tone of voice. Put on the socks (ahhhhhh!), ate my soup, called home, ate my sandwich, watched Susan patch her flat tube from earlier. She reused my plastic produce bags as protection for her feet.

Another employee came by and asked if we were out running the rain. No, we were riding. "Oh, I could NEVER do that! I'd die after a mile!". Susan and I gave the standard "you'd be surprised at what you could do" response. Not that we'd recommend this day to start :-) More polite conversation, where the conversant is either mentioning the weather, or how brave we are, and the non-stated subtext is "you two are completely mental".

Eventually, after 90 minutes of being in Dallas (the control closed 20 minutes ago), we left. I thought I'd try dry gloves for awhile, not that the Firewalls were not keeping my hands perfectly warm. If my Wombats got saturated, I could always go back to the Firewalls.

But it was NOT RAINING! Yay! Headed back along Perrydale Road. Every other ride I've done through Dallas involved coming in on Perrydale, then heading out on Ellendale to Rickreall and then north on 99W. It was a climb both ways, which I thought was odd. Wouldn't it be better to ride back on Perrydale? Now that I have done it, perhaps not so much. The rollers are equivalently soul-sucking in both directions. I will say that Perrydale is much prettier and quieter.

Back to Amity, were we made a brief stop, and Susan updated Jeff on our progress. The boring stretch to Dayton; another stop at the Center Market, where we had more hot cocoa and visited with the wife of the morning's cashier. She also signed the cards with no instructions ("we get a lot of you all through here and Dallas") Susan did the night riding additions (helmet light). I was already set up, having not taken off my reflective vest all day. I switched my helmet light on.

It started to mist a bit as we headed north through the increasing gloom. Three miles into Lafayette (again, a shout out to the polite drivers in Lafayette who ALWAYS stop to let cyclists and pedestrians cross 99W. Always.), through, and out onto Abbey Road (there really is an abbey). By now, full dark, with the mist getting somewhat more like "rain". Susan and I rode side by side, enjoying the illumination from our Supernova E3 headlights. Not much traffic, and what there was generally stayed back until it was safe to pass.

Susan: "I've never ridden this stretch in the dark". Me: "Seems I've ridden it more in the dark than in daylight!"

Pulled over at Laughlin Road for a stretch and a snack. A car stopped. "Are you lost?" Uh, no, thank you. Susan later said we should have replied "Not all who wander are lost". The best comebacks always wait until it is too late.

As we wandered closer to Gaston, the oncoming headlights and rain speckled glasses combined to make it really, really hard for me to see. I finally found a spot where I could pull over (I couldn't even see the driveways that I knew were there) and take off the glasses. Immediate improvement; I'd just have to hope I didn't get any stuff in my eyes.

The spot where it would flood if it was going to flood was still clear. We both were thinking that "if this ride finished in Forest Grove we'd be done soon!" Headed into Forest Grove for a receipt. There is a Jack in the Box at the corner of Maple and Pacific (TV Hwy) that served nicely. I sucked down a carton of OJ. Then, off for the last 10 miles into Hillsboro.

TV Hwy has a bike lane, but it is a very busy road of varying road surface quality. Just on the west edge of Hillsboro we were directed off to a parallel, and almost deserted street. Aaaahhhhh.

And then, finally, back on Baseline, watching the street numbers count up to 70, where we stopped at the gas station down the road from Marcello's for our final receipt. I bought and inhaled a banana.

Susan had visions of a sub 10 hour 200k, but with the mechanicals and the extreme weather, we did it in 12:33. Susan: "that's the longest 200k I've ever done!". Me: "I've done longer :-) "

Coasted to Marcello's, where Kathy and Marcello welcomed us with "you two look much less hypothermic than the other guy!" We sat down and organized our receipts and Kathy gave us big mugs of hot tea, and, in my case a bowl of Shepherd's Pie. Mmmm. Hot. We enjoyed Andrea Bocelli's Christmas special on the Tivo, and received our cards for this ride and last weekend back from Marcello.

And then home, to a towel by the back door :-) and a wonderful surprise. Totally off subject, but there was a letter at the top of the mail pile... The US Patent Office granted me my 5th US Patent!

Sorry, no pictures - too wet!

Gear notes:
Rain pants from Susan gave it up after 24 miles of incessant heavy rain. Nice while they lasted. They'd probably work perfectly under less-intense conditions.
Sugoi Firewall gloves - they get saturated, but still keep my hands quite warm. I just wring them out every so often. Definitely keepers.
Sugoi Firewall booties - they gave it up after many miles of heavy rain as well. Darn.
Sugoi Firewall tights - wore them the second half of the ride, legs were warm the entire time
Smartwool baselayers - wool. Nuff said.
Smartwool cycling shorts - I finally performed the chamois transplant (a wool-faced chamois is just a bit too itchy for me), and they were great! They actually dried out on the second half of the ride!
Bell Metro helmet with fitted raincover - awesome!

Bald Peak Populaire

2010-12-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

Bald Peak is not a climb that I would get up one day and say "ooh! I'll go ride up Bald Peak!". It is a local climb with several ways up, all of which hurt. There is no easy way up Bald Peak.

That said, friend Susan suggested we ride Marcello's Bald Peak Permanent Populaire. 64 miles, 3000 vertical feet.

Weather was low 40's, maybe a teeny chance of rain. It did not say windy (insert foreshadowing music). I put some lube on Sweetpea's chain and called it good.

Met Susan at Marcello's just before 10am (it's only 100k. we had a leisurely start.). Marcello was going to ride as well. It turned out that Susan and I were the very first to ride this perm other than Marcello.

We took the standard "escape route" out to Laurel, but stayed on Bald Peak Rd rather than heading south to the store. Not so challenging right at the start, but just before mile 10, the road starting going up. Seriously up. The incline averaged 7% over 4.5 miles. It got to where I'd think "oh, this feels easy!", only to look down at the computer and notice that the incline had dropped below 10%. Found Susan about 1/3 of the way up. Ate my banana, Marcello came by (he rides a recumbent trike), and we pressed onward and upward.

At one point, I was hoping the grade would slack off as the summit got closer, but then I'd turn a corner and see another wall. One more very brief pause, and then the last mile. Found Susan at the park. Total climb time was about 50 minutes. Susan was cold, so we only lingered long enough for me to write down the info control answer and pull my jacket back on. Marcello came by and we all set out.

Now we were headed along the summit ridge, with the wind roaring in from the east and, to our west... air. Susan and I both hugged the center line, for fear of getting blown over ! Eventually we dropped below the ridge, but the descent did not let up. The only other time I have climbed Bald Peak was by the route we were now descending. Whacking steep. Turned onto Chehalem Drive - more hairpin turns and bits of gravel. Finally the grade slacked off, and I found Susan and Marcello at the intersection with North Valley Rd.

We all headed into Newberg. Susan wanted coffee and plumbing, so we elected to head over to the Coffee Cottage ("time sucking vortex"). Our receipts (allowing for that their cash register was still on daylight time) had us there right at closing of the control. If you do this ride, keep that in mind - no faffing between the start and Newberg :-)

We misplaced Marcello at this point, and didn't see him until we finished.

I had a mocha, and we shared a scone. The cheery young barista wanted to know if I wanted whipped cream on top - yes indeed, I need all the calories today that I can get :-)

Back out to North Valley Road, where we had a nice push westward and discussed the joys of surfing the rollers on a tandem. We've both done it, and the rollers are spaced just right.

Then we turned north. The wind was still blowing hard from the east and north; there were many miles of it work our way through. The scenery on North Valley / Spring Hill is amazing as always. The wetlands are full. Susan's friends Catherine and Rick were out in their driveway near Gaston, so we stopped to chat. I was looking at the ridge waaaaaaay up there behind their house. That was the Bald Peak Ridge. Looks very steep from below. I ate a couple of Sweet Salty Peanut bars while riding along.

Brief pause just before the Fern Hill turn to get wetlands pictures, then north through Forest Grove.

The eastward stretch on Cornelius-Schefflin was tough. Susan's comment after the turn onto Gordon - "well THAT sucked". Into North Plains for a brief stop at the store for a receipt (and some sunflower seed kernels). Another eastward stretch on West Union to Helvetia - strong headwind and rolling. I kept looking for the school zone sign that signaled our turn to the south.

Finally, south on Helvetia, across Hwy 26, onto Huffman, then south on 229th/231st to Cornelius Pass. We had a quartering tailwind. Whew. Then the last bit east on Baseline, and a stop at the gas station for our ending receipt.

6:19 elapsed time, with, according to my bike computer, 45 minutes of not riding. Average of 12.26 mph. The temperature was mostly in the low 40's. No rain to speak of. I did not eat or drink enough. I really need to keep eating and not worry quite so much about keeping up with other people, because then I haven't eaten and I can't keep up!

After which, Susan and I went to our respective homes and cleaned up, Susan found us a restaurant downtown, and we all enjoyed eating at Mandarin House before all going off to listen to Target for Tomorrow and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies.