Tiny PBP

Kevin L and I were the inaugural riders of Bill A's Tiny PBP permanent populaire - Portland - Boring - Portland.

We started at the Uptown Market, which is a few miles SE of my home; I rode over.  Uptown Market's clientele seems to be the home brewer, plus they've got an amazing selection of beers for sale.  Bill met us there to collect releases, hand over cards and see us off.

And off we went.  We worked our was south through Tigard, and onto a bike path I didn't know existed, paralleling I-5 south until Hwy 217 intersected it.  Crossed via two crosswalks (very heavy traffic there), then continued east on the path alongside Kruse Way.  The path has some seriously interesting root humps; be very, very careful.  Kevin: "one could get high-centered on that one!"

Through Lake Oswego, popping out for a short bit on Stafford, then east on Johnson and Blankenship, which were scenic and quiet (nice view of Pete's Mtn to the south), eventually dropping us in West Linn, the first control.

The control was specifically at the Willamette General Store and Market, which really does sell EVERYTHING.

Thus refreshed, we headed east to the relatively newly reopened historic bridge into Oregon City.  It was closed for a couple of years, and has been refurbished, and is complete with sharrows.

Out of Oregon City, working our way over relatively familiar roads in the other direction ("I don't remember these hills!")  Maybe Redland Rd was new to me, 5.1 miles of, um, rolling and scenic terrain.

The next control was in Boring; we elected to stop at the Green Food Mart, which is directly across the road from our next turn.  While we were up on time, there was a lot of climbing to get here.

Immediately after that, we crossed over and got onto the Springwater Corridor Trail.  The non-paved portion.  Fortunately for me, it more resembled "dirt" than "gravel", and we had a great time.  I could see that after a period of intense wet, it could be a sucking mudpit, but not so today.  Lots of walkers out on the trail, and indeed, as we transferred to the paved portion, many more cyclists and pedestrians, because it was a nice day!

Crossed the Willamette on the Sellwood Bridge, taking the lane.  This was cool, because they had just slid the entire bridge north to make a place to build the new and improved bridge.  Getting across the road to enter the cemetery was easy, loop off to the right under the bridge, and cross at the light.

Riding up through the cemetery is fun, but it does get steep at times!

Downhill, and turning onto Spring Garden, which is sooper seekuret  route under I-5.  Seemed to have rather more uphill on a bike.  I've only ever driven it; the son's trumpet  instructor lived in the neighborhood.  The turn onto Multnomah seemed a little sketchy; exercise caution.  Kevin elected to ride the sidewalk on the left side of the road until he felt he could safely get over.

Then we were in Multnomah, and it was all downhill to the end.  A bit of riding on the Fanno Creek trail, and we were done.  The Uptown Market was definitely hopping by now.  I got a soda, and we sat down outside in the sun and finished up the paperwork.

Easy ride home.

67.5 miles in all, 11.6 avg mph

All the pics here

Five Rivers Triumph

Journeyed down to Eugene to give the Five Rivers perm another try after the defeat in January.  Michal was riding (of course), and there were three newbies - Kathryn, Anna, and Virginia.  All strong riders, only Kathryn had completed a 200k before.

Baked a fruitcake to share.  This one was the best yet, but I haven't figured out what I did differently, other than use pastry flour for half the flour.

So, down to Eugene Coffee Company shortly after 7am; Kathryn and Anna were there.  Virginia appeared just before 7:30, I handed out fruitcake, Michal handed out cookies, and we took off.  It really wasn't cold, and I ditched the jacket, cap, and heavy gloves at the first info control.

Out to Walterville, on a slightly undulating road.  I'd fall back on the ups and catch up on the downs.  Bought my standard banana there, and ate some fruitcake.  I was really concentrating on eating.


(Anna does not have wings.  I think that is a dog)



Then the long, long, long ride to the first climb (really, Marcola Rd seems to go on FOREVER).  Kathryn, Anna, and Virginia pulled ahead.  I munched on cookies. We found them pulled off at a fire station, snacking.  Well, okay, we could do that.  I started getting chilled, so I took off.  Michal: "Wait for us in Crawfordsville!"  Haha.

I sucked down a gel before the start of the climb, and was on my way up, almost to the top, when they caught me.  But no stops, no walking.  One down, two climbs to go.

Down to Crawfordsville, where we paused at the store.  Mmm.  V-8.  More fruitcake.  Make up another bottle of calories.  Michal ate a corndog.  I have still not gone there.  I am not sure I will ever go there.



Then undulating along Crawfordsville Rd, which is one of the prettiest bits of this ride.  As Fern Ridge was approaching, I sucked down another gel.  Two big undulations at the end.  Everyone else paused at Holley School, but I kept on going, so as to get a bit up the climb and not hold them up waiting at the top.

Last time, I walked most of the climb.  Not a good day.  Ground my way up.  One stop to get the heart rate down, then spun my way up to the top.  They caught me as I pushed off from the stop, and we all worked our way to the top together.  MUCH better day, no walking, no other stops!  Cheers all around!

Headed up Fern Ridge (picture by Virginia Xing)

Then down and through Sweet Home, heading off to Lebanon.  Pleasant Valley Rd is another really pretty stretch.  Then Mc Dowell Creek, and other roads I forget.  We encountered a bike club out for an outing, and chatted a bit, then we headed in towards Lebanon, and the lovely Safeway deli area.





This day they had chicken noodle soup (yum!), to which I added a mocha.  Virginia got a whole plate of Chinese food, and inhaled it.  Ann and Kathryn had their own snacks, and Michal got a bowl of chili.  We planned on a half hour stop, and kept to that.







We were now heading south, and expecting a bit of a headwind.  It never did really materialize, yay!  As we were wandering along the edges of the hills (I am told they are called "buttes".  They do not resemble the buttes from Texas...), we were also wandering along the edges of precipitation.  Never got heavy enough to consider rain gear.





Past the Better than Average Horses, with a quick picture pause, then in through Brownsville.  There was a stop in the DariMart parking lot, but not for much and not for long.

Heading South (picture by Virginia Xing)

(Butte in the background)

Then out again on Gap Rd, which contains the last climb of the ride.  Which I also completed, in a slow and steady manner.  Oh, and the sun had not yet set.  Down and on to the flats, eventually crossing over I-5 and south on Coburg Rd.  Some of the newbies were feeling fried at this point, so we slowed way down.  Leisurely 10 miles to Coburg, where we learned that there are public flush toilets in Coburg!  That was certainly worth a stop.





Except, after that stop, Kathryn, Anna, and Virginia (well, heck, Virginia never got tired or needed to slow down; she's a rocket in real life) perked back up, and we didn't see them...

Last few miles through Eugene.  Michal: "I think I don't want to ride up the hill".  Me: (inside:  YAY!  WONDERFUL!) "uh.  ok.  If Cyndi wouldn't mind picking us up..."

Then we were off the bike trails and onto Chambers (there are probably some other streets in between), and at 18th and done.  Virginia was waiting for her ride.

Oh, and time check...  Fastest ever circuit of this route.
11:34 elapsed, 130 miles.  :-)

Cyndi took us up the hill.  Michal: "we'll get dinner that much faster".  They thought I shouldn't drive home afterward (dark, raining, just did a long bike ride), so Cyndi and I had a rousing game of Bananagrams, and we all conked out.

Drove home in the sunlight after a great breakfast.  Much better.

North Plains Banks Vernonia 100km Again

I could ride this route forever and not get tired of it.  Ray was going to ride with an Unnamed Person, and Jeff and I thought we'd join them.  Good thing we did, or Ray would have been lonesome.



Decent weather, and a great ride.  Yummy sandwich at Black Bear Cafe.







This was the inaugural ride with the Soma Xpress 650bx38 tires.  Like riding on pillows!  Worth all the aggravation of refitting the fenders with longer fender stays.

Perm 1513 Is BACK! (And yeah, I rode it)

Greg reported that the Historic Columbia River Highway was again open, but the under-construction trail which would remove the mile of freeway shoulder was not yet complete.  He registered to ride it.



On a completely different track, I was fishing for folks to ride with me that weekend.  Some persons who shall remain nameless wanted to ride 1513, and we settled on Saturday.  Then they backed out.  Michal wanted to ride, but his bike was in the shop.  More to the point, his generator wheel was in the shop.  I dangled a loaner 700c generator wheel in front of him, and he thought he'd be able to ride.

He and Cyndi appeared Friday evening, and we did the wheel swap and made sure our bikes were ok.  Perhaps not as thoroughly as some of us should have.

Down the hill at 6:30, said hi to Greg, and got some more coffee.  We really weren't expecting Greg to ride with us - he can be wonderfully social, and he's a delight to ride with, but there are days when he'd rather turn on the afterburners.  But he thought he'd ride along, at least until we were out of Portland.  The route starts in scenic suburban Beaverton, goes back up by my house, then traverses Portland from SW to NE, before crossing I-205 into Washington.

Foggy ride down through Washington Park, heading through town, then finally across the I-205 bridge and onto Evergreen, the old Hwy 14.  Pause in the Burgerville in Camas (a control, and purveyor of good hot chocolate), then on the new construction east.  SR-14 is getting interesting.  Just follow the signs to Stevenson, or Kennewick or whatever.  Points east.





Stopped at Lewis and Clark and the Three Little Bears sign, then up to Cape Horn.  No stops on my part.







We did stop at Cape Horn for pictures, and then enjoyed a lovely descent down to Prindle, at which point there was some pedaling required.  After that, no stops until Stevenson, the turnaround.  Greg left us on the climb to Cape Horn; we didn't see him again.



Weather was decent.  I don't believe I have ever done this route in FEBRUARY!  The sun didn't come out, but neither did it rain, or be annoyingly windy or cold.



Stopped in the pizza place on the right, and ate two pieces of pizza.  Michal: "nice to see you not forcing something down".  And so, full of pizza, we headed back, and across the Bridge of the Gods.  Still a bit too breezy to get pictures.

My favorite stretch of the ride was up next - the multiuse path west from Cascade Locks.  We could see the Moffett Creek bridge construction, but still had to hop on the freeway for that one mile.

Nice ride back along the scenic highway - lots of pretty waterfalls and all that.  Brief pause to fix my flat tire. Should have checked it more closely the night before.  I am very, very tired of getting flats with these tires.  These are more flats than I have ever had in my life.  Lovely to ride on when they aren't flat, but...

Then time to climb up to Crown Point.  I explained to Michal that the first person up had to lean over the railing and cheer the others on.  He thought he'd pick it up a bit, and took off.  I had turned on Strava back at Shepperd's Dell, so I could get a reasonably accurate time on the climb.  I could see him ahead for most of the climb, but he did, of course, beat me to the top, and cheered me on from the railing :-)  I was pretty happy with my time as well.



Note: the pavement from Latourell Falls to Crown Point has been replaced.  It is wonderful to ride on!

Last climb for awhile, up to Women's Forum, and then the wonderful descent down to Troutdale, with the Bell Road part.  Then time to slog back from NE PDX all the way SE.  The control at NE Columbia and NE 47th is now improved with the addition of a Subway and a Dutch Bros. coffee.  We went for hot coffee drinks.

But it was now dark, and navigation was difficult - street signs in Portland are notoriously hard to read in the dark, and the going was slow.  Finally over the river, up through the park (17% grade at the Rose Garden OUCH), up to Sylvan and down.  Would we make it?

It was very, very close.  Two of the three timepieces (my bike computer, which I had been using all day for time, and the SPOT track) had us done in time.  Whew.

Then slowly back up the hill for a shower and dinner.  Fitz made up a big pot of hot and sour soup, which was great.

Aftermath:  I bit the bullet and pulled out the Soma Xpress tires.  They are 650B x 38, which is somewhat larger than my fender installation could deal with.  I had new fender stays, but it was just a lot of work.  Spent the entire Sunday afternoon refitting the fenders (oh, new brake pads, too).  Stay tuned for a review of the tires...

Lunch in Vernonia and a Really Big Milestone

I couldn't ride the 200k last Saturday, as I had other plans, but managed to convince Susan that she could not work on Sunday, and ride the North Plains - Banks-Vernonia Linear Trail 100k.



We started at the somewhat civilized hour of 9am, rode the uneventful 8 or so miles to Banks, bought snacks in the grocery, and headed north on the trail.  It was foggy, but was supposed to clear off and warm up.  It did neither.

But we had great fun riding through the misty forest.  As Susan had just ridden a 200k the day before, we were mostly at social pace, but I did, perhaps, just a tiny bit, enjoy dropping her on the few hills on the route.



Susan had tried an energy bar creation of her own devising, so she gave me a piece.  Tasty.  I gave her some fruitcake.



We looped around Vernonia Lake - Susan didn't know it was there (I didn't either, until Ray showed me), and answered the info control question.  Then back to Black Bear Cafe for lunch, before returning.  They've got a new bike rack.



A couple of cyclists came in after us, and one looked really familiar... it was the father of one of my Girl Scouts, who was also involved with the Cub Scout pack, so we got to catch up on everyone's doings in the past, mmm, 18 years.   Plus, of course, talk about cycling.  I apparently inspired him those many years ago.  Cool.

Lunch arrived, and I snarfed my way through the Reuben sandwich and fries and coffee.

Time to head back.  The mist was still with us.  I stopped to get a picture in a stretch of very tall trees.  Susan and I stood there for awhile, listening to a pack of coyotes singing off in the woods.





We stopped in Banks for hot chai.  As it was a control, there was some dithering in the booth, but we got hand-written receipts.



Finished up at 6:05 elapsed time.  Not the fastest, but the point of this particular populaire is not speed.

Good day!

Oh, and that milestone...
Sweetpea joined Bleriot (being repaired, it will return) and Lemond in the 10,000+ mile club. Big smile!

All the pics here

First Commute in over Three Weeks

Not that I haven't been riding.  But somehow, riding to work was just not very appealing.  There was more than enough apprehension about the whole thing to want to do it again.



First, I needed a bike.  Husband suggested I repurpose Sweetpea.  Daughter and I both gave him the Glare of Disbelief.  Bad enough my Rivendell got whacked on a commute.  Not to mention that bike parking at work is outside, and I don't get there early enough to score one of the few covered spaces.

I had retrieved the Gitane from Daughter, and thought I had it ready to go.  Mike R. loaned me a 700c SON generator wheel; I swapped over lighting, pedals and adjusted my panniers to fit on the Gitane's venerable Blackburn rear rack.  Rode it around the block for a quick test.

Six days later, I hopped on, ready to ride into work.  Except I was pedaling, and nothing was happening.  The vintage Maillard Helicomatic freewheel was not engaging.  After a bit of searching around the Usual Suspects, looking for a replacement freewheel that did not cost a small fortune, I decided that I wasn't as invested in the vintage-ness of the Maillard Helicomatic components as I had been when I originally restored the bike. Velo Orange offered a nice 126mm freewheel-compatible hub rear wheel, and a 14-28 Shimano Hyperglide 6 speed freewheel, the same range as the Helicomatic, was found somewhere else.  I couldn't get any fancier, because then I'd need a new derailleur and so on and so on.

It all arrived, did the installation... and the temperature plummeted.  Freezing fog.  Especially where I work.  Waited that out.  Finally, this past Tuesday night, got everything ready.  Up at 6, on the road by 7:30.

And it was a completely uneventful commute, which was good, because Gitane and I had to get used to each other!  Kept reaching for the bar end shifters.  Not.  The bike doesn't have the gravitas of the Riv (translate - weighs somewhat less :-) ).  It can feel downright zippy.

Commute home had a few apprehensive moments in the dark along NW Evergreen before the shopping center.  High speed limit, and the bike was twitchy.  But I survived it.

Fast forward two days (today).  Convinced Fitz to commute also (he turns off about 1.5 miles before I do).  The bike felt much better.  Rode over to Hawthorn Farms for an after lunch meeting (just under 2 miles) with a lunch date with the son, who works there.  Discovered on the ride over (cutting through Orenco Station), that I can ride no-hands.  I can shift with impunity.  Today was a 24+ mile day.