And it was a good thing I had receipts, totally forgot about the picture thing until the last stop!
March 20, 2017
From home to the dentist - 7.3 miles.
I went the northern route, on the Hwy 26 bike path, then experimented with staying south of Hwy 26 at Camelot Ct (mi 2.4), rather then the usual path continuation to Skyline/Scholl's Ferry with the interesting left turn onto Humphrey/Hewett. Learning there - more steeper climbing that way!
From there, I would have normally dropped down Dosch to Sunset (mi 5), but both Google Maps and RWGPS suggested I continue up to Fairmount Blvd, and then drop down through the neighborhood side streets. Every road descending from Fairmount is steep. Intellectually I knew that. I did. How bad could it be? 9-10% downgrades, narrow twisty roads, and generally more potholes and grit than pavement. I was never so happy to make it down to Sunset Blvd in my life. Once there, I only had to go another easy mile.
As for the dentist - I will say that N20 makes a dental visit much less stressful. Plus, the dentist decided it was much less work than originally estimated, so it cost me much less as well!
See receipt #1 for documentation.
From the dentist to the library - 7.6 miles.
The plan from here was to cut between Wilson HS and Rieke Elementary down to SW Vermont, work my way to Multnomah Village (we'll be back here at least once this coming week), and then follow my known route back to Beaverton, except continuing on SW 5th to the library, rather than turning north just before Hwy 217. Really, I only needed supplementary navigation assistance from Fairmount to the dentist, and then from there to Multnomah Village.
The only unknown was would the Fanno Creek Trail be open? There had been some contentious trail closures (Portland Water Bureau has a sewage pump station on the trail OUTSIDE THEIR CITY LIMITS AND OUTSIDE THEIR COUNTY!) for pump station work, and the proposed detour put cyclists on SW Garden Home Rd. Sounds bucolic and all, but that section is a highly traveled, very narrow 2 lane road with ditches right at the fog lines. I myself pestered both our parks district (it is their trail) and the road department, and they did put up Bicycles on Roadway signs. The few times I rode that way, though, I crossed Garden Home and paralleled it through the neighborhoods until SW Oleson Rd.
To make a short story long, I was pleasantly surprised to find the construction finished and the trail open.
Felt a few rain drops along here.
So, right, the library. I was picking up a book which was an interlibrary loan, and, after fruitlessly searching the Hold books racks, I asked where it was - turns out ILL books must be picked up and checked out at the service desk. The book came all the way from Nebraska. Pretty cool.
See receipt #2 for documentation.
From the library to the fabric store - .8 miles.
Nothing to report here. Got to the fabric store, bought my velcro for the Porteur Bag Sewing Project (for flaps to attach the removable lining), had a great conversation with the cashier about the project, as I was adding the velcro to my plastic bag (suboptimal and tacky).
From the fabric store to home - 1.3 miles.
Since I had gone to the fabric store, I continued directly east through the Hall Creek Enhancement to SW 114th. While it is very short, I love riding through there. The creek was very high, and I only saw a couple of Canada geese. Usually there are ducks everywhere.
See receipt #3 for documentation, and I even took a couple of pictures.
I could have stopped for coffee, but I was getting tired of locking and unlocking my bike. There is good coffee at home.
Total distance - 17 miles.
Documentation:
