Birkie 200k Brevet Success!

So, the last 200k was unsuccessful.  Darn.  Try again.

The ORRando Birkie 200k was this past Saturday. This was my very first 200k, back in 2007.  The route has changed slightly - rather than the out and back from Vernonia, the route heads from Forest Grove to Vernonia via Gales Creek/Hwy 6/Timber Rd/Hwy 47, and then continues on Hwy 47 to Hwy 202.  To make up the missing distance, the route continues 7 miles past The Birk (formerly the Birkenfeld Store, now a cafe and music venue with irregular hours) to an info control.  The return is back to Vernonia, then taking the Banks Vernonia Trail to (natch) Banks, and heading south to Forest Grove.

Now that we've got all that straight...

Friday afternoon was spent giving Sweetpea the first bath of the year.  So very dirty, with lots of stuff stuck under the fenders.

Friday night was Rando Slumber Party at the Fitzsimmons Home for Wayward Randonneurs - Lesli, Ruth (who I finally got to meet in person), Michal and Cyndi all showed up, and we had a couple hours of social time before the 9pm bedtime.

Michal was returning a bike which was borrowed for the express purpose of loaning a bike to Bill Walton to ride.  He thought it would be fun to get a picture comparing it to my bike.

Everyone was up at 5.  Breakfast was coffee, eggs, bacon, Rye Molasses muffins, and bread which Michal baked.  He also provided the home-roasted coffee.  The kitchen was slightly over peak capacity, what with riders organizing their food and cooking breakfast :-)

Lesli and Ruth thought I'd be riding with them, but after a reveal of their planned pace... Yeah, no.  I'm not there yet.  Michal was going for time, so he'd be off as well.  But there in the parking lot I found Ray. :-)  We have been known to ride together.

Signed in.  The RBA assured me it wasn't going to rain.  She wanted to get out and do a few hours riding herself, hence the optimism.

(That's me in the pink vest.  Pic by Cyndi Wenks)

And, at 7am, away we went.  We did see Lesli and Ruth, and I almost caught them at the stoplight in Gales Creek, but it turned green, they went, and then red again by the time I got there.  Last I saw of them all day.

Deidre from Vancouver passed me on the climb.  I would have thought she'd be ahead, maybe she got started a bit after everyone else.

The Timber climb was accomplished with no stress.  I wasn't fast, but I didn't care.  The RBA was lurking after the second switchback, we chatted a bit as I slowly pedaled by.  Found Ray at the top (he gets ahead and waits and drinks coffee); we dropped into Timber and up the other side, admiring the two properties which are infested with lively barking Aussies.

Had great fun dropping through the curves to Hwy 26, and Ray and I had the gift of a no-wait crossing.

It had been drizzling off and on.  I was wearing two wool jerseys, a vest, wool knickers, long socks and a wool cap.  I had wool overgloves which never stayed on longer than three miles.  Left the booties in Michal's car.  I did have an "it might rain" jacket and Rainlegs, but never pulled them on.

I can't think of a time I rode the stretch from Hwy 26 to Vernonia as fun.  Usually raining with a headwind, or trying to keep up with the group.  I had fun this day.  Came up on Ray (our riding style is best described as "leapfrog"); he'd decided it really was raining.  Kept on going; he found me just before Vernonia.  We stopped at Black Bear Coffee (another punch for my card!), and found RB, who was riding Ray's perm pop and hanging out.

Of great interest in Vernonia was the goat in the truck.  Inside the truck.  On the front seat.



After a bottle refill (no guaranteed food/water for the next 100k), some coffee, and a substantial snack, I headed out.  Ray wasn't quite ready.  I had fun riding along here as well.  Ray found me around Mist, and then stopped again.  I got to Birkenfeld and pulled over to eat some rice pudding and a hard boiled egg, and we set out to find the info control.



By this point, 5 or so riders had passed us heading back.  Once past Birkenfeld, Hwy 202 gets hilly - short, abrupt ups and downs, with many crossings of the Nehalem River.  The first 4 miles went quickly, the last 3, not so much. Found Ray at the control.  Holden arrived just as we were turning back.

Back to Birkenfeld - The Birk wasn't technically open, but Ray's bike was there.  So I went in and the proprietor grabbed my water bottle and filled it (he's nice that way), took care of some other business, and we headed back to Vernonia.



We were supposed to have a tailwind.  Not so much.  So it was rather more of a slog than I had thought it might be, and kept checking my odometer more than necessary.  But we kept at it, and held a reasonably steady pace, and got to Vernonia in good time.  Fine dining at the Shell Station (deviled eggs!) which we took over to Anderson Park, which has restrooms with no line, and running water.

So, now we were in Vernonia, and, as Ray put it, "heck, we are already done".  Well, 30 miles to go, but we know them so very well. Ten miles of easy climb, ten miles of perfect descent, and ten miles of flat surface streets.

We were now on the Banks Vernonia Trail.  Yay.  No drivers, no idiots in pickups either coal-rolling or close passing (with much laying on of horn).  Aside: the only driver I signaled not to pass because I could see oncoming traffic, who started to edge out to pass, then saw the car and dropped back, was a police officer.

So, on the trail.  I could tell I was tired; not ascending at my usual pace.  But it was now sunny, and we had tons of time, and the shared goal of finishing in 12 hours would be nice (Ray's first 200k in 18 months).  We got to Tophill, and I gave it up and walked the last two switchbacks.  It was either that or fall over.  I found Ray at the Stub Stewart road crossing, and we then happily bombed on down.

There was a picture pause for a clump of blooming trilliums, and then, when passing by Wingham Farms (cool, they have a website!  Go visit!), we stopped to talk with Julie (the farmer), who said she really needed a t-shirt that identified her as Romulus and Remus' mother.  Long discussion about their farm.





We had gotten to which sheep her neighbor was raising (Texel - a Dutch down breed - meat sheep, but quality fleece), when Holden arrived.  His wife is also into fibers, so the conversation might have gotten a bit fiber-geeky.

So.  Time is slipping by.  Gotta go.  After a brief stop at the trailhead, we headed out for the last 9 miles.  When we got to the turn onto Roy Road, Ray went straight.  Clearly autopiloting back to North Plains.  Holden followed right along :-)  I yelled, they came back.

Ray got ahead at the first traffic circle, and finished just before us.  But our official time was 11:59 elapsed.  Good enough for me.

 

(Ray and I at the finish.  Pic by Cyndi Wenks)

Michal and Cyndi were hanging around, because they were going to drop me back home, but Fitz texted that he was on his way over.  So they stuck around long enough to say hi, and then started their long drive down south.

The RBA wanted to know if she'd see me in 2 weeks for the 300k.  Mmm.  Not this year.  Not ready.  I hurt in places that have never hurt before.  The 200ks will have to be a little more routine before I make the distance jump.

Fitz and I got dinner there, poked our head back in to say goodbye to the RBA (there had been still one rider out; he finished while we were eating), and headed home ourselves.

What went well:

• I never put on the rain jacket.  It just wasn't raining hard enough, and, midafternoon, cleared off for good.  I think my shoes are waterproof for persistent mist/drizzle.
• I kept up on the food.  This trip the food offerings brought along were: 2 packets of Gatorade/maltodextrin (and one in the bottle), hard boiled eggs, two containers of rice pudding, two Rye Molasses muffins with butter, random Kind bars, a Payday bar, and some other little things (gels and chocolate) which I didn't break into.  Ate all the things I listed specifically, but for one muffin.  Plus a deviled egg (two halves) in Vernonia on the return.  Convinced Ray he wanted the other two.

Errandonnee One, Two, and Three

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.

Beat the rain home.

The route.

Total distance - 17 miles.

Documentation:

Fifth R-12 Completed

First, for the uninitiated: The RUSA R-12 Award.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, we are having a super hot summer.  It is forecasted to get to 100 degrees F today, and continue for awhile.

Last month I asked Michal if he wanted to ride Donuts to Total Domination, as the prevailing summer winds in the Willamette Valley are north to south.  There is a lot to be said for a constant tailwind.  After working though both our calendars, we settled on the weekend of July 25-26.  Leaving it a bit late, but, life.  The plan was to ride down, and help Michal with his bike packing for PBP.

So, yes, the heat.  We were so lucky.  The temperature moderated, and there was a possibility of rain.

I swapped the bike into touring mode, so as to carry rain gear and a change of clothes.  Cooked up some individual egg-rice-mushroom-onion-parsley-bacon-swiss cheese frittatas, made up a batch of dark chocolate hazelnut spread, and did up some tortilla-spread rollups.  Found a rain jacket, but optimistically didn't carry any other rain gear.  It wasn't going to be cold.

Michal decided to be ambitious, and ride the Eugene to Portland 200k starting the night before, rather than taking the train north.  He started at 5pm, and finished at 2:30am, arriving at the house around 3am.  So he got a bit of a nap before getting up at 5am to do it all over again.  He was very pleased with his pace.

Breakfast (heavy on proteins) and coffee, then we rode over to Sesame Donuts (3+ miles, 15 minutes, give or take) to enjoy some more coffee and sweetened carbohydrates before the start.



We left right at 7am :-)

Suburban riding for the first 15+ miles, until we crossed the Willamette River just south of Wilsonville, and then nothing, really, until Keizer.  We had a headwind :-(.  Also new chipseal on Butteville and Broadacres.  Probably others; I remember endless chipseal.

Bits of refreshing drizzle, not worth donning the rain jacket.

River Rd into Keizer is always a bit nerve-wracking.  Take the lane take the lane take the lane.  No one will honk, but if one hugs the edge, they will try to squeeze by.  Take the lane.

Once into Salem, there are sharrows.  Also a bit of construction.  We stopped at the last place before leaving town - the Arco c-store.  I got more Gatorade; Michal did the same, and added in an ice cream cone.  A local was admiring our bikes.  He thought Michal's was just like a Harley Davidson, what with all the useful stuff on it (note: my bike has the exact same useful stuff...).  Then he asked what they cost.  We told him.  He didn't blanch.

At this point we noticed that it was raining.  Rain jackets installed.  Off to Independence, where Michal claimed there were excellent tamales.  River Rd rolls most of the way there, but it wasn't particularly burdensome.  The headwind seemed to be letting up.  Onto the flats, over the Willamette River, and into Independence.

We rolled up to the convenience store where I usually stop, but I hadn't explored their cooked food offerings.  Yes, there were tamales.  Mystery filling, but I'd cope.  My receipt says it only cost 25 cents.  Must have been an error.  Yum. Consumed the whole thing, along with a V-8 (refrigerated drinks; same aisle as the tamales).



It was still raining lightly as we set out.  South of Independence is Corvallis Rd, with several abrupt climbs.  I didn't like it very much on the Blast Furnace 200k, but it wasn't that difficult this time.  We both stopped before the first climb to remove some rain gear.  In my case, my only rain gear.  It became rather amusing as Michal stopped before most of the pitches to remove another piece of rain gear.  I kept moving, so it was a bit of an equalizer.  That was it for the rain, and the temperature moved perceptibly up, into the 70's.  The wind was crosswind to quartering tailwind, a definite improvement from the headwind.





Then the fun drop down Buena Vista and the remaining 11 miles into Albany.  Last time we rode this it was stiflingly hot, and we didn't get water or food in Albany and suffered until the exceptionally sketchy off-route c-store on Hwy 34 and Peoria Rd.  This time, I noted the location of First Burger on the cue sheets.  As Michal was starting to feel the effect of riding all night, and I wouldn't have minded an infusion of salt, we pulled in.  We elected to split a burger.  Did we want to upgrade our side?  No, fries with extra salt, please.  Michal got some coffee; I had a Pepsi, and before the food arrived... "pass me that salt shaker, please..."  It is still amazing to me how an infusion of salt makes everything feel so much better.



I started getting a tiny bit stressed inside, because we were stopping and sitting down and it wasn't a control.  I probably shouldn't have been worried, but I pushed it to the info control, pushed it to Hwy 34, and pushed it the whole 19+ boring and warm miles of Peoria Rd.  Peoria Rd has reasonably fresh chipseal as well :-(  I took to riding out in the right tire track, and moving back over when a car came along.  Drivers fly low on Peoria Rd, because it is so very boring, low traffic, and they just want to get to Harrisburg.  We wanted to get to Harrisburg, too.



But anyway, about 5-ish miles before Harrisburg, the chipseal ended.  I was doing time math in my head, and decided we would be TOTALLY fine on time (not sure what I was thinking earlier).  First we found the public restrooms (turn left on Smith St; they are to the left side of the museum which is on the right side of the street.  If you pass the fire station, you've gone too far.)  Michal wanted an expedient stop, so I found more Gatorade, and elected to eat the food I was carrying.

We had a short, annoying stretch on Hwy 99E, then turned off onto Ayres/Lovelake for a bit of peaceful riding before the 9 miles on River Rd.  Lots of traffic, but not stressful beyond that, other than I wanted to be done.

Turning off River Rd onto Owosso and then the bikepaths... "whew!"  Both of us, simultaneously.  We were then in search of the penultimate info control, and eventually found it.  A little more bikepath riding, then onto the surface streets for a bit.



Oops.  Good thing we weren't at all close on time - there was a train.  So we waited.



Another block, and the Ninkasi Brewery was waiting for us.  Mmm.  Beer.  Helles Lager.

In case it isn't obvious where we are...  photo by Michal Young

Coffeeneuring 2014

Being retired, I have declared my normal coffeeneuring days to be Sunday and Monday.

Coffeeneur #1, Ava Roasteria, Beaverton Oregon

Date: Sunday, October 5
Drink: iced latte
Distance: 4.5 miles
Bike Friendliness: bike rack concealed behind a post at the door.
Factoid: edible chestnuts have really prickly husks, horse chestnuts (inedible) have slightly spiny husks - see the picture below.

Even though I live about 2 miles from this coffee shop, I have never been there.  They are open 24/7, so you'd think it would be a great place to locate a perm start, but I prefer Jim and Patty's, as I don't start or finish perms in the middle of the night.  So far, anyway.

I had to return a library book (The Magician's Land) and deposit a check (SPOT Gen 3 refund, yay!), and Ava is right there.



Vibe: On a sunny Sunday afternoon, it was extremely popular with the "study in a coffee shop" crowd.

Ordered an iced latte, and enjoyed it out on the patio.

From there, I proceeded to my favorite bike shop, where I met one of the newer mechanics, Ryan, and he found a chainstay bridge bolt for my fender, because the one that was there went walkabout, and I don't need a fender crumpling up and wrecking my upcoming planned bike adventure.  Where I plan to exercise the Vacation Rule :-)

Riding home, I picked up some chestnuts from a couple of trees, some inedible horse chestnuts and some (well only one worth keeping) edible chestnuts.  The really prickly husks contain the edible ones.



Took a snap of a local Desire Path.  It actually IS on the Beaverton plan, but way far in the future.  Nice now, but will be a sucking mudpit within a month.



And a snap of a road with a very bad sight line, which is on my route to Beaverton.

Coffeeneur #2, Mc Donalds, Annapolis, MD

Date: Monday, Oct 15, 2014
Drink: iced tea
Distance: 50 miles
Bike Friendliness: I just helmet locked my bike and went inside...
Factoid: the bike shuttle over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, while expensive ($30!) is a decent deal.  The driver was a super guy; told me all about the bridge, took me to the 7-11 on the east side, and dropped me at the motel.

Because I had just ridden 50 hot, headwindy miles from Arlington, VA, I had iced tea.
This was where the shuttle across the Bay Bridge was meeting me; he showed up a few minutes later.  Super nice guy, told me all about the bridge, and dropped me at my motel on the other side.

Coffeeneur #3,  McDonalds, Chester, MD

Date: Tuesday, Oct 16, 2014
Drink: just coffee
Distance: 5.6 miles
Bike Friendliness: didn't see a rack, left my bike in the vestibule
Factoid: Hwy 50/301 does a nice job of creating a moat down the center of the communities there - limited crossing points, and bicycles not allowed at all.  Bicycle crossing is legal, but fraught with peril.

Vacation Rule!

Coffeeneur #4, Lewes DL- Cape May NJ Ferry, M/V Cape Henlopen

Date: Wednesday, Oct 17, 2014
Drink: mocha
Distance: 4.5 miles to the ferry, 80+ miles afterward
Bike Friendliness: very much so - bike racks on the car deck, first on, friendly crew.
Factoid: the posts on the car deck are called "staunchions".

Vacation Rule!

Coffeeneur #5, Coava Coffee, Portland, OR

Date: Sunday, November 2
Drink: latte
Distance: 13+ miles riding, in all.
Bike Friendliness: only one lone parking staple outside; we had to get creative and lock to gas meters and power pole supports.  Later, we saw folks bringing their bikes inside.  We should have done that; there was certainly room, but we didn't know if they were ok with that.
Factoid: Coava also fronts as a handcrafted wood products venue.  Lots of nice woodwork as part of the walls, and all the tables were also handcrafted, and very well done.

A fleche-style coffeeneur; a group of us converged on Coava Coffee.
This is both a coffee shop AND a woodworking showroom - bamboo products; pretty cool stuff.

We all thought they could have had more chairs.  I saw a woman sitting by herself at a big picnic table, and arranged a swap for the four chairs we had at the end of another table, since we were more than four, and she would get a real chair.



I was so happy to have a social gathering, with ceramic mugs and latte art.  I had a latte and a croissant.



Some folks peeled off to go to other things, one more joined us.

After that, we stopped by the New Deal Distillery, so Gary could buy some ginger liqueur.



From there, we rode over to Detour Cafe, for second breakfast/lunch, where there was MORE coffee, and an excellent potato skillet.





I then took myself to Universal Cycles, where new winter cycling shoes were purchased, and then rode in the now-increasing rain across the Hawthorne Bridge and up to the Goose Hollow MAX transit station, and took the train over the hill, then coasted on home.

Coffeeneur #6: BOGZA Coffee, Beaverton, OR

Date: Monday, November 3
Drink: chai
Distance: 5 miles
Bike Friendliness: while The Round has bike racks, the closest ones were far away and in secluded locations.  I elected to lock to a metal bench just outside.
Factoid: The Round has the tallest building in Beaverton (parking garage)

I had heard from a fellow board member from the NW Bicycle Safety Council that there was a new coffee place in Beaverton.  Beaverton could use some new coffee places; mostly we have chains, and a few independent shops.  The menu looked promising.  The husband said he'd meet me there, as I was going to swing by the library, return a book (Divergent), and pick up a new one (The Slow Regard of Silent Things).  I was also checking out my new wet/winter cycling shoes (Lake MX 145, men's version).

Navigation to the library from my house is fairly straightforward; just one caution required street crossing.  Getting from the library to The Round was a bit more interesting.  I elected to ride up SW Hall (one way, three lanes), and turn left on SW Millikan Way just north of SW Canyon Rd, which would put me right there.  I elected to do a Copenhagen Left; as the mass of cars going north quickly evaporates, and then it is easy to cross SW Hall.  Found BOGZA, and Fitz was just arriving.

Since I'd already had plenty of coffee for the day, I ordered a chai and a chocolate croissant.  We went for the squashy chairs in the corner.  The front of all the businesses in The Round (a condo/retail/office development in Beaverton, which, since construction started in 1997, has still not really taken off) are rollup glass doors; this could be nice in the summer.



I expect it would be more lively before or after work, as the MAX train stops right there, but at 2:30 in the afternoon, it was pleasantly peaceful.

While preparing to leave, some guys walked by, one: "that is a nice looking bike!  What is the brand?"  Me: "Rivendell".  He said he had an Atlantis, so we gazed at my bike in mutual admiration for a bit, then he moved on.

Coffeeneur #7: Jim and Patty's Coffee, Beaverton, OR

Date: Monday, November 10
Drink: salted caramel latte
Distance: 4.4 miles
Bike Friendliness: The strip mall has a wheel-breaker bike rack which one cannot successfully u-lock to.  I u-locked the Riv to itself, and looped my very sturdy cable through the rack.  And sat where I could see it.
Factoid: Back when it was Coffee People (early 90's), this was their Beaverton location.  After many years of not being here, they reopened in the same storefront.  These are the people who started and nurtured my coffee addiction.



The library had a book for me, so I rode over there, then back to Jim and Patty's to have a drink.  I was also seduced by a pastry; hard to say no to "Well of Nutella".

I thought to try something new, so ordered a salted caramel latte.  It was QUITE good; I'd order it again.

Note on the bike-friendliness: the shop itself is not inherently bike-unfriendly; I have started a brevet from here, and they were delighted to have a swarm of randonneurs descending early on a Saturday morning (I warned them).  I'd put it on the cluelessness of the strip mall.

Donuts to Total Domination

Michal has been wanting to ride this one so "I can see what those roads look like in daylight".  He took the train up on Friday, and caught our light rail (MAX) out to the Beaverton Transit Center, where we met up and rode back to the house.

This would also be a test of Minimal Packing, for my Bicycle Adventure (tm) next month.  Everything fit in the Carradice Barley and Acorn Rando bag, including some shoes.



As we had planned for a 7am departure, we headed out of the house at 6:15 (well, 6:17 :-) ) and rode over to Sesame Donuts on every single road I generally avoid riding on - SW Walker eastbound, SW Canyon, and SW Beaverton Hillsdale.  All narrow and fast traffic.  But given the hour, it wasn't all that bad.



Donuts and coffee at Sesame Donuts.  They are operating completely in pennies, so I handed over 2000 and got back 14-something in change.  "We are practicing for when we win the lottery and become millionaires."

Our first challenge was getting by the SW Oleson Rd closure and construction.  There is a ped/bike temporary bridge (automobiles have a significant detour), and once we found it and transited the deep gravel to access it, smooth sailing southward.

The stretch from SW Portland to Wilsonville is very definitely suburbs and traffic lights, and a LOT more rolling than I remembered it.

Michal: "this route doesn't go over the river on the I-5 bridge, does it?"  Well, yes, it does.  Fortunately we were only riding southbound, which is the less stressful crossing - wider shoulders and higher bridge railings.  The shoulder was full of hubcaps.

Finally now, out into the country, all the way to Keizer/Salem.  We were meant to have a tailwind, and I might have felt a slight one.

We were looking out for a Burgerville, because Michal wanted a hamburger (at which point I then wanted one as well!), but there did not appear to be any on the route.  Just into Salem, a red car got behind us on a four lane road, sat on my rear wheel, and wouldn't pass.  Other cars were passing - 4 lane road, lots of room.   No honking, but just sitting there.  Stressful.  As we did not find the Burgerville, we stopped at the Arco minimart on the outskirts of town.  I had my first of several V-8s, plus Gatorade to top up the bottles. The day was heating up.

River Road to Independence looks much nicer in the daytime.  Michal: "from desolate to bucolic".  Yes indeed. It was also revealed that it is rolling.  I always wondered why it felt so hard riding it in the middle of the night, and now I know.  The Salem housing developments are creeping out along the road; I expect traffic will increase over time.

Then around a corner, and we popped out from the hills/forest into the Willamette Valley, with the Independence Bridge just up ahead.





Indepizza had gone out of business :-( :-( :-(, so we went to the suggested minimart.  Ice cream bar and some Sobe.  Note to self - next time, go a few blocks further north and eat at Moothart's (just across from the public restrooms), or ride a bit further west on Monmouth road to Subway or something else. Or hope a decent, expedient food source opens on the main road.





I had remembered that it was somewhat hilly south of Independence, and, indeed, I had remembered correctly.  Lots of recent chipseal as well.  Slog up, fly down, repeat as needed.  At one point I looked ahead and muttered "please have the right turn there..." Not.  Some of you may remember the transit on Prather Rd from the Buena Vista Ferry, the year we rode the unofficial 150 mile version of the Watermelon Ride (2004?).  Gravel then.  Chipseal now.



We passed through the western edge of Albany.  By now, my feet were starting to hurt, so I lobbied for a "shoes off" pause.  We pulled over in the shade just outside of town and sat for a few minutes.  We also realized we needed more to drink to get us all the way to Harrisburg.  Should have stopped in Albany.  Oh well.

Michal remembered that there was a minimart on Hwy 34; we'd stock up there.  Passed the info control, and then popped out on Hwy 34.  Ah yes, the minimart was where Peoria Road met Hwy 34, not White Oak (our turn).  Rode west to the store, where we stocked up on water and Gatorade, and drank more V-8.  By now we had progressed to the "it is so hot, let's dump cold water on ourselves".  Ahhhh.

And, being good little randonneurs, rather than turning south on Peoria Rd right there, we rode back to White Oak Rd and turned there, to meet up with Peoria Rd.  Three bonus miles. Our promised tailwind never did show up.  Peoria Rd is 17+ miles of flat, exposed, boring...  At least there wasn't a headwind.

As we did not avail ourselves of the blue room at the minimart, Michal recalled that there was one at Peoria Park, just south of Fayetteville Rd.  About 6 miles later, there it was.  I never knew it was there; good to know.  Not only was there a blue room, there was also running water, so more cold water to put to good use!  Another "shoe off" pause, and then off again.

I learned that Peoria, which is now only a roadside park, a few street signs and homes, used to be a major river shipping point - this was as far as the grain barges could get upstream on the Willamette River.

Michal: "I can tell when your feet are hurting, just listening to your pedaling."  Yeah.  Maybe these aren't the shoes for me either.

After quite some time, a friend of Michal's who was out riding on Peoria Rd came along; they chatted for a bit, and then he zoomed off.

Still hot.  Finally, finally, finally, we saw the silos of Harrisburg up ahead.  Stopped at the Dari-Mart.  By now, neither of us wanted anything to drink but water, so I gulped down a few Endurolytes, and had a mango popsicle.  I consolidated the Gatorade/Sobe/Orange-Vanilla Perpetuem into one bottle, and filled the insulated bottle with ice cold water.  There may also have been another extended water dumping session before leaving town.

I think the heat of the day finally passed, and it was perceptibly cooler.  The most recent drenching didn't hurt either.  Some very quiet rural roads and then we were on River Road for awhile, which takes us into Eugene through Santa Clara, which has amazing trees.  Under the beltline, onto the bike path, back onto the surface streets for a couple of blocks, and there was the brewery.  Ahhh.

We leaned the bikes inside the patio walls and went in search of some beer.  Cyndi joined us, and then we loaded up and went home.



And, delightfully, hamburgers for dinner!

The GPS track
All the pictures

Aftermath:
Well, I need to wear different shoes.  My winter shoes (PI Water Resistant Winter Shoes) don't hurt, so perhaps I shall return to those.  My old Shimano sandals are still wandering around the garage.  I remember why I no longer wear them, but maybe my feet have changed.  I can test them out locally.

Packing- it worked well, until I went to stuff the riding things on the bike, because I was wearing what I had carried.  Now, I don't expect to have to pack my cycling shoes on my Adventure, but it is highly probable that I will want to have rain gear and maybe a bit warmer accessories along, which will take up more space.  This bag calls, and I do have a venerable Jim Blackburn rear rack which will work, if the other rack I have ordered from France doesn't arrive in time.  At the moment, it seems to be made of unobtainium.  Yes, it DOES have to be silver.

Getting home - Amtrak, of course.  The schedule now only has a 5:30am departure; the more reasonably scheduled morning departure is no longer on the schedule.  I arrived home in time for waffles, and took an afternoon nap.