If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Or a New Rivet Saddle...

The Rivet Imogene test saddle arrived a week ago.  I've been waiting on this saddle for probably a year.  Of course, I had tweaked my back and wasn't doing any wrenching at the moment...

Fast forward to today.  Swapping saddles is expected to be a relatively easy operation.  Put the bike in the stand.  Removed the saddlebag, Carradice Bagman, and spare tire.  Measured from stem to back of saddle, and top of saddle to bottom bracket, so I could reproduce the placement.  Removed the existing saddle.

Rough-installed the new saddle, getting the height and setback as close as possible - the Rivet is taller and a bit shorter than the Selle Italia Diva.  Took the bike off the stand to get the tilt set.

And that is where the "fun" started.  I'd get a tilt setting, crank down the bolt, and ride up the driveway.  No matter how tightly I cranked the bolt, the seat would tip back.  After a few go-arounds with this, I removed the saddle, and dissassembled the seatpost, a Nitto Dynamic 626.  After poking at it a bit, it seemed that the tilt adjustment was frozen.  There was a piece that looked like it should slide, but it wasn't moving.  A little Tri-flow, a big screwdriver and a rubber mallet were called into service, and I gently knocked it loose.  Lots of wiping, regreasing, and reassembly, and I again had a functioning seatpost.

A few more tweaks of the tilt and tightness (and trips up and down the driveway), and I called it good.  Time to reinstall the rear luggage.



Got the Bagman and Barley back on, and happened to look at the bottom of the Barley bag.  The straps didn't look right, because they were hanging on by a couple of threads (!!!)



Located the Speedy Stitcher Awl (I've repaired bike luggage before!), and removed the bag.  Emptied the bag (wait, no spare brake cable!  Fetch one from the parts stash!).  Vacuumed it out.



Repaired the straps.



And FINALLY, after all that, reinstalled the bag and spare tire.

Longish ride soon to test it out.

When Last We Left This

I was still looking for a successful March 200k.  And a time in which to ride it.  Family circumstances dictated that I get it ridden BEFORE March 19, and the 15 and 16 (Saturday and Sunday) were booked.  Now, I am retired and can ride anytime.  It is more fun if I have company, so I put it out there that I was looking for ride partners, knowing that there are one or two folks who might be available on a weekday.  Best weather day was Tuesday, but had a conflict there also (this retired stuff is exhausting!)

Kevin B was up for it, and at the last minute, I got an email from Greg O, saying he'd be there as well.  And there we all were, standing outside the Hillboro-Century Fred Meyer at 7am, to get our receipts from the in-store coffee stand for our 7:15am start.

Our route was Hillsboro-Dallas, which, along with Mill City Coffee Run, is a fairly easy and scenic 200.  Perfect for that "gotta do it" ride.

And off we went.  The first four miles get us outside the Urban Growth Boundary, and, at mile 12.2, the left turn onto Fern Hill is where I feel completely in the country.

We had a headwind :-(  I was hoping for a tailwind on the return, but Greg was sure we'd have a headwind that way as well.




South, past many turns to wineries, through Lafayette, and then the short bit to Dayton, our first control at 36+ miles.  No bananas :-(  They had them last time.  I got more stuff to drink (Doubleshot to add to the thermal bottle of coffee and hot cocoa mix), and Greg was eating some potato egg cheese thing from the hot fried case.  It looked like a McD's hash brown, but a little bit thicker.  I bought one, and it was surprisingly tasty.  Greg figured it had been sitting there for days.

Pulled off the jacket somewhere in the first stretch.  Maybe even somewhere on Fern Hill.  It didn't go back on.

Boring stretch to Amity.  Continued headwind.  Yeah, said Kevin. Like you have a flat, or something is grabbing your wheel.

BUT!  The left turn onto 99W, with the nasty pavement and narrow, nastier shoulder - GONE!  Lovely new pavement, wide shoulder, all the way into Amity.  Then it reverts.  We didn't stop, but there is a wonderful new market on the left side, heading south.  Many, many alpacas at the alpaca ranch.

The new wired tail light was duly admired (Secula Plus seatstay mount).



Now onto the hilliest part of the route - 99W to Bethel Rd to Perrydale Rd into Dallas.  Headwind/crosswind.  It also started drizzling a bit.  We expected that, but hadn't seen any until now.  Up and down (x4), and then the evil double ramp into Dallas.

Pulled into the Safeway - I got more things to drink, and a banana.  It being St Patrick's Day, I had brought along a corned beef sandwich on Irish brown bread, and ate that as well.  Greg commented that I was doing pretty well on the hills with the crosswind.  :-)

Then back - the flags were not looking good - standing straight out, the wrong way.

Kevin vanished ahead.  I figured we'd see him in Dayton.  It was raining.  Almost.  Sort of.  But not enough to pull on raingear. Greg and I could see where it wouldn't last long.



Riding back on Perrydale is always fun, wind notwithstanding.  At the highest point, you can look NE, and see all the way to Bethel Rd over the fields.  Right now, after last week's rain, it was all very clean and green.  Nice.



99W was another story - the crosswind was strong enough that if I did not pay close attention, there might have been a "blow Lynne into the ditch" episode.

We were hoping for a tailwind at least to Amity, but the wind inexplicably calmed down at that point.  Can't win here.  Greg and I chatted about lots of stuff, all the brevets he's going to ride in California over the next month (he should complete his SR), and bicycle maintenance.  I have 4 bikes (3 in residence) and a notebook where I write down the date and mileage when something exciting happens (clean the chain.  New headset.  Flat tire.  New tire.  You know).  He has 15 bikes and doesn't bother...

Still trying to get the saddle position in a good place.  It was tipping me forward, but there were large blocks of the ride where I didn't think about it.  That is a good thing, but more adjustment needed.

Got to Dayton.  No Kevin.  The cashier said he'd been through some time ago.  Got some more things to drink, and headed out again. I was working on not stopping except at controls, and trying not to dawdle too long.  Greg cheerfully assured me that this was exactly the kind of ride he needed this week.





The last leg was slow - headwind.  Except, when we finally turned east on Geiger - tailwind!  Slight, but much better than the headwind/crosswind we had been fighting all day.

Pulled into the Fred Meyer at 11:40 elapsed.   Got a text from Kevin - he'd gotten ahead of the bit of rain out of Dallas, with the accompanying tailwind, and finished an hour ahead of us.

The route is certified at 3000 vertical feet, but Greg and I both had 4200 vertical feet on our bike computers, and RWGPS has it somewhere around there as well.  So I am guessing it is more than 3000 vertical feet :-)  Average moving speed 12.27mph.

March, check.  Three more months to finish off the R-12.

Arivaca CCW 210km. In Arizona!

I have taken to suggesting that our winter week-in-the-sun happen in a place where there is also randonneuring.  When we planned this year's escape, I picked Tucson.  Friend Susan O had ridden the Arivaca 210km perm, and recommended it.  Husband: "see if you can find someone to ride with you!".  Well, ok.  Joined the AZRandon google group and advertised.  And got a response!



After some email exchange finding a mutually agreeable date and time, Susan R and I registered for the counterclockwise version of the route - she doesn't like riding on Ajo Rd after dark.  Something about heavy traffic and junk on the shoulder.  Either way was fine with me.

Our respective spouses dropped us off at 6:45am at the McDonalds.  Bought some cookies, put on my summer shoes, said goodbyes, and headed out.  It was still quite chilly; I was wearing arm warmers, knee warmers, a windbreaker and a wind/reflective vest.  The shoulder was pretty yucky - expansion bumps and debris.  It improved after 5 or 6 miles, and the traffic dropped off as well.

I had fiddled with the adjustment on my new saddle, and there was some unfavorable interaction with the saddlebag and the rear wheel.  Several pauses to try to get it to that sweet spot of comfort and non-interference.  The Rachet Rocket got much use.  Susan wants one.



After 15 miles of headwind and saddle tweaking, we arrived at the first control.   Still not warm enough to remove the jacket.  Consumed a banana and some V-8.  I made sure I had plenty of water, including an extra bottle.  Susan offered to carry it, because my saddlebag was still having issues.  We had 45 miles of desert and no services.





We were now out of the headwind, heading toward Mexico.  If we missed the next turn...  Lots of desert, and views of Kitt Peak Observatory.



I was hoping to see a road runner, but it was not to be.  We did see many Border Patrol vehicles, and passed through a Border Control checkpoint.  Cleanest portapotties ever.



A couple more saddle adjustments, as well as a bottle refill.  I was drinking Skratch (husband: "what is that?" me: "artisanal Gatorade") and Perpetuem.  Started out with Caffe Latte mixed with coffee.  Went to Orange Vanilla later.  Ate my sandwich.



We stopped to get a picture at the turn, and wave at the Border Patrol guy sitting there in his vehicle.  Then nine miles of rolling on to Arivaca.  There is a store, but no public restroom.  We stocked up (Greek yogurt, banana, V-8) and relocated to some "shade".  The local restaurant has bathrooms off their patio, and are very nice about people coming in to use it.



After a not overly long stop, we continued rollering along.  Susan said the next batch of rollers were pretty fun, and, once we summitted out of Arivaca, they were indeed great fun.  Lots of cattle guards, too.  Bzzzzp!



It was easier riding into the wind there - air is drier and thinner.

Another Border Control checkpoint.  We stopped because the sign said Stop, and chatted up the staff.  They were interested in the ride, and probably thought we were more than a little nuts.  More exceptionally clean portapotties.  Shortly after that we came up to the I-19 frontage road, and paused for a water refill.

Then north, and then west and north again through Green Valley.  Nice pavement, wide bike lanes, because they were meant to be shared with golf carts.  Susan's rear derailleur checked out here, and we pulled into a golf course parking lot to poke at it.  A guy came over and poked as well, and he got it unstuck and working again.  The last on-course control was a few miles further north - another Circle K.  Their Circle K stores are so much cleaner and nicer than I remember the ones here in Oregon.  Of course, I haven't stopped in one since forever, probably because the last one in Salem was so grubby.

More bananas and water and nuts.  Then we popped out on Duval Mine Rd, right by the Titan Missile Museum, which Fitz and I had just visited the day before.  There were really big trucks, and not very much road for a few miles.  Then a cyclist came by who knew Susan, so they chatted for awhile.  I was not in the best place, mentally.  The road was going up, it was the hottest part of the day, and the snacks had not yet kicked in.

Then we turned onto Mission Rd.  Nine more miles of climbing, and then Susan promised me an awesome descent.  The food kicked in and my mood and pace improved.  We were riding along the back side of the Asarco open-pit copper mine.  Impressive huge piles of mine tailings.  Watching the miles tick by, and soon we were at the top.  I was still plenty warm, and didn't need to add any layers.



It was a great descent - nice pavement, not steep, but enough that I could keep well above 20mph most of the way down.  Eventually I could see the San Xavier Mission (we'd been there the day before as well), and knew that we'd be running out of downhill soon.  Darn.

Still not dark, but it was thinking about it.  We kept on Mission Rd for several more miles, before turning onto something else, where it finally did get dark.  Susan couldn't read her cue sheet or see her computer.  I could do both, so was calling out distances, not that there were many turns to the finish.

After the last turn onto Calle Don Miguel, I could see the McDonald's up ahead.  Whee!

Fitz was inside waiting; tapped on the window, then went in to get a Coke and fries.  Kirk (Mr. Susan) was there also, and we visited and snacked for a bit before heading out.



Very fun ride, and quite different from riding here in the Northwet.

130 miles/12:12 elapsed.  Wasted a lot of time with the saddle adjustment; I'll have to get it right when the bike goes back together.

Aftermath notes: while the saddle was not yet perfectly adjusted, I had none of the customary post-ride sore spots.  Not a one.  That alone is worth it.  The shoes on the other hand...  Maybe my feet are not the intended demographic for those shoes.

The New Bike Ride

Not mine :-)  Rando friend Michal just (as in just) took delivery of his custom Winter rando bike, so of course he wanted to ride.  Rando friend Graham was planning to ride Bill Alsup's Eugene to Beaverton 200k perm, taking the train down to Eugene on Saturday (Feb 1) morning, and starting at 11:30am, or something like that.  Michal suggested he come down Friday evening and start earlier Saturday morning, and I joined in. The finish is just over a mile from my house, so I offered up dinner for all afterwards.  Plans were made.



For me, it was "hop the MAX train downtown and figure out the best way to get to Union Station".  I could transfer trains and get right there, but with a 15 minute wait time, I could ride over there quicker.  Almost.  The roads are either one-way or transit mall.  Can't easily get there from here.  After trying this twice, I think I will stick to 4th St.  Anyway, got there, got my bike ticket, and Graham found me in the luggage room.  He got his bike ticket, and we went and hung out in the lobby waiting for the train.  Which was late.

When we got our boarding passes, they directed us to the left.  Everyone else was sent to line up on the right.  Eventually they told us it was so we could jump ahead of the group and get our bikes in the baggage car soonest.  Nice.  Other than the train being late, uneventful ride.  Graham and I got better acquainted, he did Sudoku puzzles, and I worked on my small knitting project. Cyndi was pulling in as we walked to the front of the station, and Michal had a batch of chili with tasty bread waiting.  And ice cream for dessert.

Of course, time was spent in the garage admiring the shiny new bike.  He really had only ridden it around the block when he picked it up, so this would be all new.

We planned to leave the house about 7am for a 7:30 start.  Michal and Cyndi had breakfast out and multiple cups of home-roasted coffee.  Still dim heading down the hill, but our bright headlights helped.  We arrived at Full City Coffee, and bought yet more coffee for that starting receipt.  I had some Caffe Latte Perpetuem and hot cocoa mix in my thermal bottle, and just had them fill it up with coffee.  Lots of coffee.  We set out only 4 minutes after 7:30, which has got to be a record.



So Michal had his entirely new bike, and I was riding on an entirely new saddle - a Rivet Pearl.  Right out of the box, and only a couple trips up and down the driveway, plus the 2 miles total riding to get to Union Station.  This could be an interesting ride.

First stretch, Eugene to Brownsville, 29.7 miles.  Early, sunny, cold.  The wind was not hindering, and might even have been a teeny bit helpful.  The climbs on Gap Road were not a big deal (somehow, they always hurt coming the other way toward the end of the Five Rivers perm), and the descents down the other side were quite fun.  Horses, cattle, sheep, and llamas out in the fields.  Still very much winter, but some trees were getting that pre-leaf fuzzy look.



There might have been a pause along the way to remove some layers.  Or we did it when we stopped in Brownsville; I really don't remember.  Bought some peanut butter crackers, but I really had plenty of food with me.  Also ate a slab of Italian Fruitcake.  Michal broke his bike in by plopping a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos on the seat.



Graham's front bag has a built in corndog holder.



Brownsville to Hoffman Covered Bridge info control 24.2 miles.  Still wonderfully sunny.  More rolling hills (I think they call them buttes).



Passed through Lebanon and Crabtree (there isn't much in Crabtree), to turn onto Hungry Hill Road, where the bridge is to be found.  We stopped to write down the answer, and take a few pictures.





Hoffman Covered Bridge to Stayton 13.2 miles.  The last time we rode this, we stopped in Scio, but not today.  The only wall of the route was waiting - gets up to 12% or 14% toward the top.  I bailed and spun my way up; Michal and Graham climbed somewhat faster.  This puts us on top of a ridge with wonderful views.

By now I was noticing that I had a new saddle.  Or, more to the point, the sitbones were noticing.  Shift, wiggle, shift. Michal was also noticing his new saddle, but perhaps not as acutely.

Found Michal and Graham at a corner, with a bit of a quandary on which way to go.  Michal's GPS was indecisive, and I thought we'd stay left.  I got to pull out MapsWithMeLite with the ride track installed and verify that this was indeed the case.  We continued on Stayton-Scio Road, and quite soon found ourselves in Stayton, headed for the Safeway.  Applied some lubricant to my poor sit bones.  Bought a sandwich, which seemed to take longer than it should have, but Michal was still in line at the Starbucks.  Got another bottle filled with coffee, Perpetuem and cocoa mix, and topped off my water bottle.  Ate half my sandwich and a banana, and we were off again.

Stayton to Woodburn  28.7 miles.  This stretch was mostly autopilot, as it goes from Stayton to Aumsville, north on Howell Prairie, and then, departing from the Mill City Coffee Run, into Woodburn, rather than Gervais.  We were all looking forward to some Mexican food in Woodburn, at one of the many stores which line the main street.  This is a pretty stretch of the route.









Heading into Woodburn, an impatient driver passed on a two lane road, with oncoming traffic.  The oncoming pickup almost ended up in the ditch.  We all shook our heads in disbelief.

Stopped at the same place in Woodburn as before, except all the window signs were now in Korean(?)  Bought a Red Bull to get a quick receipt, not that we were anywhere near pushing the time limit.  Receipt time was almost 30 minutes off :-)  Then went to order some food.  Brain freeze.  I just ordered what Michal had - three tamales.  They turned out to contain chicken, and were somewhat spicier than either of us were expecting.  I ate two.



Woodburn to Beaverton 29.6 miles.  And here we were leaving Woodburn, and it was still light!  Granted the shadows were getting long, but still...  A zombie freight train was heading north, same as us (the locomotive was at the other end, running in reverse), so I could head straight on, knowing that no one would be turning or crossing in front of me.  Michal and Graham came up in not too long, and we headed into and through Hubbard, then NW towards Aurora.  A stop to swap to the clear lenses and turn on a few more lights.  Rode alongside the Aurora airport, and Graham and I swapped stories about my brother's flying lessons there, and his flying lessons there.

Then it was time to hop onto I-5 for the Boone Bridge crossing.  Still not full dark.  That didn't happen until we were headed through the Wilsonville industrial park.

Last time we did this ride, it was dark and raining, and we had to stop and check the cue sheets much too often.  I had done some serious review of the route north from Wilsonville, and Michal had his GPS set up.  I was a bit stressed about the next stretch on Boone's Ferry/Tualatin Rd, because, again, the last time was in the dark and rain, and the road was two lanes, no shoulder, and heavily traveled.  I was in for quite the pleasant surprise!  Road widened, big shoulder/bike lane, and new white curbs, which my headlight picked out quite nicely!

Into Tualatin Community Park, over the Tualatin River bridge, and then the left turn in Cook Park on the bike path. Now, this is clearly a recreational, meandering path.  Not a single light in the park, and no edge lines painted on the path.  Good thing there was a wide beam on my headlight!

Now north on road with names I recognized - SW Hall, SW Burnham, a funny u-turn in downtown Tigard, through some neighborhoods, and then we popped out on SW Greenburg Rd, at which point I no longer needed the cue sheet.

Pulled into the Starbuck's at the Beaverton Freddie's, and I ducked in to get us a receipt.  Came out to find Bill A, the route owner.  Called home to say we'd all be there in about 10 minutes.  Graham wanted to get a picture of a license plate (200 DNF), so he said he'd be right behind us.  He never was right behind us, but as we headed up my street, I could see a bike taillight in front of us.  Bill pulled in right behind us.



Aftermath.  First things first, it being Graham's first R-12, his wife Sharon had brought a bottle of champagne, and we had a celebratory round.  Then we fell into dinner.  Sharon had also made a wonderful lasagna, which we accompanied by a big Rich and Charlie's salad, bread, apple cake and ice cream.  And beer and cider.



The route
130 miles in all,
13.05 moving average,
11:57 total time, about 15 minutes quicker than before, even without the tailwind assistance
about 3800 vertical feet

Testing Saddles

I've got a Brooks saddle. While my sit bones are generally happy, the ridge down the middle makes other parts of me not so happy.



Friend Andrew was sporting a Brooks saddle with the Selle An-Atomica cutout. He offered it up for a two week trial, as he won't be riding that bike for a couple weeks. I just took it for a 15 mile spin up to Council Crest. Other than it is way too narrow, this seems to have promise.



I've got other saddles; mostly varieties of the Terry Butterfly. Generally, I like the non-ridge down the middle, but they have other issues that the Brooks does not. So, we'll see.

Some days, it is hard to be a good little demographic

I surely tried. Fitz told me to get the Brooks Saddle of my choice for Mother's Day. Duly accomplished yesterday. It is installed, but there is a small problem - my venerable seatbag does not work with it.



All the other seatbags we have around are of the same type, except my Carradice Barley, which will work even BETTER with the new saddle, but it does not work and play well with the briefcase pannier, so those are all out of consideration.

Ah! Time to get a VO Croissant or Rivendell Banana bag! Finally, an excuse.

Darn. Both out of stock.