Visiting an old friend

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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