Coffeeneur #4, South Store Cafe

I was casting about for a coffeeneur for this weekend, but was a bit time-constrained today because we were scheduled to babysit Asher (perhaps I haven't said here, but we became grandparents on May 28.)

I could have done an expedient one, but really wanted to do something with other people.  And the weather was going to be OUTSTANDING.



Susan O proposed the South Store Cafe in Scholls.  She was reserving the right to do a longer ride, but I could easily get home from there in plenty of time.  After much thinking, I planned to ride over to Susan's for an 8:30am (ish) departure, so as to get in more riding, and not have to ride back to her house and drive home, as Scholls is closer to where I live.

Up at 6-ish, and out the door right around 7:30.  It was cold.  Nice view of the moonset on my way over.



Arrived to find a bicycle with sparkly reflective green stars all over it by the front door.  Clearly Asta was in on this.  And so was Jeff!  We spent a fair amount of time chatting before finally heading out.

After working our way though East Hillsboro and onto River Road, we got out into the country.  I did call a photo halt at Northwest Alpacas, because there were lots of baby alpacas and they were all so darn cute.





Right turn at the new traffic circle at River Rd and Scholls Ferry, and over to the South Store Cafe, which I have ridden past many times, but not ever stopped.  It is right across the road from Smith's BerryBarn, which is the raspberry u-pick of choice.





It was wonderful.  Jeff ordered two things, plus coffee, Susan went for the strata, and Asta and I ordered up some Italian Torta, which was an egg/spinach/roasted red pepper/tomato layered pie.  And coffee.  Can't forget that.  I got a Pumpkin Spice Latte.







Enjoyed our coffee, food, and the company.  Jeff went and ordered more food; I bought a cookie.  Asta bought some cookies.  The staff thought we were great fun, and delivered a plate of pumpkin pastries with frosting on the house. :-) Yum.



After a good long while, Susan, Asta, and Jeff set out to ride down to St Paul, and I headed home.

There was major road construction at Scholls Ferry and Roy Rogers.  I had a great conversation with the flagger during the very long wait.  I haven't ridden on this stretch of Scholls Ferry for a couple of years.  Still rural and very pretty.  Then into the south edge of Beaverton.  I worked my way north on SW 125th, Greenway, the Fanno Creek Trail...





Brief stop at the battery store before finally arriving home.

The route:

39.8 miles
Fabulous weather!

Beaverton-Birkenfeld, Sept 200k Perm

The September 200k.  When I fall behind in posting, the ride report gets a bit terse...



Roped Jeff, Kevin, Bill, and new rando Greg P into riding.

At 5:50am on day of ride, Fitz woke me up, asking: "when are you starting your ride?"  OOPS (which is why I get most everything set up the night before)  He woke up wondering why I hadn't been rustling around.  Kind of like when your baby sleeps through the night for the first time, I guess.

Down to Jim and Patty's, where I had time for a Pig Newton and Mocha.  We started only 10 minutes after the official start.





It was cool, but not raining.  We didn't stop until Banks, and not for long.  Then no stops till Vernonia.  As we were on the trail, no places to stop :-)  Except there might have been a bit of walking up Tophill.

We all ended up in different spots for the control in Vernonia; Jeff and I stopped at the Shell Station.  It also being Worldwide Spin in Public day, I had packed my Trindle and some fleece, and got in a few minutes of spinning there.



From there, we headed on to Birkenfeld.  We thought we might encounter the riders from the Hammerhead 100 along here.  I was a bit worried, because their lunch stop was The Birk.  The sag driver saw us and asked if we were on the ride.  Nope.



Arrived at Birkenfeld to find all the event riders long gone.  Greg was there; the ride staff had gifted him with some excess Gatorade, which he shared.  Ordered a sandwich and foraged for info control questions, since the Birk is now a "Music Venue", and is only open from 11am to not so late on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  They no longer have a store, so be prepared for that.  The food is really good, though, and service is quite reasonably paced.



Got in some more spinning.



We then headed back.  And it started to rain.  Ok, not bad.  Not pulling on all the raingear...  Then quickly pulled over at the Mist Fire Department and pulled on all the raingear!  First excursion with the Rainlegs.

Rained all the way back to Vernonia; another pass through the Shell Station for the control.

Headed back on the trail, the rain let up and finally stopped after we summited.

And eventually we finished; Kevin and I about 15 minutes behind everyone else.  I had recommended we finish at YoPop, so that is where we found them.  The owner was giving out free samples of Thai Iced Tea!  Yum!



Miles: 135
Pace: 13.12 mph
Total time: 12:48

Coffeeneuring #3, Research Subject

As a Human Factors Engineer, I am usually on the other side of the table :-)

Janice C, a fellow rando, is doing research on the why of Ride Reports, especially in Blogs.  (Hi Janice!  I know you are reading this!).  She contacted me, because she'd be in town and would we like to meet?

So, yes, of course.  I rummaged around for a location for the conversation (she had a bike with her, of course) which fulfilled the coffeeneuring requirements for her.  Just by riding into Portland from the other side of the hill covered it for me.

I was to look for a woman with a blue Bike Friday and yellow jacket.  I told her to look for a woman with a blue Rivendell and yellow jacket.

Pretty ride through Washington Park, but not having yet had any coffee, I wasn't feeling alert enough to bomb down through.  I think I need to consider Midge handlebars for the Riv as well; easier to grab the brakes with my little hands.

Found Janice, off to Spielman Bagels and Coffee (they roast their own!).  Picked because bagels and Hawthorne Bridge and Ladd's Addition.  If one is showing off Portland, these are not bad places to go.

No bike rack there!  Fortunately there was a really tall signpost.

We took over the end of a table, and ordered coffee and bagels.  For the coffeeneuring documentation, I had the house coffee.  I forget what the first pot was, but my refill was Sumatra Mandheling.  Bagel was "Everything, toasted, with lox cream cheese".

Research done, with various enjoyable conversational excursions.

Returned Janice to her hotel, chugged back up the hill (and it felt MUCH BETTER than it did on the easier outgoing trip), and returned home to start Birthday Dinner preparations.

23+ miles.  Real vertical feet.  Coffee.

Coffeeneuring, Rides 1 and 2

Busy weekend.

Coffeeneuring #1 Saturday, Oct 5.
My first coffee Saturday came to me from Eugene, some lovely stuff from Wandering Goat. I was running the Oregon Randonneurs October 200k, starting at Jim and Patty's Coffee in Beaverton.  That would certainly be a coffeeneuring opportunity for me, and I headed out shortly before 6am to get there.  Riders had to take a slightly more circuitous route from the finish to the start, to get in the minimum distance, but quite a few did.  I heard speculation in the driveway as to if there would be a secret control.  Yes indeed, but it was a secret, so I wasn't telling.





I ordered myself a pumpkin latte and set up the registration table.  Riders showed up shortly thereafter and kept the baristas busy making drinks and selling Pig Newtons (also available in vegetarian!)

At 7am I sent them off, and sat down to wait out the hour until the control closed.  About 20 minutes into it, I saw a rider heading in, and wondered who would have turned back this early?  Well, it wasn't a rider.  Fitz thought he'd give this coffeeneuring thing a try.

Right after 8am we rode over to the Beaverton Farmers' Market, where we ordered Mexi-Mochas from Pony Espresso, and picked up a few items for us and for the post ride feed.



Then home.  I had even MORE coffee later; Jeff brought the bottled cold brewed Stumptown coffee to the after party.  It is a wonder I could sleep that night.



Total distance 4.45 mi

Coffeeneuring #2, Sunday, Oct 6
There was an original proposal to meet at a Hillsboro coffeehouse, but Ryan from Portland thought we should come into town.  In a spirit of cooperation and bipartisanship, we agreed to meet up at Blend.  Other weekends we will meet out on the west side.

Shan, Narayan, and Lesli had stayed over after the 200k.  The guys left around 6am, and Lesli had breakfast with us, and set off on her errands.

Left at 9:20am, and rode up to the Sunset Transit Station to meet up with Bill and Susan (already on the train).  We rode north from the Rose Quarter to Blend, where Ryan was waiting.  He'd already had his first coffeeneur with Joshua B downtown.

Jeff A, Asta, Theo, Steph, and Birthday Boy Ken M joined us.



I had a Harvest Moon coffee/chai latte thing (tasty) and a scone, and accomplished a fair amount of knitting on my Handspun Lily of the Valley scarf.






Eventually Ken and Bill had to be other places, but we sat and chatted and drank more coffee, and eventually Theo wondered if anyone else was hungry (it was now 2:45pm).  Some more discussion, and we rode over to Old Gold, where there were non-coffee drinks and lunch.  I had the mac and cheese.  Finally, about 4pm, we all rode south, each peeling off as needed to get home.  Took the MAX back over the hill with Susan, and arrived home before 5pm.  Longest coffeeneur ever.

Total distance 10.25 mi

More pictures from Saturday and Sunday are here.  Lots of brevet afters pics.

Scavenger Hunt 200k Pre-Ride Notes

Kevin Lais and I pre-rode the Oct 5 Scavenger Hunt 200k in astoundingly cr@ptastic weather, just so you don't have to.

Current Oct 5 forecast

The route is a derivation of my Beaverton-Hagg Lake-Carlton perm.  If you want to see pictures, go here.  It was raining and blowing too hard for me to take any.

But anyway, the ride...

We are starting at Jim and Patty's Coffee in Beaverton on SW 117th.  Please park on the street, if you plan to park at the start, which is not exactly the same as the finish.  More on that later.  Wonderful coffee there, but the service isn't instant.  Get there a bit early if you want to enjoy your Black Tiger Slammahamma with a Pig Newton (available in veggie).  

It should be noted that the Beaverton Transit Center is one block to the west, for those of you in Portland who aren't inclined to climb over the hill that early in the morning.

You will work your way west and north, including a brief bit on the Rock Creek Trail off NW Evergreen.  There is a new signalized crossing at the trail, so it will be easier to find than before.  Shortly after that you'll turn onto NW Cornelius Pass Rd, and turn left onto NW West Union.  The left onto West Union wants you to cut over a right turn only lane well before the light, so be alert there.

Now you are outside the Urban Growth Boundary, and it is all pretty for miles and miles and miles.  I am trying to remember if there is anything special I should tell you here, but there really isn't.  The info control at St Francis also has flush toilets in the building past the church.  There is a donation box for restroom supplies, since every cyclist in the area stops there!

Kevin and I dragged some big storm blow-down off the Hwy 6 shoulder for you.  Of course, there may be more by now.

My recommendation for the Forest Grove open control is Maggie's Buns.  It can get busy, but they often have a day old baked goods bin that is much better than it sounds.  There is also a convenience store.  We stopped at Maggie's, and got our sticky bun (split between the two of us, they are huge) to go, but enjoyed some coffee while waiting for it.

Now off to Hagg Lake.  You'll pass the Lake Stop Store at the corner of Old Hwy 47 and Scoggins Valley Rd, if you forgot anything from Forest Grove.  There is also a portapotty outside.  After suffering your way up the first ramp at the lake, enjoy the ride around it!

You'll pass the Lake Stop Store again on your way back out, just in case...

Construction detour, already on the cue sheet.  Don't be tempted to head south on Old Hwy 47, because, at the moment, there is no bridge over Scoggins Creek.

There is a store in Gaston if you need anything.  Heading east on Main St, we saw a big tree down, but we could easily ride around it, and it will probably be cleared away by Oct 5.

The route to Carlton may be familiar from the Wine Country Populaire.  We were Ever So Happy to get to Carlton, because it is 81 miles into the route, and, for us, it was 81 miles of heavy rain and headwinds.

After Carlton, it is possible there will be no services until mile 116, 36 miles down the road.

From Carlton, you head east, and the road keeps changing names, but eventually you'll end up on Kuehne Rd, and the familiar left turn (caution!) onto Ribbon Ridge.

North on North Valley and Spring Hill, right on Fern Hill, right on Geiger,  and you will pop out on Golf Course Rd, just south of Cornelius.  If you are really desperate for something, you can turn left and get something from the Plaid Pantry, a bit north.  But your route lies the other way, along with more info controls.

At the end of Golf Course, the Forest Hills Golf Club *may* still be open.  They've got a water fountain and a snack bar and bathrooms.  The golf course looked pretty flooded yesterday, so they weren't open.  Continue straight on Tongue Rd.

Crossing Hwy 219 - you'll turn right onto Hwy 219, and take the first left turn.  There is a protected left turn lane.

The next timed control is at SW Borwick and SW Baseline.  I usually stop at the Jackson's convenience store at the gas station, but there is fast food and a grocery store.

Almost done.  East on SW Baseline, turning left onto SW 158th, then right on Walker.

After crossing Murray Rd (really big intersection), you will want to turn left onto SW Park Way, the second left.  There isn't a protected left here, so exercise caution.  Kevin and I had no problems getting across.

After that, it is just following Park Way (with a brief info control stop) to the top of the hill, then right, left, across the Hwy 217 overpass, taking the first right, and dropping down through the neighborhood to my house (the finish).  Black mailbox, white post, on the right, if you start riding past the guardrail, you have gone too far.

I'll try to have some balloons or something on the mailbox.  There will be hot soup, cornbread, some desserty-type thing, great company, and such at my house afterward.

You are welcome to get a shower and change clothes, as well.

Now, if you wanted to park on my street and ride to the start (1.4 miles, all downhill :-) ), that is a really good idea.  Directions from my house to the start:

	R	SW 107th Ave
0.2	L	SW Walker Rd
0.0	R	SW 106th Ave
0.0	Immed R	SW Sunnyhill Ln
0.1	R	SW 108th Ave
0.0	L	SW Polsky Rd
0.1	L	SW 110th Ave
0.1	R	SW Cabot St
0.2	L	bc SW 113th Ave
0.1	R	bc SW Center
0.2	L	SW 117th Ave

Caution and good listening skills are useful for the left onto Walker.  Still much safer than turning right, and sitting out there waiting to turn left onto SW 108th, trust me.

Final cue sheet is here.
and map

See you all on the 5th!

Try the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes at the Block House Cafe...

That was Ken's recommendation.  We (Jeff A, Kevin L, and I) were out riding Ken's Dayton Flier permanent populaire from Forest Grove to Dayton.

Now, you might think, Forest Grove to Dayton, dead easy.  I have done it in my sleep... We didn't go that way.

The weather was damp and drizzly, but not cold enough to consider anything more than toe covers, vest, and wool arm warmers.  We headed west from the Forest Grove Safeway, and out Ritchey Rd, then Stringtown, Dilley, and Old Hwy 47 on the way to the Lake Stop Store, the first control.

Jeff was continuing my education in all things agricultural - he grew up on a farm.  I know what silage is now.

Kevin kept getting calls from his wife and pulling over, and what with starting, mmm, a bit late, we made the control with just a few minutes.  Not that we were worried.

We were meant to continue south on Old Hwy 47, but the road is closed because the bridge over Scoggins Creek is temporarily not there.  I knew this, and we just went east on Scoggins Valley Rd, back onto Hwy 47, and then off it again just north of Gaston.  (Remember this for the upcoming Scavenger Hunt 200.  Same detour).

Ate my way through lox and bagel along here.  Great ride food, I must say!

South on Spring Hill and Laughlin, then east on 240.  Wonderful pavement, but lacking shoulders.  And, on a blind curve...

pic by way of Claire Petersky

a person driving a car chose to pass the three of us.  On a double yellow.  Remember I said blind curve?  With oncoming traffic, which we could see and he couldn't?  I yelled.  They pulled over.  Words were exchanged, mostly me using words like "blind curve" and "double yellow" and "you couldn't see if anything was coming!".  His brilliant response... "it's a goddamn road!"  Mmm.  Didn't get it.  We left, they passed and slowed down; the passenger yelled out the window: "you should be careful who you yell at!".  Jeff had some observations about them, which I will not repeat here.  Kevin was in a bit of shock; he hasn't met that Lynne.

Anyway, we soon turned off onto Stag Hollow, which is a dirt road.  We had to slow down a bit, and pick our line through the washboard, but it wasn't too bad.  And there were other roads which I had not been on before, eventually crossing roads I did recognize, a bit more gravel, a great pedestrian bridge, and we were in Dayton!  How'd that happen?



The drizzle stopped somewhere along Stag Hollow Rd, not to be seen again for the rest of the ride.

Anyway, we had 20 minutes in the bank and I thought the cinnamon roll pancakes sounded really good.  We got a table quickly, but nothing was quick after that.  We passed the time by getting our cards in order, chatting with the other patrons (Kevin had a great conversation with the little boy at the next table), drinking coffee, and updating our followers :-)  The cinnamon roll pancakes WERE tasty.  Tip: only order one, they are huge.  And, an hour later, we were headed back.  If you do the math, we had 2:45 to cover 32 miles.



Oooh.  I was inspired.  We exited the Dayton the way we came in, but the return was not the same.  Ken found more dirt roads for us to ride on.  When we summited the last one, it turned back to pavement and a fun descent to 240.  We then turned north on Laughlin and worked with the tailwind to get back as quickly as possible.  From here, it was back the way we came.

I am very sure that ditching my venerable multitool (a Trek-branded one from 2003) for the Topeak Rachet Rocket, saving me a whole 5oz, contributed to my ability to keep pushing it.

I kept watching the clock and odometer, and getting a little bit tense.  And pedaling.  Up the three big rollers on Spring Hill, into Gaston, up Hwy 47 to Scoggins Valley Rd.  A flying pass through the Lake Stop store.  Same cashier as the morning, she was highly amused.  A couple more big rollers on Old Hwy 47, a few more miles (still looking at the clock!) and the last climb up Ritchey Rd into Forest Grove.  We had 10 minutes left.  And I relaxed, because all we had to do was get to the other side of town.

Finished with 5 minutes to spare.  The closing receipt was the most expedient I could think of - Diet Pepsi at the checkout stand!



We did the rando-style finish, sitting on the pavement outside filling out cards.  Kevin said I made him hurt on the hills.  Hey, I wasn't stopping or slowing, we needed to get done!

Total time: 6:43
Riding average: 13.6 mph
Miles: 64.3

Mill City Coffee Run with Friends

Susan O needed an August 200k.  That ride she did in the UK doesn't count for RUSA awards.  She rounded up a nice-sized crew for the Mill City Coffee Run ("flattest perm there is") - herself, Asta, me, Kevin L, Greg P (Kevin's friend), Bill A, Jeff A, Paul W, and a last minute rider, Ken M, the perm owner.  He said it sounded like too much fun to miss.  Or something like that.



We planned for a 7am meeting, to allow for visiting, coffee and faffing before the 7:30am start.  I collected Bill A, we headed south, and found everyone there.  Paperwork exchanged, coffee and snacks consumed, day-glo vests installed, and off we went.



There was the usual "fun" riding over the Willamette River on I-5, but we were quickly off the freeway and into the country.  All the wheatfields we had seen a month ago were harvested.  The corn was still there, and it smelled wonderful.





This was a "stick together" ride, and that is mostly what we did.  Stopped at Roth's in Stayton - the first control.  As usual, we were too early for the BBQ they set up outside, but we got drinks and things to eat.  Asta recharged and eventually Susan got us all back on the road again :-)



After leaving Stayton, Michal and I went ahead.  I was feeling pretty good.  We zipped up through Lyons and on to Mill City.  I was probably writing checks I couldn't cash, but hey...



We got to the turnaround at Rosie's; everyone else arrived a few minutes later.  Fortunately, we beat the rush.  I ordered a sandwich and a mango smoothie.  Ate the entire sandwich, but the smoothie was just too cold.  Poured it into my insulated bottle.  After about a half hour, Susan O evicted us again :-)  For someone recovering from a 1500k, she had entirely too much energy.









Anyway, we headed back down to Stayton and paused again.  My bike computer kept trying to leave me by jumping out of its mount.  I secured it (sort of) with some duct tape from Asta.  Green, naturally.



Mostly we drank cold things, and lusted after Susan O's teeny little rachet toolkit.  Something about a cleat bolt going AWOL.







After that, we continued north on Howell Prairie Rd.  The wind, while not favorable, was not entirely unfavorable either.  But it was hot.  Really hot.  We stopped at the gas station with the blue room at Howell Prairie and Silverton Rd.  Michal suggested I not wear my cap - it is constructed of some poly cotton fleece blend, and he dumped some water on my back.  Both those suggestions helped.

photo by Asta Chastain

We rode as a fairly tight group all the way to Gervais, with another stop for cold wet beverages and getting our feet out of our shoes for a bit.  Other than the heat, it was lots of fun.



More pack riding all the way to the I-5 stretch on the Boone Bridge, where we all endeavored to just get across and off the freeway!

As Ken (the route owner) was with us, we all officially finished, then adjourned across the street to the McMenamins pub.  Got a table outside in the shade, and had a wonderful post-ride social and dinner hour.



Kevin VanDyke saw on FB that we were there, so he dropped by for a few minutes.

Paul W finished his first 200 in over a year!  Yay!

Riding average 15.1 mph (!!!!!!)
126.2 mi, elapsed time 10:54, my fastest time on this route
All my pictures here
Michal's pictures here