Catching up

Hmm. Haven't posted a ride story for over a month. There has been much going on, not necessarily involving actual riding.

July 4 weekend, nephew Michael got married to the lovely Taylor. The wedding took place in Dallas. Much family convergence in Dallas, family invasion of the IHOP, sightseeing in Dallas, and... the wedding.

The next weekend cousin Marissa got married to the delightful Daniel. THIS wedding took place at Skamania Lodge. A thought - I could RIDE to that wedding. Fitz would be driving anyway; he could bring my clothes. Surely some relative who was not immediate family of the bride would be staying there; I could "borrow" their shower. And indeed, all these things came to pass.

Rode over to find Cecil at Kettleman's Bagels, and then we headed out on the standard Bridge of the Gods ride, except we passed the bridge and went into Stevenson for a grocery store lunch, pedaled back to the Lodge, where she then pedaled on home. 64 excellently sunny miles, PERFECT weather, and the best-ever descent from Cape Horn. Best ever. Dry pavement, practically no traffic, no wind. Best ever.

Found cousins Joan and Don and used their shower (I had shorts and a t-shirt along, while waiting for the fancy clothing to show up), wandered around the lodge visiting (family everywhere), then settled into the nice rocking chairs in the great room with the complimentary coffee and newspaper, watching the photography preparations. My uncle showed up and kept me company, then Fitz and the kids arrived, with my clothes.

A delightful wedding as well.

Then the next weekend, off to Michigan, with Rebecca and Jessica, where we first went to Mackinac Island ("What?!?" said Jessica. "You've NEVER BEEN! You are missing the BEST PART!") Don't know if I'd go that far, but it was way fun. NO motorized transportation on the island. None. Bicycles, horses, or walking; that's it. Well, ok, you can fly in and out.

We rented bicycles and rode around the island (all of 8 miles). It started raining about 6 miles in. Downpour :-) Got back to town. I had my new Showers Pass Double Century jacket along. It kept the top of me dry just fine. We turned the bikes back in, bought plastic rain ponchos, and then toured the Fort and town. The Fort was clearly the Party Posting of the latter half of the 1800's.

Then to the Fitzsimmons Cottage. Fitz's sisters Beth and Lynn and their total of 6 children were next door in the Yellow Cottage (heretofore referred to as the Fitz and the Yellow), so we had a fun week. Several amazing beach days, great runs along Lake Michigan (and no, it isn't flat - there's dunes to get over!), rides to and from the beach (1 mi each way) and a ride around Crystal Lake. What with internet now in the Yellow, I somehow didn't have the impetus for my once or twice daily 6 mile round trip rides into town...

Swimming at the lake was mostly wonderful - the water was perfect, and one day it was even a bit choppy. I like it choppy - more of an adventure to swim the line (1/4 mile). On the non-plus side, the Swimmers' Itch was pretty active this year. Usually I get one or two bites, and that is it. Not this year. Fortunately, I don't get as itchy as the kids seem to. Clear Caladryl and I'm good.

A new activity for me was being hauled off to a local golf course to hit a bucket of balls. I am not a golfer. It is probably pretty clear now that I will never be a golfer. SIL Beth and I dutifully hacked away at those little yellow range balls. We even connected reasonably well on a few of them, but, at least in my case, it was mostly whiffs, the ball shooting off to the right, or not going very far. Like maybe 30 feet. Beth and I concluded that golf is not for us. SIL Sue just watched - she already knows she isn't a fan of the game.

Knitting accomplishments on vacation - finished a pair of stripey stashbuster socks, bought some acrylic yarn at the Shop n Save in Benzonia and made Brian his Cunning Hat, and started a pair of Filey socks in a blue tweed for me.

And now, back home, led a Portland Velo ride (I took the faster half of the 14-16mph group), climbing Holly Hill. 47+ miles. Need to plan another ride for tomorrow.

More pictures:

Michael and Taylor's Wedding

Marissa and Daniel's Wedding

Mackinac Island

My Michigan running route (includes a highly scenic lighthouse!)

General Michigan pics

I have a Fedex tracking number and know how to use it...

Sweetpea is painted and on its way back to Portland!

Estimated delivery - Aug 4!

I was warned that paint might be the time suck

Totally brought home yesterday. I believe I mentioned on June 15 that the bike was off to paint. It is now July 25. The bike is STILL at paint. First they were backed up. Now they are finally painting - the rack is done. It appears that they cannot pinstripe over aluminum, so the hammered metal fenders will remain completely unpainted. Oooh, shiny. Pinstripes in the grooved channels would have been nice, though.

The kicker is, they just discovered they are out of the color specified for my bike. Now, exactly HOW LONG did they know they needed that color? It will take time to order and receive the paint. And then paint. And ship.

I have suggested expediting all around. I was WANTING to ride the 400k on Aug 7, and it may not be possible now.

I might also suggest a short course in inventory control.

Sweetpea Progress, updated

Getting closer. It did, in theory, get painted this week. I suspect it will be painted next week. Intense email exchange on the fenders - darker sage green pinstriping in the grooves, otherwise unpainted to let the hammered metal sparkle.

Subtle shimmer clearcoat over the Signal Violet frame paint.

Symmetrical beam Supernova E-3 Lefty.

Parts ordered/acquired. Big check written for the parts.

I am told I should be able to ride it to Canada next month on RSVP.

Mostly, I do this ride for the ice cream...

While deciding where to ride this weekend (that I'm riding is rarely questioned), Cecil proposed a ride out to Multnomah Falls. We'd meet up at the Kettleman's Bagels close to her house. Other persons were planning to also ride out to the Falls, but starting later in the day.

Following my practice of doing as much preparation the night before, I made a couple of sandwiches (smoked turkey, cream cheese, cranberry chutney in a pita), set out the water bottles, 2 bananas and a couple of bars, picked out riding gear, pumped up the tires (better to find the potential flat the night before), made sure the right stuff was on the Lemond (bike of choice for the day), and conked out.

Up at 5:30am, out the door by 6:40am (it somehow always takes me almost 30 minutes to make it from the bed to the kitchen). Nice ride over the hill, again going by way of Skyline/Fairview Blvd. Much more fun descending Fairview when it isn't pouring! Arrived at Kettleman's Bagels right at 7:30. Didn't see Cecil's bike. But I did see her inside, and as her bike was inside as well, mine went in to keep it company.

Everything bagel, lox cream cheese, coffee. This is a plan. We should consider this for a good am ride meetup point!

As we were not meeting anyone at Edgefield, we took the I-205 bike path north to Marine Drive, then into Troutdale from there. There was some wind assistance. Not much, but a real plus over wind harassment.

Brief pause at Troutdale City Park. There was a large group of Portland Wheelmen, who were still hanging around when we left. We figured they'd catch us at some point, but I am not sure they really ever did. By this point I'd already ridden about 30 miles.

Climbing up to the summit, and down to Vista House. Pause for the view and a sandwich and banana (third meal of the day :-) ). A cute young Japanese tourist was carefully inspecting and documenting the bike rack (donated by the Portland Wheelmen. Sadly, very poorly engineered; no one actually puts their bikes in it) and taking pictures of the crazy American cyclist eating her sandwich. Then down (me to Cecil - wait for me at the bottom). The road surface is starting to deteriorate some - holes, cracks... With the contrasty light/shadow, I had to exhibit a bit more caution than I would have. Still, a fun descent, if a bit chilly.

Rejoining Cecil at Latourelle Falls, we zipped eastward to Multnomah Falls. Seemed like the fastest trip to the Falls ever. It was Family Day, with the Forest Service booths (dead animals, skulls, fire prevention), Native American crafts, good music... And, of course, the reason *I* ride to Multnomah Falls - ice cream! Now, the last time I rode out here, the conditions did not suggest ice cream, and I passed on it. Today, however, it was bright and sunny, warming up, and the Forest Service smokejumper guys were watching our bikes.

The homemade ice cream sandwich is wonderful - two sugar cookies with ice cream in the center. It seems to have grown in size since I last bought one. Didn't matter. I still ate the whole thing. It lasted all the way back to Troutdale, too.

The Forest Service guys had a prize wheel where they were giving away Smokey the Bear items if you could answer their question correctly on fire safety. Now, I didn't want a Smokey the Bear[pencil, plastic hat, key ring,....] No, I wanted the historical reproduction Smokey the Bear bandanna. Stan the smokejumper was chatting up Cecil (we need to get her a more blatant wedding ring :-) ), so I took advantage of that. After slowly remembering the 3 parts of the fire triangle, I had a bandanna. (pictures for my friends at Archival Clothing to follow; it is currently in the wash)

As we were heading back west, we saw what might have been the Wheelmen arriving. Again, a shorter ride back to the base of the climb than I remember, then up. I knew I'd find Cecil at Vista House. For all I knew, she was already there. Did about ten 30-30's (ow. they'd better pay off in the long run), wound around the last curves, and heard more than one cyclist cheering me on from the Vista House overlook. Behold! Dave and Edna, on their way TO the Falls.

After much chatting we went our separate ways. Up the last mile, then down one of my favorite descents. Pause at the Troutdale gas station for liquid input/output, then back out to Marine Drive. We thought we'd take Cornfoot south of the airport and head home by way of North Portland.

The wind was not that bad on Marine Drive, although Cecil said it was picking up. We stopped at the Cascades area Starbucks by the airport for liquids and snacks. They had such an array of vegan options that it took Cecil some time to pick something out :-) Watched no fewer than three Southwest planes land.

South on 47th ("closed!" Cecil-"there's closed and there's closed"), onto the sidewalk, across Columbia, then climbing up the ridge. Did I mention that it was getting into really hot territory? We saw what we thought was a lemonade stand and stopped. It was shave ice, but they offered up ice and syrup in our water bottles. As I had another 15+ miles and a big hill to go, I went for it.

Back to Cecil's, then off to go home. At the corner, checked my phone for messages, just in case. Sure enough, husband - meet me at Overlook Park? Back to Cecil's to get directions (all of 3 blocks), then off again, north on the Esplanade, north on Interstate, and there it was, the Organic Brewer's Festival, with a local band we follow playing at 5pm. Husband showed up shortly thereafter.

Listened to the band while consuming a huge cup of lemonade, visited with the trumpet player afterward, visited with daughter and partner (hey, where'd THEY come from?), got dinner, tasted 2 of the 3 ciders and a beer, chatted with friends. Then, finally got home.

Where I had to eat MORE ice cream, with fresh Oregon strawberries.

I had hoped to put in a least 100 miles, but the diversion at the end had it right at 95.

Scheming Away on Color Schemes

Best Framebuilder in the World tells me that the frame, fork and front rack are on their way to paint, and gently suggested that I settle on the final colors :-)

I've been saying Signal Violet, with a darker and lighter sage green sort of color for the logo, and the darker sage green for the rack.

Rummaged around the house for our extensive collection of colored pencils and crayons. You'd think a box of 96 crayons would have the right green, but no.

Then remembered that I used kuler at Adobe to pick out colors for my XHTML/CSS class this past term (for which I received a perfect grade). That worked. I pulled in the picture which was my original inspiration and went from there.

So here we are. Getting closer!

Three Prairies 200km Permanent or There's a Lot to be Said for Being Healthy

Friend Susan has been bitten by the R-12 bug, and she needed a ride for June. She recruited Cecil and me, and after Cecil suggested that we DON'T ride the Scio Covered Bridges Perm (I was going to make the same suggestion, but kept my mouth shut), we settled on the tried-and-true, never disappoints Three Prairies route. Two loops - a longer one to Dallas from Newberg, and then a shorter one to Mount Angel from Newberg. All the hills are pretty much concentrated on the first loop, on Perrydale Rd into Dallas. 4000 vertical feet. Scenery.

After cleaning the bikes, turned my attention to what to wear. No raingear needed. No warm clothes needed. Sunscreen needed. I narrowed it down to 2 jerseys and decided the morning of (Sheila Moon). At the last minute I tossed in my convertible windbreaker and arm warmers - it was 48 degrees. Just in case.

Found Cecil and Susan in the parking lot in Newberg. They were going for armwarmers. Susan and I also added a windvest. Cecil's comment on my jersey - "you know, I almost wore my sleeveless one like that, but I thought you might be wearing yours" :-)

They were riding their Sweetpea bicycles, and I was riding my Lemond (and wishing it was my Sweetpea. Soon. Soon.)

Over to the Thriftway for a starting receipt, and we were off. Through Newberg and Dundee, and that horrible excuse for a bike lane, then into Dayton. The vest came off. The long stretch to Amity (we pass at least 2 signs that say "Amity 5 miles". Oh, tailwind!

Brief pause in Amity, then south on 99W, Bethel, and then Perrydale Roads. I pushed the armwarmers down, and removed them altogether in Dallas.

We were moving right along - I kept up, as long as there was not climbing, then I'd fall back some.

Substantial snack in Dallas, then off to Rickreall and back up Hwy 99W to Amity (headwind - paceline!), then to Dayton and Newberg. 70 miles done, and I had a moving average of 16mph. Wow.

Another substantial snack, call from the son - he just bought his very own car, so excited :-), picture taking, and off again, headed for Mt Angel. More tailwind bopping down French Prairie Rd, I set a nice pace. I wanted to protect that 16mph moving average. I'm not sure when the last time was that I saw numbers like that on my bike computer. 2006? Maybe? Clearly there is a lot to be said for being healthy.

Turned east, and had a slight headwind. Over I-5, through Gervais, on to Mt Angel. Susan wanted to stop at a coffee shop that was on the cue sheet. The cue sheet is pretty old; we were dubious. But there it was. Unfortunately, closed on weekends (!) So off to the public restrooms and the Mount Angle (hey, that's what the receipt says) Market. More Pepsi. I drank more sodas on this ride than I ever do. I drank a LOT, and still have a post-ride headache.

Then back. Darn it. There was that headwind. Windy, hot, humid. Part of my brain was wanting a refreshing drizzle, or, at least some hits from the field sprinklers.

Surprised Cecil and Susan on one of the rollers outside of Mt Angel - they were ahead of me, and I built up a head of speed on the downhill, and zipped by them on the uphill. Paid for it later :-)

By the time we hit Champoeg, I had it in my head that it was 9 miles more, so making it in less than 10 hours would be iffy. We stopped for soda, chips, and shade. I then discovered it was only 6 miles more. Oh well. I've got to say that riding back to Newberg from there is much shorter in the daylight.

125.2 miles, 10:15 total riding time, 12.22 total avg mph. Riding average 15.5mph (the headwinds back from Mt Angel did me in, there). The 10:15 is a personal best for 200km.

Reviewing the archives reveals that I have not ridden that kind of distance at that pace since 2006. I hope it is a trend.

Three 100+ mile rides in the past 4 weeks :-)

What worked:

• eating. eating. eating. I carry most of my own food**, and try to make it something tempting. This day it was 4 well-buttered Rye-Molasses muffins*, a couple of hard boiled eggs, bars and a gel. I ate 3 of the muffins, both eggs, 2 bananas, and 1 bar. And some roasted, salted sunflower seeds, some of Cecil's lime-chile roasted almonds and a generous portion of Susan's big bag of Fritos. Two bottles of Gatorade, water, and 3 colas. Some food is just too much trouble to eat, and then I don't eat, and we all know what happens then. Or I'll think that I'm delaying folks by needing to eat, and I won't eat and...
• Wonderful riding companions. Really wonderful.
• Lantiseptic. Some of the, um, discomfort I've been having was alleviated. Not all, but most of it. Just because it has the consistency of spackle... yeah, well.

* a few years ago, I was sharing with my then walking and running companions at work what I would eat on a ride. "But that is so UNHEALTHY!" was the general reply. My counter: "I'd have to eat sticks of butter to keep up with the calorie expenditure". The muffins have a nice little slab of real butter tucked into each one.

** carrying food - I don't have to depend on finding something I'd like to eat in the convenience store. Plus I spend too much time staring at the offerings. Removing decisions conserves time.

Cecil's post