Last Ride of 5772

Time constrained this weekend, only had time for a permanent populaire. Kevin suggested I ride one of his routes. Not wanting to climb much, I selected Cedric Diggory. 9am seemed like a civilized start time.



Over to Kevin's before 9am. We coasted over to the start, and I learned that David P would be joining us. Kevin and David have turned into monsters, and I hoped I'd be able to hang on. David had ridden a sub-15 hour 300k the day before. There might be a chance.



Slow working our way north and east through north Portland to Kelley Point, then picking up speed on the Marine Drive MUP. Big trucks out there, even on a Sunday.



Then a lot of looping around to get onto the I-5 bridge.  The new wayfinding signs are a big help, but the route over Hayden Island is convoluted.



Then through Vancouver, and west through town out to Fourth Plain and points NW.  Once out of town, we could just ride, no more traffic control devices.  There was a bit of a headwind, but we plowed northward at 15-16 mph.  Vancouver Lake Park, cornfields (lots of cornfields), a marina or two, views of the Columbia River to the west (and Sauvie Island on the far shore), and into the south end of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, where the road came to an end.





We checked out the blackberry bushes, admired the river and answered the info question.  David and Kevin went down a steep path to the river; I thought I'd stay up by the bike and eat a banana.





Flew back to Vancouver with the tailwind.  I was desperately hanging on, at speeds of 18-20mph.  And all was good until we got to the railroad overpass in town, just shy of 10 miles, where I fell off.  That was my interval for the day.

Stopped at Esther Short Park to top up water bottles and snack a bit.  Then back over the I-5 bridge, more convoluted wandering around, and we were on Marine Drive headed west.  Hopped onto the bike path just before the airport, and enjoyed the ride all the way to the I-205 bike path.





South there, (Lynne looks sadly in her bag for more food) all the way to Harold, where we turned west and worked our way back to the start on the streets.   The route called for a short stretch on SE Foster, but David proposed a parallel alternative which avoided Foster altogether.  A good thing.

And a few miles later we were done.  Rolled through the finish parking lot to get a time (control had gone out of business!  Kevin has to find another convenience store!), then over the few blocks to Kevin's house where we loafed on the back steps, socialized with Roxie and Bindi, beers were consumed, finish rituals completed, and we went our separate ways.



In my case, home, shower, tidy clothes and off to the parents for Rosh Hashana dinner.  Happy 5773 everyone!  A good, sweet and prosperous year!

69+ miles, moving average of 14.4.  In town riding will do that. Total elapsed time of 5:25.
All the pictures here

Third R-12 Is Complete

And here we are at September.  Various plans were made for reasonably epic weekend riding, but life happened for several of the participants, so that did not happen.  But Michal had a new permanent that only he had ridden, and he and Lesli come up to Portland so often to ride...  Time to return the favor.

The drive down took a bit longer than planned - never, ever try to drive out of Portland to the south on a late Friday afternoon.  It took over an hour to get from my house to Wilsonville, a drive which normally takes about 20 minutes.  South of Wilsonville the traffic started moving a bit more.  Other than that, an uneventful drive, and I arrived at Michal and Cyndi's in time for a very yummy dinner.

Up at 6am for a 7:30 start.  Yummy breakfast (homemade yogurt!), too, and wonderful cappucino!  At 7am we headed out to the start point.  Downhill.  Very downhill.  It was a bit chilly.  I was wearing arm and knee warmers, and a vest, and I still shook the whole way down.  Got to the start, bought a scone (which I surely didn't need after breakfast :-) ) and waited a bit for Lesli.  She showed up, also bought a scone, and a kind patron snapped a picture of the three of us.



7:30, off we went.  Bike path for much of the way out of Eugene, over some bridges, a pause at Armitage Park, then east on McKenzie View out and back to Walterville, familiar from the OrRando 400k this spring.



Some discussion about the info control; we hunted around for more things to ask questions about.  Sometimes zipties go missing.



Then north, climbing Marcola.  A pretty gradual climb until, to quote Lesli "there is a pimple at the end".  Heart rate hit 185.  Not my max by any means, but I don't always enjoy it.  Wonderful descent down Brush Creek, and then into Crawfordsville.  We stopped at the market, and Lesli got a corndog.  I got something to drink, and crunched on some chocolate that was in my bag.  By now we were quite close to 100k, and would complete that first 100k in under 5 hours.





Off to the nice rolling road between Crawfordsville and Sweet Home.  No cars, but a couple of horses.  Lots of farm animals.  Popped out at the other end, and headed off to climb Fern Ridge.  The temperature was definitely climbing by now, as were we.  1.8 miles up, average grade 7%.  Ow.  Starting to look for Heidi and her goats.  Michal and Lesli are stronger climbers than me, and I definitely appreciated them pausing from time to time for me catch up.

Fun downhill, and into Sweet Home.  We stopped at the Sweet Home grocery; I consumed some chicken strips, jojos and a V8.  It was getting hot.  I was also taking Endurolytes every so often.  Then the familiar Pleasant Hill/McDowell Creek Rd stretch, other roads I recognized from the fleche in 2007, and eventually into Lebanon.  Another food stop - I just got things to drink and a banana and started working on that scone, but Lesli and Michal bought sandwiches.  A gent sitting outside with his Great Dane wanted to know how many k we were riding.  No one asks how many k; they always ask how many miles.  From here we were now riding south, and the wind would now mostly be at our backs.  Yes.



I guess I was pretty salt-covered.  Michal and I dumped cold water on each other.  Riding out of town that felt really, really, really refreshing.

Twelve miles or so along, we arrived in Brownsville.  Rode through the old downtown, which was new for me and pretty cool, and then stopped for ice cream.  Michal called home to find out that the power was out.  Oops.  It was supposed to be back on pretty soon; we could only hope.









One last climb, Gap Rd.  Not as long as the other two, but some nasty 9-13% bits at the top.  Again, Lesli and Michal waited, with a nice view ahead.  The valley, which had been so green in November was now late-summer golden-brown.  Fun descent with a couple of bumps, then pretty flat for the last 19 miles, mostly with a good tailwind.  There was some conversation going on at the corner of Coburg Rd; I went on. They'd catch me.  The temperature was slowly dropping.



Through Coburg, one last pause at Armitage Park, then into Eugene.  I suppose I should have been paying attention to the cue sheet, but by now I was baked, and just following them in.  Nice stretch on a great bike path along the river, a couple of turns, and we were on Chambers, counting up the streets until 18th.

And then, done.  Third R-12 complete.  R-24 done :-)

But yet, not exactly done.  Remember that hill we rode down to get to the start?  There is a reason Michal is such a strong climber; he winches himself up that hill every day.  About a mile, average incline 8%, max incline 14%, 450 ft climb.  Took it very slowly.  One stop at a stop sign, one stop because I needed a pause.

For the perm, 11:35 total elapsed time, 132.4 mi, 14.5 moving avg mph, which is a pretty good pace for me on a rando ride.

And the power was back on.

All the pictures here

Fueled by Ice Cream and V-8

Given that the first two attempts at my August rando ride were non-starters - 1 DNF, 1 DNS - if I wanted to keep the R-24 streak going, I had to successfully ride SOMETHING.  I own three perms.  It shouldn't be hard.

Decided on 1401 - Beaverton - Hagg Lake - Carlton.  Other than the breathtaking number of info controls, it had the advantage of not getting that far away from home base.  I think spousal unit was getting a little worried about me.  All the ride buddies were unavailable, so it would be me, myself and I.  Preparing wouldn't be hard - the bike was all ready for that ride it did not start.  Wore the Randonneurs USA jersey.  I have learned that if one rides in red, white, and blue, chances of harassment are reduced.  And since it was just me, I was going to exploit that.

Breakfast of eggs, toast, and juice, then off to the Starbucks for a pre-ride mocha and receipt.  Uneventful ride west.  There was a bit of a headwind, which was just enough to make me feel like I should have stayed in bed.  Overcast, and very agreeable temperatures.  I actually wore arm warmers until I got to Forest Grove.



Jackson Quarry Rd has fresh chipseal.  St Francis Church in Roy (a control) has brand new concrete pavement and they've remodeled the bathrooms.  The donation can is currently not present.

All of Banks turned out to watch me ride through town.  Chairs lining the street, and so on.  Ok, well, maybe it wasn't for me.  Perhaps a parade before the Combine Destruction Derby.



By the time I got to Forest Grove, I wanted something substantial.  An ice cream sandwich and a Sobe sounded pretty good.  By the direct route, I can make it from my house to Forest Grove in just over an hour.   By the perm route, it took almost 4 hours. :-)





Keeping on south, out and around Hagg Lake.  There was a sign about culvert repair and construction for September.  Not clear if it would close the road.  Up and down and up and down and up and down.  Brief pause at Sain Creek.  Learning - a bicycle will fit in the handicapped stall.







Though Gaston, with a stop for more drinks.  Their drink selection was severely depleted.  Got a V-8 to drink right there, and a Coke for my calorie bottle.  At this point I was beginning to wonder if I'd finish on time.  By my reckoning I was running it pretty close.  And so I tried to pick it up heading south to Yamhill and Carlton.  Waved at all the people in Rick and Catherine's driveway :-)  By the time I hit Laughlin Rd, I figured I was going to be ok, and relaxed a bit.





Stopped at the market in Carlton, where I got more V-8, another ice cream bar, some Sobe for the calorie bottle and water for the water bottle.



Only 44 miles to go and lots of time in the bank.  The wind was supposed to get favorable for awhile, but it was "variable".  Finally heading north on North Valley.  While this ride was NOT finishing in Forest Grove and NOT finishing in Hillsboro, I always feel like I am on the home stretch once I am on North Valley.



Lots of haying in progress.  Oregon summer - hot shimmery blue sky, not a cloud in sight.  Queen Anne's Lace and a few other wildflowers by hay-brown roadsides.  By now the temperature was slowly dropping from its mid-80's high of the day.





Hoping that the turn east onto Geiger would get me some tailwind.  Maybe.  Still variable.  Some harassment from a driver headed the other way on a totally empty road. Huh?  Needed more liquids, and the Forest Hills Golf Course was just ahead.  I stop there often, but never buy anything.  That changed on this ride.  Snapple for the calories bottle, another V-8 to consume on the spot.  Got my vegetables on this ride, yes indeed.

Turned right onto SW Johnson School, and saw the ROAD CLOSED sign.  The detour would be Tongue Rd to Hwy 219, then south to Burkhalter to rejoin the route.  I very much dislike riding on Tongue Rd, so I thought I'd see exactly how closed it was.  As Cecil says... "there's closed and there's closed".  Finally, just at Behrman Farms, I saw a very big piece of construction equipment parked across the road.  "Bridge Out". Well, there's out and there's out.  After squeezing around the equipment, I found an entirely passable road.  Well, dirt, and boards, anyway.  There were other bike tire tracks in the dirt :-)  Not that I recommend this for you, of course.



Back on the bike, crossing 219, oooh!  look! the alpacas are back!



Last info control, and then working my way into Hillsboro.  I love the "Reduced Speed Ahead" signs.  Coming into a town.  Pulled in at the Jackson's for the last timed control and bought a half height Pringles to munch on for the last 6+ miles.



Finally, the tailwind!  Finished off the last bit pretty quickly, for a total elapsed time of 11:43.  Not much slower than our February ride, but a bit slower riding and a bit less faffing.  Some day I'll get the faster riding and the less faffing together on the same ride.

Including the to/from, 132 mi. 13.5 avg.
All the pictures here

THAT was a hot one...

This past weekend was the Oregon Randonneurs Tygh Valley Traveller 400k.  I was the co-organizer, and the day-of person in charge.  It would not have gone off as well as it did without the wonderful volunteers - Dave and Edna, who staffed the Pine Point control, Dave and Kevin, who surprised everyone at the Secret Control (gotcha Michael!  Not on Judd Rd!), and Vinny and Theo, who did some sightseeing, set up at mile 169, and then wandered back along the route after awhile.  And not to forget the Main Co-Organizer Susan O, who designed and submitted the route, and did much of the pre-event running around.  And all of our pre-riders, some of whom were not local and could not infer from tribal memory what some of the cues really meant.





After sending the riders off, getting Vinny all his supplies, and waiting out the hour, I set out to the start point for the 200k perm I planned to ride.  The speediest 400k rider assured me he wouldn't finish before 8pm, which would give me enough time to do my ride.

The temperatures were going to be extreme - over 100, which for Portland is awfully darn hot.



South about 6-ish miles to NE Broadway and NE 22nd, where I inhaled a pumpernickel bagel with lox cream cheese, then off.  Eventually the route had me headed west on SE Stark, which turns into SE Water and eventually dumps me on the Springwater Corridor Trail.  All well and good, except when I got to the part where Stark turns into Water, there was a train.  A very long train.  A very long stopped train.  Ok, then.  A bit of mental navigation, and I turned around on Stark, turned right on SE 6th, followed it all the way to SE Madison, west on Madison. crossing the tracks on the Hawthorne Bridge approach and dropped down to the Esplanade, which would get me right to the Springwater Corridor Trail.

And, where the trail turned onto SE Umatilla, I was zapped with a Secret Control as well :-)  Good morning David!

Continued east, not too hot yet. Eventually off the trail and into Boring.  The clerk at the control told me several riders had stopped there - once on the Springwater Trail, I was on the same route until the turnaround.  Sucked down more liquids and continued on.  Eventually I ended up on Judd Rd, one of the two annoying climbs on this route. (7-9%).  It got warmer here.  But the reward for suffering on Judd is the drop on Van Curen. I was about a mile shy of getting up to the speed limit (45mph).  Next time maybe.

Getting hotter and hotter.  I stopped at a skate park on the outskirts of Estacada for more water.  And stopped again at Promontory Point, 13 miles down the road for more water.  The headwind on Faraday Rd was pretty stiff; it was like riding into a blast furnace.



Then up to Ripplebrook.  If the headwind had been anything like the stretch on Faraday, it was going to be a very long day.  The first 10-15 miles actually weren't all that bad.



Between bridges 3 and 4, though...  It was really hot.  My bottles were hot (yes, I was drinking).  The last 5 miles was painful.  My feet were really, really hurting (this much foot pain is very new), and, then, of course, there was the heat.  I pulled off the road at one point, took off the helmet and just sat.  One motorist (of MANY) asked if I was ok.  I would have killed for some cold water, but he didn't have any.  Shortly after that was the Indian Henry climb.  I walked it, which is a first, for me, ever.  It did occur to me to turn around and go back down, but the store was now less than three miles away, and it was the closest source of cold liquid things.



Topped that pitch, and started pedaling again.  I was also back in the shade.  And, maybe a mile before the store, who should I see but Paul W.  He was not having fun, and decided to turn back.  He thought I had already gotten to the store and turned around.  Hah.  No.  We went to the store, and I got a bag of salty chips and a bottle of Gatorade, and we sat in the shade.  At one point I moved and my right quad made like to cramp up.  Paul tossed me some Endurolytes.  Had a nice visit.  I've been on many rides with Paul, but not had much opportunity to have a real conversation.  Back into the store for liquids for the bottles, and then, after a really long sit (the control had closed 30+ minutes ago), we decided to head back.  Just before we left, Norm C rode up.  He wasn't having fun, either, but he was going to get his wife to collect him in Estacada.  Texted the control workers to expect 2 fewer riders.



Except for the drop at the top, the downhill was not nearly as much fun as it had been in June.  Paul: "has the wind shifted on us?"  Toward the bottom, Paul allowed as how he needed water - we stopped at Promontory Point, went inside, and I flopped into a chair and sat.  Big cups of ice.  The smart thing to do would have been to eat something, but I think I was past smart.  I was drinking calories, but not eating them. We used up all our warm water by dumping it on our heads, arms, and legs.  I dumped some on my jersey as well.  It lasted most of the way into Estacada.

Headed off to Barton.  Did I mention that it was hot?  Really, really hot?  Over 100 degrees hot?  Our bottles were hot again.  Finally pulled over into some shade, and flopped down.  Paul offered up some cold water- his Camelbak was still cold.  After awhile he said that while he wasn't as far along with the heat issues, he wasn't very far behind.  I thought about it a bit, then called Fitz and asked if he would please pick us up at the Barton Store.  Called David to tell him I was abandoning.



By this point I'd gotten a text that another rider was abandoning, and then one more rider called from Maupin to say his ride was finished as well.

Laid around in the shade for awhile longer (tried to get up twice, got a bit dizzy), then rode the last 4 miles to Barton at a very relaxed pace.  We got some cold drinks, and, not 15 minutes later, Fitz appeared.  We must have been sitting in that shade a good long time, because it isn't that quick a drive.

So much for that perm.  Sigh.  Back to the start location, where I checked in, and we all got showers, and went to find some dinner.  The Island Cafe on Hayden Island is kind of fun, and it was certainly the right temperature to be eating outside on a floating restaurant.  Paul and I demolished some burgers; Fitz was more restrained - "I didn't earn that".

Back to the hotel - no one had finished yet.  Got a text from Vinny estimating a midnight finish for the speedy riders.

Sat around.  Dozed.  Probably fell asleep.  At midnight, there was a knock on the door.  Opened it to find Michael W (first finisher), and Vinny and Theo.  Finish card rituals, visiting, then Theo took Michael home.  He came back (he had Vinny's truck :-) ) and more sitting around.  Kevin showed up for his shift right about the time Del finished, just before 1am.  He ate a bagel and visited for awhile, then took himself home as well. I turned control over to Kevin and fell asleep.  Vinny and Theo fell asleep.  For all I know, Kevin fell asleep.

Woke up at 4:45.  So did Vinny - "got to get home before the traffic picks up!".  So we went out and moved the control equipment and supplies back to my car.  He and Theo departed, and shortly after that, Kevin left as well.

One more phone call - a rider abandoning in Troutdale.  He had deliberately gone off course on Devil's Backbone.  The climbing finally did him in.

More dozing, then a call from Shun.  The folks at the front desk were great - they'd sign the card, and then send the rider up.  They thought this was great fun.  Shun ate a bit, took a shower, and got a nap.  Just one rider still out there.

I went down to get some breakfast, sitting where I could see folks come in.  And just as I sat down, Ed finished! Yay!  He joined me for breakfast, as did Shun.  Shun headed out.  Ed got a shower and a nap.  I loaded the car, sat around, and eventually wondered if Ed was rested enough to get home.  He was, so we cleared out of there.

I went home and was catatonic until we went to the Portland Timbers game.  Catatonic there as well, and not at all sad to leave at the half because Fitz wasn't feeling great either.

For the day, about 109 miles.  For the 102 miles of the perm, I averaged 13 mph.  I just spent so much time off the bike in the heat, though, that finishing in time just wasn't going to happen.

Permanent #1603: Frankfort to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse (and back again)

(It's official!)

Route map/gps track
Cue sheet
Reg form




I always take a bike along when we go to the family cottage just north of Frankfort, MI.  My favorite ride is the loop around Crystal Lake (25+ miles), but for several years, I've been wanting to get in a longer ride.  And, every year, something distracted me from that (sister-in-law: "want to pick berries and make pie?" well, YEAH).

Not this year.  After looking at the maps, it seemed to me that a ride with a real destination would be best.  I'm a sucker for lighthouses.  The Grand Traverse Lighthouse was just about the right distance away.

I started from the cottage.  For the perm, you'd start in Frankfort proper, a few miles to the south.



Much of the route is on US Bicycle Route 35, although the route is not signed.

The cue sheet makes it sound a bit more complicated than it really is.  Except for the Sutter cut-off early on, the route follows M-22 all the way until it dead-ends at M-201 in Northport.  Then north from there, mostly, but not always following the LIGHTHOUSE THIS WAY signage.

Given many of the road and place names, it would appear that much of the population is descended from Scandinavian immigrants.

Get to Leelanau State Park and the lighthouse, sightsee, and then return the way you came.

The route is pretty flat - Sutter is the steepest bit, and there are noticeable climbs south of Empire and south of Northport.

There are many, many cyclists out along this route.  So many that I was never asked where I started from or how far I was riding.  Drivers are very considerate.

What you'll see:











all the pics here