Ride for the Roadblocks.....

Well, this Saturday's ride didn't turn out - exactly - as I'd planned. But I think it turned out okay.
We had planned a 40-mile ride out to Colleen's house in SE Portland, via the I-205 bike path, Marine Drive, and returning via the Springwater Corridor Bike Path.
Except the I-205 bike path was closed. Not just in one spot. Generally - closed. That was a bummer. So we trekked through SE Portland on Powell Boulevard - not the scenic route, mind you - until we got up to 148th, which connects to Marine Drive (a bit further east than we'd hoped, but...).

Except that Marine Drive was closed! AUGH!! There was a triathlon going on at Blue Lake, and there were road blocks - real, actually staffed roadblocks - keeping cars off the road. We went up to 158th before we figured it was probably okay to at least ASK if it was okay to bike on Marine Drive. (We also took a look at the lady working the roadblock and figured that if worst came to worst we could bum-rush her, but we'll forget that uncharitable thought.) She said we were just fine, so off we went. Lots of women out doing the sprint-distance triathlon (750 meter swim, 20K bike, 5K run) while we were on Marine Drive, so we cheered for them as best we could.

When we got to Colleen's it was apparent that she was facing some roadblock issues, too. She was hoping to see the new Harry Potter movie on Saturday, but they'd called for a paratransit a bit too late so they were going to Plan B - take the bus. And if the rain didn't let up, Plan B wasn't going to be a winner, either. Still, she was cheerful and glad to see us, opening her home to us with an easy grace, and providing some much-appreciated refreshments.

On the way home, which was mercifully free of re-routes, I had a chance to kind of put this together. We're all facing roadblocks all the time. We've just got to figure out how to get around them.

Have a great week, folks! Looking forward to an excellent weekend of riding.

Sandy

Race Across Oregon!

Patty Jo Struve and I just finished the 538-mile Race Across Oregon.
We kicked butt! We took names! We...had....FUN.
It took us 38 hours and change. We're the first 2-woman team to ever try this race, and the first to succeed.
At the awards ceremony, we cleaned up! We got tiaras and jewels (faux, I'm afraid, tres faux) and a pannier, and.....I'll write more about it later, but right now I need SLEEP.

Saturday Training Ride

Hi Gang -
The Saturday Training ride is going to be a little shorter this week - about 31 miles. What it lacks in length it will make up for in...height. We're doing Pete's Mountain from Ibach Park in Tualatin. Should be a great ride! Take a minute to look at the elevation profile. There will be a lot of rollers.
Important to maintain legspeed as you pass through the bottom of one hill and start up onto the next one - if you do this, you'll have more momentum to get you going up the other side.
Next Saturday - not this Saturday, but the 14th - we're going to do a ride to visit another CV client, Steve. He's already looking forward to it, so let's be out in force!
Sandy

It's HERE!!!!

Oh Joy Rapture - I've been waiting for this jersey for 6 months and IT'S HERE!!!

Just in time for RAO!

Whoo-hoo!!!!!

Weekend's Ride - Up on Tickle Creek

This week's ride starts at the Sellwood Grand Central Bakery and goes to Eagle Fern Park via the Springwater Corridor Bike Trail and Tickle Creek - a low-traffic side road you'll not find on many bike outings.
We're meeting at 8AM. Here's a link to the route map.
Weather report for the weekend currently gives us a rather uninspiring "mostly cloudy" - but at least they're not predicting rain by the bucket.
Be sure to bring a light layer to shed any "moistly cloudy" that happens our way.....
SAG points are going to be at 30 miles (the park) and 45 miles (right before we rejoin the Springwater).
Sandy

Watermelon makes me retain water.....

Watermelon rides - BT, DT.
Rode down to the ride - 62 miles per mapmyride.com via 99W, Hwy 18, 233, back to 99W and down to Rickreall.
Started to rain BUCKETS around 7AM as I was making my way toward Amity. I was drenched, and riding into a pretty gnarly headwind the last hour. To make matters worse I started seeing vehicles driving northbound with bikes atop - folks who'd bailed out of the ride before they even started. Wimps. (Smart wimps, but wimps nonetheless.)
Got to the start area and met more folks who were leaving, not on bikes....It took me a while to find the rest of the gang, but eventually I met up with Joe, John, and Chris from the Community Vision team. They were all signed up for the 50-mile ride, so we did that together. I made a feeble attempt to get them to do the Kings' Valley loop (second 50 of the century) instead of the first, but as it was I think we did just fine. It's just that I hate the notion of riding all the way down there and not doing Kings' Valley.
The ride around the wildlife sanctuary is always nice, and we made good time into Jefferson. One guy asked about my jacket (he wanted one for his wife, or at least that was the story he gave...) and of course I referred him to Team Estrogen for the latest and greatest in faux-fur riding splendiferousness.
The ospreys were in their usual places at the ferry, and all was right with the world. I had a very nice run of it up Corvallis-Independence Road - a feeling of being on truly "home turf" for the first time in ages.
Got back to the start/finish somewhat after noon, and could not raise any interest in going out on another loop from anyone I saw. Lacking a bailout option, I decided against setting out to KV on my own (though something tells me that the rest stop volunteers could've used the company), and headed back.
I made good time in the tailwinds, stopping only for flat tires (two! Good Grief! 0ne was a failed tube, though) and food (Amity, SW Portland). I was so depleted by the time I got to Portland city limits that I had to expand my notion of how bad a minimart deli sandwich can be and still be consumable....nasty dry white bread, vaguely slimy turkey, tough lettuce....the works. But the iron gut choked it down, and it did the trick. By that point I didn't care, much - keeping it down for a mere 45 minutes would've been victory. But of course it was fine.
My socks were still soaked when I got in the door at 5PM. Watermelon makes me retain water.
Total mileage for the day: 175.

True Grit

Happy Rose Festival Weekend.

I just finished a century. I rode from home out to the start of our weekly Community Vision ride, which was from Orenco Station to Hagg Lake - so I got 25 miles out of the way by 7:30, leaving me time for a quick cup of coffee before the masses assembled. OK - maybe "masses" doesn't quite describe the group when it's just Dave and Stacy and Joe W. There were a few really good excuses - for instance, being on a different continent really makes it difficult to show up; some pretty good excuses - like Rebecca's garage sale, which is a fundraiser for her trip this year; and some "Hey, it's gonna rain" excuses, which were unfortunately right on the money.
Since we were a small group, we actually got started at - get this - 7:58. It started sprinkling before we were 0.5 miles into the ride. Drat.

By the time we got to Forest Grove, Joe was peeling off to head back. Dave and Stacy made it, very bravely, all the way to the store on Old 47 and Scoggins Creek. It was about 57 degrees, and raining harder all the time, and my suggestion to them - that they would NEVER be warmer and drier than they were at that moment, until they got the heater going back at the car, was taken to heart. By Dave and Stacy. Wisely.

Foolishly, I continued on around Hagg Lake. I did discover that I was not the MOST foolish person cycling around Hagg Lake, though - there was a Team In Training triathlon event going on and there were people riding around in triathlon gear - sleeveless tops, etc in the cold rain. I wondered for a minute if they'd had to swim first, but then I realized that it really wouldn't matter - they would be totally wet and chilled within a couple of minutes of hopping on the bike anyway. Yech.

On the way back, I kept looking for excuses to bail, because it was raining still harder and the wind was starting to come up from the east, which typically means that it's going to be raining for quite some time. It also means that I'm riding into a headwind..... Heck, I'd meant to ride a century, and I was actually making decent time, all things considered. At one point I thought about taking a bus home, until I realized that any bus or MAX route that could help me would take me through downtown and the soggy denouement of the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade....it would be faster to claw my way along with my fingernails, and considerably less painful. So bike it was.

I was mainly being fueled by that cup of coffee (okay, and a 'breakfast cookie') at the Orenco Starbucks and a couple of Clif Shot Bloks (Margarita flavor, the only one that I like and neither Nancy nor Bill does, so they stay around the house a while...). It wasn't enough (Duh, sports fans, duh). I managed to ooze in to the Beaverton Bakery, took a number(!), waited my turn, and managed to gasp, "Bear Claaaawwwwwww....." before I was totally consumed by hunger. I think I said "Please", too, but I don't really remember. It was GOOD. Repeat after me: FOOD IS GOOD.



Clif Bloks are good -
but Bear Claws RULE.


I did make it home. Really. It took a while, and traffic was really surly on the bridge, and I kept thinking, recreationally, about ways to wimp out...winning the lottery and hiring a limousine, perhaps, or being struck by lightning - just a little, around the edges - and being life-flighted to a warm, dry hospital. There was no lightning, so I just RTFB, hauled my soggy self in the door, and started peeling layers.

This is the point where I realized that this had been - quite literally - a gritty ride for me. I was covered in the stuff! There was grit on my legs, arms and hands. When I took off more layers, it was apparent that that there was significantly more grit than I'd thought - that grit had penetrated to the innermost recesses - that there was grit where Nature clearly intended no grit to be. Yeck.

While washing the grit off, another sad fact of life became apparent. Due to the cool NW riding conditions, I have spouted a slight case of knickertan - a faint, but distinct, melanized stripe between calf and ankle. Now, I've had a farmer's tan , and Mickey Mouse tan (white hands where your gloves block the sun), but the knickertan is a real headscratcher. I think we need more summer, soon, so I can get over it.

Also - wool socks rule.

More later,
Sandy