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

CV ride June 2 - Eastward Ho!

Hi Gang!





Sorry I've been quiet here for a couple of weeks. My daughter came home from college and my computer time has been a little abbreviated as she hunts down her friends and a summer job.

Here's a reminder about the weather: it is likely to be pretty warm. Bring two water bottles and/or a hydration pack. We'll have sag support every 10 miles or so, but you can easily need more than one bottle in that time. We've not had much warm weather yet this season! Expect to feel slow, sweaty, and tired until we acclimate a little bit. That's normal.

Another reminder - those of you who are behind in base miles (miles spent riding the bike, specifically) should move heaven and earth to catch up as best you can. If your general fitness is in good shape (i.e. if you've been exercising and the spin classes don't leave you totally wiped), you can do wonders for your cycling by committing to a slow, short ride EVERY DAY for a couple of weeks. Start with 5 miles/day - something you can do after dinner. Doesn't have to be fast, and the idea is to do just enough at a, um, sitting that you start to toughen up without being stressed or sore.



As you gain cycling-specific fitness, you may find that some of those aches and pains, especially in the upper body, start to disappear. Also, don't forget to stretch and change positions every few minutes on the bike. If you do that, you'll stay fresher, longer.


See y'all on Saturday! The map and elevation chart for the ride can be found at: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/or/portland/436618275 if you want to get a previw of what you're in for. I'll bring route sheets. We're meeting at the Sellwood Grand Central Bakery; be sure to be there early if you're expecting a pastry.

Sandy

Sandy's Saturday Century

Another week, another century.
I turned the Community Vision training ride into a century by riding there, and riding back, with an assist to Russell for making a wrong turn that caused me to make ANOTHER wrong turn that tacked on the extra 5 miles that made it a legit century.
The AM was C-O-L-D. I didn't think I'd have to start a ride in May at 34 degrees F, but there you have it. The ride over to the start at Orenco Station was uneventful, and the coffee was welcome.
We rode to Roy via Mountaindale - not a bad jaunt overall, and everyone was in good spirits.
A few of us stayed afterwards to have lunch at Swagat which was MOST EXCELLENT. They had a lunch buffet going, so I tried a little of everything, including the curried goat. I wasn't sure how I felt about goat, but it was tasty - like lamb but with a little more....oomph.
After lunch I started pedalling home, rather gingerly due to all of the good food in my belly. I modified my goals for the return trip to: less than 2 hours total riding time, and not letting the West Portland hills (quite literally in this case) get my goat. So I decided to finally find the Highway 26 bike path, which is supposed to be a flattish way home. Plus, I've never met a bike path I didn't like, right? It took me a surprising amount of juking around to actually find the thing, which miffed me. Seems to me that it could be marked from the transit center. Once on, it was pretty well marked, though, and it dumped me out at the entrance to the zoo.
I wound through the Arboretum and found Kingston without much fuss, which Susan had told me was my route outta there, and headed down into town. I took the Burnside Bridge which kept me out of most of the 5 de Mayo crowd, and (conveniently) took me past Citibikes, where I found nothing of any particular note other than a quick break.
Just a couple blocks past Citibikes, I ran into (almost literally) a Shift2Bikes moving party. They were putting the mattress and box springs onto a bike trailer when I rode by. I stopped to ask a few questions, which of course made me look like a volunteer, which I had to politely decline on account of some accumulating goat issues (gotta get home....). But it was really cool, even though I have to say that I think that heavy hauling is what internal combustion engines ought to be reserved for.

Other than that, nothing of particular note except that I have FINALLY bowed to convention and gotten a cyclometer:
It works fine, I guess. I put it on my commute bike, which is a Fuji Absolute DX (flat bar road bike with fairly standard geometry and a carbon fork). I have discovered some things that I suppose I kinda knew....

• First, I go slower up hills and faster down hills. But I don't go quite as slow up hills as I'd feared, or quite as fast down them as I'd hoped.
• There are areas on my commutes that I'd thought were flat that are really slight up or downhills, and that really affects my speed, at least in the moment.
• I watch the cyclometer too much. I really suspected that I would, which is why I've been resisting. People tell me that I'll learn to tune it out.
  
• I ride faster when it's chiding me. I have mentally set my "where's your pride, girl???" limit at 6.0 mph going up Thompson Road, and lo-and-behold, I can deliver on that. Next month, maybe 7. Or at least 6.5.
  

In the past 9 days I've ridden 245 miles on the commute bike and an even 100 on the road bike (at the Monster Cookie). I guess now that I have a computer I've got some numbers to throw around.

See y'all up the road,
Sandy

Core Training for Cyclists

I can't over-stress the importance of core strength in cycling. Your arms are for balance and steering, not for holding you up on the bike. In an ideal world, that's your core's work - keeping your trunk stable and strong on the bike so that your neck and shoulders don't get sore. For many of us, our core gets neglected. We think about lifting weights to train our arms and legs, but often we forget the vital linkages in between.

You can significantly strengthen your core over several weeks. Here's a link to a recent article in Bicycling magazine that describes a very effective abdominal workout. I've been doing it more or less faithfully for a month or so and I can vouch for it! It doesn't take much by way of equipment, other than a stability ball (if you don't have one, the two exercises that call for it can be easily modified), and it only takes about 10 minutes a day - a small investment of time for a nice payoff later.

Weekly recap

Hi Gang!
Congrats to all Monster Cookie finishers! I had a great time. I started from the first rest stop, at about 5:30 AM - shortly before sunup - and was treated to a coyote howl-in! Moments later the local roosters took up the call, and I was outta there.
Weather was perfect - or danged close - so about 1500 people came out. Amazing variety of shapes, sizes, and configurations of bikes.
The Community Vision team rode well! Everyone has progressed SO MUCH from last year. You looked strong, and I felt proud for you.
Wednesday night we had a great spin class. If you've not been coming to these you're missing out on quite a treat. The instructor, Willie, is VERY good and totally focused on our needs as a team. Between the mid-week spin classes and the weekend rides you'll be up to speed in no time!
Speaking of mid-week - who's wanting more time in the saddle during the week? There will be a lot more opportunities to ride in the evenings coming up.
And - Reach the Beach will be here before we know it. Who's in??? We need to figure out how to arrange transportation back after this event. Let's get the wheel rolling.....
Weather outlook for Saturday keeps improving - hopefully they're right and we'll have a pleasant ride!
See you Saturday,
Sandy

Second Community Vision Ride Posted!

Hi Gang!
Here's a link to the May 5th ride. We're going to Roy, then Verboort. Russ - sausages are optional this year, though I'm sure the wildlife enjoyed the extra protein. This ride comes in at just under 40 miles, and there is one reasonably hilly portion (Clapshaw Hill). There is an option for those who don't want to do the hilly portion just yet, or want fewer miles. I'll show you on Saturday, but the jist of it is that instead of turning onto Clapshaw you'll just keep going south on Highway 47 until you reach Kemper/Osterman Road.

We're meeting just outside the Starbucks in Orenco Station. Orenco Station is MAX accessible, so if you don't want to drive to Orenco you've got options! Please-oh-please be there in time to order the coffee you need (you know who you are, and you know you'll be tempted into the Starbucks for a cappucino and/or a scone...)

I will also be doing a demo on how to do a quick (2-5 minute) safety check on your bike. Expect this demo to start PROMPTLY at 8:01. You should do a safety check before each ride! Things change on your bike, sometimes suddenly and sometimes gradually. Parts can wear out or work their way loose, cables and chains can need lube and tires can need air. You are putting yourself at unnecessary risk of having to finish your ride the SAG vehicle - or far worse, in an ambulance - if you start your ride without checking, just to be sure.

And here's a quick reminder on what you need - the basics - for our group rides. A short list, really:

1) Yourself and your best attitude, ready to ride after a good night's sleep.

2) An approved helmet.

3) A bike that has passed the safety check mentioned above.

4) A water bottle (two would be even better once the weather starts to heat up and we're doing longer rides). You may want to experiment with carbohydrate/electrolyte replacement beverages (like Gatorade, Cytomax, etc) which help keep you well-hydrated. But many people do great on rides like this with plain water plus the food that's available at our SAG stops.

5) A spare tube that fits your tires, along with everything you need to fix a flat: spare tube, patch kit (what if you get a SECOND flat??? it CAN happen), tire levers (for mounting and dismounting tires), and a way to inflate the tire (either a CO2 cartridge or a pump). Don't know what size tube you need? Don't know how to fix a flat! ASK - don't wait to be out in the middle of nowhere and having to figure it out on your own.

6) A means of communication should you get separated from the group - either a cell phone or enough change to make a phone call. We don't expect anyone to get lost, we really try hard to prevent that from happening, but we did lose a couple people temporarily last year....

7) Clothing for the expected weather. Dress in layers so that you can stay comfortable. Unless you KNOW that the weather is going to be grand, do bring a light jacket along. If you need it, you're smart. If you don't need it, you're prepared. If you forget it, you're.....sorry.

On the topic of bike clothing - LOTS of people asked me about bike shorts last year. Trust me on this - you want padded bike shorts. Even if you are tough as nails, other types of clothing that you might wear for cycling always seem to have seams or creases RIGHT THERE. There are a lot of decent shorts out on the market. Prices range from $30 to (I am not making this up!) $300. You can do very well at the low end of this range. Fit is important. Key points: the body of a lycra short should be snugged up to your skin - not baggy. If there are any seams in the chamois (that's what the padding is called - say it like "shammy" 'cause it's French) they should not dig into your anatomy or hit you in the same places that the saddle will. And the elastic at the waist and thighs should stretch but not dig into you. If you hate the feel of something binding around your waist, try "bib shorts" - basically overalls for bikewear. Another rule of thumb: once you find a pair of shorts that works for you, get a second pair just like 'em. That way you should always have a clean pair at the ready.

I'll see many friends, new and old, at the Monster Cookie tomorrow. Looking forward to that!
The weather looks to be about perfect for biking - not too warm or too cool, not so sunny that we have to keep SPF on the forefront of our thoughts the whole way, and probably not going to rain! Should be an enjoyable day! Try to keep drinking between rest stops. You should empty a water bottle between one rest stop and the next, then fill it up when you get there, drink some, and top it off before you leave. Oh - and leave some room for the cookies.

First CV ride of the season!

Hi gang! The first Community Vision ride of the season is coming this Saturday! We're going from Ibach Park to Champoeg and back. Since it's early, we're takin' the low road. But you already knew that. Here's a link to the route map.