Before you ask...

YES, I've started to pack.

But just barely. We've been busy in the garden, on our bikes, drinking good beer and hanging around town.

The garden has surpassed my predictions and produced more peas and beans than we could possibly ever eat:
We hit the bridge pedal again this year with Laurel at our side and had a marvelous time. The greatest highlight once again being the Marquam bridge...and this year we had opportunity to ride it twice. A close runner up, however, was the new route that opened the whole of southbound 405 from the Freemont bridge to the Marquam.

Laurel snapped a shot of the Freemont overrun with bicyclists and said that she was going to to call it "the future"....brilliant. I had remarked about how fabulous it would be if this same route was opened up for the daily commute. What a blast eh?

We had a nice day for it, warm enough for short sleeves and little wind. And oh my goodness, the crappy little ice cream bars they give you at the end are most delicious after crossing the finish line...

-Ride Stats-
Pedal Mileage: 48
Average MPH: 12

Max MPH: 32

A couple weeks prior, we took in the OBF and sampled some excellent beers. I must say that the Saturday crowd wears on my nerves and I will make every effort to try to go on Thursday to try the beers at the top of my list. This was our method this year, we had a few tastes after work on Thursday night and then went for round two on Saturday morning with the out of town people. After a few hours of swimming through people I was spent. That said, I did get to just about everything on my short list either by my cup or a sip off another.
Favorites this year:

-New Holland's Oak Aged Ale, Dragon's Milk
-Lagunitas Imperial IPA, Hop Stoopid
-Green Flash Red Ale, Hop Head Red

...ah beer.

...ah Portland.

Observations upon riding my bike to work...

I like it.

At first I was trying to hone in and reduce the amount of time it took me to get from point A to point B. I’ve changed my route rather much since I commuted by bike last fall. However, I had limited myself to a certain degree by taking those roads which I was most comfortable with. I’ve since become slightly more daring and have reduced my bike in time from 1 hour to 40 minutes which is kind of exciting. However, I have now found that given the prospect of a new yard (that’s ours all ours!) and a new home I am sight-seeing quite a bit on my way to work (read…dawdling). I’ve made up for the sight-seeing by taking the hill, and it’s not so bad. In fact, when I can make the light at the bottom it’s quite thrilling.

My sight-seeing has afforded me views of interesting landscaping (lots of people are digging up their grass….) and has also given me a route that is perhaps less used by others. I do join the mainstream by hopping on the east bank esplanade and having a bit of a bike stroll (if you will) along the river. So far, not a day has gone by that I haven’t seen the local police either arresting or harassing (I mean chatting) with the vagrant community that calls the esplanade home. That and some entertaining graffiti (highlights include the witty: “bros not hoes” and “call your deadbeat dad he still loves you”) make this portion of my commute feel seedy and scandalous…mwhahahaha. Not really, but it’s just a strong contrast coming off of Willamette Blvd.

The best thing about my morning commute is that Widmer usually has a boil going and it smells terrific.

Harvest Century

...actually, we only did 3/4 of a century.
Absentee riders...you were missed!

10 Good things about the ride:

(1) Excellent temperature

(2) Pins for bibs

(3) No start line and a small crowd

(4) Apple cider, hot chocolate w/cookies and caramel apples

(5) Doing my single longest one-day ride EVER - 78.40 miles :)

(6) Beer and food being included in registration fees

(7) Beer...and extra beer tickets

(8) The rain starting to fall the moment after I sat down with my post ride beer in the tent, with the live music...

(9) Shammy Pants

(10) Excellent company, gorgeous scenery (the falling leaves...drift by my sunglasses)


10 Not so good things about the ride:

(1) Headwinds 60% of the time...ugh

(2) Having a sweet, curvy downhill turn sour

(3) The taste of pine needles and dirt

(4) Blackberry bushes

(5) Stinging nettles

(6) Finding out that your life really does not flash before your eyes

(7) Quick moving bean burritos

(8) Foot numbness

(9) Roadkill

(10) Pulling gravel and other debris out of my hair

My Good Company :)

The Canby Ferry Crossing

My sexy, over the handlebars and into the blackberry bushes look

Computer nerds? Time (left), Distance (right)

The deluge...all enjoyed from the comfort of the tent and with a pint

...and just for Mom...bike cupholders!

Pedaling away...

This was our first weekend home without plans....

So we quickly ‘planned’ to hang out with out of towners’ on Saturday and participate in the P-town bridge pedal on Sunday. Hanging out with good friends and good food on Saturday was only marred by having to leave prematurely to work an "overnight" shift-on a side note, I love being in biking/walking distance of the aforementioned. :)

The stupidity of accepting this extra evening shift was magnified by the alarm this morning and knowing that I was committed to a 25 mile bike ride, starting at 7:30am. Not wanting to rely on the Max to get us downtown to the start line we opted for the downhill into town and to our respective start lines (note to self, barreling down Greeley is as good as a cold shower if you need to wake up). I started to feel a tickle of anticipation when we approached the top of Greeley and found that it was already closed to traffic at 6:45am and then (with the permission of the gatekeeper) I went flying down the hill at all possible speed. Joe and I got one extra bridge in to arrive and then split off at the respective start lines (Joe opted for the 10 bridge which was over 30 miles and I took the 8 bridge offering 24 miles- we figured given our different levels of skill this would work out to get us to the finish around the same time.

So wearing John’s jersey for luck, I took off around 7:45 with a horde of other 8 bridge hopefuls and meandered through the closed off streets of downtown trying to see where I could break out of the pack. I tooled around to an excellent set of music predetermined by myself for just this occasion, so, soon after setting off at a quiet 10 to 12 miles an hour I was zipping along to Zebrahead over the first of my 8 bridges. There was a few minute delay at the second bridge as we merged into a smaller streamlined biking cohort over the jelly mass we had been on the first bridge and I used the opportunity to remove my cold resistant gear-- mainly some thigh high leggings that the Freed's gifted a while back and which have been lovely for the both of us on those colder days. Pretty much after that it was smooth sailing.

With the delay at bridge two, barely 8 miles and an hour already down, I smiled benignly and chugged along fueled solely by my ipod and the serving of oatmeal that Joe bestowed upon my sleepy haze an hour or so prior.... And then they let us loose on the Marquam Bridge, holy shit, if you ever want to get my attention just set me loose on a freeway with my bicycle. How fucking cool is it to have the entirety of a mile or so stretch of I-5 North out of Downtown available for you to bike on...and across the Willamette River besides. I achieved my top speed of 32.5 pressed against my handlebars with streaming eyes and elation that cannot possibly be matched. Rejuvenated I headed through the remainder of the trail with great enthusiasm and more energy than I thought I would muster after my late night and rather careless sleeping.

I was incredibly impressed with the enormous amount of volunteers that were waiting to direct us through the many twists and turns of the route and with the amount of streets that were closed or mostly given over to the bicyclists. Having the bridges to ourselves was more than amazing ...it should be noted that hitherto at least half of these bridges were mostly ‘un-crossable’ on a bike (at least the way that we were able to cross them today). For instance the steel bridge is generally crossed at river level below car traffic, however, today; volunteers had laid plywood over the steel girded vehicle passage to allow for a fret-free crossing, I-5 was open to us, and I-405. As Freed pointed out from his first recommendation that we register for this opportunity, ‘the top level of the Freemont Bridge (I-405, which I approached in sleazy truck commercial style blaring “Wicked Garden”) is open to bicyclists only,’ that’s reason enough. I was spectacularly amazed that people crowded 5 lane highways with their bikes, stopping and staring or having a bite and sip, forgetting that some of us were still passing through…there were live bands and snacks and drinks at the major bridges and I was hard pressed to get through without having to dismount. I was less amazed by the variety of bicyclists (tandem, unicycles, recumbent) because of the tales of STP I heard, I wasn’t, however, prepared for the unpredictability of the child cyclists though. They meandered about without any thought of who/what was approaching. I have learned, simply by riding with Joe, the importance of being predictable as a bicyclist. I did not realize how conscientious I had become of the blind spots, pointing to abstract objects that line the path, keeping speed, announcing passes, until I encountered these miniature bikers. With energy levels significantly higher than mine, they were still all over the place… I realized that it takes several shouts of “on your left” to a half-sized cyclist to gain recognition and then they’ll move left thinking it’s a command rather than a notice…hmmmm

Where are my stunning photos of this rare opportunity? They are simply snapshots of the mind for this adventure was sat out by our digi which will more than likely need to be replaced before the week is out. I felt a little naked without it, but then realized that even trying to capture the moment within it would not have done it justice. The barely risen sun shooting beams through the uplifting clouds, the darkened pyramided shadow of Mt Hood looming at each crossing, the slight dribbles of rain bringing splashes of relief on the longest straightaway of the day, the jocular and friendly manner of my fellow riders, the sense of accomplishment and elation that I held as I crossed my first official finish line…the air rent with sweat and jubilation.

On the road again

I got back on my bike for a 20 mile jaunt on parts of the 40 mile trail on Monday, Joe had the day off so we had a quick lunch when I got home and then headed towards the Eastbank esplanade. It was my first time going down the Greeley hill and I was disappointed to have only achieved a top coasting speed of 27- it was in all other aspects exhilarating, especially with the knowledge that I wasn't riding back up it. We took the esplanade to the springwater corridor trail and while on this nice stretch I decided to try my hand at dragging and Joe sensing this tried to keep his speed and movement predictable...so now I understand what all the fuss is about. We crossed the river and coursed back on the other side using the bottom of the steel bridge (my first time) to cross back, then taking my favored route home, the flatter Williams St. It was a chillier sort of day and perfect for riding, the 20 miles was just about right and the only aches and pains a couple of days later are from my upper back and neck-which is not wholly unsurprising, but I would have expected my legs and knees to hurt instead. Later that evening, we kicked back with an unconventional black& tan (tribute to our last weekend in the 'ham) and had dinner outside.

In other news our faithful digi cam seems to have cracked up a bit-taking purple stripe photos with no evidence of the actual image underneath. We're taking it in to our friendly expert this week, but I'm really not prepared to part with it, it better just be faking it.

"Bunch of savages in this town"

Okay so I have a posting hiatus and then have a fun weekend and post three times to share it...apparently 3 times the charm...and now I have to invoke a quote from Clerks.

We've had a theft in the family.

Joe called me today from REI where he was buying a new tube for his bike on his way home from work; he needed a ride....and not due to a flat tire. "bunch of savages in this town." The employees at REI say there's a guy that does this a lot. He clips the cable (yes yes we know...we've already heard the lament of the cable bike lock, don't rub it in) and leaves the bike he rode at the scene of the crime Joe's K2 was traded for a battered red Raleigh (Nesquick Chocolate milk bottle included in the water bottle receptacle).

Ugh. Blast and Damn. And Blast again.

Unemployed...wha???

There's nothing like no work and all play. Once you get over the storming out of bars crying about your inflated/deflating ego blah blah blah phase it's all downhill.

So, not to make life sound fabulous, but let me just recount the last few days...




Monday was a good biking tour of the riverside esplanade...where, once again the sweet smell of blackberries assaulted the senses...I have yet to bike anywhere in this town that hasn't had at least a stretch of that absolutely fabulous aroma that the berries are putting off in this hot weather.
--on a side note, we had a good discussion of how to go about training for the STP and I got to veer off the trail and into downtown to stop at REI for some recreational shorts (with butt cushions...oh yeah, picture it). I'm also starting to lean more towards the idea of a "half-on" road bike instead of the hybrids/commuters I was considering earlier this year. I say "half-on" as in not "full-on" because I am still really attracted to the straight bar style instead of the drop down. I'm also attracted to the idea of having a job so I can purchase a new bike. Soon, maybe. (Also, biking downtown is fun for a few reasons, none of which include catching the spray from someone's windshield wiper cleaning fluid).

So, after getting home from our biking journey we chanced on the idea of going camping on Tuesday. So we got out the "granola" books and picked a couple of places. We finally settled on a coastal hiking and camping experience and set off mid-morning yesterday.
Ah, nature. Sort of. We picked a camping spot that had a hike from the campground proper, or so we thought, and ended up having to drive a bit further to get to the trailhead instead. So far, no big deal. We pulled up to the marked area and found an entourage...I thought the hike must be more popular than we had estimated for mid-week. We parked on the side of the road and headed up to the parking lot where we found, a couple of RV's, 3 or 4 fifteen foot trucks, a caterer, some lunch tables (complete with salt and pepper shakers) camera rigs and about 60 or 70 people standing around looking important. Uh?
A Kia car commercial was being filmed. I had no idea it took that many people to film a 1 minute blip of a car driving through wooded roads. Although it was kind of cool to see the camera rigged SUV that was doing the filming. Oh well. Five miles of hiking along the coast and back and they were still there. I think we passed 4 or 5 different guys with walkie talkies stationed at different parts of the road on the way back to our campsite and they had positioned a flagger a few miles beyond to control traffic.
So, when you see it, know that somewhere tramping around in the woods, we were there. mwahahaha. And fucking gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful to hike around in. We even got little "toe facials" (yes I know that makes no sense) from squelching along the muddy trail in sandals.
The whole bit of this camping trip was to finally have the opportunity to use some of our new toys. Our sleek backpacking tent, therma-rest pads, removable handle lightweight pots, and so on. nerds. I know I know. Shut up. We got a real kick out of lighting the fire with a flint strike too heh heh heh. And other than the crazy boys that showed up in the middle of the night, quite loudly and longly and (truth be told) to much amusement and heckling (amongst ourselves) from our half-asleep state, it was quite a lovely night. Besides, when we woke up with rain this morning I peeked my head out to get a glimpse of the new arrivals only to find that karma is a real bitch. They had not brought a rain fly for their tent. Ah.... They had grudgingly packed up and shipped out before we even had the gumption to sit-up in our tent. Which is awesome by the way...no rain problems here, although we probably could have set the fly up better/tighter, bah...bygones.

I also enjoyed our "brown-bagged" wine. It was lovely to sit and sip as we sat by the fire, eating dinner, then later as we watched the sunset over the ocean and then finally in the tent playing rummy and getting sleepy.

...and the sunset...

This morning after we had sufficiently woken up, we took a long walk on the beach with a mug of tea and then came back, took down the camp and headed into town where we sampled and purchased some excellent local cheeses on our way home.

Fishes, Fire and Four Wheels

Well...I just wanted to go with an "F" theme, but it was really only two wheels, each.
On Tuesday we went and spent a colossal fortune of $.12 each on Comet Goldfish (and a water cleaner) for our outdoor pond.
On Tuesday we had ten fish.
On Wednesday we had nine fish.
Today we have eight.
I'm hoping at least some will survive the weekend for our visitors...
I wanted to name them all "Buttons" for Pat, however, that was overruled, but one will defintely be Buttons, once they stop dying.The cats took no delight in being shown water, they refused to look in it, frantically clinging to me thinking they were about to get an outdoor bath. I thought they'd love watching the fish, but they can't get over the water. So I'm hoping to get some excitement out of Howie. The fish are fun to watch, we created a little hiding spot for them out of bricks, in case they need to protect themselves...of course that limits our viewing to watching them race for cover.

Also, we enjoyed our first real fire in our outdoor fireplace. We scrounged up the crap wood that was littering the back and side yard and made a sacrifice to the brick behemoth. It was warm and put me in the mood for marshmallows, so I broke them out and Joe scrounged for a cooking utensil. We had several toasted marshmallows via coat hanger and spent a lovely evening cleaning up the backyard and sneaking up on the fish. I derived much pleasure from the burning of a couple gallons of the fallen apples of which we probably have about 50 or 60 gallons of at this point. Plus, the sounds of sizzling and popping and the aroma were much better than the cries of Joe and the smell of burning shoelaces. Using your foot to move burning wood only seems like a good idea.

To start out the day though, we took a short loop around the Island that is quickly becoming one of my favorite places outside the city limits. It was a 12 mile road loop that was pretty much flat, which was perfect for riding one handed, as we had filled the other hand with blackberries. The smell of blackberries permeated the majority of the ride and made it irresistible to stop and pluck a few, er...many.

Bike & Weather...

So I haven't been biking much because I can't get used to the schizophrenic weather here. I'm used to rain and then shine or gray...not rain, shine, rain, shine, rain...in the space of an 8 hour period. So as a result...less biking, more carpooling. I was thinking today, though, how much I hate biking in the wind, so much to the point that I'd rather bike in the rain. Well, like most people I'd prefer neither, although, I find that they come together quite often. In any event, it was quite windy today and I was glad to not be biking in it. Blah Blah Blah.