Ride Details:
Distance: 22.96 miles
Top Speed: 31.1 mph
Average Speed: 11.9 mph
Time on Bike: 1 hour, 55 minutes, 35 seconds
Temperature: 52 degrees F dropping to 48 by ride end
Weather: Dry & Wet depending on whether it got rained on. It never rained on me during the trip home, though.

Matt Details:
Feels: Kind of tired - worked my muscles good. Going to be sore tomorrow.
Total 2006 Mileage: 999.43 (1,000 miles - WooHoo!) Ok, not quite - but tomorrow morning!
Total Time in the Saddle: 92 hours, 42 minutes
Average Miles per Day: 12.49

Notes:
A long ride home - I took the route less hilly, and that made all the difference. Seriously, though - I'm not taking this route again. It was fun, and actually quite scenic. The problem, though is that traffic is pretty heavy and a long section of the route has no shoulder, so it's reasonably dangerous with cars and the occasional truck whizzing by at 45 mph.

The ride went well, though, and I feel pretty good considering. I'm going to try a couple other ways back later in the week.

Ride Report - Monday Morning

Ride Details:
Distance: 15.38 miles
Top Speed: 28.3 mph
Average Speed: 11.6 mph
Time on Bike: 1 hour, 19 minutes, 24 seconds
Temperature: 44 degrees F
Weather: Wet, then dry after riding the bus

Matt Details:
Weight: Unknown (didn't weigh this morning)
Feels: Felt good after the ride, took it easy
Total 2006 Mileage: 976.47
Total Time in the Saddle: 90 hours, 47 minutes
Average Miles per Day: 12.21

Notes:
Rode downtown from the house and caught the #56 bus from downtown out to Washington Square Mall. Rode the bike from there across the freeway and hit McDonald's for breakfast. (bad Matt) Rode back downhill to New Horizons and parked the bike. Weather was pretty good. I don't feel too bad eating at McDonald's this morning because I got in 15+ miles, so I burned about 600 calories this morning. That'll put me at about 3,400 calories for the day if I don't ride home.

I'm considering riding 22 miles home via Tualatin-West Linn-Oregon City-Gladstone. That'd be fun, but it will take 2-1/2 hours to ride. It's 22 miles total distance with at least 1 extended hill climb. Another option is 14 miles almost due east and across the Sellwood Bridge, but that takes me across the southern part of the Western Hills, a ridge that runs west of downtown Portland. It's only a 400' climb this far south rather than a 700-800' climb, but that's a little more than I'd planned on doing. Total elevation gain riding home from work is about 500' in 11 miles, or around 50' per mile. (Actually, it's negligible for the first 9 miles, and 400' in the last 2 miles) If I take the 14 mile route to the house, I do all my normal climb from work, plus an extra 400', for a total of 900' over 14 miles. Ick. I'd rather do the 22 mile run, and have only 2 gradual climbs at West Linn and the bottom end of Oatfield.

Ride Report - Friday, April 14th

Ride Details:
Distance: 11.07 miles
Top Speed: 28.1 mph
Average Speed: 12.1 mph
Time on Bike: 54 minutes, 56 seconds
Temperature: 51 degrees F
Weather: Wet, rained for first 2 miles

Matt Details:
Weight: 245 pounds (still)
Feels: Felt good after the ride, knees still ache a little
Total 2006 Mileage: 950.22
Total Time in the Saddle: 88 hours, 22 minutes
Average Miles per Day: 12.34

Notes:
My back tire has had a slow leak for the last few weeks, and this morning I discovered why when going down the Oatfield hill. I'd put 60 psi into the back tire before leaving, and while turning the sharp corner of the Oatfield drop, the back end started to shimmy. I immediately slowed and stopped at the end of the bridge over Kellogg Creek, and saw (and felt) the flat. I pulled the tire and tube off, and found a piece of glass embedded in the tire, pushed all the way through to the inside of the tire. It's probably been there this whole time, widening the puncture it made in the tube. This morning finally killed it. So I spent 35 minutes changing a tube in the mud, which isn't as bad as it sounds. It had stopped raining just a minute of two before, so I was able to de-layer down to a T-shirt and keep cool while working. That's one drawback to being fat - you actually have to strip to a T-shirt in 50 degree temperatures to keep cool.

So, that's my first real flat of the year. 30 minutes later, I was riding over the Hawthorne bridge and Bike Gallery had set up a little maintenance stop on the west (downtown) end of the bridge with free coffee and muffins. So of course I stopped, and they were kind enough to top off the air in my tires. So other than getting in a lot later than I'd like, it was a good ride in!

Yay!

Breakfast on the Bridges, the Movie! Look about 2.5 minutes in for a surprise cameo.

Thursday Morning - Aargh! Forgot my keys!

Ride Details:
Distance: 15.22 miles
Top Speed: 33.2 mph
Average Speed: 11.8 mph
Time on Bike: 1 hr, 17 min, 31 sec
Temperature: 47-48 degrees F
Weather: Dry and cloudy

Matt Details:
Weight: 245 pounds (still)
Feels: Felt good after the ride, knees starting to ache a little
Total 2006 Mileage: 927.94
Total Time in the Saddle: 86 hours, 16 minutes
Average Miles per Day: 12.21

Notes:
I forgot my keys this morning but didn't know it until I was standing in front of the bike locker downtown. Luckily, Tomas came to the rescue and provided my bike with a place to stay for the day. Otherwise, I was going to put on another 22 miles this morning.

Must. Remember. Keys.

Tuesday Rides (To Work / To Home)

Ride Details:
Distance: 10.97 / 11.08 miles
Top Speed: 31.0 / 31.3 mph
Average Speed: 12.5 / 10.9 mph
Time on Bike: 52 min, 44 sec / 1 hr, 59 sec
Temperature: 45 / 62 degrees F
Weather: Wet / Dry

Springwater Trail:
36 cyclists, 18 joggers, 1 rollerblader, 2 guys with fishing poles
(This is on the way home. 60+ temperatures start to bring everyone out)

Matt Details:
Weight: 245 pounds (need to ride more)
Feels: Felt good after the ride
Total 2006 Mileage: 890.53 miles
Total Time in the Saddle: 83 hours, 18 minutes
Average Miles per Day: 11.87

Notes:
My last entry was the 23rd. I didn't do a training ride the following weekend due to Gamestorm. I rode 2 days the next week (Thursday the 30th and Friday the 31st) and showed up for Breakfast on the Bridges (Thanks, SHIFT! To Bikes). The weekend after that I spent with the ladies watching Lost all weekend. Last week, I was at New Horizons all week after work. My wife picked me up each night, and I had to take the bus out there, so I opted not to ride to make it easier on her on the trips back. Once I get a car rack for the bike, this won't be an issue. So, I haven't ridden for 11 days. On the plus side, everything has healed up. On the minus side, I'm already losing a bit of muscle tone. So, yesterday I got back on the bike. I put in the normal 22 miles yesterday, and I feel pretty good. I made average time in and excellent time back. On the way back, I even took Oatfield one gear higher than normal, which makes me feel pretty good - there's still improvement going on, despite the long break.

Next week I again have classes at New Horizons. I'm looking forward to it, and I plan to ride again. It means getting home comparatively late, but that's the price you pay for opting to bike. I need to crank the mileage back up above 16 miles per day. Eventually, I should average out to 20 miles per day or more. (20 mpd is my normal commute every day plus a 30-mile ride on Sunday)

Ok, time to hit the bike and hoof it to work - later, y'all.