Alder Flat - A Camping Slice of Paradise

This past weekend, 4 brave souls made the trek from Portland out up the Clackamas River to the gem known as Alder Flat. Alder Flat is the only USFS campground up the Clackamas with NO FEE. That’s right, NO FEE. Despite this, it’s rarely if ever full. Why? Because Alder Flat is a mile hike in from its parking lot, and the car-bound don’t want to schlep their gear by hand one mile down a dirt trail.

Psst… guess what? It’s a good enough trail to ride a fully-loaded touring bike up and down, and while the Forest Service doesn’t encourage bike use on the trail, they don’t PROHIBIT it either. If you know me, you know that that's all the encouragement I need - I totally respect the restrictions placed by property owners and government agencies, but if you don't tell me I need to stay out, I've just GOT to see what's there. And in this case, what's there to see is pretty awesome!

Alder Flat is 44.5 miles from the end of the MAX at Cleveland Avenue in Gresham, or 63 miles from downtown Portland if you want to do it the hard way. Don’t ask me why, but Steph, Ed, Tomas and I all decided to do it the HARD way, even though none of us got more than 4 hours of sleep and ALL of us had been drinking cocktails the night before.

The route climbs from basically sea level (Portland ranges from 0' to 1,100' in elevation) to about 1,500', and the trail to the campsite drops from there to about 1,300' elevation. You can see on the GPS elevation chart I've posted that there are two large hills - one between miles 8 and 10 and another one near mile 42. Both are about 300' tall, and both fairly steep. No matter which way you're headed, you have to go down one and up the other. Makes for an interesting trip.

We dragged our asses, but we made it, and made it fairly easily down the trail, which leads about 200’ down to the river through old-growth Douglas-Fir trees. We were welcomed by a completely empty campground, right on the river, with a tiny little sandy beach, a nice slow-moving area to swim in, fire pits, and picnic tables (granted, some of them are a little… worn).

A few of us promptly skinny-dipped in the water and dried off in front of the fire, and everyone else skinny-dipped the next morning. No road, no cars, no noise, no people. AWESOME.

I’m going to be leading another trek up to Alder Flat at the beginning of November, before the snow moves in, but the weather isn’t likely to be as nice as it was last weekend. Still, that late in the season, it’s guaranteed that we’ll be the only ones there. Keep an eye on http://www.cyclewild.org/ for details.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the event:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattpicio/sets/72157607445146541/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomascosauce/sets/72157607419449340/

We rode 63 miles each way – it took about 6 hours heading out (slightly hung-over) and 5 hours heading back (mostly downhill). That’s actual riding time, plus another 2-3 hours of stops (we had lunch at the bakery in Estacada on the way out, and at the brew-pub on the way back). The day ended for half of us with a trip to the Kennedy School soaking pool. Yay McMennamins!

The Year's Off to a Great Start!

Well, 5 days in, and I already nearly have 100 miles on the bike. More than half of those miles are on my new hand-built 36-spoke wheel from Sellwood Cycle Repair. Hopefully, that means no more busted spokes (YAY!)

Total mileage for 2007 was 5,170.4 - a lot more than the 3,022 miles I pedalled in 2006. I'm shooting for an even more aggressive number this year - 8,000 miles. I think I have a good shot at pulling it off, especially since I've gone car-free.

In this last year, I got divorced, moved back into Portland and started living on my own, gave the car to my ex, started riding the bike for everything, bought new rain gear, bought a new wheel, new light, and a new tent, and became a member/owner at People's Coop in SE Portland (less than 1 mile from my apartment).

I haven't gone vegetarian yet, but I've gone mostly organic. Over this next year, I'm planning to move to more local food and sustainable practices, reduce my energy use, and stop eating most processed foods and go back to "real" food. Eventually I may go vegetarian, but at the least I'm going to greatly reduce my consumption of meat and animal products. There are a number of reasons for this, and maybe I'll go into it on my soapbox blog.

Anyway, lots of changes have happened, and many more are in store. Here's my details for today:

Today's Ride(s):
Distance: 29.49 miles
Time: 3 hours, 44 minutes (7.9 mph)

2008 Stats:
Distance: 97.65 miles
Total Time in Saddle: 11 hours, 14 minutes
Average Speed: 8.9 mph
Average Mileage: 19.53 miles / day

Yikes - Where's all the Posts?

Ok, I've been a little remiss in the updates.

First off, I did the Seattle to Portland ride, and it went pretty well. Secondly, I went on Jeff Bernards' Oxbow Park camping trip, and that was fun. Now, we're in the home stretch for that penultimate Oregon event - Cycle Oregon!

I still feel I'm not ready - I haven't done enough hills, and I haven't done any core exercises. The only thing I've got going in my favor is that I just bought 1.25" tires (to replace my 1.4" tires) and I've ridden nearly 3,000 miles already this year. (the marvels of living far, far away from everyone else). In fact, here are the stats:

As of noon, 07 August 2007:
Total Mileage: 2,943.76 miles (average of 13.44 miles per day)
Last Year (This Date): 2,196.76 miles
Scheduled This Year: 3,402 miles (444 miles behind schedule)
Average Speed: 10.7 mph
Total Time on Bike: 276 hours, 54 minutes

At my current rate, I should roll at least 4,906 miles by year end - a goal of 5,000 miles for the year is not out of the question.

The most exciting part is that last year, for the whole year, I rode 3,022 miles. I should pass that before the end of this week, nearly 4 months earlier than last year!

I'm really looking forward to what's coming up!

Ride Report - End of May 2007

3rd consecutive day riding after my 6-day hiatus. Feels good, though the muscles are a little tired.

Today
Mileage: 12.71 (this morning)
Top Speed: 25.8 mph (nothing special)
Average Speed: 11.0 mph (took it easy, and still got a good avg. spd.)
Time: 01:09:09
Temperature: 60 degrees F
Weight: 248 pounds

For the Year
151 Days in. 1,513.90 miles (average 10.03 miles per day)
Average speed is 10.7 mph, for a total of 143:59:50 in the saddle (that's almost 6 full days)
Top Speed (downhill): 42.8 mph (May 10th)
Highest Average Speed for 2007 Commute: 13.7 mph (April 27th)
Highest Average Speed ever on Commute: 16.5 mph (from old house on SE Allan in Oak Grove)

Total Mileage, May 31, 2007: 1,513.90 miles
Goal Mileage, May 31, 2007: 2,184.00 miles (I am 681 miles behind my goal)
Prior Mileage, May 31, 2006: 1,231.99 miles (I am 282 miles ahead of last year)

The weather has been nice, though hot in the evening. I'm really ready to have 70 degree days, but I think we're done with that for the season. Pedalpalooza is coming, and I am leading a ride on June 18th.

Halfway to Last Year, a Month Early!

Ok, so when I ride home tonight, I'll break 1,500 miles for the year. Last year, I rode 3,022 miles. To match that, I'd need to ride 1,511 miles by June 30th. Today is May 30th. Hey, not bad! Well, unless you compare it to my goal for this year, and then I suck. ;-)


The goal for this year is 5,800 miles. I'm currently about 670 miles behind where I should be to meet my goal. I need to start putting on some serious mileage if I want to meet it. To be honest, though, I'll be perfectly happy with anything over 4,000 miles, and at my current rate, I should end up with 3,600 for the year - so I only need to put out 10% more effort than I have so far to break that 4,000 mark.


Last night I led a Bike Boulevard ride around Milwaukie. There was a lot of interest at the last TSP bicycle workshop about the concept of Bike Boulevards, which Portland has successfully implemented, and the BTA is pushing heavily for. Milwaukie really doesn't have a lot of good candidate roads, but last night we rode three of the best ones - Monroe, Stanley, and 29th. In each case, they provide a way across the city that parallels a much busier route. Monroe and Stanley are heavy secondary routes in their own right, and could really benefit from some traffic calming, or even a cul-de-sac / passthrough arrangement of some sort. The real question is how the local neighborhoods would feel about it. The ride itself went well, about 7 people showed up, including city planners Katie Mangle and Brett Kelver. The next TSP meeting is coming up soon - Saturday, June 2nd at 10am.


Back to the personal front, I averaged 11.9 mph on the way in to work today, which isn't bad. I'm riding on the new back wheel now - I replaced the old one on Monday. The old (original) back wheel is a stock Matrix 750 rim, and I'd broken 18 of 32 spokes over the last 18 months. Last Thursday, I sucked the chain into the rear wheel and bent (and in some cases gouged) the bottom of 12 spokes on the drivetrain side. I tightened a number of opposing spokes to make the wheel straight enough to ride home on (and feel pretty good about my emergency repair skills). So, away it goes, and the new wheel is mounted and ready to go. The spokes tinged a bit while adjusting, and it seems to be properly stressed in now.

So once again, I'm ready to ride!

Midnight Mystery Ride - May 11th

Last night was the ever-popular and always fascinating Midnight Mystery Ride. As always, the ride started at midnight (duh) at one of Portland's fine drinking establishments. This month, the destination was Hayden Island, and I made it to the destination area but did not stick around for the festivities - since I live in Clackamas County, it's a LOOOONG ride home.

In fact, since I had to stop by work and finish a couple of things before heading home, it was longer than normal: 20 miles from the office to the ride location and back to the office, and I got back to the office at around 2:30am. It was well after 4am when I was finished and ready to go, and I was so wiped that I knew I wouldn't make it home. So, I crashed on the couch in the break room until 6am and then took my bike on Tri-Met until I got within a mile of my place.

The ride itself was great - lots of people I knew, a bigger crowd than normal, and an entertaining ride through the back alleys of N / NE Portland for a mile or more, all while watching a pair of tallbikes and a hundred plus riders try to negotiate choke points, avoid chains, fences, broken glass and busted pavement. I almost took a fall near Delta Park when I got into the gravel at the road edge on a turn, and once or twice I had riders cut right across my path really darned close. That happens, though - you've got to be prepared for it.

This is my fourth MMR, and one of the reasons why I love Portland. Sure, Amsterdam has 40% of its working people commuting by bike, but we have this incredible hodgepodge of cycling culture, and all the weirdness that ensues. It's part of what makes Portland such a vibrant place to live. I think it's great.

The start point, Amnesia, was pretty cool, and had tons of bike parking (they obviously know the score - cater to bikes and you sell a lot of beer). Barflymag says they have live bluegrass on Fridays, but apparently that stops before 11:30pm, or there just wasn't anyone there that night. The porter they had on tap was pretty good - I'll probably head back over there at some point to try the food.

Anyway, thank you Team Midnight for the Midnight Mystery Ride!

New Top Speed!

Ok, so I needed to run some personal errands this morning, and went into work late. Since I was over near Clackamas Mall anyway, I rode up Bob Schumacher Drive to the intersection with Idleman, SE 97th Avenue and Otty Rd. (That sounds complicated, but it's not - it's a regular intersection, but each of the two roads has a different name on each leg)

Otty Road is almost ridiculously steep. Not quite as steep as Thiessen, but close. Now, Otty road has a bike lane part of the way, and has a 40mph speed limit. Oregon law permits you to leave the bike lane to avoid hazardous conditions. Riding at high speed to me qualifies as hazardous, so I rode in the middle of the car lane, and for good reason - I could keep up with traffic. I hit 42.8 mph on my way down Otty Road, and unfortunately had to stop for the red light next to Mall-Wart (sorry, Wal-Mart - same thing). So, I'm kind of celebrating, because I also broke 1,200 miles for the year. Anyway, here's the stats:

Today:
Mileage: 12.21 miles
Top Speed: 42.8 mph
Average Speed: 11.0 mph
Time on Bike: 01:06:47

2007 To-Date:
Mileage: 1,204.32 miles
Top Speed for Year: 42.8 mph (Otty Rd. downhill, Thursday, May 10th)
Total Days: 130
Mileage per Day: 9.26
Overall Average Speed: 10.7 mph
Total Time on Bike: 114:17:31

Goal Mileage by Today: 1,920 miles (715 miles behind schedule)
Mileage This Date, 2006: 1,151.11 miles (53.2 miles more in 2007 than in 2006)

What I need to do now is to start cranking up the mileage to make up for the gap. My schedule assumes riding to work 4 days per week, so every week I ride all 5 days I gain another 25 miles. At that rate, it will take me 28 weeks to make up the difference, which is basically all year. So, I need to work in some long training rides on the weekend to make up the difference.

'Later!

Ride Report - Wednesday, May 9th 2007

Today:
Mileage: 12.61 miles
Average Speed: 11.0 mph
Time: 01:08:41 (in motion)
Temperature: 44 degrees F
Weight: 246.5 pounds

Year (2007): 129 days
Total Mileage: 1,179.36 miles
Overall Average Speed: 10.7 mph
Top Speed for the Year: 41.6 mph (Otty Road downhill - May 8th am)
Total Time: 111:59:57
Average Distance per Day: 9.14 miles
Mileage Goal (today): 1,908 miles
Mileage Goal (entire year): 5,820.6 miles
Mileage this date, 2006: 1,128.61 miles

Notes: Well, I did not ride RACC like I'd planned. I also didn't ride the Monster Cookie Metric Century. So, I'm nowhere near my mileage goal, and instead of being down 400-500 miles, I'm now down almost 730 miles. So, I've got a ways to catch up. Last night I left work late, and while riding home I got some good pictures of the dragonboaters. Not much longer until Rose Festival, when we get to see the dragonboats in action. I think I'm going to head downtown for that this year. I just need to remember to take sunscreen with me. Also coming up is Pedalpalooza, Portland's plethora of bicycle fun.

I'm hoping I can make enough of those events to build up some mileage. I'm also trying to use the bike rather than the car for as many things as I can. Technically I don't own a car anyway. I mean, my name is on the title, but I rarely if ever use it. Which brings me to some notes for an article I'm going to write and post either on this blog or another (new) soapbox blog:

Appropriate Transport:

• 0 - 1/2 miles: Walk
• 1/2 - 5 miles: Bicycles
• 5 - 25 miles: Bicycle / Car (depending on how much time you have)
• 25 - 100 miles: Car (or bike if you have all day, and the stamina to do it)
• 100 - 300 miles: Car (or Bike if you have LOTS of time, and lodging)
• 300 + miles: Train, Plane, Car (depending on time and other factors)

I'd prefer people replace "car" with something more fuel efficient. Motorcycles and scooters have less efficient engines, but they move a lot smaller mass, so many of them get better gas mileage. Do we really need 4,000 pound vehicles that seat six? Not for most people. maybe as many as 1/4 of everyone in greater Portland could get by 95% of the time with a 1 or 2-seat vehicle with a 100-150 mile range. We could easily build electric cars to do that.

More when I've though about it a while.

Breakfast on the Bridge! Oh, and a ride!

Today's Stats:
Mileage: 12.68 miles
Top Speed: 29.1 mph
Average Speed: 13.7 mph (YAY)
Time in Saddle: 55 minutes, 36 seconds
Weight this Morning: 248 (Not so Yay)

Year-to-Date Stats:
Days: 117
Miles Ridden: 1,017.07 (an average of 8.69 miles per day)
Overall Average Speed: 10.7 mph
Top Speed: 35.8 mph (March 28th)
Fastest Average Speed To/From Work: 13.7 mph (today!) / 11.4 mph (Mar 21 / Apr 26)
Total Time in Saddle: 96 hours, 14 minutes
Goal Mileage, April 27th: 1,637 miles
2006 Mileage, April 27th: 1,060.81

Argh! I'm behind again! Not surprising, since I've been off the bike for two weeks! Not entirely by choice - my back wheel was totally hosed, and I was going to try to fix it myself, and loused it up. So, I begged Tomas to fix it for me, which he graciously did. So now it's rideable again, and the back wheel no longer makes those annoying spoke-popping and tensioning noises. Hopefully that means I won't lose any more spokes for a while. I mean, I'm replacing that wheel anyway, but probably not for another month or two.

Today I took a long, boring video with my digital camera, starting from my residence and going all the way to my bike locker downtown. I let it run the entire hour and 8 minutes - 55 minutes on the bike (plus a few minutes stopped at lights), and the whole 8-10 minutes I was at Breakfast on the Bridge today. I missed last month's, so it was good to stop by for a short bit.

I now have all the camping gear I need for Cycle Oregon, and now I just have a list of items I need to get for the bike - new cassette, new chain, brake pads, and bike clothing. I'm still stoked about going, and I really hope I can make it every day.

On the "activist" front, I've expressed my displeasure publicly to Mayor Tom Potter over his proposed budget, specifically the removal of funding for the Platinum Bicycle Master Plan Update. My email (comment #6) generated a couple of flattering comments on its own. I guess 8 years in the military and 10 years in the corporate world is worth something. I hope it helps. There were over 300 separate comments submitted to the Mayor's office, so one would think that they might look at that one again. I will be on the Master Plan Update Ride (#4) on Tuesday in North Portland, both to show my support and to learn more about conditions in that part of the city. I know a bit from previous rides, but I expect I'll learn things I had no clue about (just like on every other ride I've done in Portland). Also, I have another upcoming Milwaukie TSP Update meeting on Wednesday, and the 2nd (and final?) TSP Bike/Ped meeting on May 5th. I don't know what's happening with "Umbrella" at the moment - we're ready to work up our 1023 once we have the final info we need.

Well, that's it for now - back to work.

Ride Report - April 11, 2007

Today's Stats:
Mileage: 12.34 miles (19.86 km)
Top Speed: 27.6 mph (44.4 km/h)(12.3 m/s)
Average Speed: 11.7 mph (18.8 km/h)(5.2 m/s)
Time in Saddle: 1 Hour, 3 minutes, 16 seconds
Weight this morning: 245.5 lbs (111.6 kg)

Year-to-Date Stats:
Days: 101
Miles Ridden: 929.69 miles
Overall Average Speed: 11.0 mph
Top Speed: 35.8 mph (March 28)
Total Time in Saddle: 88 Hours, 0 minutes, 38 seconds
Goal Mileage, April 11: 1409 miles
Mileage, April 11, 2006: 879.45 miles

So, I'm currently 50 miles ahead of last year, but 480 miles behind where I "should" be. This weekend is the "Pre-Season Century" in Bend. I'd love to go, but I can't right now. I *might* do the Monster Cookie Metric Century on the 29th, but in all likelihood my first supported century of the year will be either Ride Around Clark County on May 5th, or the Pioneer Century on June 2nd.

Yowza - I need to be biking!

Ok, still not getting out and about enough.

Currently averaging about 9 miles per day. This morning, I rode my standard 12.3 miles into work, in a little under 65 minutes. Average speed 11.4 mph, top speed 28.1 mph. The weather was nice, if a bit cold, and the ride is was smooth and easy for the most part.

Yesterday I got my tent, footprint and camp pad. Another (ouch) $300 spent. The good news is that this equipment will work fine for the various events I plan on doing this year. Yay! Reusable for a good number of years as long as I take care of the equipment.

The next Milwaukie TSP Update meeting (bike / ped workshop, that is) is coming up on May 5th at Milwaukie City Hall.

Back on the Bike - In April!

Ok, took 6 days off the bike. Didn't plan on it, 3 of those days were due to Gamestorm. Until I get a trailer, it's difficult to cart 80 lbs. of stuff back and forth from Clackamas to the airport.

So, now that I'm back on the bike, here are the stats:

This Morning:
12.50 miles @ 10.4 mph average
01:12:13 ride time, top speed of 26.2 mph
Weight: 245.5 lbs.

Overall:
94 days into the year
879.07 total miles (868.48 this time last year) - average 9.35 miles / day
83:13:00 total time in the saddle
Average speed 11.0 mph

Ok, so I'm not really losing any weight. I need to start measuring myself again, so I can see if this lack of weight loss is really because I'm replacing fat with muscle. (I hope so) Muscle tissue weighs twice as much as fat, so if you're building muscle you can sometimes drop waist sizes without dropping weight. Either that, or I need to start eating less.

The ride in today was leisurely. I enjoyed it, but I had to take a break at the midpoint because I was so sleepy. I most definitely need to get to bed earlier.

That's it for now - maybe more later.

Haulin to work

Well, I got in a bit quicker than normal today. I usually average about 11-12 mph on the way in to work. Today, however, it was 13.6 mph! Still not my record (16.5), but it's not likely I'll repeat that, since I don't have as much downhill as at the old place, and I usually ride into the wind at least part of the way. The 16.5 day was with a fierce tailwind the whole way. Oh, and on bald, thinner tires that were overinflated. Downhill. Both ways. Yeah, you know the drill.

Today:
Mileage: 12.8 miles
Top Speed: 28.8 mph
Average Speed: 13.6 mph
Time: 00:56:41
Weather: Mostly Dry, 43 degrees F

Year-to-Date:
Mileage: 829.58 miles (9.65 miles per day)
Average Speed: 10.7 mph
Total Time in Saddle: 78:35:30
Best Average Speed: 13.6 mph
Best Top Speed: 35.3 mph

Mileage Last Year on this Date: 824.97 miles

This weekend is Gamestorm, so it's not likely I'll get in any major rides, but you never know. I'm not running any games on Sunday, so that's always an option. I've done a 55-mile ride, so it's time to knock it up a notch - maybe 75-80 miles. We'll see.

This morning's ride felt good, and it was good to stress everything out just a bit. It's been a while since I really pushed myself the whole ride. Now it's time to think about pushing myself a little more often, maybe do some interval training. Also, it's time to think about a couple of the supported rides. The Monster Cookie Metric Century is coming up, as is RACC - Ride Around Clark County. Either of those would be nice to do, get riding with other cyclists.

I'd love to do more supported rides, but it gets expensive - anywhere from $15-$80 per ride. I mean, they're fully supported and all, hence the cost, but if you do more than a couple, it adds up quick. I'm already spending much too much this year as it is, with Cycle Oregon coming up. It's just so awesome that I'm going to do CO this year. The route is fantastic, it's the 20th year, so there will be all manner of special at this particular ride. It's going to be great. Yowza!

It HAS Begun (in the Mortal Combat voice)

Training has officially begun - I rode 55 miles yesterday, all within Portland / Milwaukie. About 1/3 of the way through the ride, I ran into the riders from Exchange Cycle Tours, and joined them on their ride to Kelly Point Park. What a great day for a ride!

The Usual:
Distance: 55 miles
Top Speed: ??? (the GPS says 87.7 mph, but I know that's not right)
Total Time in Motion: 05:01:22

Route: 97th & Lawnfield to I-205 bike path to Causey. Followed to Monroe, to Stanley, to King. King to 49th, then meander through the sub to 42nd and back to 55th to the Springwater Trail, then west into Sellwood. Follow the Springwater on the Willamette to the Hawthorne Bridge, then to SW 4th to Big Pink. Head back out around the tower to Broadway, and over the Broadway bridge to Interstate. Up Interstate to Marine Drive and Kelly Point Park. Then back out Marine Drive all the way to the I-205 bike path. Then south to home.

For the Year:
804.55 miles (9.47 miles per day, on average)
10.7 mph overall average speed
76:21:31 total time in the saddle
85 days into the year

At the rate I've been cycling, I'll cover 3,455 miles this year. Which means I need to step it up a notch, because I'm intending to ride at least 5,000 miles this year. This time last year, I was at 825 miles for the year. According to my schedule, I'm supposed to be at 1,169 miles right now. I'm down 344 miles, which is somewhat less than optimal. OTOH, a few weeks ago I was 500 miles down, so I'm pretty confident I will meet or exceed my scheduled mileage in another month.

Now if I can just start getting out to the gym, I'll have it made.

Still Spinnin'

Rode all over Milwaukie on Saturday - update on that to follow this evening. Good ride in this morning - it was wet, but not raining much, so my shoes didn't get half as dirty as they could have. Kind of windy, though. 12.34 miles on the way in - it's interesting how the GPS reads different every day depending on how long it takes to acquire the satellites and whether or not it loses signal along the way. Generally it reads between 12.3 and 12.4 miles each way if I take my most direct route.

679.38 miles this year, with a total time of 65 hours and 5 minutes in the saddle. I'm currently averaging 8.6 miles per day, which is almost as much as last year (8.91). At the rate I'm riding so far, even if I don't do any major rides this year I'll still ride more than 3,000 miles. I'm planning to do StP and CO, so that means I should be riding at least 4,000 miles this year, not counting my training rides.

Bikeportland.org posted an update on Dawn Slawta, the woman who collided with a car on February 7th of this year. She was in a coma, but apparently is now conscious and on the road to recovery. I hope she recovers quickly and fully. She's very lucky she wasn't killed - reportedly both Dawn and the motorist (Mark Grover) were inebriated (the Portland Mercury says they were both over the legal limit) and Dawn was not wearing a helmet or using lights (this collision was at night). To his credit, the motorist stayed at the scene and cooperated with the police. It's a sad statement about society that I feel the need to congratulate people who comply with the law, but I respect the fact that he did the right and responsible thing.

I've can't understand why anyone (over 12) would want to ride without a helmet, and especially in this day and age, why anyone would voluntarily ride without lights. This is just a general comment - I don't know the particulars of Dawn's situation, and it's easy to generalize if you aren't/weren't there. I've ridden without lights before, because when your battery dies at 2am and Tri-Met is no longer running, you have to get home somehow. Walking through, say.... North Portland at 2am (or Lents) is not an option for many people, especially for most women. I mean, I'm a 6', 250 lb. guy, I'm reasonably safe. Not so much for the 5'2" woman, and I know a number of them who bike.

Ride Report - March 13, 2007

This morning:
12.39 miles
12.1 mph average, 31.7 mph maximum
1:01:14 riding time
43 degrees F, dry pavement, dark/twilight

2007 Total-to-date:
554.14 miles (7.70 miles/day average)
10.6 mph overall average
53:15:50 total riding time

Felt good to be on the bike today. Had a burger and a couple of beers with Steph last night, talked about all kinds of stuff, and about StP and Cycle Oregon. Feels good to ride in general - maybe because I'm getting used to the new equipment, maybe just because the weather is getting marginally nicer again. Either way, feels good.

Ridin' Steady

Been a while since I posted, time for an update....

I haven't been riding as much as I'd like to these last few weeks, but I am back on the bike, and I've ridden 4 of the 5 days this week. I'm trying to make up my massive sleep deficit, and trying to reduce my caffeine intake. Well, I'm not succeeding that well on either count, but having a couple cups of coffee did make it easier to ride home the other day. The important things are that I'm still under 250 lbs and I'm riding again.

I'm now at 504 miles for the year, which is better than last year. I haven't ridden anything over 40 miles yet, but that'll probably change this weekend. The big change is that I now have clipless pedals and "proper" biking shoes. I didn't think I'd ever become "clipped in", but I find that I'd like any advantage I can get for my upcoming suicide ride (Cycle Oregon).

You know, I don't think I talked about that earlier in the blog - I'm doing Cycle Oregon this year, a 7-day fully supported ride, 481 miles long with 28,000' of elevation gain. Yes, I'm apparently insane. They say you should have goals, and yes, I apparently took that seriously. So, I decided to spend $800 of my hard-earned tax refund (ok, we decided - the spousal unit approved it) to try to kill myself riding up some of the most beautiful land God put on this green Earth. I'm really looking forward to it, and I know it'll be the ride of a lifetime and something I'll never forget. At 2,000 riders, it'll be somewhat smaller than Seattle to Portland, which has 9,000 riders, but still a pretty populous ride.

So, the stats:

This morning:
12.42 miles
12.3 mph average, 30.1 mph maximum
1:00:38 riding time
45 degrees F, wet pavement, overcast skies, no precipitation

2007 Total-to-date:
504.42 miles (7.42 miles/day average)
10.5 mph overall average
48:54:46 total riding time

Mechanical/Equipment changes:
New clipless pedals
New cycling shoes
New rain jacket
New saddle
New brake pads (rear)
New 1.5" reinforced road tires
Replaced broken spoke
Replaced frayed rear shift cable
Bike completely broken down, cleaned, and lubed

I will likely need a new wheelset, chain and cassette before Cycle Oregon. My bike is a 2004 Gary Fisher Wahoo, and currently has about 4,000 miles on it. I previously replaced the bottom bracket, chain rings and crankset, and I've gone through 2 sets of brake pads and a chain since purchasing it.

2004: ~100 miles
2005: ~400 miles
2006: 3022.03 miles
2007: 504.42 miles so far

This morning felt really good to bike. I did something I haven't done before - I rode with headphones. I kept them low enough that I could hear everything around me, and that seems to work ok. I even heard the Prius come up behind me on SE Umatilla, and those things don't make much noise. I didn't hear one of the cyclists come up behind me on the Springwater, but he didn't "on your left" me and I wouldn't have heard him normally anyway. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable enough with having headphones on to continue doing so, but it was nice riding today with my music. I probably freaked out the other cyclist, though, since when he passed me I was singing about eating people's brains (Jonathan Coulton's song Re: Your Brains, which is about a pack of zombies. Hillarious, click the link and take a listen).

Anyway, that's it for now...