Portland Century 2007 - www.portlandcentury.com

The Portland Century was on August 26 in which we rode the 50 mile route. All routes (25, 50 & 100 miles) started from Portland State University and each took a specific route thru and around the Portland Metro area. The 50 mile route went out the Springwater Corridor all the way from downtown to Gresham which was about 15-17 miles of riding on a trail that was once a railway in the early 1900s. The Route from Gresham went thru Troutdale to Marine Drive and out to Smith & Bybee Lakes. Up until this point we had enjoyed 2 well run rest stops and nothing unusual on the route. Once we left Smith & Bybee and made our way thru the Water Treatment Center we encountered a train stopped blocking the trail that leads to Columbia Blvd! Just sitting there idling away. There were quite a few of us so we made haste and schlepped bikes and people over an open car that happened to be directly in front of us…on the trail so that was a good thing. However, the fact that the train was sitting there just idling, it was hard telling just how long it would continue sitting there and how long it had been there in the first place. One family on a tandem with a tag-along, pulling a burley trailer had their ride broken down very quickly to get them over safely. These sorts of things make for great memories! We ended up with a ride time of 4 hours and 22 minutes. Not bad for a fairly flat route…a little windy on Marine Drive, but that is always expected.

I am looking forward to a few Sunday’s off with our next organized ride on September 23 and our last one on September 30. This summer has been so mild and it’s been a great cycling season so far! I’m hoping to continue riding to work into October…we’ll see how that goes.

This photo is from the Portland Century website.