Memorial Day Weekend Begins...

Here we are it is Memorial Day weekend again. We usually don't do much in the way of doing anything extravagantly special...it's just nice to have a 3 day weekend anymore.

This morning we went for a ride and it was a little chilly, but hey at least it wasn't raining! We did a route that is reasonably close to the route I take to work and it was pretty fun, even had a stop at the bridge construction project over Salmon Creek.

NO BRAKES!
Today is the first day that I actually went down the huge hill out of Felida to Salmon Creek without braking! It was such an awesome feeling - flyin' down the hill at 37.7 mph. WEE HAW!

FATCYCLIST.COM
On Monday I ordered my Fat Cyclist jersey and it was delivered yesterday...a very exciting moment! This jersey is one of 500 that were made available on Monday at 12:00 Central Time and they were sold out within 24 hours! 100% of the proceeds from these jerseys go directly to the Win Susan Fund..so, 500 jerseys multiplied by $70...CHA CHING SUSAN and Fatty! If you haven't checked out his blog yet here is the link http://www.fatcyclist.com/

This morning I put it on even though I would be wearing my jacket and really, that was a good thing. I'm not ready for the world to see me in a jersey just yet - when you think about it no self-respecting, average joe schmoe should be seen in a form fitting cycling anything, but I suppose since we cyclists wear the lycra shorts w/padding, a very good look of course, how much worse is a form fitting jersey?

You be the judge...this photo is post ride...

Okay, well maybe it's not that bad, but I am not that comfortable in clothes that are form fitting in any way. However, I feel okay about dressing like this and being somewhat comfortable when we are at a cycling events where all people of all sizes are dressed as I am here.

WILLAMETTE WINERIES WEEKEND
For the past couple of years at Thanksgiving we have gone to visit some of the wineries putting on special events for the Fall season. This year we thought we would also include the Spring events at a couple of wineries.

We packed up a lunch to enjoy in the afternoon and made our way to our first winery/vineyard that we discovered last November - Brick House Wines. I like them because they are an organic winery and have taken to the old way of farming the grape vines -

At Brick House, "organically grown" is more than just a phrase on the labels of our wines. It commits us to the old ways. From our first planting in May of 1990 until today, we have relied on basics. All our fruit is estate grown. All of it is certified organic. Elemental sprays like sulfur combat disease. Fundamental farming controls weeds and shapes the hillsides beneath our vines. http://www.brickhousewines.com/

It's a funky little place that is definitely worth the drive to taste they fabulous wine the tasting room is rustic and filled with barrels and there is a gorgeous views of the vineyard surrounding the winery and the old brick house.

Ooh, Hey a BRICK HOUSE...
The other winery that we visited was Penner-Ash. Brick House is more earthy and homey contrasted by Penner-Ash and their Napa-esque look and feel. They are a much larger operation and quite classy by comparison. The view from the parking lot was amazing and I could probably sit up there for a good long time before getting tired of it.

Their wine tasting offering was a pretty sweet deal - for $20 per person we got to taste up to 9 different wines which included 3 barrel tastings and a special Oregon Pinot glass specially made by Riedel for the Willamette Valley. The barrel tastings from the 2007 harvest were all very good the Shea Vineyard Pinot was already pretty amazing...it is hard to believe that it could get any better. I guess that's the beauty of wine...always evolving and surprising!


Here is the view from the parking lot...it is hard to see, but check out my UFO looking spot... The area where the Barrel Tastings were being held...

More adventures to come tomorrow...