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| Capitol Building Salem, Oregon |
To do this...
We'll be back Sunday! More to come then...
Showing posts with label Cycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cycling. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2011
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Thatcher's Coffee
Tom and I knew that the afternoon would be a little too warm for a ride - how do you adjust from 50s & 60s to 85 degree weather?! So we got out early this morning and made our way down to Thatcher's Coffee at Grand Central a 26 mile round trip from our house...So awesome!
This place, which Tom discovered while I was running the Fort Vancouver Run, is pretty cool. Very open and comfy. For a mid-ride treat I had a Chai and a Bacon Cheddar Biscuit...OH MY! Tom went for the pour-over drip coffee and a cool carrot cake cupcake/muffin...another OH MY! They make their own granola and only use good for you ingredients. Yes, bacon is good for you ;) This coffee shop is focused on sustainability and I like that.
Check out Thatcher's HERE and then go get yourself a cup of deliciousness and a yummy treat!
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| pic from Google Images |
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| also from Google Images |
Check out Thatcher's HERE and then go get yourself a cup of deliciousness and a yummy treat!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Memorial Day Ride
On Monday afternoon Tom and I rode over to Claudson's and we went out for a ride - it was a perfect day! Mostly perfect...bonking is no fun. I was happy to make it home!
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| Another digital slideshow by Smilebox |
Monday, January 10, 2011
Been Thinking...
I know it's January 10...but I have been thinking of bike commuting. Not that I would bike commute now, during the dark morning and evenings of winter, but looking out the window here at work and seeing blue skies just makes me want to ride to work.
I've also been thinking about Time Trialing. And Running. And Swimming...and triathlons.
I don't think that Spring will be here soon enough!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Cycle Oregon Weekend 2010 Edition
(Cycle Oregon 2009)
Friday afternoon we take off for Monmouth for Cycle Oregon Weekend! The temperature looks good, high 70s low 80s (as of today's forecast) and the roads in Polk County are the BEST to ride on!
Looking forward to riding long on Saturday and doing around 50+ on Sunday. I'm sure that we'll be visiting the ice cream Shop and hopefully get over to the coffee shop before the weekend is over.
So Monmouth isn't really an exotic destination, but hey, we are going to ride, ride ride!
Click HERE for last year's ride report :)
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Labor Day Fun
On Labor Day we arranged to meet interested people at Fruit Valley Elementary School and took off for Frenchman's Bar. There were 14 of us total - which was an awesome turnout! We had a variety of ages, skill levels and types of bicycles...with a couple of people on borrowed bikes! The goal was to ride as a group as much as possible, but we had a couple of speed-demons off the front, but that was okay...the day was about having fun and getting out on our bikes. After leaving Frenchman's Bar a few of us decided to head to Starbucks at Esther Short park. There we had some good conversation and treats to cap off a perfect day! The weather cooperated for the whole time that we were together and even after we went our separate ways at the end. Tom and I had some sprinkles as we were getting close to home, but that was it!
I have been wanting to get a bike club of sorts together and have the blog up and running since the beginning of the year...it has taken this long to get a group of people together for this ride, I'm hoping that it won't be 9 months before we get the next group together!
If you are interested in checking out Felida Cycling go to www.felidacycling.blogspot.com it is a work in progress, so check back often...you never know what you might find!
Friday, August 28, 2009
bike obsession
My “obsession” with bikes and cycling probably started when I was in high school. I had this old clunky 10 speed that my parents gave to me for my 11th birthday. I had that bike for a very long time! Anyway, at that time my obsession did not include general maintenance, just putting air in the tires every now and then and maybe checking to make sure the brakes worked. All I cared about was going for a ride which usually would be after I finished the dinner dishes and if the clean up was quick and easy and it wasn’t too late I would head out on my bike for a big loop. It’s funny to think about it now, but the big loop then was a five to seven mile route that went to Fern Prairie and then back around on Everett Road to Lacamas Lake and back to my house. I guess as a teenager, that IS a big loop.
When I think back, I would have to say that my most favorite memory happened during the summer that I spent with my cousins at their house. Each morning I would be dropped off at their house by a parental unit and then spend all day with them until the other parental unit came to pick me up. I had my bike at their house so we could go for rides on the days that were especially dull.
Our rides back then consisted of riding around Camas, the schools and the neighborhood - nothing terribly adventurous just getting out of the house. This one particular day Francois and I rode to what was formerly JD Zellerbach Middle School and were racing around the buildings (me on my 10 speed, he on one of my parents 3 speed bikes) and we decided to around the 8th grade building, in opposite directions, at a speed that we agreed would be less than race pace…something supposedly leisurely.
Yeah, so neither of us did…I should have known! Who knows how long it took but we rounded the corner at the far side of the building and crashed into each other. I don’t remember if we went down or not, probably so, but I do remember being VERY concerned about my bike. Never mind the fact that we just crashed into each other and one of us may have had some sort of minor injury! Nope, was my bike okay?! I think he ended up with a bent wheel, but he could still ride it. My concern directed toward my bike was particularly disturbing to him I think. It is a rather amusing memory – I have been reminded of that a couple of times since then.
So, Francois, next time I suggest we ride around a building at a leisurely pace, smack me upside the head and say, “Don’t you remember the last time we did that? You might mess up your bike!”
Good times!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Covered Bridge Bicycle Tour
Instead of riding the Bridge Pedal in Portland on Sunday we made our way to Albany for a new ride - the Covered Bridge Bicycle Tour (Mid Valley Bicycle Club). The route was 69 miles. My legs were not cooperating and I was feeling tired from the beginning. After lunch we took the alternate route that was said to be a no more hill route...after a couple of miles there was another hill. It wasn't that steep or long, but it was a hill. I tried to keep it together as best as I could and made it to the end with a final total of 60 miles. Not bad for not feeling all that great.
Overall, it is a great ride and it could be loads of fun, but it wasn't meant to be for me this particular weekend.
Overall, it is a great ride and it could be loads of fun, but it wasn't meant to be for me this particular weekend.
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| Make a Smilebox photobook |
This coming Saturday is the Vine Ride that starts in Newberg. This is one of our faves and I'm really looking forward to it!
Friday, August 07, 2009
Weekend Fun...
This weekend is a cycling week for us - starting with the Portland Twilight Criterium at the North Park Blocks in good ol' downtown PDX. Gonna try to get a good spot to get a lot of cycling action shots and maybe see a crash or two :)Tomorrow we are off for ALBANY! We will probably get a ride in the morning, then we'll be off for the Mid Valley Bicycle Club's Covered Bridge Bicycle Tour.
So, check back later...have a good weekend!
So, check back later...have a good weekend!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Cycle Oregon Week Ride
Here we are at the top of one of the last hills we had to climb on Day 2 of Cycle Oregon Weekend. When I saw the sign for the photographer I just about had a cow...HOW am I supposed to look cheery and smiley after doing a steep, but not so long hill?! I'm hungry, getting a little tired and just want to have lunch - which was literally right around the bend from this shot. Not bad for being cheesy huh...Both Tom and I enjoyed the weekend ride so much that we are seriously considering doing the week ride next year - which would mean a lot of training between now and then in order to be ready for it. We'll have to make sure that we register as soon as possible so that we get in - several Cycle Oregon veterans have mentioned that the week long event fills up in a matter of weeks.
This event will be my big challenge for 2010 - it's all very exciting! Check out the website:
www.cycleoregon.com
Monday, July 20, 2009
Cycle Oregon Weekend
This last weekend (July 17-19) was the Cycle Oregon Weekend event that was headquartered in Monmouth, OR this year. We learned a lot about what Cycle Oregon does and how much they impact the communities that they visit throughout the Cycle Oregon Week tour. The Weekend ride overtook the town of Monmouth and turned Western Oregon University into a bike town of sorts. There was camping in the Stadium area and participants had use of the Dorms too. There was a Cycle Oregon "shop" and along with Bike Gallery who came and did support at the campus and at the rest stops. Everything from meals to medical services were available and other fun stuff in between.
Day 0 - Friday July 17
Tom and I arrive to Cycle Oregon University (COU aka Western Oregon University). We arrived around 3p.m. and had some time to kill before we could settle into our dorm room. So we took a little tour of Monmouth. It really is small! The main street is two or three blocks long, but they have the important stuff right across the street from the park where the entertainment and beer/wine garden were located for COU - that would be the ice cream shop and the coffee shop. Lots of people were hanging out over there. This day consisted of us checking in and settling into the dorms and having dinner before heading to the park for the Cycle Oregon festivities.
It's a pretty cool atmosphere to be a part of - we were 2 out of approximately 2000 cyclists and that was fun! We met quite a few people from the Portland Metro area over the couple of days we were there and met some others that were a little strange, but overall everyone was genuinely nice. They were well staff with experienced volunteers and all that we needed to do went pretty smoothly.
Oh, the other thing about Monmouth was that it was blazing hot! So when one of the organizers made announcements to the group, we were advised to start as early as possible for two reasons - it's going to be hot and the winds will pick up in the afternoon. It really was something, we did what we could to stay cool and hydrated since I was sweating so much just hanging out!
Day 1 - July 18
We are early risers for the most part so it was easy to get to breakfast at 6 a.m. The food that was available was so good! So many choices to help fuel us for the morning, eggs, potatoes, ham, oatmeal...fruit and other standard breakfast fare! Once we had our fill of breakfast we made our way out of the dining hall and out the door to a line-up of people that went down the stairs and around the corner on the walkway....lazy bums! They had to wait a long time! Well, with 2000 people going thru that kitchen it's a good thing that breakfast was being served until 9:00 a.m.
The course opened at 7:00 a.m. and we got going shortly after. We opted to do the middle route since it would be our warm up for the longer route the next day. The route took us north out of Monmouth and on 99W to Amity. That was a pretty good ride to the rest stop long steady climbs to warm us up and some wind too - evidently the wind can start when it wants! After lunch (at 9:30) we started the return to Monmouth. It was all mostly uneventful, but there were 4 small climbs that we had right before and after the rest stop in Dallas, OR. Other than that we made it back to town around lunch time. Total miles for the day - 46.81 miles.
During the ride, there was a Kid's Bike Camp which was put on by the Community Cycling Center located in Portland. There about 50 kids that spent the morning in "class" at the campus and honing there bike handling skills before they went out for a ride themselves. Some of the kids made and appearance during the evening festivities at the Main Stage and got to ride there bikes in front of the crowd that was already gathered there. They were presented by one of the CCC directors and they got to tell the crowd what their favorite part of the day was - this is what one said, "My favorite part of the day was going to a winery" and before she could finish, everyone was laughing because that was her favorite part of the day - it was her favortite because they (Eola Hills) had a pond and they had lunch there. It was pretty funny though. Poor thing...probably wasn't expecting that part.
During the announcements the night before the group was told that there would be tours available for riders starting at 1:30. A couple of the tours were Winery Tours! Now, we thought this would be fun, so Tom got us signed up for the North tours - which included Eola Hills. The City of Monmouth arranged to have these activities for us which was pretty cool, but the transportation and logistics needed some work. They had the right idea, but didn't realize what it would take to get groups out to the wineries and back in a smooth fashion. The transportation that was provided were these buses that are used for retirement homes and one actually said "Monmouth Senior Services!" What a crack up! We got onto our bus and there was no air conditioning - ugh. The open windows were a dead give-away. We only did a tasting at the Eola Hills which was very good! We arrived at Left Coast Cellars and the tasting room was completely packed so we decided to head back with a return group to the campus for the rest of the afternoon.
We hoofed it to town (not more than a 10 minute walk from campus) and got ourselves a treat - ice cream and people watched for a little while and met some other cyclists while hanging out. I don't think that the people that actually live there were out and about - it seemed that everyone I saw had a Cycle Oregon wristband on.
After an hour or so we went back to the dorms to rest a little and then went to dinner (fried chicken!) before heading back to the beer garden for some evening entertainment provided by a band called the Severin Sisters. They were so good - both very talented. One plays Banjo and Guitar and the other the Fiddle and mandolin. Their music is American Roots/Bluegrass (to check out their website click above the highlighted name).
Come 9:30 it was time for LIGHTS OUT!
Day 2 - July 19
Same routine as Day 1 get up and eat, but we had to pack our stuff into the car again before leaving so that added another element to the morning.
After Tom turned in our key we headed out for the long route which was 57.9 miles with 2,561 ft of elevation gain. With that much to gain from a start at 218 ft we had to start climbing hills pretty quick - like at 2 miles at a 6 or 7 percent grade for over two miles! Now, if you don't know me, I have a hard time doing the little hills near our home too early in a ride, my lungs need to get warmed up first. So, that first climb was almost too much. There were a couple of times that I just wanted to stop, but that would be defeat and I didn't want that. Also, since it was so early in the ride, my legs felt really good. So I couldn't stop, my lungs weren't cooperating, but I kept it steady and just when I thought we were at the top, the road made a turn and kept going up! What I really like is a nice long down hill after a big climb - that seems only fair as a reward. Nope that wasn't happening just yet. When it did come up it felt great to just go DOWN just to get ready for the next climb!
There were a few hills in the first part of this route, but I managed them all we stopped at the rest stop and made use of the porta potty and fueled up before heading out again. Now, I didn't mention this earlier, but during the announcement we were told that Polk County has the best roads around...although the shoulder is full of fresh gravel, the roadways are the best. This guy was not lying, they ARE the best around! They are very smooth, not like anything we have ridden on anywhere. After we left the rest stop at Kings Valley the road turn bad, really fast. We must have ridden on old chip sealed roads (really old and really bad) for at least 5 miles. Not only that, but it was a steady uphill grade and it was horrible, but once we got to Polk County, the road turned from really bad to really great in an instant! It was awesome! I could get some speed going again, no longer did I feel like a slug.
Next up, Buena Vista for lunch. This is where we could have taken the ferry across the river and continue on the long route, but with a large group waiting at the dock to get on and another group at the top of the hill that was an option that we did not want to do. So we continued on the remainder of the short loop option which only cut out about 5 miles from what our total mileage would have been. The ride into Independence was windy! At least it wasn't too long and there was another ODS rest stop which seemed really weird because the finish was less than 5 miles away! We pulled off so I could readjust my shoe and stuff and then made our way back to COU. Since we had to vacate the dorm before the ride we did still have access to the showers in the gym before heading out, it would be bad to travel after just riding...blah.
Cycle Oregon Weekend was a really fun experience and with all the talk about the week ride, we hope to do that sometime in the next few years. The major differences between the two - there are no route options and camping is it! The thought of spending a week in a traveling community of cyclists is exciting though, so we might just have to do it soon!
Enjoy the photos - but be forewarned there are 40+ pictures and this smile box moves slow...so click the arrow in the corner to advance to the next pic!
Day 0 - Friday July 17
Tom and I arrive to Cycle Oregon University (COU aka Western Oregon University). We arrived around 3p.m. and had some time to kill before we could settle into our dorm room. So we took a little tour of Monmouth. It really is small! The main street is two or three blocks long, but they have the important stuff right across the street from the park where the entertainment and beer/wine garden were located for COU - that would be the ice cream shop and the coffee shop. Lots of people were hanging out over there. This day consisted of us checking in and settling into the dorms and having dinner before heading to the park for the Cycle Oregon festivities.
It's a pretty cool atmosphere to be a part of - we were 2 out of approximately 2000 cyclists and that was fun! We met quite a few people from the Portland Metro area over the couple of days we were there and met some others that were a little strange, but overall everyone was genuinely nice. They were well staff with experienced volunteers and all that we needed to do went pretty smoothly.
Oh, the other thing about Monmouth was that it was blazing hot! So when one of the organizers made announcements to the group, we were advised to start as early as possible for two reasons - it's going to be hot and the winds will pick up in the afternoon. It really was something, we did what we could to stay cool and hydrated since I was sweating so much just hanging out!
Day 1 - July 18
We are early risers for the most part so it was easy to get to breakfast at 6 a.m. The food that was available was so good! So many choices to help fuel us for the morning, eggs, potatoes, ham, oatmeal...fruit and other standard breakfast fare! Once we had our fill of breakfast we made our way out of the dining hall and out the door to a line-up of people that went down the stairs and around the corner on the walkway....lazy bums! They had to wait a long time! Well, with 2000 people going thru that kitchen it's a good thing that breakfast was being served until 9:00 a.m.
The course opened at 7:00 a.m. and we got going shortly after. We opted to do the middle route since it would be our warm up for the longer route the next day. The route took us north out of Monmouth and on 99W to Amity. That was a pretty good ride to the rest stop long steady climbs to warm us up and some wind too - evidently the wind can start when it wants! After lunch (at 9:30) we started the return to Monmouth. It was all mostly uneventful, but there were 4 small climbs that we had right before and after the rest stop in Dallas, OR. Other than that we made it back to town around lunch time. Total miles for the day - 46.81 miles.
During the ride, there was a Kid's Bike Camp which was put on by the Community Cycling Center located in Portland. There about 50 kids that spent the morning in "class" at the campus and honing there bike handling skills before they went out for a ride themselves. Some of the kids made and appearance during the evening festivities at the Main Stage and got to ride there bikes in front of the crowd that was already gathered there. They were presented by one of the CCC directors and they got to tell the crowd what their favorite part of the day was - this is what one said, "My favorite part of the day was going to a winery" and before she could finish, everyone was laughing because that was her favorite part of the day - it was her favortite because they (Eola Hills) had a pond and they had lunch there. It was pretty funny though. Poor thing...probably wasn't expecting that part.
During the announcements the night before the group was told that there would be tours available for riders starting at 1:30. A couple of the tours were Winery Tours! Now, we thought this would be fun, so Tom got us signed up for the North tours - which included Eola Hills. The City of Monmouth arranged to have these activities for us which was pretty cool, but the transportation and logistics needed some work. They had the right idea, but didn't realize what it would take to get groups out to the wineries and back in a smooth fashion. The transportation that was provided were these buses that are used for retirement homes and one actually said "Monmouth Senior Services!" What a crack up! We got onto our bus and there was no air conditioning - ugh. The open windows were a dead give-away. We only did a tasting at the Eola Hills which was very good! We arrived at Left Coast Cellars and the tasting room was completely packed so we decided to head back with a return group to the campus for the rest of the afternoon.
We hoofed it to town (not more than a 10 minute walk from campus) and got ourselves a treat - ice cream and people watched for a little while and met some other cyclists while hanging out. I don't think that the people that actually live there were out and about - it seemed that everyone I saw had a Cycle Oregon wristband on.
After an hour or so we went back to the dorms to rest a little and then went to dinner (fried chicken!) before heading back to the beer garden for some evening entertainment provided by a band called the Severin Sisters. They were so good - both very talented. One plays Banjo and Guitar and the other the Fiddle and mandolin. Their music is American Roots/Bluegrass (to check out their website click above the highlighted name).
Come 9:30 it was time for LIGHTS OUT!
Day 2 - July 19
Same routine as Day 1 get up and eat, but we had to pack our stuff into the car again before leaving so that added another element to the morning.
After Tom turned in our key we headed out for the long route which was 57.9 miles with 2,561 ft of elevation gain. With that much to gain from a start at 218 ft we had to start climbing hills pretty quick - like at 2 miles at a 6 or 7 percent grade for over two miles! Now, if you don't know me, I have a hard time doing the little hills near our home too early in a ride, my lungs need to get warmed up first. So, that first climb was almost too much. There were a couple of times that I just wanted to stop, but that would be defeat and I didn't want that. Also, since it was so early in the ride, my legs felt really good. So I couldn't stop, my lungs weren't cooperating, but I kept it steady and just when I thought we were at the top, the road made a turn and kept going up! What I really like is a nice long down hill after a big climb - that seems only fair as a reward. Nope that wasn't happening just yet. When it did come up it felt great to just go DOWN just to get ready for the next climb!
There were a few hills in the first part of this route, but I managed them all we stopped at the rest stop and made use of the porta potty and fueled up before heading out again. Now, I didn't mention this earlier, but during the announcement we were told that Polk County has the best roads around...although the shoulder is full of fresh gravel, the roadways are the best. This guy was not lying, they ARE the best around! They are very smooth, not like anything we have ridden on anywhere. After we left the rest stop at Kings Valley the road turn bad, really fast. We must have ridden on old chip sealed roads (really old and really bad) for at least 5 miles. Not only that, but it was a steady uphill grade and it was horrible, but once we got to Polk County, the road turned from really bad to really great in an instant! It was awesome! I could get some speed going again, no longer did I feel like a slug.
Next up, Buena Vista for lunch. This is where we could have taken the ferry across the river and continue on the long route, but with a large group waiting at the dock to get on and another group at the top of the hill that was an option that we did not want to do. So we continued on the remainder of the short loop option which only cut out about 5 miles from what our total mileage would have been. The ride into Independence was windy! At least it wasn't too long and there was another ODS rest stop which seemed really weird because the finish was less than 5 miles away! We pulled off so I could readjust my shoe and stuff and then made our way back to COU. Since we had to vacate the dorm before the ride we did still have access to the showers in the gym before heading out, it would be bad to travel after just riding...blah.
Cycle Oregon Weekend was a really fun experience and with all the talk about the week ride, we hope to do that sometime in the next few years. The major differences between the two - there are no route options and camping is it! The thought of spending a week in a traveling community of cyclists is exciting though, so we might just have to do it soon!
Enjoy the photos - but be forewarned there are 40+ pictures and this smile box moves slow...so click the arrow in the corner to advance to the next pic!
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| Make a Smilebox slideshow |
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Cycle Oregon Weekend
Two and a half more days of work and we are off to Monmouth, OR for CYCLE OREGON WEEKEND!!! Two full days of nothing but cycling!!! Woo Hoooooooo!
Ooh, my July Mileage chart from My Cycling Log - I have ridden more miles this year than in years past...I don't know that I can do more next year...YIKES! August might be a little hard to exceed, but I like a challenge, so we'll see!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Tour de France
Since 2003 we have watched as much of the Tour as possible. This year is different, we had canceled our Directv subscription which meant we were canceling our Tour watching capabilities. Fortunately, we have a friend who has Directv and after reading my initial lament of not being able to watch the Tour said that they would record the Tour for us...SO COOL!That with the daily broadcasts on the internet, we'll still have Phil & Paul blaring throughout the house for the next 3 weeks! Lastnight we received the first 3 stages and man, it's nice to watch the stages (even though they are past now) on the big screen instead of the computer monitor. So, with my daily dose of cycling news, Versus via steephill.tv and the recorded stages, we are set for the rest of the month! We are sad, sad people - every July revolves around the Tour.
I'm thinking of moving to France every July - anyone want to join me?
PS: I always root for the underdog, so I'm hoping that Team Garmin will do well this year, they came in second in today's Team Time Trial!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
TDF 2009
A few months ago we decided to cancel our Directv subscription because we really didn't watch hardly anything on TV and when we did there were usually a few channels that we would flip to and paying $50+ a month for a few channels seemed pretty stupid. Once we did have it cancelled we wondered how the heck we would get to watch any of the Tour de France...here we are a week away from the start of the tour and we still haven't figured that out yet.
However, one of the guys showed me a link for Steephill TV on the internet. This site has all the races that have happened or will be in the near future. I haven't previewed anything yet, but at least with that I'll stay in the loop. I am a little sad though, now that we have the flat screen that Tom has been wanting since forever, we won't be able to watch any racing action on it.
I wonder if we can get Directv for 3 weeks every July...hmmm....
Friday, May 29, 2009
National Bike Month Ends Soon...
Had a really fun month of cycling! We started the month off with the RACC and will hopefully have a nice relaxing ride or two this weekend.
Somehow in the last week or so my average speed bike commuting to and from work (mostly to) has increased - freakishly fast. Not that the average is freakish, just that I have noticed all of a sudden makes it so odd. A couple of weeks ago I was out on my own while Tom was working having just finished cleaning and lubing my chain and doing some general maintenance that a girl would understand I decided it would be wrong to just hang my bike back up on the rack. It was in that ride that I noticed that I was doing better than I thought I might AND it was a warm day. Anyway, this morning while coming to work, it felt almost easy going from Klineline to 99th Street - the dreaded grind - BLAH. It is rally quite weird. Is it possible that I'm getting better?! Looking back I can plainly see that I have logged more miles are up this year compared to this time a year ago, so that has something to do with it. I can just feel that century already...I know it is going to be good.
OH - here is my chart for the end of this week...I didn't bike commute the three days had some eye redness issues something about grass, tree and weed pollen - BOOOO!
PS: Bike Month is every month in my mind!
Somehow in the last week or so my average speed bike commuting to and from work (mostly to) has increased - freakishly fast. Not that the average is freakish, just that I have noticed all of a sudden makes it so odd. A couple of weeks ago I was out on my own while Tom was working having just finished cleaning and lubing my chain and doing some general maintenance that a girl would understand I decided it would be wrong to just hang my bike back up on the rack. It was in that ride that I noticed that I was doing better than I thought I might AND it was a warm day. Anyway, this morning while coming to work, it felt almost easy going from Klineline to 99th Street - the dreaded grind - BLAH. It is rally quite weird. Is it possible that I'm getting better?! Looking back I can plainly see that I have logged more miles are up this year compared to this time a year ago, so that has something to do with it. I can just feel that century already...I know it is going to be good.
OH - here is my chart for the end of this week...I didn't bike commute the three days had some eye redness issues something about grass, tree and weed pollen - BOOOO!
PS: Bike Month is every month in my mind!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Mileage Chart
Me and my obsessive nature...here is my chart for May (so far). Will be bike commuting the rest of the month...YAY! That's only 3 days...but they will be the best days!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Saturday Morning Rides
Life seems to be getting back to "normal" with our going on a ride this morning - I have been missing my weekend rides and am hopeful that the sunshine will stick around for a while.I had suggested to Tom to take his bike to work with him and ride home so we could ride back this morning to get the truck. It was a really nice ride into Portland and I have to say that the route that Tom showed me today was much more pleasant than the route that we took a couple of months ago...it is one I could take by myself if I chose to. It's not likely, but at least I know the route now.
Trust is a huge thing when riding with your spouse, at least when we ride it's a huge thing. Since I am not familiar with some of the intersections going thru Portland Tom will almost always ride in front of me and when we get to an intersection that could potentially be traffic rich, but is not and he says "ALL CLEAR" and with urgency I better be on the ball and go for it! It's all good, I know that Tom wouldn't want me to get smooshed by a car so I put my trust in him and at the same time I am becoming a bolder rider. I might not go rushing up to an intersection, but I know when Tom says go I just need to do it and not dawdle.
This morning there was some organized walking event which took over the East Bank Esplanade and for a while it was just a sea of people ALL OVER THE PLACE. As if they were the only ones out and about. There were several other cyclists that were trying to get thru, and it was slow going - that pretty much killed our average going into PDX. As much as we tried, we attempted to avoid making contact with any of the walkers, but it's hard to miss a kid that is walking without looking where he's going - not my fault that I hit him...looking straight ahead would have had different results. Tom on the other hand ended up colliding with an older woman and as much as her companions tried to keep her from going down, she had too much momentum and as Tom put it "She went down like a rock!" Another one of those moments that could have been avoided if she was paying attention. I almost have it in my mind to figure out who was doing this event and sending them a mini-flaming email, but I don't know if I will.
Once we had passed all the walkers I felt that familiar bumpy feel and stopped to check my rear wheel just to see that it indeed was flat...I picked up some metal thing that was like a very rigid piece of metal thread that just pierced right through my tire and thus the flat. I don't get flats very often, but I can get that tire off the rim lickety-split! I love my Hutchinson tires that I just put on - thems come off very easily! After checking the inside of the tire and finding the metal and cutting my thumb, I installed the new tube, inflated and 10, 15 minutes tops we were outta there!
Fortunately we were fairly close to Tom's office and just needed to get across the Hawthorne Bridge which was also full of silly walkers. It was a challenge just trying to stay on the sidewalk - there was a fall onto the metal grate of the bridge just within the last couple of weeks - very scary! So my goal was to stay upright and not be the next bridge grill victim. All in all we had a great ride this morning and I'm looking forward to more rides as the season goes on. More rides with Tom and with friends...
See ya on the road...
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Friday, May 01, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
I Love Me Some Statistics!
I swear it's an illness...I HAVE to log my mileage and I HAVE to try to ride to or from work faster than the last time and I HAVE to ride more than last year!
So, two out of three isn't too bad. I do log my mileage and have done so since Spring of 2008 on My Cycling Log - this is how bad I am though, I had to transfer all the information that I had from a different log to the web-log to really get an accurate number for 2008. The cool thing is that my mileage is up from last year - YTD is more than double of last year...that's exciting. There have been lots of great days to ride and with having to train for the Duathlon I've been riding just a little more than I normally would. It also helps when a good friend invests in a brand new road bike!
Now if I could only ride FASTER! There is always something! The season is still young and I have lots of time to improve my ride time to and from work....always need a challenge!
Everyone needs a hobby.
PS: if you look closely, I have logged a few more miles since I first posted the monthly mileage log. I'm telling you - it's a sickness!
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