Breakfast on the Bridges

Riding in this morning with Evan I was not real sure about what weather we would have for our afternoon ride. Definitely cloudy and whether it was my anticipation or what, but I thought I felt rain drops a few times.

You know how I have often written about how when I wave or nod there is no response from the other person? Well, I found myself nearly falling guilty to being one of those non-responsives. After parting from Evan, I was on my way to work. I stopped at a red light and was just sitting there. I heard a voice, then again. I awoke from my red light stuper in time to realize there was another cyclist behind and she was saying good morning. I turned and apologized and returned the greeting. Ya know, that really lifted my spirits, especially because I was not even the one that initiated the contact. Nice.

I had heard about the Breakfast on the Bridges, but it had sort of gotten pushed to the way back of my mind. As I neared the down ramps to the Steel Bridge I stopped to take a downtown picture (yep, that is it at the top of this page). From the upper part of the ramps I also noticed a lot of people just before the bridge way. I wonder what is going on? A class? A group of friends? As I rode down and near I saw the sign, oh sweet, Breakfast on the Bridges - free coffee and pastries!

I don't do coffee, but I do do pastries. So, I stopped and greeted my hosts and enjoyed a doughnut while listening to the conversations going on. It was really nice to slow down and to visit with people. I will definitely remember this treat on the last Friday of each month. And the really cool thing is I don't have to alter my commute route at all!

The return trip home was warmer and sunnier than the morning ride. I am so glad I have the bike ride to look forward to. I really needed it this afternoon as I am having some personnel struggles at work with a new team member. I guess it is more like frustrations, so the pleasantness of riding was a therapeutic treat. Joining up with Evan we cruised on our way. We did stop at Bike Gallery to get new brake pads and a new helmet for Evan. The salesperson helping us commented on our bikes - he liked the old steel. I told him mine was a new purchase from Bike Gallery in 1993. He actually remembered when they did carry Bridgestones. I am not so sure that he noticed that the drop bars were not original on a MB-5, but that's okay, he was pretty young.

Okay, something I have not done is to take a picture of how I use to get between home and work and school. Here is I-84 at NE 74th at 3:50pm. I just missed a slow down moment where the cars were not really moving much. Still, I am much happier riding the bike on our commutes.

Well today was the last commute of April and, it turns out, is the highest mileage month with 290 miles.

Sun Greeted Us in the Morning; Mr Rain Kept Us Company in the Afternoon

A nice ride in with Evan this morning. We rode casually and chatted. At one place, there were some wet leaves on the ground and we were coming up to a red light. Evan put the brakes on and his rear locked up. I watched and yelled out, "Nice skid!" He chuckled and asked, "Why does it do that?" He meant why does the rear come around. I said I did not know, it just does. We had a good laugh. I told him he did a great job of controlling the skid. I also told him we use to do that when we were kids. We also got in trouble for wearing out our tires.

I have to say that having a riding companion does make the time and distance go by so much faster. I suppose it is because I'm even less thinking about how much farther to go. Parting ways at school, I continued on my way to work.

Definitely seeing more cyclists out these days. Seems like at least one other cyclist whenever I stop at a red light. I'm getting the hang of the few tricky spots on my different routes, which is nice. I have also found those few alternate routes when my regular route is blocked from things like trains. This is a good thing since there was a train crossing the Steel Bridge when I got there.

Our nice dry ride in the morning was evened out with a rainy ride in the afternoon. I left work and rode to Evan's school, then waited for him to come out. Even in the rain we had a good ride and talked about this and that. May is the local Walk & Bike to School month event. Evan is pretty excited since he is already biking and walking to school every day. We calculated out that he will have 108 miles combined walking and biking for May. He's pretty proud of that.

Returning to Enjoying the Journey of the Commute

Getting fun riding in to work. Different people in different states of starting their days. In the neighborhoods, people out for a morning jog, walking their dog, a few more starting their bike commuting days. On the river, the river patrol is out, fishermen making their way to their, hopefully, lucky fishing holes and the rowers are out to get as much flat water as they can.

Yep, while it sometimes feels more like late Winter, life in the city is sprouting from the warm comfort of inside to join the trees and plants and migratory creatures out in the fresh air. Experiencing the transition of winter to spring by bike has been a cool, fun experience. If I were still driving everyday there would be so much I would not notice, so much would pass me by and I would pass by it. I am sure any newness of the drive to the new office would have long ago melted away to monotony and "am I there, yets?"

Every picture I have taken the light is different, the mood is different, a bit more color one day, or the clouds are so immense or so wispy. Only on the bike, moving at the speed of life, as they say, am I able to be drawn to these subtle changes; and only because I choose to be where I am rather than focusing, as I would be car, on just getting there. Yep, commuting by bike has brought me back to journey.

As I happily began entering today's commute into my commuting log I discovered that I had already reached the 1000 mile mark as I was missing last Thursday's entry. Wah, and oh, well, knowing I was hitting a 1000 miles was still uplifting and feeling mighty cool. Plus, I feel good that I have stuck to my commitment to bike commute. I feel more awake, I have lost some weight and I should be able to keep up with Evan for a while, yet - hehe.

5 More Miles to 1000 - Euphoric Riding Has Returned

Willamette River, Hawthorne Bridge from Eastbank Esplanade

Even though my morning commute was in the rain, I totally loved being on the bike. Over the weekend, I did a couple of tiny fine-tunes and was anxious to give them a test ride. The rain was somewhat light, so it really did not bother me. I am so thrilled riding the SUB these days. With the recent changes of tires, brake adjustment and all of that, the bike rides so much faster than back when I started my daily commute. I am really amazed and love riding the SUB even more.

I saw one other cyclist out this morning and I rolled up to him at the 50th and Lincoln signal light. He glanced both ways and heading on through the red. In contrast, I sat and waited. I thought about the reasons, I thought about the justifications I have seen from others. I felt perturbed because they do make justifications and have created their "logical" rationales. My perturbedness comes because why don't they just say, "Because I felt like it." I mean, just be honest really, because that is all running a red is, a personal choice.

Oh, and I got the green when the guy was about 3-1/2 blocks up and by the light at 39th I actually caught him and rolled past. I suppose that means he saved 4 blocks worth of time? Not sure. Anyway, like I said, why don't they just say, "because"?


Downtown from the Eastbank Esplanade

The sun came out this afternoon, though the wind was blowing a bit and temps were not super warm. After my picture-taking pace of warming up along the esplanade I picked up the pace up my Clay-Harrsion-Lincoln route. I am starting to feel close to what my old riding memory is - if that even makes any sense. My riding has brought back memories of my long ago riding, the happy comfort, the euphoria of constantly improving my riding skills, the pride of accomplishing a particular riding goal/riding event goal, the happy place of being in control of my riding. I am feeling those feelings again, that's pretty cool.

Still amazed at how many miles we consume just going back and forth to work. Tomorrow, I'll top 1000 miles across 73 commutes and I live only 6 miles from work. If I had not been tracking I would have guessed a lot lower number.

There Will Be Bike/Car Equity When ...

Having daily bike commuted now for almost 4 full months, and having tested a few different routes, I have decided that even with all the bike infrastructure we have a ways to go. The City of Portland would like more people to use a bike for commuting, for errands, for, well, lot's of things that they now use their car for. I wonder, though, if the planners might be missing something in all the projects.

We have our BTA and other cycling based groups being wonderfully involved. But, maybe, that is part of the problem. Maybe we  have an over abundance of die-hard, serious bicyclists.

Maybe we need more "yes I am interested, but ..." bicyclists. Between my home and work stands Mt. Tabor, a beautiful park, but it is higher than either end-point. I am now more fit and, at least in the homeward direction, I enjoy the little bit extra workout. However, as I ride I wonder why cars aren't the ones to be inconvenienced? Why doesn't the bike route favor the cyclist so that they do not have to needlessly ride harder than they have, without going significantly out of their way?

Note that the bump through Mt. Tabor forces me to climb an extra 100 some feet. I've also ridden on SE Division to then make my connection to Lincoln at 52nd Ave. Division can be quite harrowing and the cars are often going even faster than the posted limit of 35mph. I doubt interested cyclists would even think of using Division St.

I have imagined what would happen if Division was only single lane each way for cars, then that extra lane would be a wide, safe bike route. Or they could shift so that between 82nd and 60th, they could put in a barricaded, two-way cycle track. Now people could get easily around Mt. Tabor in a safe manner without going way out of the way. That would be equity.

Making biking safer and easier is about more than identifying streets, identifying ease of route should also be considered.

Super Spring Bike Commute Day!

Nothing like a sunny morning to really start the day off on a super happy note! My last commute was actually Wednesday of this week and while mostly dry, Wed was a cloudy ride day. The temperature in the morning was a bit on the colder side, so lightweight gear was called for.

After pedalling easy for several blocks to warm up a bit, Evan and I were on our way toward his school. Since he has been leading, I could only get a back shot as we rode along.

I am so impressed with his riding, and his commitment to commuting by bike. Thursday, I worked from home and offered to either ride with him or drive him. His choice? He rode solo to and from school! Fortunately, his ride home was timed perfectly between the near showery rain.

To get the most out of the morning, I stopped several times to enjoy the river views, and take some pictures. As I rode the last few blocks in, I wondered if I would be aced out of any bike parking spots, thinking a bunch of people would have rode in today because of the near 100% guarantee of dry. To my surprise, there were plenty of spots available. Wow, shocked.

Ready for the weekend with at least Saturday being warm - our first day to likely hit 70 degrees.

Gotta Love This Sunny Riding - Project SUB Impressions

What a gorgeous day for being on the bike! So much so, I added about 11 miles to my going to work commute by biking to my optometrist's to pick up my new glasses. I believe I am part solar powered as I felt like I was re-energized, like I had a bit more energy. My climb from downtown Portland up Barbur Blvd was so much easier today than it was back in the fall of 2010. Not saying putting nearly 1000 miles in since then did not have an effect, just saying the sun energy absorbed made it even easier.

Riding back down to Portland was icing on the cake. The miles flew by, time melted away, I felt comfortable on the bike. Memories came back of my past live to ride days. Every aspect seemed perfectly in tune, perfectly matched and I just cruised at speed without feeling like I was at my limit.

Apparently many other co-workers felt it was time to get on the bike today. For the first time since we moved in back in December the bike room was overflowed. Rack space holds up to 15 bikes and we had a record 17. Since I was last in, you can see my blue handlebarred bike back against the lockers. We should have an overflow space ready to go by the end of this week.

Project SUB Impressions

Yep, I have decided to call my on-going pursuit of perfection, Project SUB*. I am very pleased with the shift lever location, they are within easy reach and, yet, out of the way of hand positions on my bars. Shifting is smooth and the up and down shifting are nearly intuitive. A few more rides and I should have the shift direction firmly recorded into muscle memory.

The bike feels fast with the new tires (Continental Sport Contact, 26 x 1.6). They are just a little wider than I would like, but their low rolling resistance is making up for that. I seem to notice a bit more road noise from them, but again, a small trade off for the speed.

I am enjoying having this project bike, gives me something to tinker with, to fine-tune that is absent of review panels, proposal reviews and personal judgments like I experience with work and trying to improve things there. Each change has added to my bag of tricks, to my library of information on how to accomplish a challenging fitment issue. Absolute control over design, approach and method.

This project is as much art as it is science and creative engineering. The engineering makes it effective and useful, the art makes it not only aesthetically pleasing, but creatively innovative in some instances. Not to mention I also throw in some environmentally friendly re-use actions.

The project is one of my meditation methods, I think. See, not only physical exercise, but exercise for my mind. Can't go wrong with that, can you? We will see how long I go before making some other change or fine-tune.

(*SUB = Sport Utility Bike)

More Happy People - More Perfecting

Going into the weekend, Friday, the commute was wet and grey. With Evan, our commute is another extension and mode of our time, our connection. We chat. We also whine sometimes. The way I see it,  since we have made a commitment to bike commuting and we have been riding since January, we have the right to whine some.

So, the whine is, "I am so tired of riding in the rain!" Evan agreed. I mean, really, would some dry really hurt?

Of course, then come Monday, we get our sunny day ride! While at a stop I asked Evan, "Do you feel faster when it is nice out?" He just smiled.

I think I noticed more people smiling today. Certainly more people out, cannot really blame them either. This grey, wet stuff has kept people hibernating a bit longer this year.

This was a morning I definitely could have just kept riding, taking in just how wonderful this sunny weather is. Must be the Leo in me.

Today, I had to make a slight detour from my Harrison/Lincoln hill climb to stop at a couple of stores on Division St. Through Ladd's Addition I rode over to SE Clinton. Now, I have not ridden on Clinton for a long time, definitely way before I started riding daily for commuting. My memory was even Clinton had its climbs. Was I ever surprised at how much less climbing there was compared to Harrison/Lincoln, especially now that I have more miles on my legs and lungs. Nice, I now know if I am feeling overly tired I can take Clinton for relief. I still like my Harrison/Lincoln route, it is more direct and I just like that neighborhood riding better.

Over the weekend while doing some bike maintenance, both Evan's and mine, I made some aesthetic and performance improvements on the SUB. Since moving my shift levers, the cable routing has annoyed me a bit. The cables just looked dorky, to me. I am all about aesthetics as long as safety and function are not compromised.

First, I fixed the adjuster rings that had formed notches which prevented some adjustment. A bit of filing and then smoothing on a sharpening stone fixed that up. Now I could actually adjust the brake pad alignment - more happy, happy.

I also learned more about getting the most out of my center-pull brakes - thanks Sheldon Brown! So far they feel much better stopping wise in relation to how hard I pull on the levers.

Since I am happy, happy about the new shift lever position, I decided it was time to clean up the too long cable housings. So I shortened them up and I think it is a much cleaner look.

Now the cables do not run way out past the light. The other change, you will notice, is I have updated how I mount the headlight. The Ram mount I was using just always seemed bulky looking. Since the stem is pretty crowded with the shifters, I did a little redesign to help clean up the look a bit. I was looking for a solution that was clean, simple and sturdy. I also wanted to be able to use the factory handlebar mount for the light, in case I would like to put it on the road bike occassionally. To do this new mounting was why I made my detour stops this afternoon.

The mount is made up of my original clamp on the stem, 2 pieces of flat aluminum, a short piece of 3/4" aluminum tubing and two rubber bar end plugs. This has less vibration than the Ram mount, is more easily adjusted and also looks good aesthetically.

The SUB has given me a wonderful project to design, create, be innovative and make a fun riding, nice looking everyday commuter bike. Art in the everyday.

More Wet Riding - Gear in Review - Closing in on 1000 Miles

Wednesday's ride, rain and a few breaks, but mostly wet, definitely grey. Good thing I love biking, otherwise I probably would have joined the majority and found an alternative mode of commuting - lol.

Short Gear in Review - Continental Sport Contact Tires
I am convinced the Continental Sport Contact tires (26 x 1.6) have the lowest rolling resistence of the tires I have run on the SUB. These are like the 4th set since last fall that have been on the bike. My quest was to find something durable (aka flat resistent) and have a low rolling resistence.

The first set, way back when, was a pair of Forte' Gotham MTB tires, 26 x 1.75. While definitely better the original 2" knobby tires, they are still on the heavy side, which makes pedalling feel heavy. Now, I rode these when I still had the original 175mm crank arms, so some of my comparisons may be off.

The next set of tires I tried was a set of Kenda Kwest (26 x 1.50"). Overall, I liked these tires, fairly easy pedalling and they were holding up pretty well. Pretty well until the rear decided to become flat prone, even when the bike was just sitting in the garage or bike room at work. Maybe they do not do well when loaded with rear panniers? Anyway, these were only on a couple months or probably somewhere around 300 miles.

Being tired of flat fixing and not really finding any punctures, I decided to try another tire brand. At my local REI I wanted to purchase a set of Continental tires, but they were out of stock on the model I wanted and decided to try a pair of Serfas Drifters (26 x 1.50").

I thought these were doing pretty well, until I had put a lot of miles on the road bike and gotten much more fit. Returning to the SUB the bike just seemed to be slow and actually a bit harder to pedal no matter what gear I was in. For a few commutes I shrugged it off as psychological because I really would rather ride the road bike (gotta love denial).

Well, after doing some freewheel coasting behind Evan, I thought the bike could do better. I did a bit of research on Continentals including available sizes and reviews. Checking inventory with REI, I headed down and picked up a pair of Sport Contacts. Well, I would not have believed a tire could be significantly slower than another, but I am now convinced and reaffirmed why I love Continental bike tires.

Freewheeling wise (coasting) it has sold me. The SUB is easier, smoother pedaling and it can maintain speed while coasting. The Sport Contacts are about $10.00 more per tire than the Serfas and $15.00-$20.00 more than the Kendas, which means in this case you do get what you pay for. For daily commuting, the Continentals are the way to go. If I wasn't daily commuting the tires would likely be a much less issue for me.

I will note that all of the tires advertise some level of puncture resistence as a commuter tire group. So far, only the Kendas have not lived up to my expected level of puncture resistence. However, that may be due to low life duration and that may be due to being overly loaded when running with my panniers.

Today, Thursday, was basically rain; grey, wet rain with some wind thrown in for the afternoon ride home. While not horrible, I am certainly tired of so much rain. Evan agreed as we rode in the morning. I must say that having a riding companion is nice, having a conversation makes the distance go by even faster.

The worse part of all of this rain commuting is the amount of work to keep up maintenance on the bikes. Chains and brakes get so grungy so fast. Plus the grit and dirt seems to cake up on the drivetrain, the lube acting more like a magnet than a repellant.

To lighten our spirits we had a mini rain water fight at a stop light. This is basically shaking our arms so the rain flies off the rain jacket sleeves toward the other. Hey, might as well make the most of it, you know. The bike riding is the part of day I most look forward to. Riding as commuting is just a great part of my day.

I have been logging my riding in a little list where I record some notes, weather and distance. To date, I have logged 905 miles just commuting. Looks like I should hit 1000 by the end of April. Funny, as a vehicle commuter I paid absolutely no attention to how many miles I accumulated. What a nice feeling, because it even sounds like a lot for riding just 4 months. Evan and I were talking, because he probably has more miles than anyone else at this school as far as bike commuting. I have only driven him one day because he was ill, he is pretty pleased with that accomplishment. I'm pretty proud, too, for his commitment and that he enjoys biking.

A cool, foggy morning greeted me on my ride in. What I love about a morning like this is the quiet, the calmness. You cannot help but slow down, look around, take in the moments along the way.

Yesterday's SUB ride showed I needed a few adjustments. Cleat alignment tweaks for my shoes and, since my strength is up, a modification to my rear cogs to fit my current level. Today another test of the adjustments.

Foot position and pedal motion much, much better. I did not have any knee issues at all, whether seated or doing some standing pedalling. The utilitarian SUB sure seemed to roll slow, though, compared to the road bike. Are these tires rolling with that much resistance? Is the SUB really that much harder to roll along? Have to think about it.

Seems so light out these days, having been trained to commuting through the darker winter days. I stopped a few times to take some pictures and to just look. There were two close calls today. The first, along SE Lincoln, a bus turned from 52nd onto Lincoln cutting off a cyclist riding in the opposite direction of me. He yelled, but that's about all he could do, the even already happened. Then not two blocks later, a car cut across Lincoln cutting me off. All I could do was yell, "Hey!" and I moved left to pass behind the car. Is it the fog?

The SUB did great, again, today and the new shifter location is working out great. The one bad thing about bike commuting is it ends - lol.

Well, decided to go ahead and test a different set of tires. So, I replaced my Serfas Drifters with a pair of Continental Sport Contacts. I've always had great experiences with Continentals on my road bike so let's see how they do in SUB mode and size. That's the other great thing about bike commuting is that changes can be more easily evaluated because I'm riding the same route and have experienced many different weather conditions. So it seems easier to determine if an issue is me, the bike, the weather; or if something I changed is an improvement or just a change.

Over the almost 900 miles that I have ridden now, I have been doing my own human behavior test. I either wave or if they are close I say, "hi." I am finding that the cyclist today seems to have not learned how to respond as most do no absolutely nothing. I probably still have fingers I can use to count the number of people who have reciprocated. Sad, really, just sad.

The other phenomenom I have noticed is that there are cyclists who have adopted an almost driver like approach to their commute. They are head-down, hammering along, zipping around everyone else, not slowing down much around pedestrians, short-cutting, red light running. Maybe they have commuted so long that they figure they have seen it all, maybe they are late, would be an interesting study. I know some use the commute as a heavy work out. I work harder going home, because it is uphill. I don't like being overly sweating going, so I am glad I have a mostly downhill ride to work.

Anyway, I am enjoying the journey of each day, seeing the changes across winter to spring - from nature to people, there are definite seasonal changes going on.

Brrrr - What Happened to Spring?

Lately, the temps, once again, feel on the cold side, more winter like than spring. We are suppose to be getting more rain, and Sunday overnight we did get some. Fortunately for my commute in bound was dry, though to be sure I rain weared up. (The picture here was taken on my way home and the clouds really caught my attention. Downtown seemed really small against the clouds.)

The SUB did great! The new position of the shifters was very successful and has been the best of all my experimentations. Since riding the SUB over a month ago, I did need some adjustment - my two bikes ride so differently. I felt a little slow, but I suppose that is to be expected given the SUB weighs over 5 pounds more and the tires have significantly more rolling resistance than my teeny skinny road bike. The cool thing was I found I was using the higher gears - that certainly boosted the confidence that all this riding has been paying off.

After making some mental notes of needed minor adjustments to my fit on the SUB, I settled in to "on on the bike" mode. The morning air while cool, felt good, and worked into my pedal rhythm, almost like cruise control. Speaking of rhythm, not only is the muscle memory coming back, I find the connection with the bike quite euphoric. The feeling I have as I shift oh so much here, a itty bit there as I "float" around the obstacles, road islands and turn left or right. In those moments, the bike is truly an extension and less a vehicle of transportation. I practice the lessons of nature as I have watched streams and rivers flow naturally, adapting, shifting to the landscape, weaving here and there effortlessly, endlessly.

All too soon, I arrive at my destination as time is the one thing not on my mind when on the bike. Maybe that is one of joys for me. At work, driving, at home trying to get so much done time is always on my mind, time is in control. On the bike, time disappears, even when I need to be somewhere at a given time, once I am rolling time is gone. For the first time, my travel times are amazingly consistent, quite unlike when I am trying to get somewhere by car. Car travel is also under the control of time - is it rush hour, how many red lights before I get through the intersection, did I pick an uncrowded route? Maybe bike travel transform one to be in each pedal moment, in each location you are currently at. In contrast, in the car we have been trained to focus on getting there - the sooner, the better.

Pursuit of Perfection : New Life for Old Parts

Perfectionism, I believe, is not as bad as some would make it out to be. For me, perfectionism is the art, and sometimes science, of improvement. The last time I rode the SUB was over a month ago and needed some cleaning from all of its rain riding. Something that has been on my mind is to ever improve the location of the shifters. Ultimately, and if I had money to burn, I would have down tube shifter bosses brazed on. However, money to burn is not one of my luxuries at the moment. So, after re-browsing around on the web looking for ideas and/or ready made parts and even more time introverting some ideas I came up with a solution that, well, has me pretty pleased.

In the previously most current version  you can see the shifters are mounted on the handlebars and rotated to the front. For the most part, this worked out, though a few gears were a bit awkward to work. Also, aesthetically, it was not as clean as I would have liked.

The new version, I think, is much, much cleaner looking. In addition, the shifting works very similar to the old stem-mounted shifters. I can use just my thumb or thumb and forefinger to shift. Riding on the tops is now unobstructed. Total new expense as $18.00 for new bar wrap.

My "perfect" solution consisted of recycling a set of aero bars that I had way back in my early to mid-90's cycling days, that clamp to the handlebars. I removed the armrest pads and arms, then tested to see which position and location would work best.

Here you can see where I cut most of the aero bar tubes. After short road-testing the different position options, the one that felt best was mounting the aero bar tubes below and facing rearward. This position has the shifters out of the way, but very easy to reach. It is hard to see in the image, but the shifters are also on the rearward side of the bars versus before they were located to the front.

{edit note: ARGH!! Some things about blogger frustrate the bejeezers outta me. It won't upload an in progress image I have without auto-rotating which the image does not need! Sorry I can't share it with you.}

I'll give the update a full road test starting tomorrow on my commute to work, so that should give me a very good idea on how the new design functions.

Bars wrapped and extra end-plugs in the cut down aero bar tubes - ready to roll. I really like that I really do  have the full bar tops available for hand positions.

I might packrat things, but every now and then it has its rewards. From go-faster aerobars, sitting off in a corner in storage, to new life as shifter mounts.

Wow! Finally a Real Spring Day!

Little did I know that the dry, though foggy morning was a transition to ending the week with an amazingly nice spring weather day. Evan and my ride, on Thursday, started out cold - mid 30's - and foggy. Near work, the temp was still cold, but light was trying to break through. After parting ways at his school, I settled into my easy pace and cruised on in to work.

In some ways, I often feel disappointed that I have arrived at work, I just enjoy riding in the morning, the reason I would discover the next ride home from work (Friday).

By the afternoon when I left to meet up with Evan the weather was pretty darn nice. Certainly more people were out, quite a few had cameras and cameras and tripods.

I decided to stop before crossing the Steel Bridge and take a picture of the cherry blossoms along Waterfront Park, that lead to the Japanese Memorial. I probably could have stayed and just enjoyed the scene, but I did have someone expecting me.

Friday

Wow, what a beautiful morning to ride! Even being cold, again, in the mid-30's Evan and I savored the ride. Just standing in the driveway enjoying the clear, sunny air was such a peaceful treat.

Wah, do I really have to go into work? Evan led us on to school, though we did chat along one of the neighborhood sections, side-by-side. Definitely one of those days where I could have just ridden around and explored. Once we parted and I headed the rest of the way into downtown, I did see more cyclists, yep, people are definitely waking from the winter hibernation. The frustrating part is that many seem to bring their "in their own world, oblivious to anyone else around them" idea and did not seem to get that they are not the only ones out and about on the multi-use paths (MUPs). Braking, slowing, weaving, near-crawling so as not to startle, or worse, crash - okay, so I found something not so enjoyable about this awesome weather.

The commute home started with me stopping along the floating section of the Eastbank Esplanade to take a few pictures and enjoy this seemingly real first day of Spring. The clouds were cool. Did I mention it was warm?

OMG! The further along I rode the more "argh!" moments I had. So many people, walking,jogging, biking, spreading out across the full width of the paths - "really? Can you not be even a little aware there are other people out using the paths?"

I obviously am way spoiled at usually not seeing hardly anyone out using "my" paths, I guess I need to learn to share - lol. Fortunately, the challenge is primarily contained to the esplanade, so for that distance I can deal with the frustrations and share the space - haha. My sweet revenge, or satisfaction came shortly as I left the esplanade MUP.

I've written about this section along SE Clay St. so I finally decided to take a picture. Way up there at the far signal light is MLK, Jr. Blvd. Shortly after I took this picture this intersection's light turned green. I enjoyed the ride, up past all the traffic, proceeding directly to MLK. The really fun thing is that the light stayed red until I just got up there and then it was green and off I went.

So far, my Harrison/Lincoln route isn't too crowded, yet, so I only see a few cyclists, still. The solo riding along this much more peaceful route allows me to flush the traffic thoughts and I then focused on the sunny day, spring blossoms, watching people became a fun thing rather than an evasive, defensive riding thing. My legs found their rhythm, my feet spun in their 170mm circles and my mind set the beat for my pace and I rolled along. Yep, that's what it is all about - just enough effort to keep building up strength, just enough easing off to stay in that "oh, yeah" just right zone.

How long did it take to get to work? To Home? eh, who cares.

Spring? More Like Sprinter -- Pausing to Be Where I Am

I guess the commuting was mostly pleasant, at least I stayed dry and the heavier rain fell in between me being on the bike. The weather is certainly having its own with everyone - snow in the mid-west and east, warm temps south. Here it is really more like Sprinter - wanna be Spring with some bits of lingering Winter. The morning was cooler, but at least it was dry. The scullers are now out in the early mornings getting their training in. These folks were just getting off the water as I was riding past along the esplanade. Just like the waking grasses and the trees trying to re-awake after a long winter, even the people life is blooming, venturing out after a long winter of more hibernatory existence.

Through all the grey concrete, the grey clouds, the cold, dark of the Willamettte, in contrast to the mostly black lycra runners, the cherry blossoms pop out across the way along the Waterfront Park adding life to the otherwise monochromatic scene. Lately, I think on wishing the commute was just a little bit longer, to have more riding time to endlessly wander and enjoy.

This afternoon I could not really figure out what the weather was going to do, bright and dry, dark and rainy. I decided on taking a half chance and wore just the rain pants and my fleece jacket. Of course as I left I heard the alarm of the Steel Bridge and rode up in time to wait as the center section was being raised. I looked around but did not immediately see what was coming, in either direction. The light was a bit interesting, especially as it varied the reflectiveness of downtown buildings.

Shortly, I saw what was moving along the river, a classic looking fire boat. That was pretty cool and, again, really stood out against the otherwise grey landscape. While not a super tall boat, it gives you the idea of how much water there is on the Willamette. Only by moving more slowly than a car, by being a part of the scene have I noticed the "little" details happening, the details that have probably been happening all along. Gosh, how much have I missed all these years?

I guess it is much like when Evan was born. I made a conscious decision to make our time the priority, to put the adult world second when it was our time. He taught me well to see what we as adults see as ho hum as special, as worth pausing just to watch, to really watch and be amazed. I wonder if the cyclists riding past, as they appear to be mono-focused on getting to their destination are in their own way like the drivers who become blindered to the little things going on around them. I wonder if they think I am some kind of tourist or strange newbie, stopping to take all these pictures. Will I become one of the members of the zombie commuting world, regardless of transportation mode, shutting out or becoming apathetic to whatever is around and near to me?

Since I cannot see the future, I might as well embrace the moments, the pauses that always show me something new, something unique to that moment and time.

Bits of Rain, but Mostly Dry and the Sun Came Back

Definitely must be living in the Pacific NW. After yesterday's rain, today's morning ride was dry, peaceful, pretty and bright. I left home just as the need for seeing lights was fading. I have come to look forward to my morning ride, it gives me that solitude with fresh air to gather my thoughts, to slow the mind from thinking about all the things that need to get done. Instead of work, work, work, home projects and obligations, the thoughts slow to focusing on the light, shadows, reflections, clouds.

The Eastbank Esplanade is such a great place to ride, there are views in all directions that, depending on the time of day, can present some wonderful light. Of course, a little photo manipulation does not hurt, but it is only to present the emotion of what I felt and experienced.

The lighter mornings certainly have more people out earlier - walking their dogs, getting their morning jogs in, and, yes, a few more bike commuters. Even for this introvert, it is nice to see people out during my ride, helps that feeling of the world around me being alive, not just filled to structures, metal and pavement.

Apparently, someone thought I was too enthused about the idea of riding home in partly sunny skies. Just as I was about to head out the door the rain came. Argh! I swap out my fleece jacket for my rain jacket and put on the rain pants. The afternoon image above is a bit different than this morning's, heh? Fortunately, the rain was light and did not last very long, maybe 5 or so minutes. Then the clouds started clearing a bit.

I  had only a slight encounter with some early rush hour traffic as I turned off the esplanade toward Water Ave. at Clay St. Waiting to cross Water Ave. the traffic was backed up from MLK Jr. Blvd to Water Ave. Cars were overflowing in to the intersection. When my light turned green, a car that had been waiting to turn left lunged in to the intersection to join the long line of waiting cars. Fortunately, I saw them and just nodded. The cool thing is I then proceeded up Clay St. past the car that kind of cut me off and all the way up to the MLK Jr. Blvd intersection, where the light was red.

At the green, I crossed and was on my way. Given the line, that car would be about 3 more lights before making it through the intersection. Who has the last laugh now?

The further along, the clearer the skies got, to where it was a very nice ride home, even warm, the rain jacket a bit much. This is shot along SE Harrison St. as I rode along. These nice days are such a treat, especially as I remember all the less than nice days since the first of the year that I have ridden. It is a nice change from  rather monochromatic scenery to one of color, greenery.

Surprise, Surprise It's Raining Again

Well, the title says it all, it was raining both to school and work and returning home in the evening. Even so, I stopped inbound on the Steel Bridge and took this shot - grey, very wet. At least it was not cold, except my hands, gloveless, got a bit chilled. A few hand and finger stretches and movement worked the chill out while I waited at red lights (yep, I do stop at red lights, I'm one of those people).

The daily riding is making a difference in my riding strength. I decided to ride in single gear mode, my 38 x 17 combination, in both directions today. Since going inbound is mostly flat and downhill, the morning commute was very comfortable and was basically a nice cruise.

I have to say Evan's riding style is looking great. He has a pretty good cadence and is pretty smooth. Plus, he is getting some traffic experience and I've got him not riding too much to the right so he is more visible to moving vehicles and gives him an escape path, plus he has more reaction time for parked cars - door openings, pulling out, that sort of thing. I have to keep giving him credit for his commitment to biking the 4.5 miles between home and school. Since January, I've driven him just once due to still recovering from being sick, so kudo's for sure.

My single gearing ride home went amazingly well. I felt good and had enough energy and lungs to manage the standing climb up the steeper sections, which were not as hard as I thought they might be. Cool. Nope, no thoughts of converting to an actual single speed, I like my gears and there are much steeper challenges yet to come, I am sure of that.

I sure hope there a more dry days in the coming months, I am getting a bit tired of just rain riding.

2 Great Spring Days to Finish the Week

Thursday's ride in was so different, the temperature was pleasant and the clouds weren't too bad. The morning ride would be much longer as I was heading to my eye doctor down near the Burlingame Fred Meyer. After leaving Evan at school, I headed on my normal route to work. Instead of crossing the Steel Bridge, I headed south down the Eastbank Esplanade. Along the way, I stopped to take some pictures. I loved watching the birds sitting on the log in the river.

After a bit of that, I continued on my way. I rode down to the Hawthorne Bridge and crossed the Willamette River there. From there, I rode down to Waterfront Park and headed up to 1st Ave. I took 1st. Ave to catch Barbur Blvd. Climbing Barbur was so different this time compared to back in November 2010 when I rode there to get to work in Lake Oswego. Much, much easier going even for the road bike. Loved the downhill coming back from the eye doctor's, I was down to work in no time it seemed.

Evan and my ride in the afternoon was nice as it was warm, though the southerly wind was blowing pretty good. Riding in this weather is such a treat given all the wet and cooler rides we have done this year, I thoroughly enjoyed my 25 mile day.

Friday, 01 Apr 2011

Today's ride in was so, so nice. Comfortably warm, no wind to speak of, and bits of sun! Check out how much blue sky there was this morning in the picture above! What more could one ask for? There were whole loads of people out this morning, way, way tons of bicyclists. I could have just rode around, but there is that work thing I am obligated to. My base miles now have me riding very comfortably on my routes. Today after work I actually did my old practice of picking a gear combination and doing all the riding in it. With my current set up, my mid-gear of 38 x 17 seems to be a great all purpose, around town combination, so that is what I used. That was fun and brought back some great memories of riding past.

The nice weather brought many more commuters at work, too. Today was the most bikes I have seen so far, 12. Three more and we would have had some storage issues, in terms of no more rack space. Will see how things go when we get some even nicer weather on a more regular basis.