Mild Winter Means Great Riding

Portland has been having an extremely mild winter - no extreme cold and, even, not a lot of rain! We have had some moody foggy mornings which is kind of cool, I like the imagery of fog - is that weird? The morning commutes are, like last year, providing more solitude which is nice for mellowing the mind before thrusting myself into the hecticness of the workday.

Each day is a different day including the scenery that surrounds me. Even during my second year of bike commuting, there are times I just have to stop to take a picture and enjoy the light, shadows, calmness. Occassionally I will wonder if those passing think I am a rookie commuter, snapping pictures of, to them, just another day. See, that's why I need this, to distract my constantly fleeting thoughts.

One would think project SUB (MB-5) is no longer a project ... well, not quite. I decided to use it for test lab as I plan out another MB-1 project (Project MB-1.2). Here I am testing a variation on the drop bar, On One Midge bar and playing with a set of balloon tires, Schwalbe Big Apples (26" x 2.15" = 55-559).

Riding around on this set up is actually enjoyable and fun. The Midge bars are much better than the Moustache bars, since they have actual straight tops and the brake levers are not completely horizontal, and there is some drop to them. The balloon tires are quite different and not as slow as one might think. The last time I rode around on tires that took such low pressure (currently running 30psi) was way back in my childhood days on the Schwinn single speed!

Okay, so when I build up MB-1.2, I'll use the Midge bars and Schwalbe Big Apples. Having two MB-1s will be fun and they will be fairly different for different riding purposes, but both will be fun riding bikes. SUB will be re-converted to the errand bike, the one I can use panniers on.

There seems to have been quite a few Bridgestones for sale in and around the Portland area recently. Given that, you would think I would see more Bridgestones on the road, but that does not seem to be the case. So, the other day, I stopped at City Bikes on my way home to check their used parts bins for some brake parts. While paying, someone came in and asked, "Who owns the MB-1?" I said, "It's mine." He said, "Nice bike."

When I left and as I unlocked my bike, I realized why he asked. There locked to the next over rack was a Bridgestone MB-0.

The MB-0 is on the right. Cool, a first for me!

Project MB-1 Progressing; SUB Back to Drop Bars

I will start in reverse order of this blog's title. After a couple of days I had to swap out the moustache bars and put drop bars back on the SUB. My wrists were not happy with the limited positions and I really missed the tops for cruisin' and climbin'. I guess I am just a drop bar girl.

Next week our Team NWEA tshirts should be ready for pick up so I can finish up my team captain duties. In some ways, I feel a void as far as bike commuting support, since we are basically back to "normal" bike commuting. As the weather has changed I have noticed fewer bikes at work, but that's cool.

I continue to be loving the fall colors and the cooler temps, I guess I was ready to  have a change in the color of the scenery, and riding without totally sweating out on the ride in. With fewer folks out in the mornings I can relax and sort of meditate on the way in to work.

Project MB-1 (uber SUB)

I am looking forward to starting the assembly part of my project. The frame is off at Rad Finishes (Portland, OR) and work will be starting on Monday with stripping. I am having a brand new wheelset built, also in Portland, by Sugar Wheel Works. So, I have unbusy hands right now, well only if you exclude all the internet researching, so I am mentally picturing different ideas, products, and such. Also, building up the list of odds and ends to not lose track of. Some of my new parts will come from swapping with the SUB, which will save some dollars and, yet, not totally make the SUB unrideable.

See, this is what it looks like inside my imagination ... "I could do this, and if I do this, then I could do that ..."

Key highlights will be:

• Drop bars - the good ones from the SUB (which I have already taken off and put the other Cinelli ones on the SUB).
• New Tektro brake levers in silver (SUB still has her black ones).
• Down tube shifter bosses w/friction only shift levers.
• This allows me to see if I can get 8 or 9 cogs on the back with the original derailleur.
• Oh, paint wise, I am going with a reproduction of the original pearl tusk (slightly off white base with a red pearl overcoat).
• The new wheelset will consist of Velo Orange hubs, Velocity Synergy rims and wearing Continental SportContact 32-559 (26x1.3") tires - yep, it will have locking skewers, too.

This is will be a fun project, really looking forward to that first ride. A bonus has been to get to know the local folks, who know other local folks in terms of bike builders, painters, wheelbuilders. I am glad I made the choice to buy local for the service work.

Human Behavior from the Bike Seat

Image: Sailboat passing through the lift of the Burnside Bridge, Steel Bridge in the background.

I have to say, I am getting spoiled with this warmer and so, so much drier weather we have been having here in Portland! I do not have to carry so much extra gear and I feel like I can actually slow down a bit and enjoy the ride rather than getting from A to B with the least amount of wetness. I think people seem to be in cheerier spirits as well, since we can finally get out and enjoy a jog, walk, or just plain sitting out in the open, fresh air. On my usual morning route, I slow along the Eastbank Esplanade for two main reasons, 1) to cool down so I am not so sweaty arriving at work; and 2) it is nice along the river, peaceful, mostly quiet and a wonderful view.

I am now at 1700 miles of commuting and, at times, feel overly in a rut, route wise. So, I now occassionally change my route home, to see other parts of inner southeast Portland and to break up the commuting monotony so it does not become boring or I forget to enjoy the journey. Plus it is probably good to have different terrain to ride on.

I think I have actually adjusted my new Time ATAC cleats to where it is feeling both neutral and comfortable for me feet and knees. Oh, speaking of knees, the last few days I have had to stay in lower gears as I mildly injured the right knee and pushing too  hard kind of hurts. Other than that, I like the Time pedals and the fact the float is in the pedal and I have less adjustment considerations for the cleats.

Being on a bike allows for much better people (life?) watching than when I was in a car every day. I read a lot about the bike-car-pedestrian issues, the struggle for domination and "rightness". Human behavior being what it is and believing that "my" group is the right one, my observations seem to be that mode of transportation, as I have said in the past, has nothing to do with who is right or wrong. Maybe it goes back to the judge the act, not the person philosophy?

Cars do not like cyclists because they make them go slower, so sometimes drivers make poor choices. We know about these and hear stories all the time. I wonder, though, what pedestrians would write about? I see some cyclists ride like some drivers - in their own world, expecting everyone else to watch out for them and get out of their way. This group typically never even slow at controlled intersections, rush to pass through before the pedestrians steps off the sidewalk and, sometimes, plain scare the bejeebers out of me. I recently saw two cyclists who were crossing a bride on the shared bike-ped walkway lift their bikes over the safetly railing and ride on the roadway. While probably legal, in their goal to not be slowed down by pedestrian traffic, they themselves slowed several cars.

I try to ride not with a focus on right or wrong, legal or illegal, but on courtesy, consideration and respect. I have come to not like the idea of "sharing" the road, because that denotes someone or some group has ownership, you know, like when we were kids and were told to share our toys. How can we share what is is everyone's? It has been fun to have a pedestrian thank me for stopping to let them cross, even when there is no other traffic around and we both saw each other and the person would have been just fine waiting until I passed.

While someone watching from the outside might not think so, I also think it has been funny a few times as I am waving a driver at an intersection and they are waving me - I have done this in a car, as well. So, yeah, I ride with a different focus, one that sees all the spaces as MUPs, since the reality is they truly are and no one mode of transportation has any more right to the space than another, because it is not about the things we use, but about people themselves.

I hope you all are enjoying your riding and are getting out there.

The Hordes are De-hibernating!

The week started slow weather-wise, and has exploded into some awesome, warm and sunny true spring days. Within that same explosion, however, the throngs of fair weather folks have also splattered out across everywhere. Now, I should say that most have been pretty civil given they must be absolutely stir crazy, what with waiting and waiting and waiting for all the grey, cold and rain to move aside.

You know all those stories about how for such a rainy area people cannot seem to figure out how to drive in this stuff? Well, I don't think that behavior is limited to just driving, because I see that same behavior with cyclists, walkers, joggers and the other asundry wanderers. Just today, I saw a driver and scooterer get tired of waiting for the train so they could turn right (tracks were parallel to the road) and blast through the red light to go straight. The really stupid thing is they went one block, that's right just one block, to the next red light! I mean, really?

This morning I was riding up on another cyclist on his fixie. At the light, he stopped about a bike length back and seemed to be practicing his track stand, he was a bit wobbly. I moved left slightly and rode up to the crosswalk line. After a bit, he either got tired of waiting or just could not track stand, he rode through the red light - what? - a bit later the light turned green and I proceeded on. Next light, he actually put his foot down.

Oh, so here's a good one for you. That ramp is actually normally going down to the floating section of the Eastbank Esplanade. There is so much water right now, the floats of the ramp have the ramp higher than the bike path. That's a lot of water!

Oh, hey, this week is Bike to Work Week in Portland and tomorrow (Friday) is Bike to Work Day. Since this is our first year at work in downtown, a couple of us wanted to have some kind of inaugural event, so we are having a waffle breakfast on Friday. To entice more to bike to work we had an informational brown bag on Monday. That was pretty well received and we had some great questions. The really interesting thing is about attitude though. There is definitely room to grow in terms of how people, even ones that cycle, perceive the relationship between vehicle drivers and bike riders.

Their perceptions perpetuate the idea that cars have priority over the roads and streets that  spread out across town. And if they know there are official bike ways and routes they believe cyclists should be there and not where they want to go. I mean, how inconsiderate of those cyclists - really? That's why, for me, I think we have maybe too much infrastructure and not enough re-education. Our travel medium, typically paved routes, is designed to move people, not just cars. They are basically for everyone.

I want to say share, but that is not really correct, because the drivers don't want to share, that's the big problem. The attitude change needs to be "Hey! Mellow out, this is a multi-use people mover." And that's not just targeted at drivers. Just  the past few days, I have seen cyclists blow across the crosswalk when everyone else is stopping for pedestrians. I made cars behind me stop because I yielded to some pedestrians. Come on, what gives?

I have to admit that I do miss the cold, rainy winter times because being out there is so much more mellow - because no one else is really out there.

Esplanade Es Crazy - The Price of Sunny Spring Weather

{R.I.P. Wouter Weylandt}

I did not watch any of the Giro D'Italia yesterday, so I was totally unaware of the tragic accident until a coworker friend asked if I had heard. Wow, how sad. After watching the tribute stage I am touched by the support of so, so many people and the closeness of these elite athletes. I reminisce of my past riding days with a close group of friends and the support we had for each other, the support I received - whether riding well or absolutely bonking. No one left behind, friendship first.



This morning was cloudy and cool, my hypersensitivity, again, thought I felt a rain drop or two. Probably because I decided not to wear the rain jacket or pants. Fortunately, I stayed dry and enjoyed a nice ride in. The closer I got to downtown, the more people I saw. I slowed and stopped a few times along the Eastbank Esplanade because I saw the two barges heading down river and eventually saw the Steel Bridge's center span go up - well no sense hurrying just to wait.

Work had some fun moments as I have been helping with our Bike to Work planning for the week of the 16th to 20th. That's been fun, focusing on cycling. The sad news is the waffle breakfast for Bike to Work Day, the 20th, will end just before I get there after riding with Evan in the morning. A few promised to save me some food.

Wow, just like the weather folks said, the afternoon was super clear, sunny and warm. Rather than rushing on home I slowed down and watched and absorbed all the activity going on. Whooosh! Wow, there are certainly people out who don't quite get the concept of sharing - how about slowing down when there are lot's of people walking, biking in the same 5 foot area. That is not say everyone was like that, but, then again, it only takes a few.

I still believe my theory that there are some converted individuals to biking/healthiness that have, unfortunately, brought their "me" world concept from the car world - spreading out across over half the path width, zipping in and out unpredictably, unyielding so they can pass first - sound familiar?

Despite the invasion of the less fun people, I am enjoying seeing many others - like the dad riding with his kids, helping them out, building up their riding skills. Hopefully they are also learning courtesies, as well.

Parting shot. I stopped and enjoyed the view from a bench area, and to also make a slight adjustment to one of my cleats before heading on and away from the esplanade. SUB is lovin' this nice weather, too. We'll soak it all up today - tomorrow we return to the chance of showers type weather.

Heightened Appreciation of the Joys of Being Able to Ride

Clouds and coolness in the morning, a few rainlet bouts during the midday, gave way to some pleasant sunny skies for the afternoon's ride home. There must be something about the sun as I felt energized, thrilled to be out on the bike and so I rode quite well, spinning a higher gear than my normal "cruiser" gear combination.

As I thought and composed this entry, I was watching the program, "Take a Seat." The 10 episodes documented Dominic Gill's journey from Los Angeles to New York. What makes this more amazing is that the purpose of the ride was to enable someone with cancer to do something he had always wanted, see America by bike. What made this touching is that Ernie's cancer ended his adventure early and soon after, took his life, but Dominic continued by having 9 other special needs people join him to finish the ride that Ernie had started.

Each adventurer's story is unique, their challenges, how they have coped and managed. The thrill and gratitude they express is so, so heart warming. Their rides were not flat and easy, many hills, awful weather, mechanical issues, special fitment issues. And in the end, they smiled, they laughed, they cried with appreciation and they cheered their successes.

I suppose timing is everything, heh? As I have rekindled my joys of cycling the program was come to heighten my appreciation of being able to just ride. Few things reward me, fill me with the level of joy as cycling. I wonder if there are similar opportunities locally to provide others with a chance to experience cycling who would otherwise not be able to. I think that would be cool.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ghost Train Passing - Wonderful Spring Warmth

Weather reports said chance of showers, but my ride in was just mega clouds, gusty southerly wind and maybe some mist. I was able to keep the pace a little slower, so I would not get quite so warm and sweaty, seems to be getting harder to do that, though. My riding strength is improving and I think the nostalgia of my past "ride fast" days is percolating from memory to consciousness. Then there's that feeling . . . pedaling is comfortable, natural, not strained, the road passing by effortlessly, relaxed breathing . . . how riding should always be.

As I enjoyed that "feeling" ol' mister southerly, a bit gusty and somewhat swirly near Mt. Tabor wooshed me back to reality, trying to push me this way and that around on the road . . . okay, okay, I'll pay attention. Even with the wind, the morning was warm and pleasant for being out.

Again, as I crossed MLK Jr. Blvd, I saw the railroad crossing lights flashing, so I just coasted down SE Clay St. to the crossing. Waiting was okay, I actually was able to cool down for the last stretch into work, this way I would not be too hot. I also took a few more experimental pictures.

The train was moving along at a pretty good clip, so I shot this picture. The train is actually there, going by, the camera shutter speed slow enough, due to the low light, that the train is but a hint of a blur - hey, a ghost train. Once clear, I crossed down to the Eastbank Esplanade for a gentle pedal the rest of the way to work. That was a very pleasant ride as I now got to enjoy a bit of tailwind. I stopped to take a couple more pictures of downtown.

That wind gave me another rude awakening as I started on to the Steel Bridge, I was gusted very strongly. It took some very quick and agressive reactive cycling to maintain control, dang, that was some kinda wind! If I had any bit of sleep still hanging around, it was certainly gone now.

During work, I watched as there was rain, wind, sun, clouds, rain, wind, sun clouds - you get the picture. I did a final quick check on the weather before heading out to meet up with Evan after school for our ride home. Looked good, so I just put the rain pants on, for rain insurance, and just wore my lightweight fleece top and off we were.

The still southerly east wind did not seem quite as strong and the upper 50's temperature felt really nice. I took a couple of parting shots of downtown Portland, before heading away from the Willamette River toward NE Portland.

A nice afternoon to be out on the bike, what a treat to have upper 50's . . . and dry. Seemed like a lot of people were out, escaping the dark walled-in confines of the office building, like a horde of punxsutawney phil's, peaking their heads out, seeing if it was finally safe to venture out from hibernation.

A nice, easy paced ride for Evan and I, focusing on chatting and catching up rather than on power and speed. The distance and time melt away as we ride and before I know it, we are home.

Nice - No Rain Showers, Riding Faster

Ugh, daylight savings time. Terrible sleep last night, or is it early this morning (at least when I actually fell asleep). Woke up an hour later than my alarm, oh well. Dressed for rain, but it was actually dry, a bit cool but not bad for riding. I rode with a little higher effort this morning, not sure why, just did, I guess. It was fun to push along in my higher gears, having the feeling of speed.

Along the Eastbank Esplanade I came across some traffic, of which these two Canada Geese were a part of. I stopped to take their picture as they were grazing for breakfast.

Even with the greyness, blue sky poked out here and there. Since I was later than I wanted anyway, I stopped to take a few more pictures. This one is along the floating section of the esplanade looking toward the Steel Bridge, you can make out the Broadway Bridge (red) and way off, the Fremont Bridge.

I left around mid-day to work from home, away from distractions. I focused on another project that had been ignored due to our email migration woes. Some woes still there, but I wanted to put some time into something else.

Here's an average shot taken along a sitting area on the esplanade, looking toward the Hawthorne Bridge.

My cycle commuting has done another benefit. Listening to co-workers, their morning commutes were significantly longer this morning. There was a big motivation conference, Get Motivated, just across the river at the Oregon Convention Center. A normal commute of 40-45 minutes turned into hour and a half. Cycling, my  time was totally unaffected. Not so bad.

My hill ride back up Harrison/Lincoln was ego boosting. Not only was I using my 2nd and 3rd low gears, but the general strength feeling was great. The little climb in Mt. Tabor seemed easier and I felt more comfortable staying seated in my low gear.

Hey with all the lighter days, I may actually swap out my expensive, super bright headlight for the still bright, but smaller Dinotte front light. Will see.

Finishing the Week Feeling Stronger, Where's Evan?

The week finished off with some pretty nice riding weather. Wednesday started with at least a non-rainy day, roads a bit wet. Evan's form and riding are very good, hmmm, I wonder where he learned them - lol.

Evan got to ride home from school by himself, as I had to stay late to deal with some on-going technical crises issues at work. Love that he has the route down and is comfortable riding solo when he needs. Cool, huh?

For my ride, I continue to use Lincoln into Mt. Tabor as it gives me a little more strength building on the extra bit of climbing over the climb up Harrison/Lincoln. Feel stronger each day, of course, that is not say I don't have those moments of "geez, got ... no ... power ... ugh."

Thursday, we were fortunate in that we did not have to ride in the rain, though the roads certainly showed that we did have rain. After I left Evan at school, I did actually get a few drops just before I got to work.

The sky was both dark and light, depending on where you were and where you were looking. This picture and the one up there were taken Thursday morning just before reaching work.

I'm feeling much stronger, I notice I am using higher gears on the inclines. That is one of the nice things about a consistent, regular route, I have reference points that I can fairly easily compare to.

Thursday afternoon was an interesting riding adventure. I left work a bit late, which would make me get to Evan's school after he would normally be at his bike. Our agreement was if I wasn't there by 20 after, to call me to see where I was at, and go ahead and start toward home. I headed to the school at a faster pace than normal, but I did not feel exhausted. His bike was not there. I waited a bit, thinking he was somewhere watching out for me.

After about 5 minutes, I figured he must have headed toward home, so I headed that way, too. Of course, when I was about 2 miles from school I get a call. He was around the corner. We planned that he would ride toward home on our normal route and I would ride back and we would meet up. Well, I rode a bit slower and more casual, as I had the headwind and, hey, I already rode this part. I kept riding and looking for Evan ... where is he? Hmmm, maybe he rode toward the other home? I rode there, nope, no one there. I decided I would just head toward home.

I got to NE 47th and looked up to see Evan crossing Sandy Blvd. Hehehe, so I sped up to catch him, which I did a few blocks down and yelled to him. I gave him a bad time about the route he chose and he gave me a time that that was the "normal" route. (Later, I would find out he actually did detour to the other house - ah ha!).

Just a few blocks from home, we were riding along SE 76th, legally, single file, coasting down the last stretch, which we often do. All of a sudden I hear a loud, short police car siren blast. I sit up a bit and look to my side in time to see a police car go by. I'm looking around and wondering, "what?" Evan catches up and says, "That hurt my ear!"

The officer is too far now for me to see the license or car number, I wave hoping he would notice and stop, but he continues on. I'm upset, that was totally uncalled for, there was no on-coming car, he had plenty of room to go around without blasting the siren. He just modelled that anyone can just honk at a cyclist because, "Hey, cars have absolute rights over anyone or anything else using the roadway."

I find out the car was very close behind Evan. I wrote to the Randy Leonard and Sam Adams about this incident and the inappropriate behavior of the officer.

Today was another nice dry morning commute with Evan. I think we are making the trip to school faster and faster all the time, without feeling like we are riding hard or anything.

Temperature was quite comfortable and, again, dry. The cloudy, overcast makes finding an inspirational picture a bit tough. But even those neutral light images have character.

Work was a bi ..... otch! Got into a bit of it with another to the point I just had had enough of this bad week, so I took a long midday break and rode home. It was partly sunny and mild so at least the ride was good, strength felt good, climbing in my number 2 gear rather than my lowest, so that was feeling pretty good.

After a bit, I went back in, partly because I was not able to connect remotely - can any more go bad this week!? Oh, well, one more week and I am out on vacation with Evan for spring break. Mostly be around town and he is trying to organize his friends to do some airsofting, another great way to take some agressions out - haha.

Awesome Commuting Weather Today!

Wow, the weather was so different than most reports for Monday (3/7). Some sun, a bit cool temperature wise, but so nice for riding in with Evan and to work. This picture was taken just before reaching the Steel bridge.

There goes Evan on our route to school. What an enjoyable difference to ride in something other than rain and wet! Really enjoyed riding, chatting and being out in the fresh morning air.

We spun along fairly easily, not being in a great hurry to get anywhere, we have the route timing down pretty well these days, so no rushing around. Funny, when I drove we always seemed to push the time to the last minute, I guess it seemed like we should get there faster than we usually did. You'd think we would figure that out and leave earlier. Must be something about cars that makes one feel faster or to be far more lax and leaving with enough time to not be rushed. Go figure.

Loving being back on the road bike and the backpack is working out nicely. For me, I am also making my return from work trip over the edge of Mt. Tabor park so I'm working a bit harder, which has been good training.

Today's ride was also nice and I do feel I am beginning to build up the strength. This morning, instead of riding on the flatter Division St. to 52nd Ave then cutting over to Lincoln/Harrison, I decided to ride Harrison over the southern edge of Mt. Tabor Park. I've often been reluctant as I sort of felt intimidated to start my ride with a slow climb. Anyway, the climb was not too bad and I just took it easy and focused on how my legs were feeling or was it yelling back at me?

Once I made the intersection where the road drops back out of the park or continues up into the park I decided this is not a bad way to go. From the intersection it is all down hill until a brief flat section to SE 60th. Then I am basically on my regular Lincoln/Harrison ride into downtown Portland. I felt very good, maybe it was the climbing warm-up, the legs felt strong, I was in my big chainring all the way until MLK.

Home bound I also had a good ride, felt strong, and even climbing the 2 miles up Harrison/Lincoln from 21st to 60th was not bad. Climbing is getting easier, I am spinning in higher gears. Nice to have the hip healing, only some limits with my right side, but not too bad - actually feel better riding than walking.

Gear in Review

This is my Lowe Alpine backpack with the air zone, which places an air space between the pack and your back. It is small, but can hold my lock and cable, tool kit, space for clothes and my small purse. There are not too many dangling straps and there are two side stash pockets that are handy. This pack also comes with a rain cover that really keeps everything inside dry -- and I have totally tested this in downpours recently.

The backpack is not the lightest with all my stuff, but carries well, feels balanced and I do not have any hot spots or points of excess pressure. Very comfortable and only at the point that actually rests on my back do I get a little sweaty wet.

My only complaint was I did not have easy places for my phone and camera pouches like on my messenger bag. Well not wanting to overly compromise, I came up with a working solution. I removed the strap from an old shoulder bag, that had already donated a portion as my tool pouch (I wrote about that earlier).

Since I don't use the backpack waist strap, I took the clamps from my messenger bag chest strap and attached the short end to the waist strap fastener. Through other clamp end I forced the wide shoulder strap and then stitched the strap end closed. The loose end of the shoulder strap I threaded through the hydration tube loop on the backpack shoulder strap. I have a single plastic webbing loop that keeps the strap from pulling back through. I now have a handy chest strap that I can attach my phone and camera pouches. If I am not using it, I can just remove the strap, which happens anytime I am riding in the rain. I did send my request to Timbuk2 for waterproof pouches, so we'll see if anything comes of that.

One Rude Driver, Rainy Morning, Dry and Pleasant Finish



No torrential downpour, but steady rain for this morning's commute. In preparation I selected my ride gear - lycra leggings, wool socks, shoe booties, Goretex gloves, rain jacket and my standard rain pants. Then I packed up my work pants and sweater along with my purse into my backpack.

Ready, set, go. Not too chilly, just wet. I decided to stay on SE Division St. until my cut-over through Ladd's Addition (SE 21st Ave.). For the most part, the driver's were "friendly" giving me reasonable passing distance. I did notice that many seem to cut in a bit early, not seeming to realize just how close they were coming back over. Darn good thing I ride in out in the lane.

I had one driver as I rode through the left-right jog at about 41st honk at me from behind. I guess they figured I should be way to the right. A post event thought was I should have slowed down. Funny thing is, there were about 6 cars at the red light at SE 39th Ave. (oh, wait, it is now Cesar Chavez Blvd.), so I just rode on up to the intersection, yep, right past the same car that honked at me - hahaha.

The rest of the ride went smoothly and I felt good strength-wise. I continue to test by using my 36x17 gear combo - how are the inclines in that gear, am I starting to overly spin out, that sort of thing. I did make a stop under the Hawthorne Bridge to take a morning rain picture (that's it up at the beginning of this blog entry). Hard to capture rain with this pocket camera.

This evening's ride home was very enjoyable -- it was dry, the sun was out. I tried to be a little artsy and capture a bit more dark, shadowy look of the Steel Bridge and downtown. I took this just after I crossed the Steel Bridge.

Back on the ride the effort felt good. I always enjoy riding down to SE Clay St., because it is often backed up from MLK back to the railroad tracks (2-1/2 blocks) and I get to ride up the hill past the cars to the intersection.

My hill climbing is not super strong, will have to work on the quads, I guess, but they are getting there. Less out of oxygen as I climbed the last, steepest part of Lincoln (Harrison becomes Lincoln at about 26th), just before SE 60th, then I actually climbed Mt. Tabor route (Lincoln ends into the park) in my middle chain ring rather than dropping into my smallest chain ring - yippee!

Feels good, I am still at 100% bike commuting, 535.43 miles, saving me about 60 some dollars in gas. I wonder when you get to call yourself a full-time bike commuter? Do you think there is a qualification based on time? Funny, we've only been in our new building for 2 months and it feels like I have been biking in much longer, feels, normal.

No Snow, Barely Any Rain - Thursday Maybe?

Well, here is what our afternoon looked like. There was only a bit of rain today, mostly partly sunny. The wind was a bit cool, but overall a pretty nice day - the calm before the storm?

Weather report says snow today after 10:00pm, so we will see. Evan's fingers are still crossed for a snow day tomorrow (Thursday).

Good session with my doctor today. Some recovery from Saturday's tree planting overwork and the hip is getting better and I am able to sit longer.

I used the backpack today just in case I needed to use public transportation. Putting the bike on and off transit is easier without using the panniers. Sure do love the handling of the bike without panniers, hmmm.

Rode home with Evan and the only negative was the wind, but even that was not too bad. Ah, lovin this bike commuting.

Dry and Blue Skies - Ow, Some Hip Relapse

No school for Evan, but we still rode together as he needed to go to home number 2 today. He led the whole way, so I guess he's got to route down pretty well now. His pedalling style is pretty smooth, I would ride with him anytime. Do you suppose I am a little biased, though? haha.

Comfortable ride in, bikes worked flawlessly. I did do a good clean up on them this past weekend. The previous mega rains and hail definitely took their toll. For Evan's, it was clean the dirt off, wash down the rims and brake pads, then I also readjusted his rear hub bearings, adding a bit more grease while we were there. One of the bearing lock nuts had loosened, so we fixed that. Then clean and lube the chain, pretty grimy.

About the same for my SUB, though no bearing tear down. Chain was pretty washed out and some very, tiny surface rust. Lubing took care of that. I also did a little re-wrap on the handlebars, to clean up the wrapping around the shift levers.

The intro picture above was taken a bit after 4:00pm from Waterfront Park looking east. Nice clouds, heh? Temp-wise, I think was in the mid-40's.

This image was taken along the floating Eastbank Esplanade back toward the Steel Bridge. The light was very nice and made for an enjoyable ride home.

Hip-wise, I think I had a bit of a relapse over the weekend, maybe from over use from our SOLV tree planting on Saturday. Seem to have picked up a bit of a dull, constant discomfort and I have lost some sitting duration time. In general, though, I  think it is still on the positive side of healing and getting better.

Riding strength seems good, as a fun test, I used just the 36 x 17 gearing combo from Evan's to work and then from work to SE 21st and Harrison, which was the start of the climb toward home. Even climbing Harrison I was able to spin up without dropping to my lowest gearing so that is a good sign.

Kind of disappointed, have not heard anything back from TriMet from my note to them about my close call with the bus the other day. Will see if anything comes up this week.

Well thoroughly enjoyed the lovely weather riding today, will see what the rest of the week brings and the weather folks are saying rain starting tonight or tomorrow with possible snow Wednesday and/or Thursday. Evan is totally hoping for snow and no school - surprise, surprise.