Wow, 2 Weeks Since Last Post, Really?

I must be rolling along in zombie commuter mode or time has just sped up and the moment I stop to catch my breath it has been about 2 weeks since my last entry. I prefer to think it is the latter, of course.

We (Portland) are starting to dry out and our river levels are a bit lower, at least the Willamette River is low enough that our floating section of the Eastbank Esplanade is re-open. Gee, I really missed riding along this section. Of course, coming up with detours has also been nice for breaking up riding the exact same route day in and day out. Perhaps there is a subtle hint there.

The drier weather has also given me the incentive to bring the road bike (Bridgestone RADAC) out again, and that has been fun. I mean, being 10 pounds lighter, it is sweet riding. I have found, though, the ride feeling is pretty close between my two bikes now and that has me pretty pleased. I can easily go from bike to bike with very little adjusting.

I'm so so with the Power Grips pedals on the SUB. They are nice in that I can ride any shoe and has some level of attachment to the bike. I went with them because I got tired of struggling to adjust the cleats on my Keen shoes, not to mention I was starting to have some minor knee pain. So I took a break and enjoyed infinite adjustment while riding to get my feet in the "right" place on the pedals. I think it is also the fact the pressure is spread across the pedals rather than in the tiny spot where the SPD cleat is attached. The downside is getting my left foot back in from a stop takes more time.

Not to be outdone, the RADAC now sports Time ATAC XS carbon pedals. I have ridden them all thhis week (hahaha 2 days) and so far really like them. The cleats strictly align the fore-aft position on the pedals. Rotational float is handled by the pedals themselves, which is nice. I also like that the shoe actually contacts the sides of the pedals spreading the pressure points across a broader area. I am using my carbon bike shoes so that also means carrying an extra pair of walk around shoes for work. But, since I am not carrying extra rain gear, it is okay.

Tomorrow, I'm testing the pedals on the SUB and see how I like them on that bike. If good, then I'll get another pair of ATAC pedals.

When the clouds really clear out and there is nothing but blue sky, everyone seems to be in such better moods - especially given how grey we have been. I have also been enjoying stopping just before getting to work at the Breakfast on the Bridges (one at the Steel Bridge and one at the Hawthorne Bridge). Last friday was great and everyone was so happy because it was sunny and warm, plus the hosts are always happy and pleasant.

Today, as if to celebrate the official start of summer, a fireboat was out and entertaining everyone with its huge spray from the water guns. Definitely, everyone seems to be in a summery frame of mind. Of course, if it stays mostly nice we will start saying how hot it is or humid or too dry - funny we humans is.

Work commuters have been cool and we pretty much have a full main bike storage room. We even created a bicyclist email group so we could all share our accomplishments and other bike related information with each other. For me, I just use our first overflow area as my primary, saves moving around once I am at work. It is nice to see the new commuters especially since our Bike to Work day event. It's cool.

A Week Without Rain - Commuting Still Challenging Route-wise

Never grow tired of watching the wild life along the Willamette on my commutes. They break up the large expanse of water and architectural squareness around me. These Canada Geese were a few of a larger group going south up river, I suspect in search of breakfast, which must be a challenge with our water levels so high there is not much bank for them.

We actually had a full week without significant rain and actually had a couple of pretty awesome sunny days. What a joy to not be all bundled up or sweating in waterproof gear!

What do you think of this access to our bike overflow area? Good thing I was not rolling with panniers. These two trucks could have actually backed in a bit further, but I suppose they are not sure of where the rear of their vehicles are so they stopped short, actually sticking out. Given the space arrangement, this also means they narrow down the approach. Those bars on my bike are only 390mm if that gives you an idea. But, hey, I figure if anyone scratches their vehicles by accident, that's the risk of choosing to park there and not pulling as far into their respective spaces as they can. <chuckles>

This week is also our Rose Festival's Fleet Week where several Navy ships arrive in Portland. Of course with all the fears these days, it also means increased security and closing off areas along our Waterfront Park, making getting in and around across the Willamette a bit challenging. Of course given spring and summer are also Portland's heavy construction times, this just adds to commuting by bike challenges. There are sections of the Eastbank Esplanade and Springwater Corridor that are currently closed (high water and construction, respectively), Morrison Bridge is closed to bike traffic for construction work, parts of the Esplanade are closed due to other construction, Waterfront park is closed to ped/bike traffic, a few portions of ped/bike path are closed on the west side of the Willamette due to high water. Quite challenging to say the least to get in and out of downtown.

Oh, speaking of security, they have a huge floating boom that apparently is marking a no approach zone around the ships, appears to be basically half-way across the river. But more amazing, to me, is seeing the coast guard patrol boats with machine guns cruising up and down the river.

Wow, I had not realized we were in such a hot zone before. I wonder just what would happen if they had to use that thing? Could they control it enough to not actually hit all the hundreds of civilians milling about?

Other than all of that, this week was a good riding week, as I said, because it was spring like temp-wise. The bonus of the week was I actually rode the road bike, which the last time was back in early April. I stopped because the wet grit of commuting was taking a major toll and I would rather use the SUB in crappy weather stuff. I must have the SUB dialed in pretty well because outside of the difference in geometry, the two bikes feel nearly the same ride wise. I am sure the road bike is faster since I am pushing 10 pounds less weigh and all, but, still, to have them feel similar is pretty nice.

I am going to swap the road bike's pedals and try some Time ATAC XS pedals which have a slightly different MTB cleat so I can still use my expensive carbon MTB shoes. I will see if they adjust a bit easier and ride any better than the SPD's I've been using for so long. I think I'll stick to the Power Grip pedals on the SUB, since they allow a broader range of shoes and practicality for the SUB.

The rides with Evan this week were fun and I love watching him ride. He's got a nice fast cadence, I think he is spinning faster than I am. I commented on his good cadence and he said it was probably back when he was learning and forgot to shift. Cute. Today on the last just under a mile stretch he wanted to sprint home, so I said okay and shifted to my big ring (okay, not so big 48T) and we took off. Since I got the jump I actually stayed ahead, though the  last 3 blocks I was significantly running out of air! Any longer of a distance and he would have had me, I was not that far ahead.

Hope everyone else had a good week and got some good riding in.

Miss My Commute Along the Esplanade

Tuesday afternoon (5/31) the floating section of the Eastbank Esplanade was closed until the Willamette recedes some. The approach ramp is so much higher than the approach section that it was causing many to either get off their bike and walk or they crashed attempting to ride up the ramp. Fortunately, I was able to pass through in the morning as you can see by the picture above. I actually rode up that thing!

I guess it was inevitable since the Willamette has been relatively high all through the winter and spring, so the extra rain and snow melt had to have an affect. Notice how high the water is to the lower deck of the Steel Bridge? Even the smallest of water craft force the lower section to be raised.

Here's a closer look at the river level. You can just about reach out and touch it as you cross the lower section.

We had a little bit of every kind of weather again this week - cloudy, some downpours, partly sunny. Then, Friday came and was just about as awesome as it could get, and it seems a very long time coming. This makes, what?, like only the 4th or 5th really nice day all year?

Portland really came alive Friday! We walked out for lunch and it was people, people everywhere. Simply a gorgeous day!

Oh, I also stopped at Breakfast on the Bridges, again, to enjoy a free, fresh made donut.

What a great way to end the week on a high note. Forecast calls for rain Monday, of course. Hope you all had a great weekend and got out to savor that big golden globe.

Cool and Grey - I Experience a Torrential Shower

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday saw the return of a lot of clouds and chances of rain. There were drizzles, light rain, downright downpours and a few spots where you could actually see blue sky. In certain sections you can tell if it is cold or too wet as the birds seem less active in the mornings on those less than nice days. Of course there are less people out, too.

Wednesday along the Eastbank Esplanade the morning rush hour was filled with Canada Geese grazing along the upper banks. There is so much water in the Willamette right now. These guys are pretty use to people traffic as they did not even flinch when I stopped and took a few pictures, as if they were thinking, "No big deal, just another two-legged." It's kind of cool, I  have always liked the Canada Goose.

Despite the rain, the sense of cooler than normal temps reminding me more of late winter than spring about to become summer, it must be spring because everything is green and the once bare trees are filling out. While it is always nice to be out on the bike, I would not mind a bit warmer temps and some multiple dry, sunny days would not hurt, either.

I still find it interesting, yeah, I said it, interesting, to continue to wave or say hello to other cyclists and see who actually responds. It is funny, some almost seem annoyed by my waving acknowledgement, like I'm the crazy one.

Friday's ride home was the most memorable of the week. As I left work for the Steel Bridge the sky went from very grey to very dark grey and just as I was leaving the clouds opened up in all their glory. Yep, that's right, an Oregon downpour! Of course, as I hit the Steel Bridge the lift alarm went off and I got to sit there getting drenched. As fate would  have it, the rain was coming with the wind on the side of the ped/bike path. What a lot of water! This is the first time my feet got a little wet with my Keen shoes, I think there was so much water it was running down the leg of my rain pants into my shoe more than my shoe soaking through.

I am sure I must have been quite the sight riding along in the torrent. Most people were finding cover, hoping to wait out the worst of it. I was heading to meet up with Evan, so I did not have time to wait. Fortunately, it did lighten up a bit to light rain for the remainder of our ride home. What an adventure in being wet.

A Very Peaceful, Lovely Day for Bike Commuting

With the drier days I decided to road test my Pentax DSLR camera. I've gotten a bit lazy and have been just using my pocket digital for most things. I do like the greater control of the DSLR over the pocket digital, I guess it goes back to my film SLR days.

This morning was a really nice ride in, I felt in good spirits and I was early enough that once I reached the Eastbank Esplanade, I just cooled down and glided along, taking pictures as I went.

It could be just me, but this image  has a European feel to me. The boaters were the only traffic on the Willamette this morning and the water was very calm. The Willamette is quite high, but it is also fairly clear and was serenely calm this morning. Quite peaceful.

This afternoon, I "strolled" along the esplanade, enjoying the warm temperature, sunny skies and fresh air. As I am still also trying to fine tune my cleat alignment, I stopped to make an adjustment. People must feed the migrating birds, because this Canada goose just hung near by and looked up occassionally, as if waiting for me to toss a morsel his way. I looked over the railing and saw that he had been working on a banana peel floating in the water. Sad really, some people do not think about what they are doing.

I was a bit surprised this guy just hung around until I saw the banana peel. Not quite your average river food supply. The river is so clear and calm today -- lovely.

Bike Nerd Adds Analog Clock

Well, since today was basically grey and I did not have an inspirational moment to take much in the way of pictures, I went bike nerd today when I got home from work.

I  have thought about having some kind of clock on the bike, because it is too hard to be riding and pulling out my cell phone to see what the time is. I really did not want to just strap a wrist watch on and I know I do not want to buy a cycle computer for just the clock part.

What I was looking for was something readable, small but not too small, waterproof (hey, it's Oregon!), and would mount securely but simply.

I guess it was time to do some research, internet style, of course. Hmmm, bicycle clock, clock on a bike, clock mounting on bike. Okay, then, just a few million hits, let's check out the images results. Hmmm, some of these look promising, so let's click here.

The site was Cruiser Customizing, yep, that's right, uh huh, a motorcycle site. They had some interesting products, some adapters, and hey, check it out, a little, round analog clock. Well, what the hey, let's order it and give it a try. A week later, today, it arrives and I open up the packaging. Ooo, chrome, well, it's small enough it should not show too much.

Well, now where to mount it? I want to keep the bars as clean as possible, since they already have my shifter mounts. I want to be able to easily glance and see the time. After a few tests, I decide I can use my existing headlight mount. I do have to do a little grinding on the clock mounting housing so I can rotate it 90 degrees, not how it was designed, of course.

After I get the housing to rotate in its bracket, I mounted it to my headlight mount and with a little bending had the position quite usable. Haha, now I have my bike clock, old school analog and the numbers and hands glow in the dark!

Oh, yeah, that's right, I'm a bike nerd and proud of it.

Change My Attitude - Have a Zen Moment

Okay, following the last venting session it was time to re-focus, reset my attitude about being out there with everyone else trying to soak up as much of the nice weather as we can, because after all, it is Oregon and this year each of those nice days are so darned short-lived. We are all going to be out there and so, let's just focus on the good whys versus on the baddies.

While I enjoyed a nice spot along the Eastbank Esplanade, so did the SUB. Together we focused on the beautiful Spring day, the light breeze, the light and shadow and went to our happy places. Well, at least I like to think the SUB went to her happy place.

For me, I think I just had not adjusted to the shift in season and weather here in Portland. In my significant cycling past, I did more recreational riding, training rides in preparation for those 100-200 mile events, some with a few friends and some solo. Oh sure, you would see others but not in the numbers one sees in Portland today. Then when I started my utilitarian era (actually, don't really like that term, utilitarian) I started smack dab in the middle of winter. I think I done gots spoiled. Quiet roads,, solitary times, I could mostly just ride and focus on being out and not have to watch out so much around me.

As our weather has changed, so has the slow, quiet morning pace. So the season changed, my mind did not. And after I thought about this for a bit, all this change is really a good thing, I mean this truly shows there is life in the city, right?

So, I think my mentalness is catching up with my physicalness and we are adapting to the changes. We all are out there, moving about, doing our outdoor thing, wanting to get somewhere, accomplish something.

Speaking of accomplishing something, this year is the first year our work, which moved to downtown from the suburbs, had a more "official" Bike to Work Week/Day set of activities. We organized a waffle breakfast for bike to work day and held an informational brown bag a few days before. That was pretty cool and I totally loved doing something at work bike related.

We had 22 bike commuters on Friday. While that was about our previous max, we did have quite a few first time bike commuters (not all of our bike commuters are 100% bike commuters). We had the most bikes in our overflow space, 5, so we had quite a few firsts. I was so glad we did have the great weather to help motivate people to give bike commuting a try.

So, I'll drink in those moments of calm, enjoy the blend of city and nature and just have fun doing what I love - riding my bike.