rändo adagio

Tigard-Albany-Tigard 225k Permanent #1217

2011-09-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

Starting at the Sesame Donuts at Hall Blvd & Hwy 99 in Tigard (not the one in Raleigh Hills), this 140-miler does a counter-clockwise loop from Wilsonville to Salem and Independence (southbound) before checking in at Calapooia Brewing in Albany (or a nearby convenience store if you prefer), then returns mostly East of I-5 to Wilsonville, then Tigard. Elevation gain: 3058 feet.

The route sheet is here on Google docs. Email billalsup@yahoo.com if you're interested in riding this for RUSA credit.

Eugene to Beaverton 200k Permanent #1177

2011-06-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

Starting at Full City Coffee Roasters in Downtown Eugene (or nearby Starbucks for a slightly earlier start), this 126-mile route stays mostly East of I-5 through the towns of Brownsville, Lebanon, Scio, Stayton, Woodburn and Tigard (including the Fanno Creek Trail) before its terminus at the Beaverton Town Square. The Beaverton Transit Center is less than a mile from the end for easy access to much of Greater Portland. Total elevation gain is 2277 feet.

The route sheet is here on Google docs. Email billalsup@yahoo.com if you're interested in riding this for RUSA credit.

SW Portland to Eugene 200k - Permanent #1176

2011-06-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

"Donuts to Total Domination" is the nickname for the 200km bike route ... from Sesame Donuts in the Raleigh Hills neighborhood of SW Portland ... to Ninkasi Brewing in the Whiteaker neighborhood of Eugene. The route passes through Tualatin, Wilsonville, Salem, Independence, & Harrisburg.

This route involves a minimal 1339 feet of climbing. The route sheet is here on Google docs. Email billalsup@yahoo.com if you're interested in riding this for RUSA credit.

Oregon Coast 600k (2011)

2011-05-18T17:39:00.001-07:00

Six hundred kilometers on a bicycle within 40 hours is a challenge, no two ways about it. Sure, there’s the opportunity to take a nap in the middle of the route. Sure, this course in question didn’t include three or four mountain summits over the Cascades. But nonetheless, 600k’s need to be taken seriously. Can’t fall out’a bed with minimal sleep on the front end and expect to finish. At least I can’t.

Last year I DNF’d the Oregon Coast 600k (my only DNF of the season). I went on later in the year to finish the Oregon Blue Mountains 1000k (barely), plus two other 600k’s (one in Washington, the other in California). But this year, I was determined to return and conquer this particular brevet.

I was a little bit at a disadvantage from having completed a 360k flèche the weekend before. More significantly, though, my knees weren’t being terribly cooperative from this season’s Three Capes 300k and Eden’s Gate 400k onward. As a result, my goal shifted from “setting a really good time,” to hoping for more than a minimal sleep at the overnight contrôle.

I had three houseguests (Theo, Asta, and Taylor) on the eve of this year’s 600k, all of whom pedaled to Forest Grove from my place in Beaverton (about a 17-mile journey) in the early AM hours of the start. Even though I don’t ride as fast as those three, I too rode to Forest Grove (a bit later on), but with a little help from Trimet’s line 57.

nehalem hwy, a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

The brevet started promptly at 6:00 AM from McMennamin’s Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, and soon traversed the entire length of the Banks-Vernonia Linear Park/Trail. After getting a quick ham and egg muffin at the Shell station in Vernonia, I rode mostly with a group that included Lesli Larson, Michal Young, Kevin Brightbill and Dan Jensen. I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry in Birkenfeld, so I continued 30 more miles to Olney before refueling. The above-mentioned quartet passed me during that last section. Nonetheless, I still managed to ride the first 100k’s in 4 ½-hour hours.

The second 100k (to Seaside…via Ft. Stevens) took an hour longer. Even though I was gravitating toward the back end of the riders, I was feeling relatively okay. But then there were coastal hills, in particular, a couple big ones between Cannon Beach and Manzanita. While I actually managed to pass a couple riders on one of them, the toll on my left knee would manifest though much of the remainder of the ride.

Steve Williamson (with his nice 650b Periera) and I ended up riding significant portions of the 600k together, including steep/messy/rainy/dark Slab Creek Rd (before Lincoln City) as well as much of the route between Siletz and Dayton on the second day. After Slab Creek Road, we arrived at the overnight contrôle in Lincoln City at about 2:30 AM, where I slept about half of a 2 ½-hour layover.

steve, a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

I was passed the next morning by the speedy Del Scharffenberg in route to Siletz. Turns out he had an eight-hour layover in Lincoln City! (Del’s sister lives there.) When I conveyed that information to Joel Metz at the Logsden contrôle, he said something like “I hate Del. He’s too *** fast!”

Ed Groth and Joel overslept in Lincoln City, caught Steve and me in Logsden, then dropped us on the gravel road towards Blodgett. I was working really hard on this segment, knowing from last year that getting to Blodgett before closing would be essential to finishing this brevet. (That’s where I abandoned last year because of being way behind the clock.) This time I made it … by 25 minutes. Ed had already moved on; Joel was still there, right on schedule for his 38-hour completion goal. Steve and I enjoyed a slice of pizza while talking about some of the crazy weather we were experiencing.

I was under the misguided impression that things would be easier from Blodgett on out, and that the roads would all be more or less downhill. My knees knew otherwise, though, and became steadfastly displeased with the ascending halves of all the rollers between Kings Valley and the Eola Hills.

Organizer Susan Otcenas provided some impromptu and welcomed roadside encouragement along Hwy 223 before Dallas. Once in that town, I got a little turned around before finally finding the Safeway with the singularly friendly Starbucks inside. After downing a shot of espresso and getting one of my water bottles filled with Frappuccino, I dealt with the stiff side-winds and rollers of Perrydale Rd. Did I mention that my knees were not happy with rollers?

Bethel, Zena, Spring Vallley and Hopewell Roads through the Eola Hills wine region reminded me of Joshua Bryant’s flèche route of 2009. Oh yeah, he did design this route last year. Didn’t he? I particularly liked the “back door” approach to Dayton via Webfoot Road.

Steve Williamson and Will Goss were in Dayton when I arrived, and hoofed it outa’ there while I was fueling up. There were almost three hours left to ride the last 27 miles; under normal circumstances would be quite doable. But did I mention my knee?

With the help of a lot of ibuprofen, I actually rode pretty hard to Lafayette, and then again on familiar North Valley Road towards Forest Grove. Once at the finish at the Grand Lodge, Susan France offered me pizza and checked me in with a time of 39 hours and 35 minutes. While I was a little discouraged not to have made up any time on the second day, I was happy to have the last piece of PBP qualification out of the way.

Now I’ve got three months to get this knee thing figured out!

More pictures from the ride are here on Flickr.

"Asta y la Vistas" conquer 2011 Flèche NW

2011-05-15T23:06:00.001-07:00

Last year’s (2010) NW Flèche with Marcelo Napolitano, Ed Groth, and Theo Roffe was fun, so much so, in fact, that when it came time to decide whether or not to do the event this year, there was a lot of interest. However, the 2011 version was scheduled the weekend before Oregon’s PBP-qualifying 600k, which thwarted some enthusiasm (unless the route was gonna be really flat and not a kilometer over the minimum 360).

A bigger challenge, though, would be designing a route. On my previous two flèches, I more-or-less tagged along on teams that Joshua Bryant or Marcelo had put together. But this time ‘round, it appeared to be my turn at route construction. I happened to be in Seattle in February when Ralph Nussbaum conducted a pre-flèche informational meeting. But I really didn’t get the impetus to design a route until hearing about Ed’s and Theo’s train ride home from the Three Capes 300k brevet in late March, during which they laughed themselves silly coming up with team names.

The deadline to register and submit a route was April 1st. I talked with Ralph and managed to get a few days extension, then burned some midnight oil designing a route from Beaverton, OR to Olympia, WA. I thought it would be interesting to go inland (as we had gone to the coast doing the Astoria/Raymond thing last year). By inland, I was thinking east of I-5. Ed and Theo seemed to concur. So I put together a route that headed up into rugged hills northeast of Vancouver and Camas, WA, and then later wound through unmarked roads in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. (By unmarked, I mean the Google Maps showed their existence, but didn’t name them.)

Fortunately, I did two all-night reconnaissance drives that resulted in major route revisions. On the first, I found the roads in the rugged hills NE of Camas passable (before they descended to Yacolt), but they were gravelly and steep … probably not the best combination for riding at night towards Olympia. On the second drive (on which Ed accompanied me), we nearly got stuck on snow-banked fire, logging and 4WD roads northeast of Cougar, WA. Again, not good terrain for spending the nocturnal hours of a long bicycle ride together. Several miles and hours later, we figured out that roughly paralleling I-5 between Woodland and Castle Rock would be unavoidable.

In the meantime, our team had grown to a quintet with the addition of riders Asta Chastain and David Parsons. In fact, Asta became our namesake. We would be called “Asta y la Vistas.”

toutle, wa (2), a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

The team met at my place in Beaverton on Friday afternoon (April 29th) in time for some homemade borscht, cookies (thank you Amy!), and a 5:00 PM departure. Ten miles later we were on the Springwater Corridor, another 15 and we were in East Vancouver, and at about sunset (58k into the ride) we arrived at the Fern Prairie Market on the outskirts of NE Camas.

Our next stop was at the Safeway in Battle Ground, WA, where we stocked up on enough supplies to weather a few hours of nocturnal riding. Yacolt was buttoned up by our midnight arrival time, so we took photos in front of the local barbershop to document our having been there.

yacolt proof, a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

Between Yacolt and Woodland, though, we encountered a lot of taxing rollers that weren’t apparent on Google Maps.

After Woodland, there was the predictably steep Green Mountain Road, a portion of which I walked. Ed’s and my homework made our early AM passage through Kelso relatively efficient. Then about 6 miles later, we hit Headquarters Rd…four miles of relentless uphill…on which I began to falter, and worry about making it to Olympia on time. It was on this road that Ed ended up pushing me quite a bit, thus increasing my speed from 4-5 mph to closer to 8. We were quite the two-barreled huffing-puffing machine. I was simultaneously humbled, and impressed by Ed’s gallant show of team-man-ship.

It was light by this time, but the five of us broke up a bit on the descent towards Toutle. After reconvening at that contrôle, we continued to the small town of Ethel, then headed northwest to Chehalis and the back roads of Centralia. After a stretching/food stop in Bucoda, we hit the Tenino-Yelm Rails-to-Trails bike path, upon which we were greeted by Carol Nussbaum and Amy Pieper, the roving secret contrôle operators.

secret controllers, a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

We arrived at the 22-hour contrôle in Yelm with a luxurious 45 minutes to kill, which got promptly eaten up by the most inefficient excuse for a restaurant I have ever encountered. But at 3:10 PM, we were back on the road again, with what we thought was plenty of time for our arrival in Olympia.

Unfortunately, our Google-Maps-influenced route took us on many segments of a “Woodland Trail” in and around Lacey. We took just enough wrong turns and were confused enough to make our arrival at the Red Lion Inn really tight! The take away from the last two hours: “Know your end game.” (or pre-ride that section).

After a difficult final ascent to the hotel from Olympia proper, we were greeted by Robin Pieper, quite a few other randonneurs, and plenty of beer!

finished (2), a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

David then immediately headed to the train station (for a same-day return to Portland), while Ed, Theo, Asta and I checked in to the hotel, ordered pizza, took our showers, and promptly fell asleep.

Brunch was served to the eleven teams the next morning. We saw maps of everyone’s route, listened to everyone’s stories, and were grateful that our route didn’t encounter a disorderly car rally on remote rural gravel roads. We ended up getting a couple awards, including “Lowball” (shortest distance closest to 360k), 2nd place “Drunkard” (most circuitous), 2nd “Youngest” (average age), and 2nd “Largest Spread” (I’m 31 years older than Asta). We also managed to compress the 3rd most elevation gain in our Lowball distance.

The four of us rode about 9 miles to the Olympia/Lacey Amtrak station after brunch on Sunday, and reminisced on the excellent event on the train ride home.

‘Twas lot of work to put the route together; a lot of work to ride those hills; and a lot of work for the Nussbaums to organize. But it was worth it. Excellent camaraderie, not only within our team, but with the other participants as well.

My photos of the flèche are here on Flickr.

Eden's Gate 400k (2011 version)

2011-04-23T11:35:00.001-07:00

400k isn’t really my distance (on a bicycle) … at least not at this time. While I have never DNF’d that distance, I have been the last finisher or co-finisher on all five 400k’s ridden prior to last Saturday (April 16). It’s a weird distance that feels disproportionally longer than 300k. On the longer 600k distance, there’s usually a rest/sleep stop near the middle. But the 400k generally goes straight through. Tough on those who haven’t gotten full night’s sleep beforehand.

On my previous encounter with the Eden’s Gate 400k (in May of last year), I simultaneously PR’d and co-lanterne-rouged. This year, though, I did neither, even though my finish time was very close to the time of my very first 400k ever, the “Covered Bridges’ back in May 2007.

Here’s my 400k history:

~ May 2007, Covered Bridges 400k, 24 hr, 50 min
~ May 2008, Three Passes 400k (SIR), 26 hr, 52 min
~ August 2009, Alsea Falls 400k (ORR), 26 hr, 30 min
~ May 2010, Eden’s Gate 400k (ORR), 23 hr, 28 min
~ October 2010, Columbia River Run 400k (SIR), 23 hr, 59 min
~ May 2011, Eden’s Gate 400k (ORR), 24 hr, 45 min

I could tell at the outset of this year’s Eden’s Gate 400k that I wasn’t setting any land speed records. My thighs and knees were sore at the very beginning. My 100k splits neared the 6-hour range. (I have managed two 200k’s and one 300k with 5-hour 100k splits, but they’re rare.) And it rained ALL afternoon.

About 40 riders started out from Wilsonville well before sunrise (a number having come down from Seattle). Within one hour I came across a bunch of them standing at Meridian and Whiskey Hill Roads (East of Hubbard). In their midst was Jennifer Chang (a consistently cheerful randonneur from Seattle), who had been hit by a car. Fortunately, she was talking coherently, and her limbs moving. Seeing how she was getting plenty of care and attention, I eventually moved on, to the accompaniment of distant sirens. The incident, though, provoked a sort of melancholy pause for much of the ride. So I was glad to learn later she’ll be fine … badly bruised … but okay … as her helmet and bike took most of the brunt.

david, a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

Early in the ride, my rear fender started rattling. (It had been quiet during the previous two brevets.) When I got to Sublimity, though (by which time the rattling had gotten really loud), I discovered the fender had broken in two, severed right behind the upper mounting bolt. I purchased some shoestring and duct tape from the local convenience store, and did what I could to mitigate the noise coming from the rear half. It kinda worked for most of the rest of the ride (till about the last 40 miles, from Salem on).

I rode mostly solo from Stayton to Scio, surviving the steep rollers of Cole School Road and passing through the Schimanek Covered Bridge. Once in Scio, I opted for the local coffee shop, where the “barrista” hadn’t heard of an espresso macchiato per se. (Silly me, did I think this was Portland? Or Italy?)

For much of the rest of the ride, I saw quite a bit of Joel Metz, Lesli Larson, Sarah Tripodi, David Parsons, and Kevin Brightbill, plus some of Lynne Fitzsimmons and Michal Young. Typically, they would all arrive at each covered bridge or contrôle ahead of me, at which point I would catch up. This happened in Sweet Home, Mohawk Post, Harrisburg, and then again later on (with Joel, Leslie, Sarah, and David) in Independence and Salem.

hoffman covered bridge, a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

At the very wet Mohawk Post contrôle (about half way into the ride), Jeffrey Arrasmith and Holden Hughart arrived just as I was leaving. I had spotted the afore-mentioned septet (J, L, S, D, K, L & M) about 20 minutes, and found them 24 miles later in Harrisburg. One bag of corn chips later, we all (except for Kevin) headed out on very smooth Peoria Road (the smoothness placating my patched rear fender). This was the segment on which I felt strongest. Lynne and Michal eventually dropped off, while the remaining five of us continued through Albany to a shopping center off of Springhill Road. The shopping center was all buttoned up for the night, so we just ate from our stashes at an outside table.

After pulling ahead, Joel, Lesli, David and Sarah were leaving Independence as I checked in at a local ATM. Eleven miles later, I caught up with them on the outskirts of Salem, then once again they took off ahead. Fourteen miles after Salem, the four of them missed the right turn onto Keene Rd. After making their correction, they passed me somewhere around Arbor Grove or Butteville Roads. By this time, I had more-or-less run out of gas. Plus my rear fender had gotten annoyingly noisy again.

At 5:45 AM (24 ¾ hours after the start) I arrived at the finish in Wilsonville, where Susan France and Amy greeted me in the hotel lobby. Amy drove me home afterwards, noting later that I fell asleep about three times while trying to text my status update to Facebook.

Aside from the fender issue, the Ahearne itself worked fine. The wider and more upright bars seem to help upper body tension issues (particularly after 300k).

And now the 600k, coming up on May 7th. Why did I sign up for the Flèche Northwest between then and now?

(Pictures here on Flickr)

Three Capes 300k

2011-04-14T20:22:00.001-07:00

My 5th annual ride of the 3 Capes 300k occurred on the 26th of March. Even though I have finished all five of ‘em, each attempt has produced a much different result:

 2007: 16 hours, 41 minutes
 2008: 19 hours, 5 minutes
 2009: 17 hours, 55 minutes
 2010: 14 hours, 53 minutes
 2011: 15 hours, 50 minutes

This year’s 2011 edition started familiarly enough … Westbound in pre-dawn Forest Grove. I stayed up with some faster riders (a number of them from Seattle) out to Stringtown Rd, but once again fell off their pace up Gales Creek Rd. I was passed by a few more riders going up to Timber Road, but didn’t dawdle at the turnaround contrôle. Ascending up the Wilson River Hwy took longer that I anticipated. And then I struggled on the long descent to Tillamook. Last year I was able to catch John Kramer’s and Mike Richeson’s wheels during that segment, but this year I couldn’t keep up with anyone, and was in fact passed by about a half dozen riders.

Once in Tillamook, I made relatively quick work of the contrôle at the Shell station (less time-consuming than Safeway), opting to eat a micro-waved burrito on the run rather than waiting in the store for it to cool.

clara at the coast, a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

I heard it was rainy in Portland that day. The Oregon coast, however, was only intermittently drizzly, and actually quite pleasant. It was my Ahearne’s first trip to the Pacific Ocean, and she did quite well.

‘Round Netarts I rode some with PPB veteran Joel Metz, then closer to Pacific City I was joined by Lesli, Sarah, and John Henry. They eventually pulled ahead, and by the time I arrived at the Stimulus Espresso Shop, a long time-sucking line had formed between them and me. I forged ahead (falling down in the sand on Pacific City’s main drag), and once again did the quicker Shell Mini-mart contrôle thing.

leslie, sarah, john henry, a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

On Little Nestuca River Road, I enjoyed the company of Seattle Randonneur Noel Howes (riding a pretty 650b Belinky), then forged on ahead to Sheridan before stopping for fuel (which included some Muscle Milk … closest thing there to Ensure). Stopped to take a picture at the Ballston contrôle of three faster riders (John Henry, Tim and Bruce) who had a real good paceline going. Then my last stop (before the finish) was at my favorite porta-potty in Dayton, where I added a layer of clothing and reflective gear.

Again, last year I was able to catch a wheel (of a nice SIR rider) almost all the way from Sheridan to Forest Grove. But this year, it was all solo. Soreness in my left knee kept me from pushing very hard. But I did keep pedaling, and managed to finish well under 16 hours. Only about one hour of that time was off the bike.

My photos from the ride are here on Flickr.

Birkie 200k Report (2011 Edition)

2011-03-18T09:21:00.001-07:00

The Oregon Randonneurs regularly put on the “Birkie 200k” near the beginning of each season. The organizer(s) change(s) from year to year, the refreshments at the first contrôle in Vernonia vary a bit, and the weather is inconsistent at best. But the route always stays the same: Forest Grove – Vernonia – Birkenfeld (via a detour to Keasey Rd) – Vernonia – Forest Grove. This year’s version was my 5th Birkie. Last year I pre-rode and organized. This year (on March 12th) RBA Susan France did all the hosting duties.

There seemed to be a little more “energy” this time ‘round, perhaps because it’s a PBP year, with a corresponding number of riders you might not see otherwise. But what made this ride special for me was that my coach decided to come along. Mr. Brian Abers is not a randonneur. In fact, his email address has the word “kilomonster” in it, with no reference to multiple k’s or anything of the sort. His main bases of operation are the gym and the velodrome. Nonetheless, he was determined to get a firmer grasp on the nuances of long-distance cycling. Thus, he signed up, joined RUSA, and rode 200k with me.

The weather this year was a bit on the wet side … not oppressively so … but wet enough that Brian was wringing out his gloves after the first 36 miles to Vernonia. I was wearing a pair of SmartWool liners underneath mine, so that while my hands were wet, they were still warm enough, and I could still reinsert my fingers into the gloves as needed. In addition, I happened to bring a backup pair just in case the first pair got unmanageably wet. I gave those gloves to Brian for the remainder of the ride. Evidently, they did the trick.

Abers cruisin' a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

I was able to give Brian a running commentary about various riders and bikes along the way. “Oh, there’s Ed. He rode out to the start from St. Johns; last year he rode his cargo bike out here and served everyone fresh French press coffee in ceramic mugs.” Or “There’s Joshua. He built that nice traditional-looking bike with 650b wheels.” After Vernonia, we rode with PBP veteran Joel Metz for a while, listening to his 2003 PBP hallucination stories about being chased by dinosaurs. And a few miles out from Birkenfeld, “Oh, that must be Ken Bonner. He came down from Vancouver, Canada. He’s really fast.” (Of course, Brian’s really fast, too, but on a very different playing field.)

After a couple small purchases at the Birkenfeld General Store, Brian and I headed back along the river-hugging Nehalem Hwy towards Vernonia. As we approached the town, we agreed stopping at the Black Bear Café would be prudent. Inside, Joshua B., Michael J, and a few others were seated down for a proper lunch. After a couple futile attempts at using Brian’s and Joshua’s phones (I had left mine, complete with un-memorized phone numbers and email addresses, at the start in Forest Grove) and two cups of cappuccino, we were on the road again. The temperature in Vernonia at this time was 46 degrees, only 6 degrees warmer than four hours earlier.

Brian and I tagged along with Joshua’s and Michael’s group for a while on Timber Road. This was probably the most pleasant part of the ride, particularly when the sun finally came out. The group gave some nice protection from the wind, and also offered some nice eye candy (in particular, Jeff Moore’s new Ira Ryan). It seems as though more and more randonneurs are investing in beautiful purpose-built bikes.

A Rare Dry Moment a photo by franco650b on Flickr (used with permission)

At some point on Timber Road, Joshua and his group momentarily pulled over while Brian and I forged ahead. We caught up with Mike Richeson of West Seattle, with whom we hop-scotched the rest of the way back to Forest Grove. Brian was quicker up the hills around Timber than me, or more accurately, he was physically unable to ascend as slowly as me. But aside from the hills and a few pulls, Brian was basically on my wheel the whole 200k. (He’s really good at that.)

We made relatively quick work of the Glenwood contrôle on Hwy 6 (as did Joshua’s and Michael’s group a few minutes later). Then it was Gales Creek Rd back to Forest Grove. Brian and I shared pulls for the last dozen miles, with Mike R. in our wake. According to Brian, I really pushed hard for the last 3 or 4 miles. Guess I could smell McMenamins Grande Lodge, and on some level, knew exactly how much energy there was to expend. Brian would say later that I was spinning fine, but that he had to resort to mashing a bigger gear in order to maintain speed on that last leg.

Cards signed, ride done (in 9 hours, 50 minutes), bikes put away, it was time for beer, food, and an assessment. In the McMenamins bar, Brian shared some good observations, notably with regard to my shifting, the way I approach hills, and my tendency to periodically surge.

As it turns out, this was my fastest 200k, and only my second one under 10 hours. (Actually, I did a 213k out of Olympia, WA last July in 9 hours, 54 minutes. So that one’s average speed was slightly higher.) If Brian hadn’t come along though, I’m sure my time on this Birkie 200k would have been significantly more.

And the reason for this madness? I wanna finish PBP! Preferably with some sleep! And also without the hallucinations of last June’s OBM1000k.

More pictures here on Flickr
Lynne's report
Lesli's pictures
John Henry's report
Tom Quinones's report

lanterne rouge in the dirt

2011-03-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

I first heard about the Dalles Mountain 60-miler (which happened on March 5th) from Ed Groth, who was organizing carpools and sleepovers for this fire-road-populated cycling event about 90 miles East of Portland. But if I was gonna do it, it would be spontaneously. After all, with hernia repair recovery going slower than anticipated, and a “Bike Tattoo Day” (put on by my cycling team) supposedly happening the same day, my options were staying open.

Well, “Bike Tattoo Day” got cancelled, and the hernia irritations were being mitigated by ibuprofen. So I managed to get my ‘cross bike somewhat prepped and out to The Dalles in time for the 9:00 start. The only thing I neglected was swapping the 32mm slicks for some cyclocross tires.

announcements a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

The Dalles Mountain 60 was put on by VeloDirt, apparently a loosely organized trio of Portlanders who like to ride their bicycles on dirt roads throughout the rural Northwest. What I mean by loosely is that there was no sign-in sheet and no registration at the local coffee shop in The Dalles from whence the ride started. However, there was a riders’ meeting to describe various aspects of the route, and there was a stack of cue sheets pre-stuffed into plastic baggies!

In addition to Ed, some other people I knew at the start were his friend Steph (who didn’t ride this event), Theo (a randonneuring fleche teammate last year along with Ed), Rob A. (another friend of Ed’s who I’ve rando-ed with), and Nathan (the trainer with Brian’s House of Pain, where I work out). ‘Twas looking like quite a diverse group of riders, most of whom I didn't know.

After crossing the Columbia and heading East on Washington State Hwy 14, the route turned up Dalles Mountain Road, which was the first big gravel road climb of the day. I had fallen behind most of the riders a few miles up when my rear tire flatted. Local Portland bike builder Rob Tsunehiro and a friend stopped to make sure I was okay. Sure wish I’d taken a picture of his bicycle with a really nice front rack and headlight mount. Farther up the rode, a rider on a Salsa ‘cross bike had broken his rear derailleur, and was fixin’ to coast/limp back to The Dalles.

rob tsunehiro a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

If I was slower than the others uphill, I was much slower on the rutty, muddy downhills. I’m sure those wide-ish slicks didn’t help. Ed later noted that the while the roadies had a speed advantage going uphill (cuz of lighter weight), the mounting bikers could descend considerably faster. Meanwhile, my descents on the muddy roads were super cautious and hardly any faster than my ascents.

Things flattened out on the back side of the mountain, and after a combination of some more gravel and pavement, I turned onto Hwy 97. A few riders (including Rob T.) were doing a return chug back up Mary Hill Loop Road, having found the road closed further down because of an un-forecasted car event. I joined these riders on the descent down Hwy 97 to the Shell station near Hwy 14. At this refueling break, I bought batteries for my camera and was able to take my first pictures since the start in The Dalles.

In anticipation to the possibility that Mary Hill Loop might be closed, there were alternate directions from Hwy 97 on the cue sheet that directed riders East out to Stonehenge Dr. But none of the riders that I left with from the Shell station went that way. Instead, they flew down Gore Rd. for a shorter trip to the bridge crossing into Biggs.

I, on the other hand, visited Washington’s version of Stonehenge for the first time. It’s a miniature version of prehistoric monument found in England, and built as a memorial to World War I casualties. The road from there is also a nice descent to Maryhill, then Biggs Junction.

end of old moody rd a photo by tangocyclist on Flickr.

The next gravely ascent was up Old Moody Rd, which starts where the Deschutes River runs into the Columbia. There were sections where I was barely able to keep pedaling. But pedal I did, until able to coast down to Fifteen Mile Rd. From there, it was mostly rural pavement all the way back to The Dalles.

At 4:00 PM I arrived at the coffee shop from where the ride started. There were no other cyclists, nor cyclists’ cars, nor evidence of any cyclists having been there … except for one passerby who asked me, “Was there some bicycling event going on here earlier today?”

On the drive home, I stopped half way in Stevenson, WA at the Walking Man Brewing, where I was serenaded by bagpipers during a well-lubricated dinner.

More photos are here on Flickr.

Grab Bag 200k, + Ahearne Update

2011-02-23T16:45:00.001-08:00

The first weekend in February would be my first attempt at a 200k since the hernia repair surgery 9 ½ weeks earlier. It would also be Clara’s (the Ahearne's) first brevet.

I joined probably three dozen other cyclists in the pre-dawn hours of February 5th in Newberg. Some of them would ride 300k (on 3 different loops starting and ending at the local Travelodge). But most of us were content to ride “only” 200k.

The route started out in a northwest direction. I managed to stay up with some fairly fast company for about 10 miles (till around Patricia Green Cellars on North Valley Road), but then faded to a more customary pace the rest of the way to Forest Grove. I missed one turn in FG (didn’t recognize Main St at the

maggie's
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

appropriate time), and ended up riding a bonus mile or two. But it was still early enough for Maggie’s Buns not to be too busy. Considering all the food I packed (the Acorn Rando Bag has more capacity than what I’m used to), I bought only an Odwalla smoothie, mixing most of it with the orange juice/Emergen-C in one of my water bottles.

Rode much of the next section to Sherwood with Lonnie Wolff (from Utah, with family in Oregon), and listened to some of his PBP stories. At one point, my front wheel started to wobble, and I discovered the skewer had come loose. Lonnie forged ahead while I investigated a few new noises on my bike.

barista
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

Once in "downtown" Sherwood, I was happy to find a new Sesame Donuts. Evidently, they’ve expanded their family business from Raleigh Hills to Tigard and Sherwood. (They still do all their baking in Raleigh Hills.) I was particularly delighted when the guy behind the counter made an authentic Italian espresso macchiato. This made for a rather extended break in the ride, as there were also riders to talk with, and pictures to take.

The hilly rural roads between Sherwood and Newberg were new to me. And steep. The lower gears of the bike seemed to help, though, as I actually passed a couple riders heading up Kruger and Chapman Roads. After stopping for another photo session at the cemetery at the top, I headed back to Newberg and tried to make relatively quick work of the half-way contrôle.

Back out on the route, I rode quite a bit again with Lonnie Wolff. Turns out we have common interests in motorbikes as well as pedal-bikes. We chatted for most of the way to Gun Club Road (past Lafayette) until my fender started rattling so much that I got off the bike in order to inspect things. Couldn’t find anything, but boy did coarser pavement make things noisy. It was about this time that I also discovered the wire from the front generator hub had severed. Not good! This meant I would have to hustle for the rest of the route in order to get back to Newberg before dark.

This part of the ride in the countryside around McMinnville was new to me. I saw signs for quite a few unfamiliar wineries. [Note to self: Must return here with pinot-friend Barbara.]

greg & taylor
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

There was another contrôle at Muddy Valley Road, where I was caught by late starter but speedy Greg Olson. We rode to Sheridan together, got our cards signed at the local Dairy Queen, then started back towards Newberg. Once on Bellevue-Hopewell Hwy, Greg offered to stay with me so I could see once it got dark. But by now it looked as though I would make it back by dusk. And if I didn’t, I could just wait for someone with lights. I bade Greg farewell, and he sped away on the remainder of his 300k ride.

Worked pretty hard through the debris-strewn shoulder of Highway 99, made it through Dundee, and then finally reached Newberg (still able to see…barely).

Marcello and Kathy had tasty lasagna, hot soup, and cold sodas waiting at the finish. Very nice indeed. But what I was really craving was … a beer. A nice craft brew. For the last half hour of so. Nonetheless, I partook of Kathy’s excellent food, then considered stopping at Max’s Fanno Creek Brewpub in Tigard on the way home. But by the time I passed through there my craving had abated, so I ended up driving the additional 10 minutes straight home.

I dropped off Clara with the mechanic the next day. When he finally had a chance to look at her, he commented “you pretty much shook loose all of the fender and rack fasteners, I’m now concerned about the type of blue loc-tite I’ve been using…you are riding the hell out of your bike!... you shook it up real good…Also, how many miles have you logged on your bike so far?”

The answer: 423.

A few more pictures from the ride are here on Flickr.

Ahearne

2011-01-31T23:01:00.000-08:00

first day
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

On December 9th (2010), I took delivery on a new handmade bicycle, one made by Joseph Ahearne here in Portland. I had been on a wait list for a couple of years. It could have been longer, except that I wanted it by the beginning of 2011 in order to prepare for Paris-Brest-Paris (which happens in August). Joseph was interested enough in having one of his bikes in PBP that he agreed.

Joseph actually started the build in September, after I was fitted by the well-known Michael Sylvester. Joseph didn’t cut the tubes until Michael sent him dimensions. This bike was to be built for comfort, made entirely of steel, with randonneuring in mind. I wanted the bike to be durable and stable (not twitchy), carry a front bag, but also be as light and fast as all those other long-distance considerations would allow.

The bike acquired a name (and gender, I suppose) during the build. I chose the name “Clara,” after pianist Clara Schumann, wife of Robert Schumann, and friend of Johannes Brahms. Clara Schumann, besides basically being the breadwinner of her family (though her concertizing), also mothered eight children. She also championed Robert’s music after he passed away, which probably contributed to his eventual and long term fame.

Ironically, my relatively spontaneous hernia repair surgery was scheduled during the month Clara was finished. That made the actual delivery (nine days after surgery) oddly surreal, anticlimactic, and ultimately frustrating. Recovery took longer than I was hoping, so that while the bike was pleasant to look at, I was only able to ride it about 24 miles during the first month.

video drop-off
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

After a follow-up fitting with Michael Sylvester, I returned the bike for a new shorter handlebar stem. (Evidently, the Campy levers pushed my hand position out farther than calculated.) My first “real” ride on the bike was 25 days after initial delivery, when I rode from Joseph’s shop in close-in North Portland out to Movie Madness (on SE Belmont…returning a holiday video), then all the way back home.

Clara is my first bike with Campagnolo shifters. So while they feel great, they still take getting used to. But I love the little thumb levers for shifting to smaller gears, plus the absence of cables sticking out perpendicularly from the shifters.

I anticipate that Clara will take some growing into. I trust she’ll be comfortable in the long term (as I’m not particularly confident of my body’s ability to know that based on here-and-now comfort).

I rode Clara about 280 miles in January, the most significant day being a 58-miler, part of which included a 47-minute time trial ‘round Sauvie Island. (Yes, I removed the Acorn front bag for that part.) I’m still not up-to-speed after so much time away from cycling. But hopefully that will change.

My Ahearne photo set is here on Flickr.
Joseph's pictures of the bike are here on Flickr

hernia repair

2010-12-30T17:41:00.000-08:00

For several years doctors had expressed concern about my hernia. But I never had it looked into … that is until the last week in November (right before Thanksgiving). Around that time I felt some minor discomfort in the lower abdominal area, and finally decided to follow up on my doc’s referral.

Presented with my cycling plans for Summer 2011, the hernia specialist convinced me to schedule surgery sooner than later. I had to weigh completing a 3rd consecutive R-12 (36 straight months of cycling a 200k or longer event) against minimizing problems that could arise ‘round PBP time (1200 km from Paris to Brest and back next August). I opted for the latter, and scheduled the “hernia repair surgery” on December 1.

The surgeon made it sound like no big deal. Minimally invasive “bilateral laparoscopic” is what he called the procedure, and I was under the impression I’d be back to my old biking self by the end of the month. When a nurse called later with specifics about the operation, and asked “You have scheduled time off work, haven’t you?,” I got the first hint that this was bigger, more time-consuming deal that initially envisioned. The bigger-deal-ness was confirmed when I was later told that I would need to be driven home from the hospital afterwards, and that I should have someone stay overnight during my first evening at home.

before surgery
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

Three good friends (Amy, Cynthia, and Megan), all of whom have busy lives of their own, ended up playing tag team in order for someone to be with me throughout the procedure, plus the first night at home. I originally planned to bicycle to the hospital, but instead just biked to work, from where Amy picked me up and drove to St. Vincent’s Hospital. Check in took a while, as did preparations for the surgery. Amy was still there as they put me under. And when I came to (a couple hours later), there was Cynthia, prepared to load me in her car.

preparing to leave
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

“Coming to” (in the more complete sense) didn’t happen quickly, though. So it was still a few more hours before I could be stood up and walked to the car. In fact, by the time I was released, Amy had returned to the hospital, and took me home.

It was painful to get in and out of bed, and in and out of a car. Other than that, I was basically okay, as long as I didn’t lift anything. After a couple days of Vicoden, I switched to Advil and Ibuprofen, which I continued to stay on for quite a while, especially after Laurel Leverton convinced me that it was important to control was inflammation in order for healing to occur. I returned to host the Sunday tango practica on December 5th (but only as host and DJ, as Megan taught the lesson), and to work on Monday the 6th. I tried bike-commuting to work about a week later, but the lower right abdomen felt a little funky afterwards. Many nurse-type friends put the fear of God into me about not aggravating things prematurely, saying that the messiest procedure is often the second surgery, to repair a first one not taken care of.

a tradition continues
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

During the last third of December, five family members visited me for the holidays. I still had to take care with lifting and such, although I managed to bring home a Christmas tree via Xtracycle. Total cycling mileage for the month was less than a mere 14, though. So the consecutive monthly 200k randonneuring ride streak ended at 35. And the healing process looked to be closer to six weeks rather than three.

Skyline-Vernonia-Scappoose 200k

2010-11-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

Come November, I was basically done with big rides for the year. But I still was looking for a 200k to keep my 3rd R-12 in tact. I thought about riding an SIR permanent out of Centrailia, but when Ed Groth expressed interest in joining me if the ride started close in, I selected the Skyline-Vernonia route that starts in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland.

After posting my intentions on the Oregon Randonneurs e-list to do this ride on Saturday the 13th , Lynne Fitzsimmons and David Parsons joined up. Lynne lives close to me, and offered to drive me to the start. Riding to her home sounded easier than riding and/or taking the Max, so I accepted. When the two of us arrived at Starbucks in St. Johns, Ed, David, and Ed's friend Adam were already there. Departure time was scheduled for 7:00, but is was closer to 7:25 and quite drizzly when we actually left.

riders writing
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

The route ascends through Portland's Washington Park on the way to Skyline Blvd., and then goes over to Old Cornelius Pass Rd. I was feeling a bit on the sluggish side and lost sight of the other riders between Helvetia and North Plains. But we regrouped at Maggie's in Forest Grove.

On Timber Road on the way to Vernonia, Adam and Ed discoved an abandonned ATM machine below the side of the road. Adam actually took the time to call the 800 number on the machine, found out that the Southern California bank it belonged to wasn't interested, and then discovered the machine had already been gone through. In the meantime, Lynne, David, and I forged on through the drizzle.

21st & main
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

After lunch at Black Bear Coffee in Vernonia, we continued over to the Scappoose-Vernonia Hwy, which ascends for most of nine miles before heading back down to Hwy 30. David, Lynne, and I lost track of Ed and Adam at this point, and did our nocturnal exploration of the farmlands between Scappoose and Sauvie Island as a trio. Back on Highway 30, we found Ed while warming up at a local Texaco station, and trusted that Adam found his own way back. (Adam wasn't doing the ride for rando credit.)

The four of us were headed back on Highway 30 at a pretty good clip when my rear tire started to soften. While Ed, Lynne, and David forged ahead, I stood up in the pedals for the last five or so miles to lessen the weight in back, thus avoiding changing a tire in the rain, and losing only a few minutes of time to the other three.

After celebrating strong rides all around, and the completion of my 35th consecutive 200k or greater monthly rando ride, Lynne drove me home ... and in the process ... got her first tour of my place on the westside.

Took a few pictures that are here on Flickr.

Columbia River Run 400k (Oct 2010)

2010-10-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Super Seattle Randonneur Geoff Swarts organized a couple of late-season 400k brevets out of Wenatchee for October 22nd and 23rd that peaked my interest. The first reason they got my attention was there would be new territory to see. But more significantly, if I finished another 400k this season, that would mean having completed the equivalent of two Super Randonneur series (in addition to the Oregon Blue Mountains 1000k) during the 2010 season, something that I didn’t think was in the realm of possibility a couple months earlier.

The first 400k was called the Eastern Washington Loop, and would leave East Wenatchee at 12:01 AM on Friday the 22nd, heading out to George, Lind, Ritzville, Odessa, Ephrata, and back. The second 400k was called the Columbia River Run, and would go from East Wenatchee up to Tonasket and back, leaving at 6:00 AM on Saturday the 23rd. I thought this pair of rides was a brilliant idea for anyone in the market for 800k with a proper night’s sleep in the middle.

But I was only in the market for 400k, and the latter suited my schedule better. Susan Otcenas was also interested in riding 400k, as she hadn’t done that particular distance yet this year. Also, the 23rd was her birthday, and what better way to spend it than pedaling your new Sweetpea for 250 miles.

Susan and I tentatively agreed to carpool. But a few days before the ride, I got a most interesting conflict … the opportunity to pick some grapes up at Syncline Winery near Lyle, WA on Friday morning. After Susan and her partner Jeff agreed to pick me up in Goldendale on the way to Wenatchee later that day, the extra little gig was on! (Harvesting grapes has always been on my wish list, and this was a serendipitous opportunity.)

syrah
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

So on Friday morning, I took an extra half day off work and headed up to Syncline to lend a hand in picking syrah grapes. After a couple hours of filling buckets, we were treated to an informative tour of the facilities by winemaker and founder James Mantone.

From there, I drove to Goldendale (via Centerville, on the route I missed during the Bikenfest 200k earlier in the month). I checked with the Goldendale Chamber of Commerce for a safe place to leave my car, then established phone contact with Susan and Jeff just before they arrived. After loading my LeMond, Jeff drove the remaining 2 ½ hours up to Wenatchee.

The three of us checked in at the “East Wenatchee Inn at the River,” then were joined by Geoff Swarts and Lyn Gill at a local Mexican restaurant. It was then off to sleep before the 6:00 AM start.

lake chelan
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

There were a grand total of eleven riders at the start, and within one mile we had crossed the Columbia River on a pedestrian/bike bridge. I kept up pretty well with other riders for about 20 miles (till around the town of Entiat), then I started to fade on the Navarre Coulee Rd grade up to Lake Chelan. Vincent Muoneke started on the slow side (as he was experiencing tendonitis after the previous day’s 400k), then passed me shortly after the first contrôle on Lakeshore Dr. The rest of the ride (except for the last 5 miles) would be solo.

linear trees
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

After Pateros, I was truly in new territory, as the Northern Cascades 600k route six weeks earlier turned off at this point towards Twisp and Winthrop. This time, though, I was riding along the varying Northern geographies of the Columbia and Okanogan Rivers. Kind of desert-like, but well-irrigated desert. (Agriculture’s big up here.) After Brewster, I stopped for some warm protein at the KFC in Omak. Twenty-three miles later, I arrived at the turnaround town of Tonasket (which is almost spittin’ distance to the Canadian border). From that town’s Shell station, I texted the following to my Facebook friends:

     in Tonasket, WA with 2 1/2 hours in the bank.
     215k down. 185k left back to Wenatchee.
     No leisurely riders on this 400k, so it looks
     like another lanterne rouge at this distance.
     Left hamstring/quad/thigh is pretty sore.
     A lot of time in smaller gears.

nocturnal whirring
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

The return trip took some slightly different (as in quieter) roads between Omak and Brewster, but still essentially parallel to the Okanogan River. It got dark well before Omak, and started to rain around Brewster. South of Pateros (before Hwy 97 crossed the Columbia) there was a State Patrol Officer detouring traffic because of a prior fatal accident. The officer waved me through, and by the time I arrived “at the scene,” the last barricades were being removed.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the ride happened well after the town of Orando, about 5 miles from the finish. There was a quasi-familiar car pulled over to the side of the highway with its flashers on. Nothing registered initially, but I finally figured out that the driver calling me over was Jeff Mendenhall. Turns out Susan was in the car. At first, I thought they had driven out along the route to see how I was doing. (Quite unnecessary, I thought!) Then Susan asked me if I wanted company for the rest of the ride. What I didn’t realize was that Susan had seriously bonked a couple hours earlier (to the point of nausea), and that Vincent had called Jeff to drive out, warm her up and revive her. By now she was ready to continue the ride, and my late arrival on the scene gave her the final impetus to finish it off.

jeff and susan
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

The two of us rolled into the East Wentachee Inn at the River at 5:59 AM, one minute under 24 hours. Jeff greeted (or re-greeted) Susan with a small birthday cake he had bought in Leavenworth (and pedaled back with). Both Susan and I finished later than anticipated. I could reason that two 600k’s within the previous six weeks had slowed me down. But Susan’s experience was clearly more scary and dramatic.

I’m glad to have done that ride, and completed two “super randonneurs” for the year. And I’m really grateful for Susan’s and Jeff’s lift from Goldendale to Wenatchee and back. Also, many thanks to Mr. Swarts as well for putting this ride together. I don’t know how those monster-mileage SIR guys do it.

Pictures are here on Flickr.

Pacific Coast Hwy 600k

2010-10-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

For some reason near the end of September, I got a bug in my head to ride another 600k this season. And lo and behold, after a little researching, I discovered the PCH Randos out of California were putting on just such a ride. It would take place on October 9-10, and head southwards from Salinas to Moorpark via the Pacific Coast Highway.

This ride became particularly intriguing because it was an opportunity to bicycle on some fabulous roads that I had only ridden by motorcycle decades earlier. It would also be an opportunity to hang with some of my family, whom I hadn't seen in a few years.

It took some planning to make this happen. But thanks to some flexibility in my sister's and niece's schedules, the travel logistics came together rather nicely (particularly if one doesn't mind spending a lot of time on I-5).

I drove down to my sister Bunny's home in Vallejo, CA on Thursday, October 7th. My niece Melissa happened to be in Vallejo as well, and the two of us drove down to the Salinas the next day. We checked into the motel from where the 600k would commence, and found Jim Verheul already there. He had bicycled up from Orange County!, which means he would cycle

riders meeting
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

a PBP-length 1200k or so by the time the weekend was over.

Bunny drove down to meet Melissa and me in Salinas for dinner later that evening. The two of them then witnessed 34 of us cyclists taking off in the wee dark hours of the next (Saturday) morning.

dawn over the coast
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

The whole of the Monterey-Salinas Hwy was dark, as was the town of Carmel. But by the time we had a few miles of the Cabrillo Hwy underneath us, a beautiful dawn over the Pacific Ocean emerged. The first contrôle was in Big Sur, where my stop coincided with that of an English gentleman named Terry, who had come up from Running Springs (in the San Berandino Mtns.) to ride this 600k. Thirty five miles later in the coastal hamlet of Gorda, PCH Rando volunteer Patricia Thompson "manned" contrôle #2. From there it was seventy-some-odd miles of beautiful California coast to San Luis Obispo. On the way, I made a brief stop in Ragged Point (near San Simeon and Hearst Castle) for some overpriced refreshments.

The San Luis Obispo contrôle was at the home of a gentleman named Lance (not Armstrong, although he was in a Mellow Johnny's yellow t-shirt). Excellent spread! Real food! Then onwards to the overnight in Lompoc (via Pismo Beach and Guadalupe). I rode much of the dark part of this stretch with recumbant rider Dana Lieberman and one other gentleman. Once in Lompoc, we elected to ride the next segment, a 50-mile nocturnal loop to Buelton and back, before konking out for a not-long-enough nap at the Motel 6.

mel
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

One interesting rider I got to know a bit was Mel Cutler of Century City, CA. (I worked for a couple years in Century City back in the 80's.) He bike commutes down to Hawthorne, and was astonished to hear that one of the things I was most looking forward to in California was having an In-N-Out Burger. Well, he passed me on the Sunday morning ascent out of Lompoc (having gotten more sleep than me), but not before we managed to get a little more chatting in.

taken while riding
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

Once over the Gaviota grade and onto Hwy 101 (El Camino Real), it was onwards to Santa Barbara. This was perhaps the most sentimental part of the ride, as the route passed through Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Montecito, which is where I spent two Summers at the Music Academy of the West, back in the '70's (and a few seasons commuting to the Santa Barbara Symphony a decade later). Ah the beaches! The art fairs! And the memories!

at long last
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

Lotsa little bike trails leaving Santa Barbara County. I stopped for coffee in Carpinteria, then proceeded on new-to-me Rincon Rd. Back on Hwy 101. About 12 miles of beachside freeway later, I arrived at the Bicentianl Bike Path, which took us into Ventura. Hmmm. Lotsa construction. Lotsa confusion about how to exit and continue on the path. I had to ask directions how to get to Harbor Blvd. But in the meantime, I found an In-N-Out Burger establishment, right there in Ventura! Great meal!

Upon leaving Ventura for Oxnard, though, I was mis-directed way beyond Gonzales Road (where I should have turned left towards Oxnard proper), and ended up with a 10-bonus-mile detour beyond Channel Islands Blvd.

finish in moorpark
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

Once back on Gonzales Rd, and having gotten a receipt at the penaltemult contrôle (a Texaco station on Ventura Rd in Oxnard), there were about 40 ascending kilometers left along Pleasant Valley and Santa Rosa Roads before the finish in Moorpark. I pushed it fairly hard for the last couple hours, arriving at Lisa and Greg Jones' home at 8:36 PM, with a finishing time of 39 hours and 36 minutes. With only 24 minutes to spare, I was about 10 minutes in front of lanterne rouge Vickie Backman.

I had phoned my sister Bunny from Ventura to tell her I'd be arriving by 7:30 PM, but had to call her again from Oxnard after my 10-mile mistake. She was at the finish to greet me, as was long distance Orange County finisher Jim Verheul, who was about to embark on an additional 80-mile ride home.

After some delicious pizza and refreshments at Greg's and Lisa's, Bunny drove me to my niece Melissa's home (in Sylmar), where a mini-family reunion of sorts commenced with my sisters Meredith and Bunny, nieces Tiffany and Melissa, and Tiffany's husband Alex. We even made plans to get together again, during the Christmas holidays, at my place in Oregon!

I think the most astonishing thing about the PCH 600k was to be reminded how undeveloped the rugged California coast is. Hwy 1 between Carmel and San Simeon has to be one of the most stunning roads in the country.

Many thanks to Greg and Lisa Jones and the rest of the PCH Randonneurs for organizing this.

Lotsa pictures of the PCH 600k are here on Flickr.

Bikenfest 200k (2010 version)

2010-10-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

I like John Kramer’s Bikenfest 200k. He changes it up a bit every October. This year (on the 2nd), it started at the Heritage Park-and-Ride near White Salmon (on the Washington side of the Hood River Bridge).

Unfortunately, I was already running late when I missed the turn onto the bridge from Hwy 84. (Confusing signage due to construction.) So after driving a few extra miles to Mosier and back, I started the 200k about 20 minutes after everyone else.

The route headed East on Hwy 14, where, after a few miles, I found Nat Beagley walking along the side of the road looking for a pedal. Hmmm. The roadside was doing an excellent job of hiding this fallen-off bike part.

Onwards, the route headed up Old Hwy 8 and used Syncline Winery (one of my favorites!) as its first contrôle. (How cool was that?) Then back to Hwy 14, I missed the turn out of Lyle towards Centerville, and mistakenly rode Hwy 142 up the Klickitat River instead. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this until I was over 20 miles up the road. I was ready to abandon (and head straight to Glenwood) when I saw a sign that said 11 miles to Goldendale. “Hmmm,” I thought. “If I hustle, I can still make it before the contrôle closes.” And that's just what I did, arriving just as the last of the other riders were leaving. With three extra bonus miles cuz of my mistake, I called John to let him know where I was, then continued the journey towards Glenwood.

sweetpeas in trout lake
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

I passed half a dozen riders on the next segment, then met up with Ray Ogilvie, Lynne Fitzsimmons, Susan Otcenas, and Scott Peterson in Glenwood. ‘Twas the first time I’d seen Scott on a diamond-framed bike. I rode mostly with Lynne and Susan to Trout Lake, then after a few pictures of their beautiful Sweetpeas, I took advantage of momentum and continued onto White Salmon alone.

I rode some of the final leg with Alaskan Bill Estes and his son Theodore Eugenis (who lives here in Oregon), and reached the finish a little before Lynne and Susan. Lynne was particularly enthusiastic at the end, exclaiming, “it’s still light!”

Kramer said I may be the only one who’s ridden all four Bikenfest 200’s. A little research seems to have born that out.

Pictures are here on Flickr.

Woodburn-Heartburn 150k

2010-09-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

Near the end of September, it looked like I was getting pretty close to 5000 rando kilometers for the year (for which RUSA gives out medals of recognition). In fact I figured I'd be 150 kilometers short if I kept doing a monthly 200k for the remainder of the year. Hence, I decided to ride the "Woodburn Heartbun 150k" on September 25 from Forest Grove to Woodburn and back.

It's a nice distance that's not commonly done ... longer than a populaire ... but shorter than the monthly requirement for an R-12. Since I managed to complete the SIR Northern Cascades 600k earlier in the month, 150k seemed just the ticket, especially since it included a number of close-in roads I hadn't been on before.

unharvested guy wires
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

I left the McMennanmin's Grand Lodge in Forest Grove at 8:30, and proceeded down foggy yet familiar Spring Hill and North Valley Roads. Made a brief coffee stop in Newberg, then proceeded on Champoeg, Butteville and Crosby Roads towards Woodburn. Stopped to get a few pictures of freshly-harvested hop fields before crossing I-5, then headed directly to the far (East) side of Woodburn for a contrôle receipt at a local bank ATM. I then returned to Woodburn's quaintish "downtown" area lined with a large variety of small Mexican eating establishments (quite a contrast to the Factory Stores along I-5). I surmised it was probably here that this 150k acquired its "heartburn" moniker. I ate relatively lightly, though (soda and an fish taco), before heading back towards the start.

menu in woodburn
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

I had to backtrack a mile or so to correctly answer the contrôle question along Butteville Road, then proceeded to Wilsonville, where the route used the I-5 bridge to cross the Willamette River. From there, a newish (to me) selection of back roads took me to Sherwood. Crossing Hwy 99 and then onto Roy Rodgers Road, I was now back on relatively familiar territory ... except that I missed the left turn onto SR 210 (Scholls Ferry Rd), because there was no Hwy 210 sign. Once over Bull Mountain and onto Farmington Road, territory once again became again familiar (Rood Bridge, Burkhalter, Tongue, Golf Course, Lafollett and Geiger Roads) for the trek back to Forest Grove.

Once at McMennamin's Grand Lodge, I purchased a bottle of Hammerhead Ale (for the final contrôle receipt), which I enjoyed that evening with a lovely Amy-prepared meal.

Half a dozen photos from the ride are here on Flickr.

North Cascades 600k

2010-09-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

I initially planned to ride Michael Wolfe’s "Willamette Headwaters" 600k in late August, and was very much looking forward to it (even though i knew it wouldn’t be easy). But a conflict came up. A conflict called the OBRA Masters Track Championships. Now I’m not a "velodrome jock." But I do spend a fair amount of time at the Alpenrose track. And my coach is a track jock. And he wanted me to do this event.

Enter a 600k option from the Seattle Randonneurs, a mountainous ride starting and ending in Arlington, WA two weeks later (september 10-11). Joshua bryant’s friend Robert Higdon was putting it on. And even though it would involve a bit of a drive, the route would introduce me to some significant new territory (a good thing).

Ed Groth expressed interest in riding this 600k as well, so the two of us ended up carpooling to Seattle the day before the ride, and onwards to Arlington the morning of.

The ride commenced from the Arlington Motor Inn before sunrise, and headed East and Southeast towards Sultan. I fell off the pace of the main group (as it were) about 10-15 miles in (‘round Granite Falls), then proceeded to miss a turn onto Bollenbaugh Hill Road (around mile 32) which cost me about 5 bonus miles.

eastbound summit
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

A lovely feature of this ride was the use of Old Highway 2 up to Stevens Pass. Robert, wife Jane, and friends Chris and Emily operated at a secret contole at the first turn onto this scenic and lightly traveled bypass. A footbridge further up ensured there was little car traffic. Upon reaching the summit, I texted to Facebook that "Stevens Pass (elev 4061 ft) hasn't gotten any easier! Leavenworth here I come!"

Leavenworth (34 miles past the Stevens Pass summit) has now become a familiar controle town, complete with cutsey signage on even the mainstream businesses. Once again, I ate and had my card signed at Subway and its adjoining convenience store.

Just before hitting Wenatchee, the route headed North along the West bank of the Columbia River on Alt Hwy 97. Now I was in new territory!, heading towards Entiat as the sun ducked behind the mountains on the left. Several hours later (but before 11:00 PM), I arrived at the controle in Pateros (fabulously manned by Joe Platzner and Vincent Muoneke) with over four hours in the bank. I then proceeded on the noctural journey towards mecca...no...I mean Winthrop.

early morning breakfast cooks
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

I was still dark when I arrived at the overnight controle, but the cooks had already switched over from chili to pancakes. There was still some of the former left, though, so that's what I ate before a crucial two-hour nap. By the time I left Sunday morning, I had used up three of my four precious hours ... 1/2 hour on dinner, 1/2 hour on breakfast, and the rest in bed. None of that time would be made up on the second day.

westbound summit
Originally uploaded by tangocyclist

After a gentle climb out of Winthrop, the last 16 miles up Highway 2 to Washington Pass were ... well ... long. Any spring I may have had in my pedal stroke the day before all but vanished. But eventually, the summit arrived. And with it, rain. Steady rain. For most of the way to Marblemount. No fast descents for this country boy!

The town of Newhalem arrived later than anticipated, as did the controle in Marblemount (after some ups and downs along the Skagit River). But now, Arlington was less than 100k away.

I stocked up on caffeine at a convenience store in Darrington (first cell connection since Pateros), then found the energy to "hoof it" the last 28 miles to Arlington. Arrived at the motel at 8:59 in the evening, one hour and one minute before the 40-hour deadline, and eight minutes before the laterne rouge. Was checked in by cheery Chris and Emily (in a motel room full of pizza), and greeted by Ed (who finished an hour and a half earlier).

Without lingering terribly long, Ed and I drove back to my friend Barbara's house in Seattle, where we were fed a lovely steak dinner. We rode a few warm-down laps around Greenlake the next morning, then drove the rest of the way back to Portland.

Thanks to Robert Higdon for organizing this memorable 600k, and to the SIR for this opportunity to complete a "super randonneur" series in 2010.

Pictures are here on Flickr.

RSVP 2010

2010-08-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

The 2010 “Ride from Seattle to Vancouver (BC) & Party,” (August 13-14) like many of this year’s longer bike trips, came rather quickly. Oh sure I pre-registered sometime last Winter (it’s a popular ride that sells out quickly), but then a lot of stuff pushed its way to the front of my consciousness, leaving preparations for RSVP to hibernate till a couple days before the ride.

And then I freaked out. How am I gonna get back to Seattle? How am I gonna get my bike back to Seattle? Will I be able to find a place to sleep in Bellingham?

When going through my packet a day and a half before the ride (which had languished under a pile of paperwork for a couple of weeks), I discovered a bike pass for the trip back to Seattle. Whew! As for the overnight in Bellingham, I’d take my chances. Fortunately, the overnight stay in Vancouver wouldn’t be a problem, as I have some accommodating tango friends there.

Unpreparedness extended to the morning of the first day, when I didn’t get out of Portland till 4:00 AM. I arrived at the start in Magnusun Park in Seattle a few minutes before check-in closed, dropped off my overnight bag, then unloaded my bike and suited up for the ride.

Much of the early part of the ride is along the Seattle’s Burke-Gilman trail. I didn’t linger much, but was still passed by quite a few riders. Hmmm. A bunch of hares, I suppose.

lynne's new sweetpea
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

My first real stop was in Arlington (about 50 miles into the ride), where I found Cecil and Lynne lunching at a healthy food café … with (of course) their shiny Sweetpeas right behind them. This was my first time to see Lynne’s new rando bike, and (of course) I pulled my camera out for its first pictures of the journey.

About 40 miles later, while stocking up on liquids and pizza in Bow, I ran into randonneur Nat Beagley and a couple of his friends from Richland, WA. The headwinds that greeted us as we headed North towards Chuckanut Dr. and Bellingham were memorable.

Nat, Jason and Brian
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

It was along this stretch that my rear tire flatted. I had a heck of a time getting the bead of the Gatorskin back over my fairly new Velocity Fusion rim.

I ran into another randonneur, Albert Meerscheidt of Seattle, at the Samish Bay overlook. Had to stop for a couple pictures there.

One needn’t have worried about housing in Bellingham … that is if one doesn’t mind a room with a lot of residual smoke. In my case, I adjusted quickly, falling asleep shortly after an efficient Mexican dinner, and departed not that long after sunrise.

A bi-annual trip across the Canadian border accounts for all my “international” travel of the last four years. Northbound customs at the Aldergrove Broder Crossing was a breeze, mostly because of preparations made by the Cascade Bicycle Club. Show your passport. Get your name checked off a list. You’re good to go!

modern bridge
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

After the fairly lengthy rest stop in Ft. Langley (it was hot), the route took us over a new, modern bridge over the Pitt River that replaced the Albion Ferry. Continuing on, it was a bit of a trudge to Burnaby (perhaps cuz I didn’t stop at the rest area in Pt. Moody). The Frances/Union Bike route then provided a good quasi-suburban transition into Vancouver proper.

cheers!
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Once at the finish (at Vancouver’s Coast Plaza Hotel), I doused the complementary hamburger with an expensive (but ordinary) beer, then was picked up by tango friend Wendy and taken to the Granville Island brewery (recommended by Canadian track cyclist Jamie Shankland). Then after a shower and power nap, it was off to a tango dinner/dance in North Vancouver.

Bike and I got safely onto the first bus back to Seattle Sunday morning. Southbound customs back into the States took a lot more time than the previous day’s Northbound crossing. The rest of the trip, though, was mostly (and pleasantly) uneventful. Almost forgot to pick up my drop bag at Magnuson Park, though, before driving home.

Good ride. Maybe I’ll do it every other year. I find Vancouver intriguing. Plus, there are some good friends who tango there.

My pictures from the ride are here on Flickr

3 Volcanoes 300k

2010-08-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

I had a choice for the first weekend in August: ride 400k out of Wilsonville on a route that featured some of Oregon's illustrious historic covered bridges (a route I had ridden a few months earlier), or ride 300 mountainous kilometers on roads through the Gifford National Forest that I had never seen. As someone who doesn't even like to drink the same beer twice in a row, I chose the latter.

The "Three Volcanoes 300k" started in the small town of Packwood, WA (about a 2.5 hour drive from Portland), which serves as a gateway of sorts into the Cascades (about 50 miles south of Mt. Rainier). The ride featured many narrow-ish, scenic national forest roads, and about 10 miles of gravel. Because of this last detail, I elected to take my 'cross bike, which accommodates wider tires than my LeMond. The last time I rode a cyclocross bike on a rando ride was Michael Wolfe's "Alsea Falls 400k" about a year earlier. (After that ride, my Shimano generator hub was converted for use with my LeMond.) On this ride, I used my old Nite Sun battery-powered handlebar-mounted light, which turned out to be problematic on the final mountainous descent of the ride.

Amy Peiper put out an email a couple days before the ride that a cabin room in Packwood became unexpectedly available before and after the ride. Four others and I signed up, and I drove up from Portland pretty much straight from work on Friday afternoon/evening. 'Twas nice to wake up in the town from which the ride commenced.

chris, john, & david
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

From the local Shell station, the ride started out briskly enough, with plenty o' pacelines from Packwood to Randle. Things spread apart a bit after the first contrôle, (at the Iron Creek Picnic Grounds), but I ended up riding the next 15 or so miles with the likes of Chris Heg, John Perch, David Rowe and Jon Muellner.

congregation
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

After watering up at the Blue Lake Creek Campground, I rode solo for most of the remainder of the ascent to Baby Shoe Pass, which included a fair amount of gravel for the last 5 or 6 miles. At the summit, I arrived at about the same time as bike builder Dan Boxer, but before I left, several other people arrived (as evidenced by this group picture).

A few more miles of gravel on the descent, then some fast pavement to Trout Lake. Lotsa riders stopped here for Huckleberry Shakes (which included a long wait), but I elected for a shorter contrôle stop at the Trout Lake grocery store (as did Dan Fender).

fueling up before the last big climb
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The next section included section of Kramer's SxSW 200k (that was held in July 2009). Some hills, some drops, a few spots of gravel, and finally a well-attended contrôle at Northwoods .

From there, the final ascent up to Windy Ridge and Elks Pass was challenging. And then there was the descent. A moist and foggy descent. My Nite-Sun didn’t illuminate things in a very confidence-inspiring way, and I ended up being passed by a few people on the way to Randle, including "Levis on Litespeed" Steven Barnes. After the right-turn-onto-smaller-roads back towards Packwood, Steve started to fade a bit. The two of us basically finished at the same time with a far-from-lanterne-rouge time of 18 hrs and 15 minutes.

Three hundred kilometers, 12,000 feet of climbing, 10+ miles of gravel, and 3 passes over 4000 feet. What co-organizer and tandem pilot Amy Pieper later described as “truly the full meal deal of brevets.”

Some excellent photos and description of the ride were posted here by Chris Heg.

John Muellner has a detailed account here.

The rest of my pictures are here on Flickr.

A tale of two rando rides [out of Olympia, Washington]

2010-07-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

100k (July 8, 2010)

When Paul (Dr. Codfish) Johnson described the Seattle International Randonneurs' populaire on July 8th as a good introduction for non-initiated friends to the sport of randonneuring, I thought, "Hmmmm. Maybe Amy could take her recently-acquired Surly Crosscheck on a 62-mile romp through central-Western Washington." Never mind her longest ride to date had been about 10 miles, and that she dislikes hills with a vengance. At least now she had a bike better suited to this sort of adventure than her garage-sale Huffy.

We arrived in Olympia on that Saturday morning just in time (sort of) for Paul's pre-ride announcements in the parking lot of Olympia's Fish Tale Brewery. Once the ride commenced, Amy and I promptly took our places "off the back" from stream of 40-some-odd riders. A few early rollers had Amy wondering if this was really a good idea.

cookies in rainier, wa
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The first contrôle was in the small, smelly town of Rainier. WA. Amy and I got our brevet cards signed at a little cookie shop (the shop was small, not the cookies), and Amy considered hanging out there for the rest of the day while I would continue to the finish, then go to fetch her. But fortunately, she continued on instead.

This 100k ride was relatively flat (especially by SIR standards), but the ensuing hills did not agree with Amy's respertory system. It was like an athsma attack would happen every time the road angled upwards
.

encouragement ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The half-way point was at the Skookumchuck River dam, where John Vincent and Millison Fambles manned the controle. Amy was hoping to catch a ride from one of them back to Olympia, but instead they encouraged her to continue, saying the worst of the hills were over. In the meantime, fashionably late starters Robert Higdon and Jane Hudson arrived!

Amy's actually a strong rider when the terrain is flat. And when she gave herself "permission" to walk her bike up hills, things went fine. We leapfrogged Robert and Jane, then donned "Cyclos Escargot" jerseys at the Scott Lake Store contrôle (~10 miles from the end). We took off before Robert and Jane, thereby making it likely they would receive "lanterne rouge" honors.

robert and jane
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Nice welcoming crew outside the Fish Tale Brewery. Amy ended up pleased that she stuck with it through the end. 'Twas quite an accomplishment for her first rando adventure. In retrospect, I wished I had ridden a fixie (as Robert did), but of course didn't think of it in time.

200k (July 22, 2010)

The brevet two weeks later also started in downtown Olympia, in nearby Sentenial Park, and headed almost due South. I was able to latch onto some relatively fast pacelines most of the way to Centralia (averaging nearly 18 mph!), and didn't linger long at the first controle. The route continued on Alpha-Centralia Road (which was also part of the SIR 600 route 14 months earlier), then South to Mayfield Lake and Mossyrock.

don and elaine ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

By that time, my average speed had crept down to 16 mph (still good by my standards). Warm weather created a large demand for ice there at that mid-way controle. From there, the route continued back West-Southwest to a rural-intersection info contrôle, then up to Chehalis, Centralia, and finally Olympia. I rode mostly solo for the remainder of the brevet. And even though my average speed continued to decline, I kept pushing. I wanted to break the 10-hour barrier for the first time on a 200k, which was made more difficult, not only by the heat, but by the fact that this ride was actually 213 kilometers (which I didn't realize till North of Centralia). It was also made more difficult by leg cramps that occured around 90 miles and again 110 miles. After walking them out and then continuing, I finally arrived at the Fish Tale Brewery. "Did I make single digit hours?," I asked organizer Josh Morse. "Yes," was the answer. My time was 9 hours and 57 minutes. Average speed: 13.5 mph.

Seems like I'm doing a lot of Seattle International Randonneurs rides lately instead of ones put on by the Oregon Randonneurs. Trust me, it's just timing and scheduling (juggling work, tango and velodrome events). But it also means that my next 300k and 600k will happen North of the state border.

Rest of my SIR 100k Populaire photos are here on Flickr.
Rest of my SIR 200k Brevet photos are here on Flickr.

rough around the edges

2010-07-12T21:00:00.001-07:00

A report on my first 6-Day races at Alpenrose

About a month or so ago at the local velodrome, I naively asked my cycling coach (who primarily works with track racers) if there was gonna be a novice category for the upcoming Alpenrose 6-Day races. (The centerpiece of the 6-day is the madison, a two-person-team event that involves hand/arm slinging your partner around the 45-degree banked turns of the track on alternating laps.) Rather than give me the concise and later-obvious answer of “No,” Brian offered to be my partner.

After a couple sessions of practicing madison exchanges, we showed up (along with 12 other teams) at the Alpenrose Velodrome on Monday evening, June 28th for the 1st day madison pursuits. These timed pursuits (with two teams on the track at a time) established a ranking which was used to group riders into categories. As it turns out, there was an A group (fast boys with qualifying times within seconds of each other), a B group (all of them faster than me), and a Women’s group (all 8 ladies students of Brian). That evening’s pursuits were followed by the week’s first madison. We survived! … cleanly making most of our exchanges. And I went home thinking that Brian was going way beyond the call of duty as a coach.

cat B exchange
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The 2nd night of the 6-Day started with a couple omnium events for each group before their respective madisons. One of the races for the B’s was “point a lap”, which is really not my thing … racing against 9 other faster guys who are motivated to finish each lap as quickly as possible. I remember yelling up to Jen Featheringill (who was in the stands) something about not knowing what I was doing here, and she’s said “You’re there to suck wheel!” During that evening’s B madison, I remember being passed on the inside by one of the Godfrey brothers on the final approach to the finish line. ‘Twas kinda like being on an L.A. freeway.

The 3rd night was kinda like the 2nd … two mass-start races for each group before the final madison. For the first two races, I basically tried to simultaneously go fast while staying out of people’s way. And during the madison, there was one time when I was in a crowd of multiple exchanges that felt a bit dicey. But things basically went okay.

Nights 4 and 5 (July 1st and 2nd) were rained out, so Saturday’s start time was pushed up an hour so racing could begin with an additional (and rather memorable) morning madison. About 3 or 4 laps into that first “B” race, my front tire slipped in turn one, and I was suddenly down. Not only that, 3 other riders fell as well, including my coach. Whistles blew, and I somehow moved (too quickly, according to Luciano Bailey) to the infield, not knowing if I was okay or not. Turns out all my limbs still worked. Brian, however, had a messy broken finger, for which he stayed amazingly un-phased (even smiling at times) while it was treated. My turn in the medic’s chair was next, and I more-or-less assumed that my 6-Day was over. (Everything I thought was “more-or-less” at that point.) After my more obvious abrasions were treated, Bike Central mechanic Dean came over and told me my bike was ready to roll. I asked him how damaged it was, and he said all I needed to know was that it was rolling straight and ready to go. What I learned later is that Brian had asked Dean to put a new rear wheel on my bike, cuz he wanted me back on the track. This also meant that Brian would be riding again, as I sure as heck wasn’t gonna be doing the final 45-minute madison without him.

Turns out my helmet was cracked, so I borrowed team-member Emily Charbonneau’s for the next B group (mass-start) race. Don’t remember what kind of race it was, except that it was a relatively short one of 10 laps.

And then the final madison … this one 45 minutes long! Brian and I finished, although during it we had to alter our exchanges so that I pulled on Brian’s left wrist rather than his hand. I missed a couple of exchanges, but was most bummed on the two laps when Brian took off like a bat-out-of-hell (he is a master sprinter) and I wasn’t ready in time for the subsequent exchanges.

Brian was amazingly upbeat and cheery through the whole day’s events, even though I knew he was riding (and coaching) though considerable pain. He’s gotta be the most tough-as-nails guy I know. But on top of that, he’s also always strategizing and thinking big-picture.

post race conversation
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Brian’s assessment while cooling down after our last race was that I was “a bit rough around the edges”, but that I did well. About the crash, he said that I was probably going a little slow in turn one, and that when I made a little steering correction, the wheel slipped. At the end of the day (after the A group’s final one-hour madison), Brian asked what I thought about the 6-Day, but then quickly added that it would probably take a week of processing to come up with an answer. Well, that was nine days ago, and I’m still not sure. I do know that the 6-Day became as big a deal as the 1000k rando ride three weeks earlier, even though it’s at the total opposite end of the cycling spectrum.

Another memorable impression from the 6-Day is how kind and encouraging several of the B riders were afterwards. Of those, Eric Nachtrab of Portland Bicycle Studio was particularly friendly all week long.

Brian had said earlier that one always comes out of a 6-Day a better rider than before. I hope that’s true. But I also know by bike handling skills still have a lot of room for improvement (as does my still under-powered motor).

As I write this, the bruise on my left waist and hip area is still sizable, and the abrasions on my right side fairly sore. But getting in and out of a car (or in and out of bed) is finally getting easier. Ironically, pedaling hasn't been a problem. In fact, a leisurely 100k ride last Saturday felt just fine.

Big congratulations go to teammates Camille Hook, Heather VanValkenburg, and Zak Kovalcik for impressively winning their respective categories at the 6-Day races.

More photos by my friends Amy and Michael from the last day of the 6-Day are here on Flickr.

Oregon Blue Mountains 1000k Ride Report

2010-06-21T21:38:00.001-07:00

I finished. All 622 mountainous miles ... with 13 minutes to spare. Don't really have words to describe the range of emotions and sensations experienced in this 74-hour 47-minute ordeal. But among them is a sense of relief that Paris-Brest-Paris may actually be feasible next year.

Prior to this ride, I failed to write about my previous two significant brevets. Before last month, I documented every randonneuring event I've ridden since the Desert Rivers 600k back in September, 2008 (which has meant a report at least every month since then). But recently, I’ve been so involved with moving, housewarming, continued unpacking, and busy-ness at work that blogging has taken a back seat. But in this report, I'll play catch up, by dedicating a paragraph each to the previous two brevets.

Eden's Gate 400k on May 1st was a pleasant if not headwindy tour of the Willamette Valley and several of its covered bridges.

gallon house bridge control
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

It started and ended in Wilsonville. Initially, I had plans of significantly improving my time for this awkward distance. As it turns out, I did set a PR, but simultaneously "lanterne rouged" it (with three others) as well. I was doing okay mid-ride (which means while not setting any self-powered land speed records, I was still tracking for a decent time), leapfrogging some with Dan Jensen and his friend Richard Hornung. I then joined a pretty good paceline near the southern-most point (around Coburn), but then flatted. In Harrisburg, I caught up with Dan, Richard, and Amy Pieper. We had some pretty good pacelines heading up into Albany (with Dan doing most of the pulling). After Albany, Amy's stamina began to falter, and we slowed down momentarily to walking speed to recover. Around Salem, we were passed by other groups of riders, but by then our quartet had formed enough camaraderie that it seemed best to ride with them to the end. We finished what Amy called “the most difficult easy 400k she’s ever done” with a time of 23:28.

The Oregon Coast 600k on May 22-23 was really nice (if not hillier than expected), at least the 2/3 of it I did. The main pack pulled away fairly quickly not far from the start in Forest Grove. Nevertheless, I felt like my pace was pretty good through Birkenfield and Warrentown.

narrow passage through bridge
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

When I flatted (twice!) near Ft. Stevens State Park, I was a little surprised how quickly Roger and Ali (from BC) and Narayan caught me. My flat-changing skills still not being up to snuff, I was quickly put in the position of fighting the clock. And in case you're wondering, Highway 101 between Seaside and Lincoln City isn’t flat. By the time I got to the overnight contrôle (at 6:00 AM), my average speed had decreased to the point where I had no time in the bank. Nevertheless, I continued along the attractive Siletz River to Logsdon. But because I was continuing to lose time, and with a significant hill in the distance, I decided to call it quits. Then while continuing at a very slow meander, organizer Joshua Bryant drove past (directly witnessing my disappointment). As soon as he got a cell phone signal, he called my friend Amy to pick me up in Blodgett. The disappointment of dnf’ing lasted a few days. But in retrospect, maybe it wasn’t all bad. Maybe the conserved energy helped three weeks later with the OBM1000k.

June 12th seemed to arrive rather quickly, so much so that I didn’t obsess much about the upcoming Oregon Blue Mountains 1000k. I had pre-registered in early Spring, and had for quite some time established it as my main goal for the 2010 season. But it wasn’t like I spent a lot of time analyzing the route and becoming familiar with the details. Sure, I printed out the 36,000-ft net gain elevation profile, but those lines don’t mean the same thing on paper as they do when you’re on the bike.

blown apart rim
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The day before embarking on this potential 75-hour adventure, I took the LeMond into my LBS for a final once over. Lo and behold, when refilling the rear tire with air, the rim blew! (The walls of the rim had become excessively thin from a lot of braking.) So, I embarked on this particular rando journey with a hastily borrowed (and noisy) rear wheel from the Beaverton Bike N Hike. Hey … it worked!

My friend Amy drove me out to The Dalles on Saturday morning, getting us there within a half hour of the start. Once the ride was underway, most of the riders hung together through The Dalles, but began to separate on the Hwy 197 bridge over the River Columbia. Eastbound Highway 14 out towards Umatilla didn’t have the favorable tailwinds that swiftly pushed the riders of the Desert Rivers 600k 21 months earlier. Nonetheless, the first 200 kilometers were mostly free of the hills that defined the remaining 800k.

I intermittently rode with a couple other riders during the course of the 3-plus-day brevet, but hop-scotched Peg Winczewski and Lesli Larson for almost the entire event. The two of them tended to climb a little faster than me, but they also tended to take slightly longer food breaks at the contrôles. What was most remarkable about them, though, was their unflappable steadiness despite never accumulating a lot of time in the bank. If they were ever concerned about not finishing in time, I would have certainly never guessed it.

lesli and peg
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The first major climb was Eastwards on Hwy 204 out of Weston, and lasted about 30k (19 miles) to the summit in Tollgate. Prior to this climb, Peg, Lesli and I had stopped for dinner at a café in Athena. I arrived and left there a little before the two of them, assuming they would catch me on the long ascent. While the sun was setting (and afterwards) during the climb, I would occasionally hear Peg’s and Lesli’s voices approaching from behind. But surprisingly, I arrived at the contrôle at the top before them. There at the Tamarack Inn volunteers served warm soup and made-to-order sandwiches before sending us out on a long dark 35k (22-mile) descent to Elgin.

The next contrôle was 33k (20 miles) after Elgin on the outskirts of La Grande. What was remarkable about this major Eastern Oregon town was the amount of major pre-dawn freight train activity. I must have waited for or ridden along 3 different 100-plus-railcar trains in my brief stint there.

Dawn and a very beautiful sunrise occurred in the rolling hills between the contrôle in Union and “overnight” stop in North Powder. After a few pieces of pizza at the North Powder Motel, Paul Whitney steered me to a room for a 90-minute nap. By the time I was up and about, there were Peg and Lesli again, having breakfast.

Jim Hinkley passed me going South on Hwy 30 to Baker City. I drafted him a little bit, but that was short-lived. Baker City was hosting a rather large Harley-Davidson convention during the weekend. In fact, every motorcyclist in Eastern Oregon appeared to be out on the road on this particularly bright and dry Sunday afternoon.

The next series of serious hills happened on the Sumpter State Hwy between Baker City and Prairie City. John Kramer marked the elevations of the summits on his route sheet (5118 ft, 5117 ft, 5268 ft), so I had some “fun” (as it were) with knowing how much vertical ascent I had left on any particular climb (with help from Garmin’s altimeter function). Between the 2nd and 3rd passes was a contrôle at the Austin House, where Alan Woods was departing at about the same time Lesli and Peg settled down for a proper meal. I purchased only a milkshake, and after pouring much of it in one of my water bottles, headed to the 3rd summit (this one on Hwy 26), then Prairie City.

I missed Logan Valley Road out of Prairie City, and instead took an extension of what was marked as Bridge St. (which zigzags out of town, and which I understood “ran into” Logan Valley Rd.). This unfortunately cost me an extra 11 kilometers. But it cost Alan Woods a lot more, who independently made the same wrong turn 20+ minutes earlier. Alan was understandably perturbed. I was thankful, though, that he saved me from further bonus miles. With somewhat diminished enthusiasm, the two of us rode together 15 miles up to Trout Farm, a nice little campground with fresh water and the cleanest non-porta-potties I have ever seen. While doing a wardrobe change, Lesli and Peg caught up with us. The four of us then continued together to the next summit (5,950 ft) and onward an additonal 15 miles to the contrôle at Parish Cabin Campground. Well, actually, I lost Alan, Peg, and Lesli about a dozen miles shy of the campground, their taillights disappearing into the distance. This section of the journey was unexpectedly difficult, and was where I came closest in the whole 3+ days to abandoning. My bike suddenly felt very ill-fitted (I’ve had the fitting on my LeMond fine-tuned three times!), and I ended up walking up a couple of the rollers on the way to the campground. I finally got there with 5 minutes before the contrôle was scheduled to close, about 15 minutes behind Alan, Peg, and Lesli. There I plopped down next to a campfire and was fed a warm cup-o’-noodles and 1 ½ sandwiches. Alan thankfully had some ibuprofen that he shared with me, so that when we finally left, I was relatively good to go.

Alan was anxious to get going (a little more so than Lesli and Peg), but he was also concerned about my safety. He accompanied me during the entire 28-mile descent to John Day, during which we were able to make up considerable time (despite the darkness and the cattleguards). Once on Highway 26 (heading westwards), Alan took off at his own pace, and was napping in Scott Peterson’s van at the Dayville contrôle when I arrived. Once Alan left, I took over his space in the van. Peg and Lesli arrived a little later, and took naps in the pleasantly heated park restroom.

kole and vincent
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Thirty-eight miles later (after the scenic river-hugging John Day fossil beds) was the 2nd “overnight” contrôle … in Mitchell. But in that 38 miles was another summit that took me forever to climb. Peg and Lesli passed me while I stopped to remove some layers of clothing, and I never saw them again (until Mitchell). Once I arrived, the place was swarming with attendant volunteers (including speedy Kole Kanter, who obviously I’d heard of before, but had never met). The rooms in the Oregon Hotel in Mitchell are quite charming, and warrant a future visit … longer than the 90-minute nap that Vincent Muoneke woke me from.

girds creek rd
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Fueled and somewhat rested, I headed northwards towards scenic Girds Creek Rd. Lesli and Peg once again passed me during the ascent, and I passed them on the descent to the John Day River. Once on Rowe Creek Rd, they again passed me, and I would not see them again till Fossil. In the meantime, there was significantly more climbing, and a few miles of chip seal to deal with (problematic only during the descending portion).

Once in Fossil, Peg and Lesli were finishing lunch at a charming local café when I arrived. Rather than shorten my stay in order to hang on with them, I elected to have a proper sit-down burger. The benefit was I got relatively well-fueled. The downside was I’d be riding solo (as lanterne rouge) all the way to Antelope.

Six miles out of Fossil was the next summit (3,710 ft), up to which I steadily churned, followed by a long descent to the John Day River (again), this time at Clarno. The actual final approach to that river crossing was uphill, and happened during blinding sunset. On the far side of the bridge waited roving Paul “Dr. Codfish” Johnson, who had been busily offering valuable impromptu aid and encouragement to all the riders throughout the entire event.

This crossing of the John Day River was perhaps my most pivotal moment in the whole 1000k, as the next contrôle (in Antelope) was 15 miles away, the first 8 of those miles being literally straight uphill. Paul’s advice was to keep pedaling. My solution was to lessen the pressure on my handlebars (push on them rather than pull, thereby lessening the tension in my shoulders), and to find a cadence that I could steadily maintain for two hours. It meant not letting up for 120 minutes of ascent at a 4 mph pace. I didn’t even stop to turn on my lights until the summit, but rather switched on the helmet-mounted lights while pedaling. My legs (and palms) got sore during the last two miles, but I finally made it. After adding layers of clothing and reflective gear at the top, I descended into Antelope, where I found Dr. Codfish, Dave Read, Peg, Lesli, and some more warm soup!

From Antelope, I rode with Lesli and Peg to Shaniko, then to Bakeoven Road. On that infamous stretch of road, I fell behind the two of them, needing to eat something and rest. When I got going again, it wasn’t in a very determined way. In fact, what transpired was one of the most surreal and hallucinogenic experiences I’ve ever encountered on a bicycle. I had no way of telling where I was. For all I knew, I could have been in the middle of the Florida Keys surrounded by water … on some canopy-covered roadway. My headlights were playing tricks on me. I felt like I was operating a pedal-powered delivery cart, and I kept getting off the machine (my bike) every five minutes to make sure the road was still passable. How I kept going, I don’t know. The last thing on my mind was the brevet card in my back jersey pocket that needed to get signed in a place called Maupin.

Eventually (after a cold bit of eternity) Bakeoven Road turned and descended into Maupin, whereupon some energy and lucidity returned to my body. For some reason, though, I was expecting signage directing me to the contrôle, and didn’t realize how far I needed to ascend the other side of river to find it. So I wasted several trips back and forth over the bridge before I gave up, taking a picture of the Maupin City Park sign to prove my existence there. I called Dave Read with the intention of letting him know where I was (wasting more time looking for a cell signal), when he told me the contrôle was further up the road. When I finally found it, Ian Shopland and Alan Woods were leaving. Peg and Lesli would leave a few minutes later, and Dr. Codfish (who seemed very happy to see me) tried to get me to leave as soon as possible. But it wasn’t gonna happen until I downed a warm cup-o’-noodles. The order in which the five of us departed Maupin would determine the order in which we finished in The Dalles 46 ½ miles later.

The headwinds on the grade out of Maupin were worrisome, but The Dalles-California Hwy (US 197) finally flattened out into the Tygh Valley. Then the last big challenge, a 6-or-7-mile climb to Tygh Ridge, appeared as a swoopy ascending multi-lane asphalt ribbon with no immediate end in sight. I started to get woozy on the bike ‘round then, and quickly ingested a 2-ounce bottle of “5-hour Energy” that Dr. Codfish had given me way back around Clarno. That foul “sugar free – Only 4 calories” substance seemed to do the trick as I re-started pedaling up the grade. In fact, I actually spun pretty freely, and even managed to stand up in the pedals and mash it a few times (which I thought was remarkable after 71 hours).

The Eightmile Road turnoff from Hwy 197 occurred much later than I anticipated, though. Supplemental batteries weren’t recharging my Garmin properly (so it was turned off), and my Cateye Strada was set to the metric system. Basic math had become challenging at this point in the ride, and I was considerably worried that I had missed the “Easy to Miss!” turnoff. I even stopped to ask a couple highway workers where Eightmile Road was, and was quite surprised when they said 6 or 7 miles further.

Rural Eightmile Road is an exquisite way to approach The Dalles at the end of a journey such as this. And even with headwinds, I was no longer worried (short of a mechanical) of finishing in time. At the last contrôle (junction with Fifteenmile Road), I stopped to call Amy to see if she had the time and would be willing to drive out to The Dalles to pick me up. Turns out she was already in The Dalles, breakfasting at Dennys, and watching the previous four riders come in. I took it easy for the last five miles, even keeping an eye out for a store from which I could purchase a little symbolic red light bulb. No such luck, though. As I finally turned into Motel 6 parking lot, it was moving to see John Kramer, Dave Read, and “Dr. Codfish” so happy to see me.

Mark Thomas (a three time PBP veteran) told me afterwards in the motel room that this was harder than Paris-Brest-Paris. I think that’s encouraging, although I’ve decided that any ride in this league will be considerably more enjoyable if I can gain some more speed, thereby enabling longer naps.

This ride was memorable; I still get emotional just writing about it. It was also quite a feat of organization. Many thanks go out to John Kramer (who told me he probably drove the entire length of the route three times in preparation), Dave Read (who coordinated a terrific crew of volunteers), and Paul “Dr. Codfish” Johnson (whose timely acts of encouragement were invaluable). And while this ain’t the Academy Awards, I also want to thank Alan Woods for his Advil, his company from Parish Cabin to John Day, and his saving me from additional bonus miles outside Prairie City. I also want to acknowledge the steadfast cheerfulness of hopscotch partners Lesli Larson and Peg Winczewski. Thanks also go to coach Brian Abers for believing I could do this, even after DNF’ing the 600k three weeks earlier. And finally, to Amy for getting me out to The Dalles and back (thereby allowing me extra sleep in each direction!).

The rest of my pictures are here on Flickr.

Kramer has links to many other reports and pictures here on his blog.

Flèche NW Report

2010-04-30T01:49:00.001-07:00

It was during the preride of the Birkie 200 last month when Ray Ogilvie mentioned Marcello Napolitano’s intention to organize a flèche team to ride from Hillsboro, OR to Olympia, WA in mid-April. “Sure. I’m interested,” I told Ray.

Cycling-wise, a flèche is a 24-hour randonneuring team event of at least 360 km. Each team designs its own route, and they all finish at a common end point (in this case, Olympia, WA). Most of the teams in this year’s Flèche NW came from Seattle. (There were a dozen, I believe.) There was one team from British Columbia, and Marcello’s team from Oregon. And there was a mighty fine brunch at the finish where all the teams got together to share their experiences.

Ray ended up not riding after all. But fortunately, Ed Groth and Theo Roffe did, making Marcello’s team a compatible foursome that left Marcello’s home in Hillsboro at 7:00 AM on Saturday, the 17th. I had ridden over from Beaverton earlier that morning, and found Ed and Theo already having breakfast. They had in fact ridden over the previous evening and stayed overnight with the Napolitanos. It wasn’t until Marcello handed us our brevet cards (while I was digesting biscuits and gravy) that I discovered our team name was “Not All Who Wander Are Lost.” A true meanderer’s motto, I thought, appreciating not having been involved in the naming process (with my recent move, work, training, tango, and all that).

ed and marcello
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I was also not involved in route design, which suited me just fine. From Hillsboro, Marcello’s route headed to Forest Grove then continued on familiar Gales Creek and Timber Roads to Vernonia. The server at the rando-friendly Black Bear Café knew exactly what to do with our brevet cards without being asked.

The next section to Birkenfield went by unusually quickly.

headin' to astoria
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

From Birkenfield, Marcello initially intended to cross the Columbia River on the ferry between Clastskanie, OR and Kathlamet, WA. But because a lack of confidence in the Westport Ferry’s schedule and frequency this time of year, we instead rode West from Birkenfield over to Astoria.

Anyone who knows me knows I like good Northwest microbreweries. Well, there’s a reputable one in Astoria called Fort George.

a break in astoria
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

After some discussion with Marcello, Ed, and Theo along Highway 202 (and then figuring out its address and how to get there), we decided to do lunch at said Fort George Brewery. Even though Marcello isn’t into beer, he was happy to stop there, thereby potentially shortening the time we might have to spend in some small shut-down town in the middle of nowhere, WA at the 22-hour contrôle. Well, the beer was good … but the sausage that Marcello ordered, less so.

I was surprised how clean the 4-mile 2-lane Astoria-Megler Bridge was. Last time I traversed it (over 2 years prior in the other direction on the Clatskanie-Cape Disappointment 200k permanent), it was full of debris. Hubcaps and other miscellaneous stuff, mixed in with large caked-on tarry patches of gravel often pushed me out into the traffic lane. But this time ‘round, there were no issues. And boy is the mouth of the Columbia ever wide!

The Oregon portion of our journey was intermittently (and pleasantly) drizzly. But once we got to Naselle, (where Marcello flatted, then where lightness went away), the precipitation got more persistent. The next 30-some-odd miles up Highway 101 to Raymond seemed to go slowly, with lots of rollers, the tops of which offered glimpses of a thickly starry sky, and the bottoms of which descended into thick fog. The typical team scenario during this stretch was for Ed, Theo and me to pause at the top of a roller and wonder where Marcello was, only to have him speedily pass us on his recumbant trike during a number of wet descents into the fog.

Someday I might get to see Raymond and vicinity in the daylight. But not during last Spring’s SIR 600, and certainly not on this ride. But the shabby yet well-patronized Chevron convenience store provided a recognizable frame of reference, and served as our contrôle.

We continued Northwards to Montesanno (which I remember remarkably little about) then East towards Elma and McCleary. Elma’s a big town (relatively). McCleary is not. But McCleary’s the dimly-lit town where the highly-anticipated (or was it dreaded) 22-hour contrôle was. Absolutely nothing was open in McCleary at 5:00 AM. But we did find a credit union ATM that provided us with a receipt. We needn’t have worried about lingering there.

Of our quartet, Ed seemed the most determined to finish on time. Or at least he appeared to be willing his teammates onward by jumping ahead. I felt a bit elasticized between him and Theo and Marcello, who were behind me a bit.

finish in olympia
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

This was particularly the case on the 12-mile stretch of Highway 8 heading into Olympia. Once it became light, Ed’s determination really became evident after he flatted on Old Highway 410. I have never seen anyone change a flat so fast. Ever!

Once we found our way to the Red Lion Inn in Olympia, we were greeted by Susan France, Mark Thomas, Marcello’s wife Cathy, and my friend Amy. Ah blessed showers! But precious little time for a nap before the 9:00 brunch.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the brunch before all the teams told their stories. But before I did, Marcello gestured to me to be the spokesperson for our “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” team. Interestingly, we were preceded by the overachieving team that included fast boys Brian Ohlemeier and Jan Heine. ‘Twas interesting cuz I’d never seen nor met Jan before. Sure, I’ve read a few issues of Bicycle Quarterly, and have a friend in Portland who refers to him as “zero-percent-body-fat-Jan.” But to see him in person … well … he seemed a bit taller and leaner than I expected. And I started to wonder if his SIR jersey was really painted (or tattooed) on.

I introduced Marcello, Theo, and Ed to everyone … mentioned our stop at Ft. George Brewery in Astoria … and how long it took to get to Raymond … and how it was Ed’s, Theo’s and my first successful flèche. But on the trip home, and during much of the subsequent week, I rewrote that “speech” (for lack of a better word) many times.

The essence of what I wish I had said about our team but didn’t is:

“I don’t know what might constitute a typical Oregon flèche team, but I would consider our group to be as much a “Portland bike culture” team than a rando team. Take Ed, for instance. He lives bikes, doesn’t own a car, and fulfilled his offer to volunteer at the Birkie 200k last month by pedalling his cargo bike up to Vernonia with all his coffee-making equipment, then serving all the riders French press coffee in ceramic mugs at the first contrôle.

finishers' medal
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Marcello could be considered a suburban proponent of Portland bike culture … multiple bikes for all family members in his garage … plus who else would serve fresh eggs to his teammates hatched from chickens in the back yard? Theo (to me) was the erudite, articulate, philosophic, wiser-than-his-young-looks kind of guy who can tell you anything you want to know about UC Davis bike culture.”

Perhaps Susan France said it best in a comment after Theo and I subsequently connected on Facebook, “After 24 hrs together you are friends.... that's a good sign ;-)”

The rest of my photos are here on Flickr.
Theo Roffe's pictures are on his Flickr site.

Three Capes 300k Brevet Report

2010-04-16T00:12:00.000-07:00

The annual running of the “Three Capes” 300k brevet took place on April 10th. This was my fourth year of riding this particular 186-miler, and for a change, I was determined to improve my time.

The brevet starts in Forest Grove, and after a couple small detours, heads out Highway 6 to Tillamook. From there, it goes on a hilly scenic tour of Cape Mears, Cape Lookout, and Cape Kiwanda before heading back to Pacific City. The next piece is charming Little Nestuca River Road, and then the towns of Grande Ronde, Willimina, Sheridan, Ballston, followed by Amity, Dayton, and Layfayette. The last leg hugs the reputable Ribbon Ridge (North Valley Rd) on the way back to Forest Grove.

I rode out to the start with Joshua Bryant in the wee, pre-dawn hours of that Saturday. Joshua actually rode out from SE Portland, and his route happened to pass very near my new place in Beaverton. So I joined him for the last 16 miles, and we ended up beating Michael (the organizer) to the start in Forest Grove by about 20 minutes.

Once the ride began, I was able to keep up with a relatively fast group of riders to about Stringtown Road. They were still in sight on Gales Creek Road when venerable Del Scharffenberg pulled up along side (on his decades old red Schwinn Paramount). For some reason, he started a few minutes late. We chatted some, and he allowed me to draft for about four miles. Eventually my thighs started burning as he picked up the pace. He then gradually faded in the distance in pursuit of his faster buddies.

Between the Timber cutoff and the summit on Highway 6, I basically played leapfrog with Mike Richeson (of West Seattle) and Holden Hughart. (Holden wears a lot of loud reflective gear and rides a bike with flat handlebars and disk brakes. He and I also leapfrogged a bit during the Bikenfest 200k last October).

On the way up to the Highway 6 summit, another venerable rider, John Kramer, passed me. I cranked things up a bit to stay with him as we caught up with Richeson. The three of us shared 6-minute pulls during the 28-mile descent into Tillamook. It was a lot of work keeping up with the two of them, but it was also my quickest arrival in Tillamook by a long shot.

evidence ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Instead of going to the local Safeway (which is what I’ve done in years past), the three of us visited a smaller Shell station/convenience store for the contrôle (which probably shaved off a little time).

Kramer and Richeson passed me on the Cape Meares Loop as I double checked an info-contrôle question on my brevet card. From that point all the way to the Sourgrass Summit, I rode alone. (I figured I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Mike and John even if I had caught them. It was actually amazing how quickly they disappeared from sight while I was just putting on my gloves.)

narrow bridge ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I stopped at the Stimulus espresso shop in Pacific City (another almost-annual ritual), and was tempted to ask the servers if they offered any “stimulus packages” (like a bagel/cream cheese/latte special). But instead, I just chased a small mocha with a $2 bottle of water (the $3 bottle being just too over-the-top).

Soon after Little Nestuca River Road and the Sourgrass Summit, I was caught by a rider on a Specialized cycle wearing a Seattle Randonneurs jersey. Turns out his name is Will Goss. He and I ended riding the remainder of the brevet (the last 70 miles) together.

We stopped briefly in Grande Ronde, but not long enough to buy anything, as the line in the convenience store was way too long, and the help way too short-handed. Instead, we rode 26 more miles to Amity before seriously “re-fueling.” Between Grande Ronde and there, we missed the “OR” sign for crossing over to Yamhill River Road (thereby riding Hwy 18 for longer than was pleasant), but got back on track for the now-familiar towns of Willimina and Sheridan.

will
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Zip ties provided the answer to the info-contrôle question in Ballston. The novelty for me, though, was that the sun was still shining … and that its angle was still many degrees above the horizon!

In Amity, Will and I caught up with John Kramer, and were joined by Jim Hinkley (in full 2010 orange Team Oregon regalia). While “refueling,” I checked my cell phone, and discovered a text message from my coach. (Yes, I now have a coach, as I figured I’d never be able to successfully complete 1200k PBP left to my own devices.)

       Brian, Apr 10, 2010 17:47:20 “Hows it going?”

       Me, Apr 10, 2010 18:21:59 “36 mi 2 go”

       Brian, Apr 10, 2010 18:22:37 “Kill it”

And my next thought was, “With what?!”

Kramer elected to linger a bit longer outside Amity. But fortunately for me, Will and Jim seemed willing (if not knowing) accomplices to “the kill.” Will and I traded pulls to Dayton, Layfayette, and North Valley Road. Then Jim took over with a vengeance when it got dark (before Spring Hill Road). Fortunately, he reeled it in a bit to allow me to keep up. It was kinda exciting doing the paceline thing after dark. Don’t think I’ve ever done that before. Sure took a lot of concentration.

Unfortunately for Jim, he flatted about one mile from the finish, just before the right turn onto Highway 47. He graciously sent Will and me on our way, allowing me to record a personal best 300k time of 14 hours and 53 minutes. That’s about 2-3 hours better than all my previous attempts at this distance.

After checking in with Michael Rassmussen and company, I headed to the bar for a Hammerhead ale and completed the following text correspondence with my coach:

       Me, Apr 10, 2010 21:09:55 “U mean ‘Kill Bill?’
       14 hrs, 53 min, pers best
       nuttin like paceline after dark (last 12 miles)
       I’m really sore”

       Brian, Apr 10, 2010 21:12:24 “Bill rocks! Nicely done
       Tiny gear hr or 2 tomorrow”

       Me, Apr 10, 2010 21:16:50 “tiny gear back 2 Beaverton?”

       Brian, Apr 10, 2010 21:17:55 “As small as you’ve got”

It would have probably been prudent to take the bus or Max back to Beaverton. Alan Woods even offered me and my bike a ride. But something in me wanted to be able to say, “I biked to the coast and back from my home in Beaverton.” And so I did, even though it was a sketchy-tired spin in the smallest chainring all the way back home.

A couple more picture of the coast are here on Flickr.

SIR "Chili Feed" 200k

2010-03-26T17:11:00.001-07:00

I’ve always looked forward to the Seattle International Randonneurs annual “Chili Feed” 200k brevet in March ever since 2008, the year I carpooled up with Lynne Fitzsimmons (and the year she scored housing for us at the host's home). Last year, I carpooled with Joshua Bryant in the wee hours of the morning. And this year, I drove solo straight from work (in Beaverton) on Friday evening (March 12th) and stayed in a motel in “downtown” Kent. ‘Twas the priciest of all the strategies, but probably provided the most rest and general preparedness for Saturday’s brevet.

A herd of well over 100 cyclists took off from Greg’s neighborhood at 7:00 AM on what was the last day of Pacific Standard Time (until next Fall). It was one of those events where it takes a while for everyone to cross the start line (as it were). So by the time all the riders had turned West onto 240th Street, the line of cyclists was pretty well strung out.

vincent checks me in ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

There were a couple pretty significant hills before the first contrôle in Dash Point. When Vincent Muoneke checked me in, he asked where my Cyclos Escargot jersey was, and then suggested I wasn’t riding slow enough for true escargot-ness.

Another hill and descent, and soon we were leaving downtown Auburn for bucolic Green Valley Road. Around mile 40 I was finally able to find a paceline in which I rode with a couple riders before hitting Hwy 169. At the popular Black Diamond Bakery, I abstained from going in, but instead took off as soon as my brevet card was signed.

headin' up to greenwater
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

After Black Diamond, there were about a half dozen roads before the turn onto Hwy 410, I felt reasonably strong, but not very fast on the final 17-mile approach to Greenwater. Once at that contrôle, I spent more down time than planned, as the many bicycles that were there when I arrived were mostly gone when I departed.

A couple miles into the return from Greenwater, I got a flat. Never did figure out what caused it, and wasn’t able to find the slit in the tube till the next day (at home). Not only that, I wasn’t able to get more than 60 psi into the tube with over 200 + strokes on my Topeak Road Morph pump. But after the turn from Hwy 410 onto Mud Mountain Dam Road, Bob Lepage used his pump (identical to mine) to get my tire up to a respectable riding pressure. Hmmm.

Bob was riding with Ron Himschoot and Deirdre Arscott, so I joined them and another rider (on a Davidson) for most of the rest of the ride. I spent less time than they did at the contrôle in Enumclaw, and made a friendly bet that they’d eventually catch me, which is exactly what they did (after the steep 218th Ave. incline). We then zigzagged through the residential maze that leads to the Cox’s neighborhood, and then finished the ride with an official time of 10:51.

chili feed
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Of course, the chili, salad, and fruit were excellent. Had nice conversations with Michael Wolfe, Joshua, Nathan and Eric. Greeted Peg, Lesli, and Paul upon their arrival back at the Cox’s. Then it was off to Portland.

Great ride. Always worth the trip. Many thanks to the Cox’s and all the other Seattle Randonneurs who helped put this on.

Birkie 200k Pre-ride Report

2010-03-14T21:48:00.001-07:00

Had a really nice pre-ride of the Birkie 200k with Ray Ogilvie last weekend (March 6th). The actual ride happens this Saturday, March 20, and is basically unchanged from the previous three iterations. It’s as if the ride stays the same, but the organizers change. So the biggest variable (besides the weather) becomes … what are the “hot drinks and home-baked goodies” in Vernonia gonna consist of?

While it’s a little bit of a challenge for an old bachelor like me to compete with the likes of Marcello (’07), Cecil and Lynne (’08), and Del & friends (’09), I’ve got some good help at this year’s staffed control from Barbara and Ray Ogilvie, Ed Groth, and my friend Amy. So to put it another way: no one is likely to go hungry at the 59 km point in Anderson Park.

The ride is described very well on the Oregon Randonneurs web site.
The only edit I would make is that start at the Grand Hotel in Forest Grove is no longer “new.”

roadside river ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Ray and I were blessed with somewhat chilly but otherwise wonderful weather on the 6th. We encountered one hostile Neanderthal in a pickup driving the other way on Gales Creek Road, then enjoyed some espresso at the Black Bear Coffee Company in Vernonia (in lieu of the staffed control at Anderson Park). We came up with a new, uncomplicated control question for the Keasey Road turnaround, and later noticed that the Birkenfield Country Store has a new look-feel inside.

destination
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Beware of engaging the cashier in a conversation about propositions 66 & 67. She’s ready to move the business to another state.

Ray and I utilized the US Bank ATM in Vernonia for the return control, and the Shell station on the right-hand side of Hwy 6 on our way back through Glenwood. We got back to Forest Grove with a finishing time of 11 hours and 21 minutes, which was around dusk. So if you’re planning a leisurely approach to Berkie, make sure your lights are in working order!

Looking forward to seeing y’all at the McMenamins Grand Lodge Saturday morning. Remember, check in is from 6:00 to 6:45 AM. Start is at 7:00.

Lotsa photos of Ray at the Birkie preride photoset on Flickr.

UGB 200; take 2

2010-02-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

canby
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Michael Wolfe’s “UGB” 200k permanent is the closest-in randonneuring route to where I live in SE Portland. So when busy February abruptly arrived, I decided to ride it again (the second time in 6 months) on the 6th of the month.

Like last September, David Parsons joined me (I think this is his favorite route.) But instead of riding his Xtracycle, he brought along a more conventional Soma. Also joining us was Edward Groth. Last time I rode a brevet with Ed, he rode a fixie for 300k. This time ‘round, though, he had multiple gears.

gaston
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Unlike last September, this February's trio rode mostly together for the entire 125 miles. From the East end of the Hawthorne Bridge, we rode out the Springwater Corridor to Boring, traversed some hills beyond Barton Park on our way to Canby, rode the freshly-paved bike path through Champoeg Park, and enjoyed a coffee break at Chapters Bookstore in Newberg. We continued on North Valley Road to Gaston, returned to Skyline via Helvetia, the Rock Creek Tavern, and Old Cornelius Pass, then descended Thompson Road to Cornell. By this time, it was dark and starting to drizzle as Michael’s route meandered cleverly through a non-driveable transition between Cornell Road and NW Raleigh St.

finished
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Once on Naito Parkway, we ended up having to wait for a long freight train, after which we crossed the Willamette River to finish at Root’s Brewery (on SE 7th Ave). There Ed's friend Stephanie and a few other friends provided an excellent welcoming committee.

The most encouraging thing about the ride was not our overall time (11 hours, 10 minutes), but rather my actual on-bike time (9 hours, 20 minutes), which was a couple hours less than the same route last September.

Skyline - Vernonia 200k

2010-01-31T21:20:00.000-08:00

The biggest question about riding the 200k Skyline-Vernonia permanent last January wasn’t the route, but rather whether to continue riding monthly 200k’s at all. But I can’t say the answer was ever seriously in doubt. Monthly 200k (or longer) rides have become a cornerstone of sorts of my training-for-PBP program. So rather than take a break (which in retrospect might have been a good idea), I went ahead and scheduled the 200k in mid-January that started and ended in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland. The cool thing about St. John’s is that it’s only 10 or so miles from my place, which meant 1) I could ride to the start, and 2) I could hang out at a friend’s place in that neighborhood after the ride.

waiting for ed
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Ed Groth and Rob Anderson offered to ride along for the first third of the permanent (out to Forest Grove), and were already at the start (at the Starbucks in St. Johns) by the time I got there. Ed flatted on Hwy 30 (St. Helens Rd) shortly after the ride commenced. Of course, Rob & I didn’t discover this until waiting for him at the Burnside entrance to Washington Park. By then, Ed had decided to return home and get ready for his later-in-the-day commitments.

respite at maggie's
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Rob rode a bit faster than me, but waited on Skyline and Old Cornelius Pass Rd. After that, I didn’t see him again till Forest Grove (at Maggie’s Buns). But he said he didn’t arrive there much sooner than me. Sure could’ve fooled me (if he had wanted to).

The ride from Forest Grove to Vernonia (via Timber) has become quite familiar. It’s territory shared with other rando routes. The nice thing was that the weather (and roads) dried up a bit by this time (after a rather misty/drizzly morning).

Vernonia has a new local brew pub inside the Blue House Mediterranean Café. I sampled their porter, which tasted okay and felt good at the time. Eventually, though, that small amount of beer probably contributed to a rather sluggish climb over the hills beyond Vernonia before the descent into Scapposse.

streetlamp lit
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

There’s some rural farmland between Scappoose and the Columbia River, and in that farmland there’s a house, the color of which needs to be observed and written down on the brevet card. The challenge was, after dark, the orange-ish streetlight in front of the home thoroughly disguised the actual color. It felt invasive to get close enough for my Edulux headlight to help identify the house’s real color. But I managed.

Ah … Highway 30 after dark by bicycle. Even though the shoulder is mostly generous, it feels a little too much like riding on a freeway. So I was happy to finally get to the St. John’s Bridge. After collecting a receipt from an ATM in St. John’s, (to document the end time), I headed over to friend Amy’s home for some delicious chili and beer. It was like a personal little 200k chili feed, two months earlier than the much larger one put on by the Seattle Randonneurs.

2009 in review

2010-01-06T02:14:00.001-08:00

7500 cycling miles ... an ambitious photography project ... the completion of 10 years of the Sunday Afternoon Tango Practica ... and a lot of coffee

It was déjà vu all over again. Last day of the year, and I’m thirty some-odd miles shy of my annual (rather arbitrary) cycling mileage goal. And just like the previous year, it was wet when I left work, and soon to be dark.

The 2009 goal was a modest 7 percent more than 2008. And if I hadn’t been within 40-50 miles of 7500 on December 31st, I would have most likely abandoned it. But as it was, I decided to ride Eastward (from work in Beaverton) to the Riverview Cemetery, and then along the Springwater Corridor as far as necessary to reach 33 miles by the time I would get home. As far as necessary turned out to be downtown Gresham. A tour of the ‘burbs, so to speak.

After getting home and soaking in the tub, I biked an additional mile or so to the New Years Eve tango party at the PPAA on SE Alder. That made it 7504 miles for the year.

Another goal I had in 2009 was photographic, a picture-a-day project, a visual journal of sorts. This project was harder than it sounds. I tried to start one in mid ’08, but abandoned after three or so months. It sucks a lot of time out of one’s schedule, which makes me very happy it’s done! It’s also something I have no intention of repeating.

Because of all the pictures and all the miles (in addition to my job), I cut back on Argentine tango quite a bit. Nonetheless, I still hosted my Sunday Afternoon Tango Practica almost every week (which is now 10 years old!), and managed to take a private lesson from both Luciana Valle and Jorge Torres.

in a nutshell
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Oh, and one last thing. My friend Amy and I have been researching Spanish coffee in Portland, and now have enough information and photographic raw material to start a blog. Maybe we’ll finally put it up in 2010.

2010 should be busy. I’ll be putting more emphasis on working out … and less on Flickr! I’ve hired a coach to help increase my speed, which will involve going to the gym twice a week, as well as participating in various training rides and such.

Once again, here are some annual cycling stats (for 2009):

~ Total logged miles (including commutes): 7,504
~ Rides of 100 miles or longer: 17
~ Longest ride: SIR 600k (376 miles)

Randonneuring:
~ 2009 RUSA total: 3,907 km (2,427 miles)
~ Super Randonneur award (2nd consecutive)
~ R-12 award (2nd consecutive)
~ One DNF: 228-mile fleche attempt in April

Cumulative odometers:
~ Mountain Cycle Stumptown: 15,543 miles
~ Lemond Buenos Aires: 5,424 miles
~ Ideor Asso (fixie): 4,727 miles

One organized ride:
~ VineRide Century

OBRA participation (Oregon Bicycle Racing Assn.)
Road races: 1
~ Sublimity
Time trial: 1
~ Jack Frost TT (Vancouver, WA)
Track races (Alpenrose Velodrome): 17
~ Fast Twitch Fridays: 5
~ Masters/Juniors (Wednesdays): 11
~ Other: 1
Cyclocross: 9
~ Cross Crusade : 3
~ Blind Date at the Dairy (Alpenrose): 4
~ OBRA Cross Championships (Salem): 2

Happy New Year, everyone!

Scio Covered Bridges 200k Permanent

2009-12-25T15:58:00.001-08:00

Last November, I completed my 23rd consecutive monthly 200k (or greater) randonneuring bike ride. But I hadn’t figured out what to do in December…until…Don Boothby of Seattle announced his intention to ride the Scio Covered Bridges permanent on Saturday the 5th. “Cool,” I thought, as Saturdays generally work much better for me than Sundays. Plus, Don chose the route with which I started all this R-12 business (with Cecil and Lynne back in January ’08).

waiting for things to thaw
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The weather turned out to be a bit beyond “cool” on that blustery Saturday morning. There were six riders who expressed interest in participating, but predictions of icy temperatures convinced two riders not to make the trip down from Washington. That left Don, John Vincent, Sam Huffman and me at the Starbucks in Wilsonville for a 7:30 AM start. But because the sun had yet to melt the layer of early morning frost, Don elected to delay the start one hour. Even then, John thought better of embarking on the ride, and decided to drive himself and his recumbent directly back to Olympia.

That left Don Boothby, Sam Huffman, and me. After 8:30, the three of us rolled out to I-5, and gingerly rode the interstate bridge that crosses the Willamette. The Eastward decent down Miley Road looked problematic, enough so that Don and Sam elected to ride back to the Starbucks. I, on the other hand, continued on slowly, but was concentrating so hard on road surfaces that I missed the right turn to Airport Road (hence a bonus mile or two).

Once on Airport Road, things improved significantly. Roadside gutters still contained intermittent patches of ice, but the roads for the most part became rideable. The sun even made a brief appearance, but then went away again until the afternoon.

In Silverton, I visited briefly with tango friend and ex-landlady Ann Shams. I’m glad that stop was brief, because low and behold who shows up at Water and Main as I’m exiting the town…none other than “ready to roll” Don Boothby!…on his 20-year-old Raleigh mountain bike with moustache handlebars and studded tires! He mentioned back in Wilsonville that he had studded tires, but I didn’t realize they were mounted on a backup bike is his pickup.

through the shimanek bridge
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

With company for the rest of the ride, my pace picked up (although Don’s probably decreased some). I wasn’t confident of being able to pedal up the second (very steep) grade on Cole School Road, but barely managed. From there, we continued to the Schimanek Covered Bridge, where I dropped my old Nikon CoolPix. My picture of Don exiting the bridge is the very last one taken with this camera (as the lens housing is irrepably bent). From the Schimanek Bridge, we rode on to Scio, the Huffman Covered Bridge, Crabtree, and the Gilkey Covered Bridge.

Before reaching Jefferson, the route heads North towards Parish Gap Road. Oddly, I didn’t remember Parish Gap from this ride 23 months ago, but I did remember it from the Alsea Falls 400k last August. I have to admit, it’s a little easier 70 miles into a ride rather than 170 miles.

Don and I wound our way to Salem by dusk, took his picture in front of the state capital (where he was once inducted into the Marines), stopped at the local Safeway for some fuel, then continued on a nocturnal 40-mile journey back to Wilsonville. The bike paths exiting Salem were pleasantly clever. But the most remarkable part of this segment was how in-the-middle-of-nowhere we felt, despite the fact we were roughly paralleling I-5 for much of the way.

Don was anxious to get checked in, so we used the Plaid Pantry is Wilsonville for the final contrôle. After that, we finally warmed up at Starbucks.

I’m glad Don scheduled this permanent, and ultimately rode it, thereby providing good company, and helping me ride a bit faster than I otherwise would have. Plus, I got my second R-12 out of the way just before Oregon was deluged with a week of colder, freezing weather.

My pictures are here on Flickr.
Don's account of this ride is blogged here.

thanksgiving day fixie ride (with food)

2009-11-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

David Auker has been hosting a Thanksgiving Day fixed-gear bicycle ride for as long as I’ve been cycling (which isn’t that long). And the last three Thanksgivings, he and his wife Sarah have served a pre-ride breakfast consisting of huevos rancheros, potatoes, cinnamon rolls, fruit, and of course, coffee.

fixie fuel
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Attendance was down a little this year, perhaps because of the gray wetness that persisted all day. Nevertheless, I knew some of riders who showed up, including Bryan Curry and John Forbes. (David’s a veteran racer, and therefore knows a lot of guys I don’t.)

The ride took off from the Auker home in the hills of SW Portland, and immediately headed up to the Fairmount loop. After 1 ½ laps, we rode Humphrey Blvd. over to Sylvan Hill. Both Bryan and John had gone their own ways before this point. I said goodbye to Dave at the Scholls Ferry – Skyline intersection, and after warming up a bit at the Sylvan Hill Starbucks, continued on Skyline clear over to Newberry Road (past Germantown). Newberry probably wasn’t the best road to descend to Hwy 30 on a fixie in the rain (constant grittiness between my brake pads and rims), but I made it, and then continued to Sauvie Island.

end of the road
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

On the island, I rode “lower” Sauvie Island Road, which ended at a protected Wildlife Area. By this time, I knew I was far enough along to reach 100k by the time I got home.

I stopped at my friend Amy’s parent’s home in St. John for some delicious Thanksgiving leftovers and some fun games before finishing the ride. And the distance once I arrived home was 66.6 miles (or 107 km). Must say, I was a bit sore after this many miles of no coasting on a single-speed (the first half in the hills). But it was good to get in my annual Thanksgiving workout … and dine so well in the process.

All eight pictures from the day are here on Flickr.

Nehalem River 200k Permanent

2009-11-29T00:51:00.000-08:00

(Another delayed report)

For the 11th installment of my 2nd R-12, I chose to ride Marcello Napolitano’s Nehalem River 200k permanent (from Vernonia to Astoria and back). Initially, it was Ray Ogilve who scheduled this ride for the 14th of November, but he backed out due to a brush with the H1N1 virus.

That left David Kamp, Ken Mattina, and me. None of us got to the start in Vernonia early on that cold Saturday morning (except maybe Ken), so our 7:00 rollout time got delayed about a half hour. The temperature as we departed Vernonia was a few degrees below freezing.

The cue sheet for Marcello’s Nehalem River 200k is the shortest I’ve ever seen. It’s actually memorizable, as there are only a couple of turns, a couple of highways (numbers 47 and 202), and one mid-route contrôle (at Birkenfield, each way) for the entire 200 kilometers.

10 miles till astoria
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I hadn’t met David before, but enjoyed chatting with him about his experience at PBP in 2007. Clearly a seasoned rider, he made much quicker work of the Birkenfield contrôle than me. (I couldn’t turn down real hot chocolate in a ceramic cup.) I would see David once more during the day, and that was a few miles outside of Astoria as we waved while passing in opposite directions.

Ken fell back a bit early, about half way to Birkenfield, so I would see him only once more during the ride as well. Like with David, it was again a few miles outside Astoria, only this time after my turnaround.

While the weather threatened to rain during much of the ride, it (for the most part) stayed dry. I did end up putting booties on at the first Birkenfield contrôle, but that was more for warmth than dryness.

helmeted colonel ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I “did lunch” with Colonel Sanders at the KFC in Astoria (near where Astoria-Megler Bridge crosses the mouth of the Columbia River over to Washington), and then headed back over the Coastal Range. It’s 40 miles between Astoria and Birkenfield, but at times during the return it seemed longer.

The sun set while I snacked in Birkenfield, but my now-trusty Edelux lit up the last 20 miles to Vernonia just fine. And while my official time was 11 hours and 50 minutes, my on-the-bike time was barely under 10 hours. Guess I needed those sit down breaks in Birkenfield and Astoria.

Complements to Marcello for putting together this nifty 200k “permanent” (ride).

Photos at Flickr.com

Bikenfest 2009 200k

2009-10-31T00:24:00.001-07:00

It took me forever to start chronicling the Bikenfest 2009 200km ride … but here it is:

I always look forward and enjoy John Kramer’s brevets, and this one was no different. New starting place. New (to me) roads. Good scenery. Challenging yet doable route. And now another notch on my 2nd R-12 belt.

Alan Woods graciously offered to drive me to the start in Hood River, and collected my bike and me in the wee pre-dawn hours of Saturday (October 3rd). My friend Amy had already offered to meet me at the finish that evening and take me back to Portland, so it was cool to get a ride to the start and not worry about Alan having to wait around at the finish. (His 200k time is almost 2 hours less than mine.)

Alan had also ridden the Mt. Adams SxSW 200k a few months earlier, where I volunteered at one of the secret contrôles. Interestingly, he remembered two things from that contrôle: 1) the funky old motorcycle I had ridden out there that day, and 2) Amy’s colorful flowing scarf. It’s funny the things that linger in our memories.

rain in the distance
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The Bikenfest brevet started eastwards from Hood River and took us on the scenic bikeway that heads towards Mosier. From there, we rode over Sevenmile Hill to The Dalles. From that summit, one could see a storm a’brewing in the vicinity to which we were heading.

For the first half of the ride, I felt sluggish, with none of the alacrity I had felt a week earlier on the 1st 2/3 of the Barlow Trail 300k. It felt like my tires were under-inflated. But in actuality, it probably had more to do with the strong ale I enjoyed at Madison’s Bar and Grill the night before. The end result, though, was that I didn’t see any other riders for most of the first half of the ride.

It took a while to grock how to get out of Hood River, because my mind’s eye was convinced that the Maryhill portion of the route (on the Washington side of the Columbia River) was gonna precede the rural farmlandy Oregon portion. (I tend not to do much research beforehand on these kinds of brevets.) But once I figured out that I needed to cross under the US 197 overpass, I was good to go … right into that nice little rain storm I had seen a’brewing about an hour earlier.

josh and alan
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The “towns” in this area of Oregon amount to little more than intersections with a few signs and buildings scattered around. Such was the case at the info contrôle “in” Fairbanks. Between Fairbanks (OR, not AK) and the next contrôle (which was literally just a signpost at an intersection) I momentarily wished my booties had made the trip. But the rainstorm passed by the time I returned to The Dalles, as did the need for protective rain gear.

peg and lesli
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

My sluggishness abated a bit during the second half of the brevet, which was basically an out-and-back on WA Hwy 14 to the Maryhill Museum. By this time, I caught up with John Hughart, as well as the trio of Lesli Larson, Peg Winczewski, and Tom Bonamici (who had all made a brief stop in The Dalles). We all leapfrogged to Maryhill, where Paul Whitney, John Kramer, and some colorful peacocks were “manning” the contrôle. [Thank you Paul for the double-bagged black tea!]

The route passed through The Dalles for a third time on the return portion of the ride. It was here that I made a caffeine stop at the Union 76 Mini Mart. The cashier there was quite a character, and was memorably impressed by Cecil’s Sweetpea. (She must have passed through about ½ hour earlier.) He couldn’t understand why none of our bike had kickstands! “You’ve got bags, lights, beautiful fenders … but no kickstand?!”

eastwards from rowena crest
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I ascended up to scenic Rowena Crest (overlooking the Columbia) alone, but shortly afterwards joined up with Peg, Tom, and Lesli for the final 14 miles. After Mosier, Peg’s and Tom’s headlights failed, so we rode as a quartet along the darkening scenic byway and on to Hood River.

‘Twas an enjoyable ride that featured a lot of Oregon territory I had never seen before. Thank you John!

Barlow Trail 300k

2009-09-30T23:51:00.001-07:00

takin' off
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Prior to Michael Wolfe’s excellent and challenging 189-miler (last Saturday, Sep 26th), I had ridden five other 300k brevets. Three of them were the ’07, ’08, and ’09 versions of the Three Capes 300k brevet that heads out of Forest Grove to the Oregon coast and back every April. The other two were in August ’08 … Mr. Wolfe’s Detroit Lake 300k, and the SIR Tumwater-Mt. St. Helens-Tumwater 300k. Ironically, my fastest 300k was my very first (Three Capes in April ’07). I have never come within an hour of that 16 hr, 41 min time since then. In fact, most of my times have been in the 18 to 19 hour range. And the SIR brevet took me a Cyclos Escargot qualifying time of 19 hrs and 42 minutes.

But for the Barlow Trail brevet, I was feeling primed and ready to do relatively well. My lighter LeMond Buenos Aires was now set up for rando use, my generator front wheel now moved to that bike, a bright new Edelux light mounted to its front skewer, and my old small Caradice tailpack mounted behind the seat (rather than the rack and pannier set up I had been using on my Mountain Cycle Stumptown).

why we rando
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The Stumptown (an aluminum ‘cross bike with 15,000+ miles) had been the weapon of choice for most of my randonneuring activities (and all the rides 300k and over). That bike, though, is now stripped (for the first time in two years), and ready for the ’09 cyclocross season.

I managed to get to Sandy, Oregon in plenty of time for a punctual 6:00 AM start, and had the novel experience of riding with or leapfrogging a number of other riders for the first 200k or so. Had a nice conversation with RB Buschman on quiet and scenic Faraday Lane (off of OR Hwy 224), and even rode a little with Kramer (who had been handicapped with an early flat) until he flew up NFD 5810 Road towards the Anvil Creek Crossing. I saw quite a bit of Mark Thomas, Vincent Muoneke, and Geoff Swarts (all of whom came down from Seattle) for the first 9-10 hours of the ride, although their style of riding involved longer breaks than what I took. However, once we hit relentlessly steep NFD 48 Road on our return over the Cascades, they were soon out of sight for the remainder of the brevet.

The descent towards Maupin on Oregon Hwy 216 is probably the longest stretch of fast road I have ever experienced.

deschutes river
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

My 1:30 PM arrival time there gave me the illusion of a possible PR for the 300k distance. That would soon fade, though, into the headwinds that paralleled the Deschutes River. And a couple of hours later on NFD 48 Road, the illusion totally vanished. I managed to keep up with RB for much of that ascent. But when daylight faded, so did my energy. I spotted RB 15 minutes during a wardrobe change ‘round dusk, and wouldn’t see him again until my arrival in Sandy.

My body ran outa fuel during that ascent up to Hwy 35 (pdj sandwiches and Ensure all used up), and my left leg cramped up at one point. So when I finally got to Government Camp, I sat down for a proper meal at the Huckleberry Inn (just as Scott Peterson and Kramer were departing). After a bowl of tomato-meat-pasta soup, some funky mocha, and a rather large doughnut, I started my descent towards Sandy. An hour and a half later, I arrived at the finish, where Philippe Andre was performing check-in duties. Scott and RB were still hanging around, so I was able to rehash some of the ride with them. I believe my official finish time was 17:50, which would still be my second best time for a 300k.

Thanks to Michael Wolfe for another excellent route. I was particularly happy that he had us traverse Anvil Creek, as the roads on either side of that ‘cross like obstacle were part of what made the ride memorable.

Photos here on Flickr

UGB 200k report

2009-09-16T17:05:00.001-07:00

rando xtracycle
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Without putting much thought into it, I made a note to self to ask Michael Wolfe what UGB stood for. Then about 50 kilometers into the actual 200k ride, somewhere in rural, agricultural Clackamas County (between Boring and Canby) it dawned on me. Urban Growth Boundary. 'Twas a ride than circumnavigated the outskirts of greater Portland.

I like the concept. But the ride's main appeal was how close the start and finish are to where I live. Shoot, I could probably sleepwalk to East end of the Hawthorne Bridge; it’s part of my daily commute, and less than 2k from home.

Actually, I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to do this ride after an inconvenient faceplant on NE Alberta St. 2 ½ days before the ride. But on that Saturday morning (September 5th, the start of the 3-day Labor Day weekend), with a stitched up nose and a puffy upper lip, I managed to meet Ken, Keith, and David at the Burger King (the only establishment dependably open at the end of the Hawthorne Bridge), and then do the ride. Ken Mattina I’ve known from a number of rides, most notably our co-lantern-rouge finish at the Covered Bridges 400k back in May 2007. Keith Thorla I recently met at Kramer’s SxSW Mt. Adams 200k a couple months ago. And David Parsons was new to me, as was his Trek-framed Xtracycle. He was also (I believe) probably the fastest of our quartet.

The weather was drizzly as we headed down and out the Springwater Corridor. By the time we hit the first control (for which I must thank Ken for preventing me… twice … from passing by), David and Keith were already pushing ahead. Ken and I rode together to Boring and Barton Park, and then the hills appeared. Ken rides a fairly loaded-down heavy bike, which to my mind, may not be the hill-friendliest rig around. After a few miles of separating, waiting, separating, waiting, Ken decided to head back to Portland (via Oregon City), while I pushed onwards. Between the hills, rain, and Ken's back and knee rehab, he just wasn’t having a very good time. As it turns out, I made it to the Canby control with only 5 minutes to spare.

willamette river ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The rain stopped after Canby, and the sky lightened up from Champoeg Park on. My favorite part of the ride was the newly paved bike path that hugs the Willamette River through Champoeg Park. I liked it so well that I rode a bonus mile or two before finding the road that heads out of the park, and eventually to Hwy 219 and Newberg.

The next control after Canby was Gaston, meaning the only reason to stop in Newberg was to flip over of the route sheet. After a little foray on less-than-familiar roads, I soon found myself on North Valley Road, famous (in my little world) for its Ribbon Ridge wineries.

I saw David and Keith heading the other way out of Gaston, which meant they were about 20 minutes or so ahead of me. I tried to make quick work of my stop at the Gaston Market, but never did catch up with either of them.

double shot cap
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Rode mostly familiar roads into Cornelius, towards Helvetia, then over to the 2nd-to-last control at McMennamin’s Rock Creek Tavern. There, I swallowed a double shot cappuccino before heading up Old Cornelius Pass Road, and then further up Skyline Blvd (before it levels out into mild rollers). Initially, I thought I would finish the ride before nightfall, but it got dark before my descent down Thompson Road.

Michael’s route cleverly takes the rider from NW Cornell to NW 30th Ave. via what looks like a driveway that heads back the other way. That in turn runs into Quimby St., then 29th (the left turn navigatible only to pedestrians and cyclists), then Raleigh St, which offers a pleasant way to Naito Parkway. After catching the Westside Esplanade to the Hawthorne Bridge, I finished at 8:40 PM for a Cyclos Escargot-ish total elapsed time 13 hours and 10 minutes. 'Twas also my 21st consecutive month of completing a 200k or longer randonneuring ride.

And then I was home by 9:00 pm! Yeah! Thank you Michael for the close-in UGB permanent!

My photos are here on Flickr.
David Parson's blog report

vineride century

2009-08-21T13:02:00.001-07:00

Hadn't done a supported bike ride in a year. In fact, RSVP 2008 (Seattle to Vancouver, BC) was the last time (almost exactly 12 months ago).

As this 100-mile ride on August 15th was supported (and therefore more expensive than what I’m used to), I made a point not to bring anything but the bare essentials. I would not make any convenience store purchases, I’d leave the energy bars, sandwiches, gels and supplements at home, and I’d eat only what was provided at the rest stops. With this strategy, I didn’t mind the $52 registration cost, as the ride was basically a benefit for the Children’s Cancer Association (a group I’m happy to support).

witness tree
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

This was a good ride to do after the previous weekend’s Alsea Falls 400k. It felt easier than most centuries I’ve done (my last one being the Ride Around Clark County [RACC] in May 2008). The Vineride traversed some of the same roads around the Eola Hills portion of last week’s Alsea Falls 400k, and introduced some new-to-me roads as well.

My main disappointment during this century was mechanical in nature. My rear derailleur started going AWOL, popping out of gear(s), not up-shifting, and not moving over to the largest or smallest cogs (quite inconvenient on hilly Eola Hills Road).

But the two highlights were:

Mechanical support in Dayton.

welcomed mechanical support
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The mechanic from Lakeside Bicycles diagnosed my shifting problems and replaced my rear derailleur cable, which had both stretched and frayed beyond use. Now here’s a benefit of a supported ride!
Winemaker Felix (of Carlos and Julian Winery in Carlton) looking at my bike and saying/pronouncing “Ah, LeMond Buenos Aires” as only an Argentine can do. This was after I briefly tasted his Pinot Noir, Tempernillo, and Malbec.

The route passed by a lot of familiar (and not so familiar) wineries, including Willakenzie and Patricia Green during the last leg into Newberg. The finish was well stocked with turkey and ham sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit, cookies, and ice cream. A number of riders hung around for a raffle (a bike from Lakeside). It was nice for me to finish while still daylight, and not be totally exhausted.

Pictures are here on Flickr.

basket case completes SR* requirement

2009-08-14T00:22:00.001-07:00

an Alsea Falls 400k brevet report

*SR = super randonneur

I’m getting kinda known for my late starts at randonneuring events. (Lord knows I can ill afford them.) But for the Alsea Falls 400k, I was totally on track to arrive ½ hour early. Got some coffee in Newberg ‘round 5:00 AM, approached McMinnville about 5:30, went all the way through town (so I thought), but saw no Best Western, and nothing resembling the address “2035 S Highway 99W.” I made two more passes from the eastern edge of town to the western end of the one-way streets, the first time consulting a gal at McDonalds, and the second time a gal at Dutch Brothers. It never occurred to me, even when viewing Google Maps the night before, that there was anything to McMinnville beyond the one-way streets. But the gal at Dutch Brothers had an iPhone with a map function and let me know I hadn’t gone nearly far enough.

I finally got to the Best Western at 6:10 AM, and even though I had laid everything out and deliberately packed the night before, I discovered my pannier neglected to make the trip. Unplanned lateness plus a missing critical piece of equipment turned me into a less-that-fully-functioning basket case. I couldn’t even unbuckle my bike shoes! Michael and Philippe were patient, the latter loaning me some old leather toe straps to secure my improvised duffle bag to the rear rack. Michael called out my actual departure time as 6:33 when I left.

them thar hills
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

According to Michael, the first part of the ride (up to Bald Mountain) would be the hilly part, ~~and the rest of the ride would be relatively flat~~. And while the first part of the statement was true, I think Michael defines “hilly” a little differently that some of the rest of us. The initial hilliness started about 10 or so miles into the ride on Meadow Lake Road, and continued to the first contrôle at Bald Mountain Lookout (manned by Philippe and Michael). From there, it was a fun descent towards Willamia.

The roads from Willamia to Sheridan and Ballston were familiar from other brevets, but Broadmead Rd. linking Ballston to Perrydale Rd. was new to me. Perrydale Rd. essentially runs into Dallas, where I stopped at Santaim Cycles for a tire pump, as mine was in the pannier that got left at home. Salesman Dan was quite intrigued with my Stumptown (he seemed to know the guy that designed it for Mountain Cycle), and with my generator light setup. I guess not too many randonneuring types frequent that establishment.

Falls City struck me as a town hard hit by the economy. Or maybe it was already hard hit before the downturn. I dunno. The ladies behind the counter let me know that the previous rider been through about ½ hour earlier. So I wasn’t gaining time on anyone.

What would a Philippe/Michael brevet be without a gravel section? Well, the one between Falls City and Kings Valley Road was fairly tame as gravel roads go … quite hard-packed. ‘Twasn’t necessary to deflate the tires.

Seemed like there was an inordinate amount of roadkill on this ride. Quite a few deer … running the gamut from freshly extinguished to thoroughly decayed skeletons. There were rodents, felines, and even a colorful bird that had met untimely roadside demises. Made me wonder if Polk Country has any sort of clean-up program for deceased roadside animals.

colorful schwinn
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

One of the prettiest roads of the day was the Alsea Highway. It’s funny how “pretty” and “steep” often go hand-in-hand on a ride like this. An unfortunate part of that 16-mile ascent was all the litter along the side of the road (quite noticeable at my slow uphill pace). The main culprits appeared to be consumers of Dutch Brothers Coffee and Corbett Canyon wines. (Corbett’s 1.5 liter bottles have a distinctive shape.) I got to thinking that this is probably a result of a large portion of society that says (from the top down) “it’s okay to do whatever, as long as you’re not caught.”

Shadows got real long riding from Alsea to Alsea Falls, and by the time I descended down to Monroe, it was totally dark. I couldn’t find West Ingram Island Road out of Monroe until after I rode up the down the main drag a few times and then got help from a Dari Mart employee. Then before Harrisburg I failed to see McMullen Lane, even after a local kid in a driveway told me “it’s right up there by the stop sign.” Never saw a stop sign till a mile or so further when I got to Highway 99E. Chalk up another bonus mile or two.

brownsville contrôle
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

It was good to see cheery Keith and Alex signing cards and offering refreshments in Brownsville (a town I’d never been to before). At that contrôle, I topped off my Coke-filled water bottle with more Coke, and my water-filled water bottle with more water. But it was the can of V-8 that was most refreshing there at 12:30 in the morning. And then it was time for the Kohans to finally close up shop and head back home to Salem.

I too was headed to Salem … via Jefferson … then some challenging hills along Parrish Gap Road (I actually ended up walking one of those hills) … then Turner. Lo and behold, guess who appeared in Turner? Marcello! Turns out he did this ride on significantly less sleep than my insufficient amount, and chose Turner (about 8 miles shy of Salem) as a napping place. We ended up riding the last 35 or so miles back into McMinnville together.

It got light shortly after leaving Salem. Again, there were more rollers through the Eola Hills (premium pinot noir country) as we foraged our way back to McMinnville. And then a funny thing happened as we were minutes from the end (according to our cue sheets and computers). We missed a turn! All of a sudden we found ourselves in downtown McMinnville asking directions to the Best Western. Add another 30 minutes to our times. It was déjà vu all over again. The Best Western and I were not on the same plane of consciousness this weekend. Might has well been on different planets!

finished!
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

But when Marcello and I finally got there, Philippe greeted us and checked us in. Marcello then elected to drive straight home, while I took a bath and a half hour nap before heading back to Portland (where a tango lesson, class, and practica awaited). My official time was 26:30, but my actual riding time was at least a couple hours less.

Thanks to Michael and Philippe for an excellent, challenging route. And also for putting up with such a basket case!

Photos are here on Flickr.

Mt Adams SxSW 200k pre-ride report: it's all about Gifford Pinchot, and beer!

2009-07-05T19:29:00.001-07:00

Mt. Adams
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

This is a great ride, folks. Challenging? Yes. Doable? Yes. Beautiful? Yes. Worthwhile? Also yes.

Mr. Kramer doesn't exactly live in the flatlands. So his rides tend to take advantage of the beautiful, rugged terrain on both sides of the Columbia River. Perhaps this contributes to his strength as a hill climber.

This is a little problematic, however, on his 600k's, as those rides tend to be significant tests of strength AND endurance. But most randonneurs seem to know this, as the self-selection on Kramer's XTR 600 produced an admirably low DNF rate.

Kramer's 200k's are also challenging ... but DOABLE. Perhaps not the rides for personal bests at that distance, but they're certainly good and beneficial workouts.

The Mt. Adams SxSW 200k brevet is in that category. And it's also gorgeous! (Think National Forest with lotsa trees.) There are also some nice, long descents that provide good payback for the uphill work you'll do.

The ride starts (and ends) in Stevenson, WA, which is a half hour’s drive closer to Portland that Bingen or Hood River (where many of Kramer’s rides start). This is significant, cuz Stevenson is home of Walking Man Brewery, which has garnered a very good reputation among beer connoisseurs in the Northwest. I’ve always wanted to visit this brewery, and this brevet gave me the chance. But more on this later.

The first 22 miles of the brevet are on rolling Highway 14 to Bingen. The most memorable moment of this segment was the 100-car freight train full of double-stacked containers that passed right next to me. Freight train activity doesn’t seemed to have slacked off in the current economy. If where I work is any indication, it’s the preferred method of shipping inbound product to our facility (when time allows).

I’ve ridden between Bingen and Trout Lake several times, so the ride didn’t get really interesting to me until North of Trout Lake (about 46 miles into the ride). Coincidentally, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest starts just beyond there.

Forest Road 23
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Forest Route 23 towards Randle is smooth and lightly traveled. Lotsa trees keep the road shaded much of the time, which keeps the steady incline relatively pleasant. There are brief downhill respites around mile 50 and 54, but basically it’s continuously uphill to FR90 (the Lewis River Rd). Another interesting and nice thing about riding through the National Forest is that it’s relatively free of litter.

The road surface of the Lewis River Rd. (FR90) is funkier than FR23, which requires some vigilance. Particularly noteworthy is the second of three short gravel sections, which appears suddenly after a potentially rapid descent. The 3rd gravel section, at about 6/10 of a mile, is longer than the first two. I had no problem negotiating them on 23mm tires.

Curly Creek Road
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

And then there’s Curly Creek Road. This is the workout of the ride, folks. Five miles of steep uphill. The good news is 1) there’s a nice viewpoint 3 miles up the road, and 2) the descent on Wind River Road makes it all worth it. On a memorable hot July 3rd, I had to stop and collect myself twice along this stretch.

Eventually on Wind River Rd you leave the National Forest, and return to normal rural Washington, which is more-or-less epitomized by the lumber town of Carson. The south end of Carson is where you catch Highway 14 back to Stevenson. 3.4 more miles, and you’re at the Walking Man Brewery!

Walking Man patio
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I arrived at the brewery/finish 12 hours and 9 minutes after I started, and immediately splurged on a taster tray (10 small glasses). I have to say all the beers were good, even the styles I’m not normally attracted to (like raspberry beer and barley wine). My favorite, though, was their Imperial IPA, called “Homo Erectus.”

The weather on the day I did the pre-ride was predicted to top out in the 90’s. But it didn’t feel that hot through most of the ride. Perhaps it’s because I started at 5:30 AM. But more likely, it’s the trees and altitude. Much of the Forest Roads were shaded during my ride.

Hope to see many of you cyclists next Saturday, July 11th, on John Kramer’s “Mt Adams SxSW” 200k brevet.

Photos from my pre-ride are here on Flickr.
John Kramer's blog report is here.
Registration is here.

exploring duane’s d’world: an SIR 600k report

2009-06-20T00:13:00.001-07:00

modern bridge
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The good news: I finished the Seattle International Randonneurs 600k last weekend (June 13-14). The route started in Auburn, and went through Tacoma, up to the Hood Canal, out to Westport (on the Washington coast), back inland to Morton (via Centralia), up to Enumclaw, and finally back to Auburn. It took me 37 hours and 57 minutes.

On a more dubious note: I have been the last finisher in every 300k or longer brevet I have completed in the last three years. This includes five 300k’s, two 400k’s, and now two 600k’s. (A couple of minor exceptions involve riders on fixies or missed turns due to errors on a cue sheet.)

But in randonneuring, that’s okay. (Or so I’m told.) Finishing is more important than placing high. Results are posted alphabetically. But still, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t pay attention to his or her times, and uses them to gauge their improvement. It can also be good to know how you fare in comparison to others. Some people are so interested, though, they’ll copy and paste the results of any given brevet into Excel and sort by time.

One interesting comparison for me originated from Mark Thomas’s pre-ride report of this 600k. On the difficult XTR 600k a week earlier, he noted his “moving average” was a mere 11.8 mph. But on the SIR 600k, it improved to 14.4 mph. Well guess what, folks. I did the flatter, milder 600k at the same tempo he did the hellishly hot and steep 600k (and he wasn't feeling well, either)!

A little over a year ago, on the Seattle International Randonneurs’ “Three Passes” 400k, I finished with a measly eight minutes to spare. It was then I first heard of Duane Wright. I think it was Peg Winczewski (she and Lesli had their bikes and bags packed and were headin’ out) who commented on my Duane-like finish time, and told me about his reputation for repeatedly completing brevets just under the deadline.

I then heard of Duane a few more times, but didn’t actually meet him until last April at the finish of the Three Capes 300k. He chose to ride his fixed-gear bike on this 185-miler (which I think is insane, and I have two fixies), and admitted to me later how surprised he was to have finished so close to ending time.

For some reason, Duane rode a fixed gear bike on both the SIR 400k (last month in Eastern Washington) and on this 600k. I think he’s pushing the limit. He finished the 400k (but not quite in time), and abandoned the 600k in Cosmopolis (about 237k into the ride). As he put it later, he had a great weekend. It just didn’t involve 600k’s of riding.

It’s not my intention to take up Duane’s mantle. But on the other hand, my motor just isn’t that powerful. I feel like one of those small Honda engines with valves the size of dimes, sharing the road with cyclists equipped with larger bore engines and superchargers. But eh, I finished!

As John Kramer pointed out in a recent blog, the advantage of being faster is that it gives you more options. You can choose to ride slower for the social aspect, or ride faster in order to take longer breaks and naps. He also pointed out that slower riders often ride alone. I can vouch for that. (Fortunately, I seem to have a high tolerance for “aloneness.”)

I certainly like having options in other areas of my life, so it would probably be good to build up a little more speed so I can introduce options to my cycling life as well.

As for the SIR 600k itself, the ride was pleasant weather-wise and control-wise. My plan was to take it easy on day one way to insure I had enough gas for day two.

Duane
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I rode some with Narayan through Tacoma, enjoyed Amy’s cheeriness (and coffee) at the control in Ruston, then eventually caught up with Duane somewhere near Yukon Harbor. We proceeded to hopscotch to Waterman Point, where Eric Vigoren worked the control, and then onwards through Port Orchard and beyond. By the time I got to Belfair, though, I would not see Duane for another 30 hours. And I wouldn’t see another 600k rider till Centralia.

My main problem with this brevet was stopping too often, and too long. But my body seemed to demand a lot of intermittent rest. In retrospect, I could have taken less time in Union (at the SE end of the Hood Canal) and again in Matlock. But in Matlock I was craving an ice cream float, and managed to construct one in my mouth with Coca Cola and an ice cream bar.

I rode in the drops quite a bit from Matlock to Brady, as my hands were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the hoods and other upper handlebar positions. I just wished my drops were a little less dropped (more like on my LeMond).

After checking in at the Chevron station in Cosmopolis, there was visceral evidence in Aberdeen of how hard the economy’s been hit. An entire shopping mall, complete with a Sears, JC Penneys, and a cinema complex was totally vacant. Not good on a late Saturday afternoon.

Westport (as the name would suggest) was the western-most point on the journey … hence a control at the local Shell station. As usual, I took too much time figuring out what I wanted/needed. But since daylight was now used up, I didn’t hurry up. Continuing on to Raymond, I could often hear the ocean. But the only things that could be seen were those that were either self-or-E6-luminated.

4:40 AM control
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

‘Twas a little difficult to figure out the Rainbow Falls State Park control at 4:30 in the morning. Around the point where my computer indicated it could be, there was a blinky light with a little “SIR” sign. Upon closer inspection, I noticed an arrow on the sign pointing onwards. But it didn’t indicate just how far onwards. I figured it was late enough that the control might have packed up, and the sign indicated to go on to Centralia. But low and behold, a few miles later, there was John, Shiela, and Paul camped out alongside the road, with boatloads of food, and a ton of encouragement.

The sun rose between Rainbow Falls and Centralia. Some of the roads around Chehalis were familiar from the Dart I rode with Cecil and Andrew 15 months earlier. But I didn’t have a lot of gas on the last leg before the “overnight” [ha ha] control.

Peter Beeson was a particularly enthusiastic “concierge” at the Centralia control, and his crew most helpful. They woke me up after about an hour nap and fixed me an ample burrito before sending me on my way. One of the crew members suggested I had plenty of time to arrive back in Auburn in good Duane-like fashion. Hmmm.

A couple people warned me (Eric V. being one of them) that the stretch from Centralia to Morton wasn’t as easy as the pre-ride reports suggested. That’s probably true, as my cardiovascular system got some good workouts along that stretch. I also ended up taking an impromptu brunch about halfway to Morton. Between that and lengthy stops in Morton and Elbe, my off-the-bike time was really building up.

Orville Road between Eatonville and Pioneer Way E (to Buckley) was pretty if not a bit rough (as in coarse pavement). It hugged a couple of serene lakes (Ohop and Kapowsin), although I can’t say the drivers in that area of Pierce County are as serene (particularly the youngsters in pickup trucks). It felt a little like redneck country.

Upon leaving Enumclaw, I noticed that I’d break 38 hours if I hurried. So I hurried. I actually pushed it pretty hard for the last 18 miles, enough that I felt it in my left knee the next day. But I beat 38 hours by three minutes. I might have come in a little sooner had I not lost confidence that SE 368th Street was part of the correct way to get to 212th Way (all nice roads between Enumclaw and Auburn). But I was happy that I had enough in me to push at the end. Perhaps it was the little bottle of Ensure that was given to me in Centralia, but that I waited till Enumclaw to drink.

Narayan
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

At the motel in Auburn, I ran down the hall to Albert’s room to get checked in, and lo and behold there was Narayan (who had arrived only 25 minutes earlier) and a gentleman from Montana (who was gonna sleep over before driving home). I enjoyed some beer, pizza, and a badly needed shower. But before I started in on a nap of my own (before my drive back to Portland), in comes Duane Wright…in street clothes! I didn’t recognize him at first. He was there to give Narayan a ride home. He was full of good cheer, didn’t seem disappointed about not finishing this particular 600k, and congratulated Narayan and me on our finishes.

All 17 photos from this ride are here on Flickr.

nocturnal 200k to Dallas (OR) & back

2009-06-12T12:58:00.001-07:00

8:00 pm takeoff
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Not to be confused with the big city in Texas, nor The Dalles (about 80 miles East of Portland on the Columbia River) … Dallas (Oregon) is in Polk County (George Dallas was VP when James Polk was President). The town is about 15 miles west of Salem.

When Marcello Napolitano put out the word he was riding one of his own permanents from Hillsboro to Dallas, I thought this would be a good way to get my R-12 ambitions out of the way early in the month of June. Ray Ogilve must have though so, too, as it was the three of us that took off at 8:10 PM from Marcello’s home in Hillsboro.

It was still light during our first contrôlée in Forest Grove, but then gradually darkened as we headed South on Spring Hill Road. North Valley, Ribbon Ridge, and Kuehne Roads were all familiar, even after dark in the opposite direction than we usually ride them. But then, we blew by Abbey Road and took what amounted to a six-mile detour to Carlton. A local constable suggested to Ray that the quickest way to Layfayette was to return a mile or so back to Mineral Springs Road, which we did.

After a little fueling at a convenience store contrôlée in Dayton, we rode the familiar route through Amity and then Perrydale Road to Dallas.

1:57 AM
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Usually in Dallas I stop at the Starbucks inside Safeway, which is situated on the East end of town. But as this was my first time in Dallas after dark (or more accurately after business hours), I got my first tour of “downtown” Dallas, complete with two one-way streets and an impressive looking (at least at night) county court building. Marcello knew that the only business open in Dallas after 1:00 AM was a convenience store at the West end of town, and it is there that the three of us re-fueled.

We debated returning via McMinneville rather than Dayton, because we knew there’d be a least once 24-hour market (or a Shari’s) open. But we elected instead to return via the original route, confident we had enough fuel to make it back to Forest Grove. An ATM in Dayton sufficed for the contrôlée there, and birds started to announce that it would be getting light in the next hour or so.

Past Lafayette, the transition from Abbey Road to Kuehne Road is not a problem in the Northbound direction (kind of like a funnel). We negotiated the left turns onto Ribbon Ridge and North Valley Roads without a hitch, but I started falling off the pace a bit on Spring Valley Road. That section sure was purdy during those early AM hours, but I was too anxious to get a caffeine fix in Forest Grove to stop for any pictures.

‘Round 6:30 AM, we stopped at the McDonalds in Forest Grove, where I tried my first espresso drink (a mocha) from that establishment (my most expensive purchase of the trip). Ray got some milk, and Marcello waited patiently for the two of us before our last 9-mile jaunt to Hillsboro.

chicken in the house
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Ah, the lovely smell of bacon! Ray says he normally can’t eat right after a long ride, but the breakfast that Marcello’s wife Cathy had waiting for us at the finish must have changed his whole body chemistry. ‘Twas a great ending to an 11-hour 30-minute nocturnal 210k. It even included a show-and-tell of the Napolitano’s four chickens by daughter Anna.

The rest of my pictures from the ride are here on Flickr.

intermittent forgetfulness

2009-05-22T16:30:00.001-07:00

Saturday, May 16 was a lovely day for a bike ride. I heard it got hot back in Portland. But the hills of central southern Washington were pleasantly warm and welcoming. This is the part of the country through which John Kramer’s “Bingen–Goldendale–Trout Lake” 200k permanent traverses.

On all other permanents I’ve ridden (9 in all) I’ve never forgotten to bring a cue sheet. But this time, it never occurred to me at any point during preparations to print or bring one along. I didn’t even realize the omission until pedaling out of Bingen. Fortunately, the route was the same as the one used for the Bingen Bikenfest brevet in October 2007. Unfortunately, I forgot one fairly important turn.

vineyard on the columbia
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

It’s always interesting the things one remembers and the things one doesn’t. In the morning, I forgot where my wallet was, which made me late to the start. On the ride, I remembered the route out the Gorge (on the Washington side) past The Dalles and on over to Hwy. 97, then up to Goldendale. The Subway/convenience store in Goldendale is a close second in familiarity right after the Thriftway in Newberg.

improv cue sheet
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

John Kramer kindly wrote out a cue sheet on the back of an XTR business card, which worked fine all the way to Glenwood. The 5-mile descent down to the Klickitat River (before Glenwood) brought back memories of the October ’07 brevet (reinforced by this lovely video). I sang Bach melodies all the way down.

But upon leaving Glenwood, I had no memory of which road took me to Trout Lake. It certainly wasn’t the path of least resistance (the only road with a center line). That road is a more direct way back to White Salmon and Bingen, and intersects Hwy 141 at BZ Corners. This mistake caused a rather stressful 11-mile jaunt up Hwy 141 to the contrôle in Trout Lake, and maximum use of all the allotted time.

Interestingly, I didn’t come across another bicyclist all day. Perhaps many were “reaching the beach.” But I was more interested in keeping my goal of a second R-12 intact.

Many thanks to John Kramer for accommodating my relative spontaneity … and um … forgetfulness. ‘Twas a lovely ride.

The rest of my photos are here on Flickr.

personal best … by 4/100 of a second

2009-05-18T18:26:00.001-07:00

A “flying 200” (meters) at the Alpenrose Velodrome is used to seed cyclists who race in “sprints” on Fast Twitch Fridays. The flying part relates to the two laps you're given (over 500m) to get up to speed, so that you hit the timing/start line full on. (200 meters is about ¾ of a lap at Alpenrose.)

front straight
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The hot-rodders (the real athletes) do this distance between 12 and 14 seconds. The record, I believe, is 11:34. My best time last year was a meandering 14:93. It took me all year to get there, as I was usually in the 15's.

Last Friday was my first “Fast Twitch Friday” of 2009, and my flying 200 time was 14:89. While still not fast, it nevertheless feels like an accomplishment.

not-for-credit flèche

2009-04-30T23:45:00.001-07:00

or … my 2nd bike ride to the coast in two weeks!

The "Spokespersons"
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

If someone would have asked if I was interested in doing a circuitous 225-mile 24-hour bicycle ride to the coast and back, featuring some nocturnal riding on cool roads in Clackamas County, an excellent lunch at a Pacific City brewpub, and a beautiful and long (and challenging) riverside road back to wine country, I would have said, “yes!”

But the question that was asked was “Are you interested in doing a flèche?” Or more precisely, “Are you interested in joining a flèche team? … something that includes a bit of elevation gain but a moderate pace … thinking 375-420 kms, keeping stops brief (30 mins or less and infrequent).” To which, I answered … “yes!”

The main differences between the two are 1) a flèche has time constraints, and 2) you’re expected to meet those time constraints with you compatriots. Or as Susan France put it last Sunday, when you’ve given up on the flèche, but still riding, it’s called touring.

Joshua Bryant designed a lovely route with lotsa backroads with minimal traffic. The team was good, too. Ray Ogilvie and RB Buschman are veterans of other flèches. Joshua is a strong yet easy-going rider. I was the slow one of the group, and was happy there were four of us, just in case I didn’t maintain the required pace.

The ride started at the Hopworks Urban Brewery in SE Portland at 7:00 Friday evening (April 24), and headed out Woodstock and Foster Roads to the Springwater Corridor. It got dark at about the 30 km point in Boring. Between there and Silverton, we enjoyed star-filled rural skies and some challenging hills.

Silverton was where the ride went awry. Right away it was a challenge to find a business that was open at 1:00 am that wasn’t a bar. It’s even bleaker at that time of night than Independence. (I know, cuz two years ago a curious policeman in Independence signed Ken Mattina’s and my brevet cards at the same hour.) While I put in an extra mile in Silverton looking for an ATM, Joshua, RB, and Ray entertained (or were entertained by) the local inebriated rowdies. And then while Joshua changed batteries on his taillight and I put on my gloves, RB and Ray took off. It was the last time Joshua and I were to see them for the next 32 hours.

The route out of Silverton is obvious (so I’m told) if you’re familiar with that town. But Joshua and I stayed on Hwy 213 too long, while RB and Ray did something else. Consensus was everyone made wrong turns. But as RB pointed out last Sunday morning, it only takes 50 feet and a turn to lose someone.

With help from Joshua’s iPhone mapping function, he and I got back on track a few miles out of Silverton, and after some deliberation, continued on to Salem. The problem with Salem is that there are many all night businesses that can serve as checkpoints. We chose an AM-PM market on Market St … waited an hour … exchanged cell phone numbers (the obvious omission between the four of us six hours earlier) … then split up looking for RB and Ray. By the time we finally left Salem, we were well behind schedule.

In the meantime, Ray and RB had continued to McMinnville. Of course, I would not learn this until eight hours later. The hardest part of the entire flèche was not knowing where RB and Ray were … for nine full hours. When Ray finally called me (I was on Little Nestucca Road approaching Pacific City), my heart sank to learn that he and RB had abandoned in McMinnville after waiting for Joshua and me for nearly two hours. After all, they had waited well beyond the printed closing time.

It was well into daylight by the time Joshua and I arrived in McMinneville. After Willamina, Joshua went on ahead to try to reel in Ray and RB. When I got Ray’s phone call, I in turn called Joshua. By the time I got to Pacific City, Joshua was already considering alternate plans.

Joshua’s wife Britt offered to drive out to the coast and pick us up, but Joshua and I really wanted to ride Nestucca River Road between Beaver and Carlton. Neither of us had ever been on that road; it was one of the main attractions of the flèche route. On the other hand, we were already familiar with the roads from Carlton to the Forest Grove. So Britt planned to pick us up in Carlton eight hours later.

This allowed Joshua and me to enjoy a relaxed meal at the Pelican Brewery in Pacific City before heading back out over the Coast Range. One beer sampler later, the significant disappointment of getting separated from Ray and RB, and in not finishing the flèche, washed away. The tour was still on!

Nestucca River
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I had little preconception of Nestucca River Road, expect that it might be similar to Little Nestucca River Road. Boy was I wrong! The summit over the range is much higher on Nestucca River Road, and the approach is relentless. It’s also full of illusions and false summits. There were many times that the only way I knew we hadn’t arrived at top was to watch the river flow continuously toward us. Visually lovely, but physically challenging, the road included a 2 ½-mile rocky dirt/gravel section, and also a couple of steep sections that begged us to dismount and walk.

I spent so much energy pedaling up along the Nestucca River, my legs had little gas for the descent into Carlton. By the time we arrived (about ½ hour later than forecasted), Britt was waiting for us … in front of a closed Ken Wright Cellars. I was grateful for the fig newtons she brought along; they ended up being my dinner, as I wasted no time falling asleep once I got home.

riders and ORRando folk
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Part of the flèche tradition is for all the teams to have breakfast together the following morning. Since we were the only team this year, breakfast got moved from Forest Grove to downtown Portland. Felt good to ride to Kenny and Zukes on Sunday morning, where Michael Rasmussen and Susan France treated us to a pastrami hash (at least that’s what I had), and a re-hashing the previous day’s events.

‘Twas a good, difficult, and memorable ride, or tour. Next time, cell phone numbers all around!

photos of the fleche-attempt / tour are here on Flickr.

annual trip to the coast

2009-04-16T01:16:00.001-07:00

Don't think I've been to the Oregon coast in the last 3-4 years, except by bicycle. Each time, it's been on a 300 kilometer bike ride from Forest Grove out to Tillamook and Pacific City, then inland to Grand Ronde, Sheridan, Amity and Lafayette, and then back North to Forest Grove. This ride happens every Spring, and is put on by the Oregon Randonneurs. It’s called the Three Capes 300k Brevet.

This year's version (held last Saturday, April 11) was hosted by cycling veterans Cecil-Anne and Lynne, and started promptly at 6:00 AM. I, however, was not prompt. I am definitely NOT an early morning person, and my day job (ironically) involves getting up every weekday before dawn. So by the time weekends roll around, I'm usually ready to ride again sometime ‘round the middle of Saturday afternoon.

On this particular Saturday, I managed to leave home at 5:30 in the morning, and got to Forest Grove 45 minutes later. By 6:30, I was off and rolling on what promised to be another solo rando ride.

Scene (and Seen) at the Timber Control
Originally uploaded by cecilanne

On the out-and-back up Timber Road, there were still a dozen riders returning the other way. Many of them were more than 1/2 hour ahead at this point, so I wasn't gaining much ground on anyone. Had a nice short chat with Cecil at the 1st controle, then continued on Hwy 6 towards the coast.

It's interesting the things I remember from previous years’ versions of this ride, and the things I don’t. For instance, I hadn't memorized the topography (or grades). The summit on Hwy 6 came sooner than I expected. And the tough hills between Tillamook and Pacific City seemed less severe than I remembered (although I'll probably never ride them quickly, or on a fixie).

Upon arrival at the Tillamook Safeway, I noticed two bikes, and then their riders (Brad Reber and Ed Groth), who were doing lunch in front of the market. They resumed their ride shortly after I got checked in. We met up again after Netarts, and rode together for much of the way from there … up Little Nestucca River Road, over Summit Sourgrass, and then to Grand Ronde.

I bought some liquids in Grand Ronde and soon pushed on towards Sheridan and beyond while Ed and Brad elected to have a sit down meal from the market’s deli. Nineteen miles later (at the info control in Ballston), Brad passed me. He was quite determined to get to Forest Grove in time to ride to Hillsboro and catch the last Tri-met train to Portland.

Like last year, darkness fell somewhere around Amity. I ran into Brad one last time at one of the small-town convenience stores; he was surprised that Ed hadn’t caught up with me.

I actually felt pretty strong for the remainder of the ride … up Ribbon Ridge, North Valley, Spring Hill, and Fern Hill roads. My lights and reflective material must have worked well, as most of the passing cars gave me about 10 feet of space.

A little before midnight, as Cecil signed my card in Forest Grove, Lynne announced, “It must be Bill,” and promptly fell back to sleep. After a few snacks and refreshments, Cecil expressed some concern about two riders still out on the course … with no cell phones. She contemplated driving the course in reverse when the ride officially ended at 2:00 AM, but I saved her the trouble by driving out there well before then. As it turns out, it was unnecessary. Duane Wright (who I hadn’t seen during the whole ride) and Ed (both of them on fixies!) finished in time. However, it was too late for Ed to catch the Max back from Hillsboro to Portland, so I gave him and his bike a lift back to Portland.

Cape Mears, Cape Lookout, and Cape Kiwanda are the Three Capes featured in this annual bike ride. I didn’t take as many pictures of the coast as last year, because 1) the skies we more overcast, and 2) the visibility less. However, the pictures I did take this year are here on Flickr. (You’ll notice quite a few are of Brad and Ed.)

fast guys host a wet one

2009-03-31T01:37:00.001-07:00

(124 miles … in constant rain … from Forest Grove to Vernonia and Birkenfield, then back)

The picture I wish I’d taken during the Berkie 200k brevet (but didn’t) is one of Sam, Del, and Mike at the Vernonia control. I mean, how often do NW randonneurs get to see these guys all in one place in street clothes?

Another fast guy, Seattle’s Brian Ohlemeier, did the SIR Spring 200k the previous week (March 21) in 7 hours and 25 minutes. He comes to mind cuz he’s also done hosting duties. In fact, he waited patiently in a hotel in North Bend, WA last May for me to finish a 400k in 26:52, just 8 minutes under the limit.

Okay, I’m a little obsessed with fast guys (particularly, for some reason, the ones who do their share of volunteering) … but I’ll get over it. It’s just that I have no idea what it would be like to live in the body of one of these riders, and to be able to do 200k in, lets say, under 8 hours.

As far as last Saturday’s Birkie brevet was concerned, I had a hard time getting up for it. I had already done a 200k earlier in the month, and felt like I desperately needed some down time. But on the other hand, my March mileage was down. So I told myself that if I could get to sleep uncharacteristically early the night before, I’d make a go of it. After all, my new jacket almost makes me look forward to riding in the rain.

I got up at 4:10 on Saturday morning, left my place at 4:50, and rode the 3 miles Goose Hollow. The first Max train of the day arrived there at 5:20, and deposited me in Hillboro 45 minutes later. After five more miles of riding (it’s really dark between Hillsboro and Cornelius), I arrived in Forest Grove with 15-20 minutes to spare … just enough time to check in, pay some dues, eat a muffin, and douse it with coffee.

Once the ride commenced, I managed to miss just about every signal on Pacific Ave. But once on Gales Creek Road, I ended up tagging along with Peg, Lesli, and Sara. On Timber Road, I was passed by a few riders who must have started later (including RB). And by the time I was heading back on Keasey Road (from the info control), there were still a dozen riders behind me. Most of them caught up in Birkenfield while I washed down a pbj sandwich with a house mocha.

Country Store
Originally uploaded by tangobike r

But it was back at about the 50-mile point (16 miles before Birkenfield) where I started having serious misgivings about this ride. I felt finished. Perhaps undernourished. I wanted to be anywhere BUT where I was (pedaling along Highway 47) … somewhere that involved lying horizontally … home … the acupuncturist’s … anywhere. Despite a brief respite at the Birkenfield Country Store, this feeling persisted all the way back to Vernonia (mile 88). Odd, because riding along beautiful riverside roads is one of my favorite things to do (even when it’s wet). But my body didn’t care. It wanted out.

I made quick work of the return Vernonia control … visited an ATM and public restroom, and downed a GU energy gel. Surprisingly restorative.

And lucky for me, I met up with Greg Olson for the last 36 miles. Greg is a fast rider who started 40 minutes late (which is often his habit). Later on, his tire pump broke as he was repairing a flat, and he had to wait 40 additional minutes for a rider to come along. With this 80-minute handicap, we ended up leaving Vernonia at the same time.

Greg seemed quite content to pedal at my 12 mph pace for the remainder of the ride. He was chatty and had lotsa stories, all which had an energizing effect on me. Of course, maybe it did have something to do with his not wanting to be stranded without a pump again.

At Glenwood, I had a craving for a corn dog, but the closest thing the Shell station had was a $1 BBQ burrito. It hit the spot, and gave me gumption for the final 12 miles back to Forest Grove … (helped by a nice tailwind!).

Upon arrival at the McMenammin’s lodge, I didn’t look at my watch, nor check the time that Sam wrote on my brevet card. But according to time stamp on a picture of Greg checking in, it looks like we finished in 11 hours and 22 minutes. It felt slower, and harder than that. ‘Twas about an hour more than my time two years ago, and 15 minutes more than last year. Doesn’t look like I’m getting any quicker.

I didn’t stick around the finish too long, as Brad Reher and Ed Groth (the latter of whom did the entire ride on a fixie) were departing to Hillsboro. I tagged along. Five miles later, the three of us found Adam George already waiting for the Max.

I’ve been on rides before where I didn’t know if I’d be able to finish … but I don’t remember one where I experienced such second thoughts in the middle of the ride about doing it at all ... even during the 600k last Fall. But it all seemed to significantly wash away once I soaked in the tub at home afterwards.

Michael Johnson's report
Cecil's report
Lesli's pictures
my pictures

SIR Spring "Chili Feed" 200k

2009-03-23T20:05:00.001-07:00

Initially, I did not plan to ride the SIR Spring “Chili Feed” 200k, as I have so little down time any more. But when Joshua Bryant posted a request for a ride to Kent on the Saturday morning of the brevet, I decided otherwise. After all, even though the ride was real tough for me last year (seat and knee problems), I had fond memories of the carpooling and “chili feed” parts.

Joshua met me at my place in SE Portland at 3:00 AM. After some French toast and tea, we loaded his bike and were heading north on I-5 by 3:30.

We would have gotten to Kent in plenty of time except for an ill-timed restroom/coffee stop somewhere between Olympia and Lacey. The only open business was a Sheri’s restaurant, selling rot-gut coffee for over $2/cup. We also had a hard time finding our way back to I-5 north, but with the eventual help of a convenience store clerk, finally righted our course.

We pulled in behind a long line of parked cars in Greg Cox’s neighborhood, and immediately set off on getting dressed and registered. I stopped a little too long to admire TRFKAF’s (Cecil’s stuffed rabbit’s) new Shower’s Pass rain vest, and ended up starting about 4 minutes after everyone else. Nevertheless, I caught up with a number of people fairly soon, and had company all the way to the first control in Dash Point.

Eric Vigoren caught up with me somewhere around Auburn , and we hopscotched a bit to Black Diamond. It was fun for me to learn more about Eric … not only that he’s working on an R-40-something … but also about his non-cycling (UW) exploits.

I brought along a couple of peanut butter jelly sandwiches, so I wasn’t into the bakery thing in Black Diamond. However, I am into espresso machiattos (my favorite control beverage), but that drink wasn’t in the barista’s repertoire. Her approximation was pleasant enough, though.

P3211185
Originally uploaded by Seattle Randonneur

If not speedily, I at least rode steadily up to Greenwater, a big improvement over last year. A bike fitting and a few orthodics later, last year's knee pains thankfully stayed away for the most part. I tried to take pictures of a lot of the riders returning down Hwy 410, but my camera wasn’t behaving well. The old point-&-shoot Coolpix rebelled against my shoot-&-hope tactics.

My less-than-a-full-night’s-sleep the night before caught up with me in Greenwater. There were about 18 bicycles parked there when I arrived, and none when I finally left. But I really needed to sit down with my 2nd pbj sandwich, which was accompanied by a V8 fruit juice concoction. I was hoping for something a little more nourishing, but the inventory of that general store caters more to motorcyclists' diets rather than bicyclists'.

There were still a dozen or so cyclists heading up to Greenwater during my descent. A little before Mud Mountain Dam Road , I starting leap-frogging with Paul Whitney and another gentleman (whose name escapes me now) all the way to Enumclaw. Since this was my 2nd time on this brevet, I was able to navigate to the Circle K control much more efficiently this time ‘round. I arrived at 4:20 PM, and decided to make quick work of Enumclaw, and try to make it back to the finish in under 11 hours (which made the last 20 miles a bit of a push). One hour, 35 minutes, and one rainstorm later, I succeeded.

As I approached the Cox’s home, I noticed Joshua’s bicycle already mounted on the back of my car. What I didn’t know was that he was napping inside the back. He had already had his fill of chili and veggies.

My final time of 10:55 was 2 hours and 3 minutes better than last year’s painful 12:58. Other benefits of coming in sooner were 1) I had daylight all the way!, and 2) the party at the Cox’s was a lot more active than when I arrived last year. Not only that, it was still daylight during the drive down I-5 almost all the way to Centralia!

Things that worked well this ride:

Bolted on fenders! Since my bike has doubled as a cyclocross bike, I cycled all of last year with rubber-banded (easily detached) fenders, which were prone to rattle quite noisily. Ah, blessed silence!
Wardrobe: My new Showers Pass jacket (the most expensive article of clothing I own) in combination with my first ever wool jersey (newly acquired Woolistic “Oregon Randonneurs” model) were quite comfortable and effective.

Thing that doesn't work well:

My bike still shimmies when I let off the handlebars. It seemed more pronounced on this ride, as I was carrying less weight in my handlebar bag than usual. I may start experimenting with different forks, as I know my bike is too short and steep for optimal randonneuring.

Many thanks to Greg and Mary Cox and all the SIR volunteers for a wonderful event.

My photos are here on Flickr.
Cecil's blog and photos
Preliminary results

soggy snooseville

2009-03-15T21:18:00.001-07:00

It didn’t start raining … until 5 minutes before the start.

Thirty-eight hearty souls pedaled off from the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse at the designated 8:00 AM time on what was to be a wet and windy two-wheeled ramble through rural Washington County. The attrition rate was high for a ride of this length; only 30 riders finished. The good news, though, is that the other 8 starters were all accounted for by ride’s end. I think a number of them of them just weren’t having fun, probably due to cold feet and hands. The extremities are a challenge to keep warm when it’s windy and wet … even for more experienced long-distance riders.

cDSC_0722
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Most of the finishers, though, seemed exhilarated at the end. Chatty and relieved, many seemed to have enjoyed the workout. ‘Twas a ride well done by all of them.

Particular kudos go to the volunteers on this ride … Ray, Barbara, and Susan at the Snooseville/Fern Flat Road. turnaround … Joshua at the now not-so-secret control at Strohmayer Road … Gregg in Forest Grove … and Ken & Rose at the finish.

Joshua was my hero of the day, as he bicycled all the way to the secret control (about 8 miles beyond Forest Grove) from his home in SE Portland, and then waited over two hours for the 30 riders to pass through. It’s definitely easier to stay warm when you’re pedaling than it is when you’re working a control without shelter (no car or building nearby). But the spot seemed so perfect a week earlier, a day that was forecasted similarly to the ride date, but ended up so different. Fortunately, I was able to text Joshua when the last four riders turned right onto Mountaindale Road from Dairy Creek, which helped him know when his shift was over. A shift done without carbon footprint.

Gregg’s carbon footprint wasn’t much larger. He drove his SmartCar out to Forest Grove (it’s funny when he straps his recumbent to that thing) and then “set up shop” in front of Maggie’s Buns. This ended up being the most thoroughly photographed control I have ever seen. When Gregg returned to the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, he showed Susan & me dozens of pictures (from his laptop). I don’t think he missed any riders. Plus he got a few Portland Velo cyclists, and also some ambience from Forest Grove. His pictures are here on Picasa.

One of the nice things about all the volunteer help this year is that it freed me up to take quite a few pictures of my own, which can be viewed here on Flickr.

Thanks to all who came out and participated in this year’s Snooseville Populaire. ‘Twas a pleasure to organize.

snooseville pre-ride report

2009-03-08T03:32:00.001-07:00

The Snooseville 100k Populaire, the first organized ride of the Oregon Randonneurs 2009 season, is six days away. (on March 14)

Yesterday, four of us pre-rode the course (which is identical to last year’s). The weather cooperated better than we thought it would. And for me, it’s quite an improvement to have the help (and company) of volunteers this year.

Three of us (Joshua Bryant, Gregg Berkholtz, and I) took the Max out to Hillsboro, then rode up the couple of miles to the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. Ken Mattina joined us at the nearby Starbucks at the scheduled 8:00 departure time, and the ride commenced.

start
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

‘Twas a bit blustery at the outset, but entirely manageable. A few street signs appeared to be missing, most notably Meek Rd at its intersection with Sewell. (Be mindful of your mileage at that point, and turn left at the T.)

Gregg ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

We scouted new info control questions at Greener Road (the Snooseville turnaround) and later at Jack Road (where it intersects Cedar Canyon Road). Between the two, we stopped briefly in Banks (where I ate most of my pbj sandwich). We were also on the lookout for a new secret control location, and Joshua eventually found what I believe will be an excellent one.

We took a long (25-minute) break in front of Maggie’s in Forest Grove, during which time Gregg posted a photo of us on Twitter from his I-phone.

Joshua, with his personally built bike with fairly wide 650b tires, was the fastest rider amongst us. Ken, Gregg, and I fell in at various distances behind him. Joshua, though, didn’t appear to be in too big a hurry, as we all arrived back at Imbrie Hall within 15 minutes of each other.

I’m planning to have the finish check-in at Embrie Hall. When you arrive at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse off of Imbrie Drive, please continue to the end of the parking lot, where a nice path will then take you to the restaurant.

While the route is the same as last year, I think the ride will be improved, thanks to the volunteers. In particular, Gregg will be on hand in Forest Grove to help riders get through the control there.

My photos from the pre-ride are here on Flickr.
Gregg's photos from the pre-ride are here on Picasa.
Photos from last year's ride are here.

Looking forward to seeing you next Saturday.

self-demoted to cat 8

2009-03-03T23:41:00.001-08:00

or … why i’m giving up on road-racing

My first bicycle road race was back in February 2006, seven months after my 51st birthday (which was when I became a committed cyclist). It was the first race of the season, called “Cherry Pie” (something to do with the prizes), and happened near Harrisburg (north of Eugene), Oregon. I suppose I did it as a bit of a lark, but it was also part of my exploration of all things bicycle. Back then, I didn’t even know what a peloton was, and I can’t say I learned any more about them that day either, except to be scolded about momentarily drafting a passing group of cyclists from another category.

“Cherry Pie” moved to a different location in the Willamette Valley in subsequent years, and I did two more, in Feb ’07 & ’08. Each time my category (Masters 50+ one year, Cat 5 the other) dropped me within a mile or two of the start. So, like the majority of my road races, they became long solo training rides.

I did a few other road races, and probably had the most “success” at the PIR Monday series (Portland Intl. Raceway). At PIR, they have a Novice category, which newcomers are encouraged to do before doing a real Cat 5 race. In ’07, I actually managed to stay “more or less” with a Novice peloton for one race, and I congratulated myself by saying I was finally a Category 6 rider. But in ’08, I wasn’t able to duplicate that feat, so I demoted myself to a Cat 7. (Keep in mind Cat 5 is the lowest category).

This year, I passed on “Cherry Pie,” and instead did the “Sublime Sublimity” race (southeast of Salem) as the first one of the season. I became a bit disheartened after this one, as not only did I lose all the Cat 5’s by the 2nd mile, I was passed by the Woman’s 4 & Masters 40+ categories (they started 5 minutes later), and then lapped by the leaders in my own category about midway through the second lap (each lap being about 13 rolling miles), and THEN a little later by the Cat 1-3 women (who had started 5 minutes earlier). That meant that my “race” was over at the end of the 2nd lap, and was officially given a DNF. Afterwards, I no longer felt like a Cat 7.

Sublime Sublimity road race
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The real problem with road racing, when you’re unable to keep up with a peloton, is … you cease to exist. You lose your support, you become an ordinary tourist on the road, and you are often ignored by the scorekeepers.

This is not the case in cyclocross, or at the track, or in time trials.

In the mudfest they call cyclocross, you can almost always find someone to race, even at the back. Still, I count my successes there by how few times I’m lapped. But still, the general silliness and the party atmosphere make it more about participating and having a good time rather than actually being competitive.

And at the velodrome (particularly on Tuesdays and Fridays at Alpenrose Dairy here in Portland), you can almost always find someone with which to engage in a pursuit or a match sprint.

With a time trial, cyclists race against the clock instead of directly against each other. Usually after the Cherry Pie roadrace (and this year after “Sublime Sublimity”) I participate in the Jack Frost Time Trial. This was my 4th consecutive year to enter this race. It's a good meter of one’s progress (or not) from year to year.

I actually improved this year over previous attempts. My times on this 12.4-mile out-&-back course are as follows:

2006: 39:24.08
2007: 39:38.00
2008: 41:40.00
2009: 37:31.17

In 2008, I must have ridden a 200k brevet the day before. But this last time round, it felt good to have a personal best, particularly after my way-off-the-back experience in Sublimity the day before.

I still plan to work on getting faster, if for no other reason so I can take longer breaks on long randonneuring rides. And also to have more options in general while cycling.

a faster* 200k, & the 2-flats** handicap

2009-02-16T16:03:00.001-08:00

* faster does not equal fast
** John Henry’s and JoAnne’s

This ride looked like it was gonna be a cold and dreary. It certainly looked that way at the outset. Steady rain started about ½ hour before the 7:00 AM start from Newberg, and the roads remained fairly wet through about Amity.

John Henry, JoAnne, Cecil, Lynne, Kevin, and I all did our customary check-ins at the Thriftway (or in Kevin’s case, a non-check-in), and started our journey down Hwy 99W. The rain-moistened debris between Newberg and Dayton got all our bikes nice and dirty.

Cecil had done “a fast century” the day before, so took it relatively easy today. (Any distance “fast” can wipe me out for quite a while.) The last I saw of her and Lynne were when they slowed down at the truck scale along the highway. I kept JoAnne, John, and Kevin in my sights until Hwy 233 rejoins Hwy 99W before Amity. But lo and behold, they were still at the Safeway in Dallas when I arrived at the first control.

three musketeers
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I hung in with them for the first 9 miles out of Dallas and Rickreal, but then my thighs started burning. It’s amazing how quickly those guys can get outa sight when I drop back a little.

Then there was JoAnne and John at the side of the road, with the first of what was to be two flats. Learning that they carried four tubes on their tandem, I carried on towards Newberg into rather strong headwinds that pushed down my average speed 1 ½ mph. John Henry and JoAnne didn’t pass me till I was stopped at Cecil’s and Lynne’s favorite “blue room” (actually green) in Dayton.

tried a new control in Newberg
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

In Newberg, I tried a new control, the Coffee Cat, which worked out well. There was one person in front of me who was placing a large sit-down order for four people, and the gal behind the counter pushed my espresso drink through ahead of theirs. The macchiato was good and went well with my pbj sandwich.

Between John Henry’s and JoAnne’s longer break in Newberg, and their 2nd flat, they didn’t pass me again till a few miles before Mt. Angel. Brilliant blue sky prevailed for the second half of the ride. I would have probably taken more pictures if I hadn’t left my pocket digital camera at work.

a surprisingly sunny afternoon
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

In Mt. Angel, I made my usual stops at the US Bank ATM and the city loo, imbibed the contents of a mint chocolate-flavored GU Energy Gel packet (not my first choice in flavors, but it was all Bike N Hike in Beaverton had the day before), and then headed straight back towards Newberg. Again, John Henry and JoAnne took a longer control break, and didn’t pass me until Arbor Grove Rd. In the meantime, I passed Cecil and Lynne going in the other direction (towards Mt. Angel), all bedecked in their colorful wool jerseys. Again, the headwinds were significant riding north to Champoeg, and north again into Newberg. After John Henry, JoAnne and I paused to take some pictures on Arbor Grove (like the one above), they quickly lost me, and arrived back in Newberg 10-15 minutes ahead. Their dinner at the Coffee Cottage was being served while I checked in.

With my shorter-than-usual control breaks, I was kinda hoping for a personal best. But at 10 hours and 40 minutes, I missed that mark by 20 minutes. This ended up being my my third fastest 200k, my fastest being this same permanent two months ago. Fewer headwinds that day, plus I was able to hang onto (barely) the John Henry-JoAnne-Kramer-Vincent train for the final 10-15 miles into Newberg.

After checking in at the Coffee Cottage, I boogied back to Portland for a late evening of tango dancing. After all, a huge tango festival was winding down.

My average 200k time is about 11 hours and 25 minutes. My slowest was exactly one year ago (to the month), the Clatskanie – Cape Disappointment permanent, with took the full 13 hours and 15 minutes. I’d like to do that one again, but when the days are longer.

More pictures of this "Three Prairies" ride are here on Flickr.
Also, here's Cecil's weekend (including this ride), and Lynne's account.

a lot of tango dancers don't seem to be into football

2009-02-01T22:01:00.001-08:00

Ever since the snow melted from the big arctic storm in December, attendance has been high at the Sunday Afternoon Argentine Tango Practica. The amazing part is that 50-or-so people have showed up each week for the one-hour drop-in basic techniques class at 1:00.

Studio B (2) ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

And Super Bowl Sunday was no different. Big class. Close to 100 people in all during the afternoon. Don't think anyone there mentioned Pittsburgh or Arizona all day long.

I've got lots of Sunday Practica pictures from the last couple years here on Flickr.

Hangin’ with leisurely fast guys

2009-01-28T21:56:00.001-08:00

‘Twas an interesting cycling weekend, where I did two rides that shared a common thread: riding with fast guys, who (on these rides) traded in their well-known speed on something more relaxed (and perhaps social).

Saturday 200k

Gallon House Bridge
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The first was last Saturday, where about a dozen of us randonneur folks rode the “Prairies & Wetlands” 200k permanent. Now, I was a little rusty with this 200k business. I hadn’t done one since early December, when a number of us completed our R-12’s (12 consecutive monthly 200k [or longer] rides). But more than continuing to work on an R-whatever, I think it was that general rustiness that motivated my drive to Newberg in the wee small hours last Saturday. (I am not a morning person.)

This was the 3rd time in 16 months I rode “Prairies & Wetlands;” first time was in the Fall of ’07, next was two months ago (Nov ’08), and then again last weekend. Eventually, I intend to construct a few permanents of my own. But in the meantime, most of us ride the familiar ones put together by our RBA in Newberg.

The roads are mostly agriculturally rural … not too much traffic. And in this case, not too many hills, either. Started out chatting with David Rowe a bit, and then with Cecil. But within about 15 miles, they and a handful of others were out of sight.

But John (Kramer) and Vincent (both of whom are capable of getting to the next town really quickly) opted for a more relaxed pace. They set their hammers aside and basically hung out with Lynne and me for most of the 200k. Lynne saved the three of us from a wrong turn approaching the Gallon House Bridge, we made our stop in Mt. Angel brief, and we discussed our Newberg options before checking in at the Coffee Cottage.

espresso macchiato ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

If I’d realized how busy the Coffee Cottage is in the middle of a Saturday afternoon, I probably would have steered us to Chapter’s Bookstore (my usual place), or to the Thriftway. But Lynne was glad for the chance to warm her feet, and John and Vincent didn’t seem to mind the wait. So why should I? After all, the espresso macchiato was excellent (the barrista took great pride in it), as was the straight-ahead coffee I chased it with.

We rode through Dayton, Lafayette, Carlton (a brief stop), Yamhill, Gaston, before stopping in Forest Grove. I got beverages at a local convenience store while Lynne, Vincent, and John hung out at Pizza Schmizza. Then it was back to towards Newberg.

Vincent, Lynne, and John ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I think this was the first time I cycled Springhill Road in daylight. It was my favorite part of the journey … soft fading light with all those wetlands on the right. On this road, Vincent pulled ahead, and John hung back with Lynne. Vincent missed the turn onto Old Yamhill road (and took Hwy. 240 straight into Newberg), while Lynne, John and I reconvened at that easy-to-miss turn and navigated the labyrinth of streets back into Newberg.

I passed on the post-ride meeting at Burgerville, and instead headed back to Portland for a friend’s early evening milonga (tango dance). Click here for the rest of the photos from this ride.

Sunday fixed gear 40k

The next morning, there was a thin layer of fresh snow to greet Portland. Again, it was hard to get up, but I wanted to try my new 19-tooth cog on David Auker’s Sunday morning fixie ride.

But the snow must have been dicey in David’s neighborhood (he lives in the West Hills), as he wasn’t at River City Bicycles at the appointed time.

Peter Drake was, though. I kinda know him (better than he knows me) as a fast rider whose name often appears high up in OBRA’s race results. I’ve seen him race at the Alpenrose velodrome, and at PIR. In fact, he mentors some of the novice racers during the Monday Evening Races at PIR (during the Summer).

So there we were. A Cat 1 racer, riding with me, a “Cat 7 with a bit of endurance.”

track stands
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

We were able to reconstruct most of David’s route (down the Springwater Corrider, through Sellwood, past Milwaukie, and back) without David. Missed a few turns, but Peter got us back on track. Met up with Kathleen (another strong racer, although I don’t know if she’s active anymore) on the return portion.

Turns out Peter’s a very pleasant person to ride and chat with. Articulate. Knows a lot about Portland. Wrenches at Northwest Bicycles on 21st Ave. I know a few of his Lakeside/Fred Meyer teammates. As with David, a chatty ride for him is a real workout for me.

Have to admit, after 150 miles of cycling, and 7 hours of tango, it wasn’t the most relaxing of weekends. But I got some of the rust off my long distance legs. And I got to hang with some fast boys.

2008 personal cycling stats (or reaching 7000 miles the hard way)

2009-01-02T13:38:00.001-08:00

On the morning of December 31st, there were 6968 year-to-date miles in my cycling log. Several months earlier I set a rather arbitrary goal of 7000 miles. That specific distance isn’t a big deal. (It would only be 270 more miles than last year.) I’m sure many randonneuring and/or super-commuter cyclists routinely exceed that. But to be so close. It would be a lot easier to say “I biked 7000 miles” that to say “I biked almost 7000 miles” or “I biked six thousand nine hundred eighty five miles in 2008.”

But still, I was only marginally motivated to ride the necessary 32 miles on New Years Eve day. I had to work. And on this cold and rainy day, it would double my normal commute. If I’d been more motivated, I would have gotten up an hour earlier in the dark and ridden over the Sylvan Hill. As it was, I did my normal ride-to-Gosse-Hollow-take-the-Max-to-Beaverton thing (still in the dark). By the time I arrived at work, I had 28 miles to go. And by the time I left, it was nearly dark again.

From work I headed west, bought a last-minute holiday gift at New Seasons in Cedar Hills, dropped it off at a friend’s house near Elmonica, and continued west on Baseline to about 205th St. The bike lanes were pretty sketchy (remnants of “snowzilla”), and the debris hard to see. I sought out lesser traveled streets, and ended up “taking the lane” quite a bit. I avoided Cornell, wound up behind the Evergreen Cinemas in Hillsboro, and crossed over Hwy. 26 on 185th St.

The most pleasant part of this nocturnal excursion was the meander on NW Park View Blvd. and Sommerset Dr. between 185th and West Union Rd. Traffic was minimal. The residential streets wide. When West Union turned into NW Thompson Rd, I set my sights uphill. And for the most part, the ascent up to Skyline Dr. was manageable. Most of the traffic was local and unhurried. The decent down Thompson Rd. to Cornell Rd., on the other hand, was a bit scary. Snow and gravel along the right shoulder. Wasn’t real confident of the road surface. Used my brakes a lot!

On Cornell, I took the lane through the tunnels, and appreciated the brief respite from the rain they provided. Got off Cornell at Westover, climbed, and then braked a lot into NW Portland. Stopped at Whole Foods (near Powell’s) for a few groceries and a bottle of cava with which to bring in the New Year. By the time I got home, my trip computer said 31. One mile shy of 7000 for the year. And still a tango dance to go!

ready to ride
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

After an hour-long dinner and pit stop at home, I met my friend Jeff at Staccato Gellato on NW 28th. It was here that I reached my 7000-mile goal. Jeff usually enjoys an espresso at this establishment while he waits for other cycling tango dancers, but Staccato Gellato closed early on New Years Eve, as did the nearby Starbucks. Fortunately, though, Blue Monk on SE Belmont was open, and we shared a terrific Spanish coffee before heading to Tango Berretin (on SE Foster at Holgate), where we danced in the new year.

Here are a few personal (Lynne-inspired) cycling stats from 2008:

~ Total logged miles (including commutes): 7,004
~ Rides of 100 miles or longer: 20
~ Longest (and most epic) ride: Desert River 600k (376 miles)

Randonneuring:
~ 2008 RUSA total: 4,296 km (2,669 miles)
~ Super Randonneur award
~ R-12 award
~ One DNF: stopped after 200 miles of Seattle’s “4 Passes” 600k

Cumulative odometers:
~ Mountain Cycle Stumptown: 11,996 miles
~ Ideor Asso (fixie): 4,229 miles
~ Lemond Buenos Aires: 2,572 miles

A few organized rides:
~ RACC (Ride Around Clark County)
~ Tour de Blast (Mt. St. Helens)
~ STP (Seattle to Portland)
~ RSVP (Seattle to Vancouver, BC)

Hottest ride: STP

Coldest rides: Scio Covered Bridges, & Clatskanie-Cape Dissapointment permanents

OBRA participation (Oregon Bicycle Racing Assn.)
Road races: 5
~ Cherry Pie
~ PIR (Portland Intl. Raceway): 2
~ “Rehearsal” RR, Rainier
~ Mt. Tabor (fixed gear)
Time trial: 1
~ Jack Frost TT (Vancouver, WA)
Track races (Alpenrose Velodrome): 16
~ Fast Twitch Fridays: 6
~ Masters/Juniors (Wednesdays): 7
~ Other: 3
Cyclocross: 5
~ Cross Crusade : 4
~ Heiser Farms (Dayton): 1

Happy New Year, everyone!

skiing to tango

2008-12-22T11:18:00.001-08:00

arrived by skis!
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I wasn’t expecting many people at Sunday’s tango practica. Temperature was in the 20’s. Snow was historical and relentless. But since the 35-minute walk in my Ice Trekkers to the Viscount Studios was doable, I opened the practica for those crazy enough come.

Imagine my surprise when Marion showed up with her skies. She was wearing enough reflective material to make a randonneur proud.

tango skiers and biker
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Then it was Jim. He locked his skis to the bike rack outside. Jeff, who arrived a little later (by mountain bike), wasn’t immediately recognizable cuz of his snow gear. “Come outside,” he said, “and take a picture of Jim and me with our skis and bike.”

3rd to arrive by skis ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Not to be outdone, Fred showed up a couple hours later … on skis … wearing a 3-piece suit! I think he must come directly from church.

All in all, there were 18 people who stopped by the Viscount to dance/practice some tango. Among them was Ginger (here from LeGrande), with whom I had a pleasant walk back to the 30th and Morrison neighborhood afterwards.

More pictures here.

a week of inclement car-less commuting

2008-12-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

SNOW (along with relatively cold temperatures) arrived here in Portland last Sunday (Dec. 14). Even though fairly well-forecasted, it still seemed to catch people by surprise … probably cuz it’s officially not even winter yet.

Sunday Practica

Often, I host the Sunday Tango Practica by bicycle (particularly now since I have help with food procurement). But last Sunday, I knew attendance would be down. My teaching partner was advised not to drive down from Council Crest. The person whose turn it was to bring food declined to come in from Battleground, WA. Nonetheless, I put out an announcement that the practica was “on” for anyone who could safely get there, trusting that spare backup snacks and a little beer would be sufficient enough goodies for those who came.

I also decided to walk to the practica, a luxury that didn’t exist before I moved to SE Salmon St. I didn’t wanna drive, nor bike (cycling looked potentially dicey). So it walked to the Viscount Studios on East Burnside. It took 35 minutes. Not bad.

Yifang and Jeff ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

A critical mass of people showed up … eight for the class … and 20 more during the practica itself. Intrepid biker-tango couple (Jeff & Yifang) rode to the practica on their xtracycle. (Jeff’s spent considerable time in cold climates, and wasn’t too phased by Sunday’s storm.)

Weekdays to Beaverton & back

The biggest storm-related challenges, though (and their resulting scheduling problems) were yet to come. I needed to get to Beaverton by 7:30 Monday morning. And I didn’t wanna drive. (Too late to buy chains anyway.) Nor did I wanna bike. So, I walked to the bus, took it downtown to the Max, which I rode in turn to Beaverton. With all the connections and waits, it took 1 hour 40 minutes, and required a 5:40 AM departure from home.

I keep a bicycle at work for those days I don’t cycle-commute. This allows me to pedal on errands (and to campus) on those particular days. So on Monday evening (the 15th), I rode my Surly (a 29’er with ‘cross tires) home.

eastbound blue line
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

(Well, I rode it to the Beaverton Max Station, and then again from downtown homeward…a total of only 4.2 miles.) The ride(s) were pleasant enough. Not too much traffic. Spun the rear wheel a bit coming up slightly slick SE Salmon St [try saying that multiple times fast], but it wasn’t unmanageable.

I elected to return to work Tuesday morning via bicycle. Even though I started timidly (Salmon St. was slick), I fell down within a block or so of my place. (My hip’s still a bit sore.) But I managed the Hawthorne Bridge and downtown well enough, and actually enjoyed the ride through Beaverton Town Center and Griffith Park at the other end. But the sting of the morning’s fall was still present when I it was time to go home. So I walked home that evening.

This turned out to be the pattern for most of the week. Walk one direction. Alternately ride the other. I ended up with 5 trips using the bike, and 5 trips on foot.

Thursday evening (the 18th), I elected to ride home over Sylvan Hill. ‘Twas kinda spontaneous. When going up 110th Avenue north of Kohl’s, I was faced with the decision to either turn left towards Center Street and the Beaverton Transit Center, or continue riding across Walker, up past Lynne’s home, to the Hwy 26 bike path. I did the latter.

Past Walker, the road surfaces immediately changed, both in color and texture. I actually dismounted and walked on a hilly section of 107th. And I again walked the steep descending part of Melnore St. before Scenic Drive. Surprising, though, I was able to stay in the saddle ascending Knollcrest (leaned back on the rear wheel), and later on during the steep part of Pointer Rd (just before the freeway crossing to the cemetery). The color of all these residential roads north of Walker was white…and the texture crusty. It was like a very thin fresh layer of snow over older chunky stuff.

entrance to Hwy 26 bike path ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The descents on those funky surfaces inspired little confidence. So after coming down from the Sylvan overpass to the Zoo, I chose the Max for the rest of the journey downtown. No zoobombing. No descents down Hwy 26 to Goose Hollow. In downtown, it was lightly snowing, as it was in SE (which made it a pleasant and unhurried ride home.)

On Friday morning, Salmon St. didn’t look two-wheel friendly. And since my work bike was now home, I walked…both ways. In the morning I had opportunity to try out an new set of Ice Trekker shoe spikes, which worked great. They actually allowed me to jog to a waiting bus.

One outcome of this week is that I ordered studded snow tires … to arrive Monday. If they work half as well as the Ice Trekker shoe spikes, they’ll be a good investment. They do betray, however, a rather skewed sense of priorities. I have no traction devices for my car (and therefore haven't driven in a while), but I will soon for my bike.

R-12 Complete! … a story of fragile knees, bike fittings, orthodics (finally!), & eventual success

2008-12-09T00:25:00.001-08:00

Last January, I started working on an R-12 without even knowing it. Cecil and Lynne announced they were gonna ride the Scio Covered Bridges permanent that month, and then I figured that would be a good mid-winter challenge.

And an interesting challenge this R-12 thing has been (as is randonneuring in general). The whole experience, like my knees, feels fragile. In addition to a less-than-strong “motor,” (especially in relation to my weight), I kept having to baby my legs, careful not to stand in the pedals too much. Initially (several years ago), bicycling was prescribed as therapy for knee problems that materialized when I tried to train for a marathon. Nowadays, I sometimes need treatments to address bicycle-related soreness.

The R-12 could have gone by the wayside many times this year. I was a flat away from not completing the Clatskanie-Cape Disappointment permanent last February. A new saddle kept me sore and slow during Seattle’s Chili-feed 200k in March. I was the last finisher in every 300k I entered (one in April and two in August), and came in 8 minutes under the deadline in Seattle’s “3 Passes” 400k. (Thanks to organizer Brian Ohlemeier for sticking around till 8:00 AM on that May Sunday morning!)

Clearly, by the time September rolled around, I was committed to completing an R-12. But I was less than confident about finishing the “Desert Rivers” 600k scheduled later that month. So I rode an “insurance” 200k (the Skyline-Vernonia permanent) on Labor Day (along with Cecil and Joshua). Even on that ride, my knee problems flared up, which furthered my lack of expectations about being able to finish a 600k three weeks later. So I adjusted my goal … it became to do some riding on day 2 (something I was unable to do on my first two attempts at that distance).

I was discouraged enough on Labor Day to schedule another visit to a bike fitter. So I tried River City (the shop that sold me my LeMond). The fitter there (Dani) used a different approach than I had experienced before … namely … the use of inserts in the shoes!! Of course, she did all sorts of other cool measurements (I had to lie down on the treatment table for some of them) and adjustments (like shortening the stem). But the inserts were major. They allowed my knees (especially the right one) to travel in a relatively more vertical plane. They also allowed me stand up in the pedals more … and challenge the epic headwinds during the 2nd day of the “Desert Rivers” 600k.

Don’t think I had yet recovered from the 600k enough to ride October’s Bingen Bikenfest 200k very fast; I was still slower than the previous year. And inclement weather kept speeds down during the “Prairies & Wetlands” permanent on Veterans Day. But after some more bike-fitting refinements from Dani (on my fendered cross bike) and a steady stream of commutes over the Sylvan Hill, I started feeling more optimistic about my legs and knees. Maybe this R-12 thing would actually happen!

stopped in Dayton
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

And last Saturday, December 6th, it did!

Nine of us cyclists showed up in Newberg by 7:30 AM. The first job at hand (after checking in at the Thriftway) was to get Highways 99 and 18 to Dayton over with. Eight of us regrouped in Dayton. (Kevin had fallen behind with the first of many flats.) We settled into our own paces (except perhaps for Washingtonian speedsters Kramer and Vincent, who seemed quite happy to ride with the rest of us for much of the permanent).

I rode with Lynne most of the way to Dallas, with much of our conversation centering around handmade bikes and equipment. It became apparent how little capacity I have for some details (like the model names of different Schmidt hubs).

I met up with Sal at the Safeway/Starbucks in Dallas. That is the most uber-friendly coffee dispensary I’ve ever been to. The proprietor sent someone out to guard Sal’s and my bikes while we shopped or went to the restroom and then ordered espresso drinks.

approaching Hwy 99 before Dundee
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Sal and I met up with Lynne as we left Dallas, and I followed them for the next half hour or so. My favortie line of the day came from Sal when he was talking about his PBP experience: "There are old French women there on beater bikes who'll whoop your ass!" Oh boy, something to look forward to in 2011.

North of Rickreal, I got a “first wind”, and took off through Amity, leaving Sal and Lynne to a more chatty pace. I caught up with Cecil near Dayton (she had just finished a roadside sandwich), and then again strove to get Highways 18 and 99 over with quickly. (Cecil’s technique.)

Most of us regrouped at the Thriftway in Newberg. ‘Twas interesting to see how content John and Vincent were to hang out there with the rest of us … not the customary hurried demeanor of faster randonneurs.

Vincent
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The group met up with John Henry and Joanne (and their beefy Cannondale tandem) as we departed Newberg. We separated a bit somewhere along French Prairie Rd, and I ended up tagging along with John and Vincent to Gervais. The two of them promptly pulled ahead leaving Gervais, as I settled in to a customary slower pace.

break in Newberg
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

In Mt. Angel, I beelined to the local public restroom, checked in at the US Bank ATM, and decided to take off right away back towards Newberg … for two reasons:

1. I wasn’t hungry (yet)
2. I wanted to maintain a more “relaxed” pace, something that would be harder if I left with everyone else.

I fully expected to be passed in Gervais, as that’s where I ended up eating, and adding layers of clothing. But it wasn’t till 10 miles later (on Arbor Grove Road) that John Henry, Joanne, Kramer, and later Vincent passed me. John Henry and Joanne pulled the train back into Newberg. Amazingly, I was able to more-or-less stay attached. We arrived at the Coffee Cottage in Newberg at 7:50 PM, 10 hours and 20 minutes after our morning departure.

textured sky
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Shortly afterwards, Cecil did her customary check-in at Nap's Thriftway, as did Lynne and Sal a little bit later.

Unfortunately, the speedy Washingtonians (Kramer and Vincent) had to head straight back home. The rest of us (plus Kevin, who ended up riding 100+ miles despite 5 flats) repaired to the Newberg Burgerville, where we celebrated our successful R-12’s over sweet potato fries, milk shakes or hot chocolate, and some other non-customary food items.

R-12 celebrators ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Weather was most excellent, even though the temperature was a bit nippy initially. All in all, a fine and encouraging ride with good and interesting people. For what more could one ask?

Cecil's blog
Lynne's blog
Vincent's blog
Kramer's blog (includes video)
my pics

Thanksgiving day fixie ride...

2008-11-27T18:24:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving day fixie ride...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Even though David Auker's "chatty" pace is quite a workout for me, I still look forward to what has become his annual Thanksgiving fixie ride through the West Hills of Portland.

I don't know how long he's done it. My first Thanksgiving fixie ride was two years ago, where he and friends did his "traditional" route from River City Bicycles South through Milwaukie and back. (photo from Nov. 2007 above)

well fed & ready to ride ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

But last year, he and his wife Sarah started a "new" tradition of starting from his home near Dosch and Hamilton in SW Portland, and feeding everyone beforehand.

This year, though, I've been riding my fixed-gear bike a lot less. Ever since I moved to the SE part of Portland 6 months ago, I've been favoring geared bikes, particularly in commuting over the Sylvan Hill between Beaverton and home. Between that and randonneuring, my fixie's sat largely unused since last May.

Fairmount Blvd. loop (2)
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

And hills on a fixed gear bike are tougher than ever. Nevertheless, I more-or-less stayed up with David and friends. The group got separated around Sunset and SW 18th, but regrouped after a couple laps around the Fairmount loop.

cleat problem
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

As the group approached Patton Rd, my left shoe-pedal connection started to feel sloppy, but it never occurred to me the screws were about to completely come out. By the time I reached Hewett Blvd, the cleat had totally detached itself from my shoe.

It's hard to remove a cleat from a pedal when it's not attached to a shoe. My small Crank Brothers multi-tool didn't seem up to the task, until in the hands of passerby Lonnie (of Portland Velo).

rescuers
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

John Forbes, and later David, were already returning back homewards on Hewett Blvd. when I finally got rolling. I continued over to Fairview, through Washington Park, and downtown. Started to rain by the time I crossed the Steel Bridge and returned home. Total distance: 35.5 miles.

a few more photos

hiccups from hell

2008-11-18T12:37:00.000-08:00

It's never happened before ... at least nothing close to this extent. Seven hours of hiccups! Started 'round noon yesterday, and they got "stronger" (complete with reverberations) throughout the afternoon and early evening. Made the commute home tedious. I elected to take the Max part way rather than cycle over the Sylvan Hill. 'Twas also accompanied by chills and mild sore throat.

The hiccups didn't abate till 7:00 PM. I went straight to bed ... didn't pass "Go," didn't collect anything to eat ... barely got my clothes off. Consulted Scott and Joy on the phone, each of them coming back with doctor recommendations.

Glad it's over. I called in sick from work today.

Olbermann on CA Proposition 8

2008-11-16T23:04:00.001-08:00

This is interesting. (Saw it on Cecil's and Beth's blogs.)

I remember Keith Olbermann as a free-thinking, somewhat irreverent sportscaster back when I lived in LA (over 15 years ago; his hair's shorter and grayer now).

It's fascinating now (and good) to hear him deliver something so poignant and passionate.

Eleven down … one to go

2008-11-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

poster gals ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Even though I ride most brevets alone (‘cause of my speed, or lack thereof), I am not totally by myself. There are people tracking the riders’ progress. There are people to call if I need to bail.

Less so on a permanent. I have only done one 200k permanent totally on my own. That was last February … from Clatskanie to Cape Disappointment and Astoria and back. Despite one mishap on the Westport Ferry near the beginning, and a scary return on Hwy. 30 after dark, the ride went okay.

I was prepared to do another solo permanent in November, as it didn’t look like my schedule was gonna coincide with Cecil’s and Lynne’s. But when they mentioned the Prairies & Wetlands 200k on November 11 (Veterans Day) as a possibility, I decided to jump on it, and take the day off work.

Mother Nature, however, put doubt into the plan. Weather forecasts predicted a particularly wet and ugly day. Unbeknownst to me, Cecil and Lynne conversed the night before about alternative plans. But since I didn’t hear from them, I showed up in Newberg well before the scheduled 6:00 AM departure time. As did they.

The weather turned out to be manageable, even though it slowed us down quite a bit. Last year (September ’07), I completed this same permanent in 10 hours and 30 minutes. This time, we were well over 12 hours.

The first info control was at the Gallon Bridge, followed shortly by the first timed control in Mt. Angel. The headwinds were stiff enough during these portions of the ride that we didn’t arrive till 10 minutes before cutoff. I didn’t bother to take any pictures until we verified our time at an ATM.

my favorite "control" in Newberg
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

We got some tailwind relief on our return to Newberg, although our rest stop there was quite lengthy. While Lynne and Cecil went to the Thriftway, I checked in at Chapters Bookstore for a dry cappuccino made with Stumptown coffee. The 3 of us reconvened at the parking lot where we had left our cars, and then departed on the next leg.

Hwy. 99W from Dundee to Dayton is pretty abysmal. Lotsa traffic. Lotsa debris. Lotsa irregular pavement. I was amazed how thoroughly I blocked out this portion of the ride from my memory of last year’s adventure.

“Merkeley.” “Obama.” Left-over signs from last week’s election, seen on Gun Club Road (near Carlton). I guess street names have nothing to do with political persuasions or issues. Or perhaps nothing to do with anything at all.

Cecil rode in front most of the way to Forest Grove (actually for most of the ride), but got really hungry before finally arriving at Pizza Schmizza.

pizza in Forest Grove
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Up until this point, the rain was fairly mild, even though my gloves were sopping wet. I put on a dry pair as we left Forest Grove, but they wouldn’t stay that way long. The return to Newberg was probably the rainiest part of the ride. It got dark ‘round Springhill Road, and the traffic on North Valley Road seemed particularly busy. Cecil had a little spill on a crease in the one-lane bridge that was reminiscent of my fall on the ramp to the Westport Ferry nine months earlier. Later on, Old Yamhill Road was pleasantly quiet. And navigating the rest of the return to Newberg benefited from Cecil’s and my previous ride of this route last year.

I guarded Cecil’s and Lynne’s bikes as they had their brevet cards signed at the Thriftway in Newberg. After a quick pit stop and getting my card signed as well, we headed back to our cars, loaded our bikes, and had some dinner (and changed into dry clothing) at the local Burgerville.

The three of us are now one permanent away from an R12. Sounds like we’ll do the Three Prairies 200k on either December 6 or 13. Anyone care to join us?

a few more pictures
Lynne's account
Cecil's account

121 miles (including a 100k populaire & some sausage)

2008-11-04T18:33:00.001-08:00

Okay … blame it on David Sedaris.

I was an hour late to the start of the Verboort Sausage Populaire last Saturday, perhaps in part because I made a spontaneous visit to the Schnitzer Concert Hall the night before. During my Friday morning commute, I noticed on the Schnitz’s marquee that Sedaris was to perform that night. So even though the show was sold out, I stopped by on my way home from work and scored a scalped ticket at face value. (BTW, I’ve enjoyed his books, listening to him on radio, and his CD’s. But I think he’s funnier in person!)

Attending Sedaris’s performance on Halloween night created a cascading lateness effect on everything else I needed to do before Saturday’s 100 km ride. Bike prep. Dinner. Sleep. Yadadada.

On top of that, I had decided to ride my bike out to Forest Grove, so to keep my longer distance endurance more-or-less in tact. While it may have been prudent to take the Max from Goose Hollow to Hillsboro when I didn’t leave home till 7:40 AM, I took advantage of the full hour that the start of a randonneuring event is usually open. Even then, I ended up putting my bike on a bus between Cornelius and the Grand Lodge to ensure getting there by 10:00.

And boy was I happy to see Kathy there, along with Joel, a rider who I hadn’t met before who was equally late getting started. It was coincidental that Joel and I were both wearing STP windbreakers.

I enjoyed Joel’s company for the first 20 miles or so. He’s a nice younger guy who rides a carbon Raleigh and who's lived some interesting (to me) cities (like Milwaukee, WI). He pulled away in North Plains when I stopped to buy two AA batteries, cuz my freshly charged rechargables apparently didn't hold a charge any more.

Greg and Marcello ...
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Hence, my first picture of the populaire is of Marcello and Greg at the Snooseville control/turnaround. Greg had his own adventures on the way to Snooseville that involved going back to Forest Grove to get a new tire.

‘Twas funny to me to have forgotten about the yellow pom poms at Cedar Canyon and Jack Road. I didn’t pre-read the info control questions, so the surprise happened upon arrival at the intersection. There they were, sadly weather and water beaten, but still hangin’.

weary pom poms
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

The pom poms were my contribution in hosting the Snooseville populaire 7 ½ months earlier. I remember driving out there well after dark last March and attaching those things by headlight. They were souveniers from a U of O football game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene over a year ago (the only football game I’ve been to since college).

On Kansas City Road I caught up with Beth, who I was happy to see pedaling strong with only 20-30 minutes to go. I was also happy to have a chance to talk to her … about bikes (xtracycles in particular) … and her blog (which I enjoy reading).

There was a nice little congregation at the finish that included Marcello, Kathy, Susan, David, and Kevin. After partaking of a sausage dinner

making it official
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

(with a nice lemon cream pie!), I headed back home, through Cornelius, Hillsboro, Beaverton, and over the Sylvan Hill (where it got dark), to SE Portland. Total miles: 121. (195 km)

A few more of my photos of the populaire are here.
Cecil's pictures.
Beth's blog report.

Marek Fire at Dawn

2008-10-13T18:10:00.001-07:00

My niece lives in an area of Sylmar, CA (upmost Northern part of Los Angeles) that was evacualted because of the Marek wildfire. 70-mph winds pushed the flames across the 8-lane Foothill Freeway. Here's her message:

Hi Billy!

My neighborhood was definitely in danger at 5:45am this morning when we had a mandatory evacuation. As we left at 6am I could see flames at the end of the development on treetops and the hillsides just outside the area of the houses! Very scary.

Marek Fire at Dawn
Originally uploaded by Noe M. Torres
But they seem to have tackled it and got it doused, according to the news. The news video shots from the air show the hillsides behind the houses to be black as coal right down to the edge of the houses. The bulk of the fire crisis seems to have moved west down the 118 to Porter Ranch and Chatsworth now... Still it's all only 5% contained, and they're expecting more 70mph winds tonight. I'm staying at Omie's in LaCanada and hope to be able to go home soon, but maybe not till Wednesday when the weather changes... Keep thinking the good thoughts...

Hugs, Melissa

Boy I sure hope her place stays intact!

More dramatic photos are up at my other niece's blog.

R-12: guess I'm comitted (Bingen 200k)

2008-10-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

I kinda backed into this R-12 business … didn’t even know what one was when I joined Cecil and Lynne on the Scio Covered Bridges permanent last January. (The R-12 award is given by Randonneurs USA for riding a 200-kilometer event for 12 consecutive months.) But I must have figured something out (or became less vague) by mid-February, when I rode the Clatskanie-Cape Disappointment 200k permanent, alone. (That's the ride that pushed me into getting an E6 light … the result of an dark and scary return on Highway 30 to Clatskanie.)

Several brevets and a permanent later, I’m now 83% of the way towards completing an R-12. Too bad I didn’t do 200k rides last November and December. I would have then finished an R-12 a couple months ago, upon completion of the Detroit Lakes 300k brevet. But alas, I was probably too much into cyclocross during the last two months of ’07 to be in that sort of randonneuring mind.

I think Steve Davis of Tacoma had the right timetable … starting his R-12 last November, so that when he finished the Bingen-Lewis River 200k, he also completed the R-12 … without having to worry about long rides for the next two months.

I am now definitely committed to finishing an R-12. Why else would I have driven to Bingen early last Saturday morning?...in the rain. Like Cecil (and others I’m sure), I came extremely close to sleeping in. It’s not hard to find other things that need doing on any given Saturday … things that can wait till after you’ve gotten a full night’s sleep.

"airing of grievances" (1)
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

But once I started riding out of Bingen, I was glad to have made the trip. Paul Whitney’s company on one of the earlier legs was quite enjoyable, as was Nat Beagley’s a little later on. (They were the Richland, WA contingent.) And I particularly enjoyed getting to meet/talk with David Rowe for the first time at the now-famous (and much appreciated) FR-88 hot chocolate control.

It was also noteworthy to cross the Pacific Crest Trail. Seems like I’ve spent much of my life zig-zagging across that trail, be in the Angeles Forest (NE of L.A.), in the Sierra Nevadas, and at various points in the Cascades. Maybe someday I should trying hiking a significant part of it.

It was disconcerting to discover my pocket camera missing from my handlebar pack. So my only pictures of this brevet were taken in Bingen right before the start. But better to have left that camera in the car rather than my cell phone, which is what I did during the Desert River 600k. Fortunately, observant Cecil and Lynne got some good pix of this brevet.

I was so surprised to see Lynne’s Bleriot on the back of David’s car as it passed during the last stretch back into Bingen. Lynne DNF? Why…that’s crazy! But as it turns out, I’m glad she did (from a health/safety standpoint). Want her to be around for many more brevets.

I was surprisingly hungry once I got back into Bingen.

Bill A.
Originally uploaded by cecilanne

Fortunately, John had lotsa pizza and Coke available at Beneventi's upon our return.

And I ate my fair share.

My November schedule looks awfully full. I’m concerned that I may have to give up the Verboort populaire, and do a 200k permanent instead. Hmmm. We’ll see.

Thanks to John, David, and Trudy for putting on the Bingen Bikenfest! Even though it was wet, I enjoyed it just as much (if not more) than last year’s version. I only wish I had brought warmer gloves.

Links:
Cecil's blog
Lynne's blog

karate monkey

2008-10-02T23:06:00.001-07:00

Cyclocross season has already started, but the Cross Crusade starts this Sunday at the Alpenrose Dairy.

I already have a 'cross bike, but it's so set up for randonneuring that I went out looking for a multi-purpose frame that I could cyclocross with this season, and then do short track (next Summer) as well. I don't want to dismantle my Mountain Cycle Stumptown for cyclocross (lights, fenders, generator hub, etc.) while still working on an R-12.

latest aquisition
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Enter a Surly "Karate Monkey" frame that Sellwood Cycle had on consignment. Its acquisition means I won't be riding 'cross with drop bars this season. But this versatile bike should work well in various other trail and single track applications later on.

The 29-inch (700c) Bontrager disc wheelset on this bike came from my Stumptown (and is what I used for the last two seasons of 'cross - among other things). The cranks and derailer are off my Specialized Rockhopper. (The cranks are 20 years old!) The seat and seatpost are from my LeMond "Buenos Aires."

Still had to get disc calipers, a right hand shifter, handlebar, stem, and a few other parts that Jeremiah (of Sellwood Cycle) installed. I went with a single chain ring, cuz I hardly ever got off the small ring during last year's 'cross season.

Took it out for a short spin to the Clinton Street Brewery tonight.

Graciela in Portland

2008-09-30T23:55:00.000-07:00

biker with tango master
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

Graciela Gonzalez is one of Argentina's most significant teachers of Argentine tango technique. Many tango performers and teachers have studied with her.

I first met Graciela at Nora's Tango Week (in the SF Bay Area) in 1998, back when I had only been dancing tango for one year. I liked her approach to the dance and her style of teaching, and ended up (along with Robert Hauk) inviting her to teach workshops in Portland in 1999.

Carlos Rojas organized a subsequent visit from Graciela to Portland in 2001.

I saw Graciela in Buenos Aires in early 2002, where she got up from her seat at Salon Canning (one of the nicer tango dancing venues there) and walked out to the center of the dance floor to greet me. A nice welcome to tango mecca for a gringo like me! I ended up going to her practica in San Telmo a few times, even though it wasn't on the itinerary of the tour I was on.

What I like about Graciela's teaching style is her deliberateness. Rather than bombarding you with information, she meters things a bit more slowly, allowing concepts to seep into your body more thoroughly.

Luisa Zini organized this month's visit of Graciela's to Portland. I agreed to dance a demo with her at the Thursday night milonga at Urban Grind. We danced one tanda (set) together beforehand, and then performed to Donato's "La melodia del corazon." I think it went okay. I basically tried to give her space to be expressive.

The next day I took a private lesson from her. Boy was it humbling ... but in a good way, methinks. We worked on frame, posture, turns, and calisitas. Graciela's main message to me was to "stay with my follower." (Not unlike what Chicho told me 8+ years ago!) It's like you think you're doing it, but in reality you could be doing it a lot better.

Graciela at work
Originally uploaded by tangobiker

I attended Graciela's "leaders' workshop" at Paradise Studios the next day. Wish there had been a few more guys there ... her technique is so solid ... but those who were there seemed über-appreciative.

Graciela also taught at the Sunday Afternoon Practica. Even though it's billed as an "all levels basic technique" class, the level ended up being a little higher, as she catered to the majority of people in attendance.

Cool to have Graciela in Portland! Thank you Luisa!