Ride diary

I've taken hundreds of bike rides, and had some fantastic moments; but my chances of remembering any of them are pretty slim. So, from the launch of this site on, I'll be jotting down a few notes about each ride right here. Some will be uneventful, but others will surely be really special -- and I'll have something to remember them by!

View past years: 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 2:00 pm

Duration: 1 hours, 17 minutes
Distance: 16.7 miles

I guess it really is possible to ride year-round here, but when the air is cooler and the days are shorter I'm less motivated to find long rides. That means I'm getting a little tired of my nearby routes already. Strong winds at this time of year are a factor in route selection, too. But today I decided to head down to Mt. Tabor, where I haven't been for a while.

The day was nicer than I expected and after climbing it once, I wasn't ready to come home, so I did a little exploring. Every time I've looked at the Mt. Tabor map it has made my head spin ... the roads aren't distinct from the hiking trails and they're all like a spaghetti tangle. But today I looked at the big map in the parking lot and tried figuring some of it out. Watching other bikers coming up the mountain from all directions was further inspiration. I ended up riding up and down a couple more times on different routes, and the map started to make sense! Now let's hope it still does when I return, which might not be for a couple months!

Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:00 pm

Duration: 0 hours, 55 minutes
Distance: 14.3 miles

The sun is shining, birds are singing ... it must be ... January? My wife and I clearly made the right choice in moving out here. It's been an amazing winter so far. My body went into cold shock around Thanksgiving, as it always does when winter sets in, but then it hasn't really gotten colder than that. And I swear it's only raining like 20% of the time.

Anyway, I've been busy finishing my first iPhone app, but with temperatures into the low 50's and sunshine I had to take a break today and get out. I've been ignoring my Columbia River route eastward because of the strong winds that blow down the Gorge in the winter, but I tried it today and it wasn't as bad as I feared. I had also forgotten how much beauty there is within a few miles of my home. The river, the Cascades and Mount Hood were spectacular.

I even got to indulge an old childhood interest by watching a pair of F-15's take off from the Air Force base on the way back. Those things are LOUD. But it made me feel patriotic to see our national defense at work. (Now if we could just keep them here, on defense, rather than abroad, on offense ... but that's a topic for my political blog.)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 2:00 pm

Duration: 1 hours, 0 minutes
Distance: 15.6 miles

One reason I keep this log is to keep track of what clothing works best in different temperatures. Today I learned that 50-55 degrees is the point where a full insulated hat becomes too warm and a simple ear band would be best.

I also learned that the little toe covers on my shoes (half-booties, if you will) do keep my feet warm, but also make my pedals creak ... I tested both outcomes by removing one toe cover. (Without stopping, thank you very much.)

Anyway, I took a partially new route today, over to Willamette Boulevard but then up the Peninsula Crossing Path rather than all the way to Kelly Point Park. It was a nice ride! But the time and distance are approximate because the battery on my computer is dying and it didn't track the whole ride.

Friday, February 5, 2010 at 2:30 pm

Duration: 1 hours, 0 minutes
Distance: 15 miles

This is an estimate because my computer battery is even more dead now! I was looking for something a little new but not too new, and I considered going into downtown on the Broadway bridge and then around the river and back. But that would take me -right- into downtown, which didn't seem good during Friday rush hour. So, I just did the Steel Bridge to Hawthorne Bridge loop, in the direction I had meant to do with Sally last time, and it was fine. I stopped on the Steel Bridge for a while to watch a giant freighter docked at the grain elevator ... but with trains overhead and bikes whizzing by it was kind of scary there!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Duration: 0 hours, 51 minutes
Distance: 14.3 miles

It's been over 50 every day and sunny about half the days, and I've had perfect luck targeting the sunny days for bike rides. Today I took a quick break from work to ride to the Columbia River path. I rode pretty fast, too ... staggering a bit when I got home! Then again, I was pretty tired to begin with. Anyway, I have a new computer battery so the numbers are correct now.

Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 2:30 pm

Duration: 1 hours, 13 minutes
Distance: 16.8 miles

Back in the midwest, my first ride of the year with shorts was always a special event. I usually tried to do this on Easter, but in any case, shedding the tights at least for a day is perfectly symbolic of spring, for a cyclist.

Here in Oregon, I didn't have to wait until April -- I went out in shorts today! It was a bit chilly at first and I almost turned back, but once I got warmed up I was fine. It was about 60 degrees and completely sunny.

I rode to Rocky Butte and started the climb from the normal direction in my lowest gear, rather than my second lowest, and was able to reach the point I usually want to give up without feeling to bad. In other words, I was able to hold that gear consistently to the top. Then, after trying for minimum braking on the way down, I decided to ride back up the other side. Oof! That was a bit much and I struggled on the steeper parts and didn't ride too ambitiously.

When I got back up I tried going up to the top of the park to enjoy the view. It didn't seem possible on my bike and it was difficult to walk up the steep, gravel path in cycling shoes, but I did it, and the scenery was marvelous. This gave me a great feeling for the ride back home.

Friday, February 19, 2010 at 2:30 pm

Duration: 0 hours, 59 minutes
Distance: 12.9 miles

Today I was able to stop work a bit early and I decided to do an exploratory ride. I wanted to find a few different paved paths (purple lines on the city cycling map) that I hadn't ridden before -- the coastline at Swan Island, a bluff park north of PSU, and a path along the south side of the Columbia Slough.

Swan Island was first, and whew, you can't tell from the cycling map that many of the roads there are like Interstate highways. That was pretty scary, and I went off track a couple times because I just had to go where the road took me. I ended up at a boat ramp with a "interpretive viewpoint," and then eventually worked my way back to the path, which was nice but not worth going very far out of the way for. It had a nice view of the loading docks across the river, but was less than a mile long.

I rode back up the bluff toward my second destination, but I was running short on time, and by the time I reached Willamette Boulevard, I pretty much had to get home. I rode up and down that once between Rosa Parks and Killingsworth, and checked out the view of where I had been, then headed back. The other destinations will have to wait for another day.