WestSide: Full Moon Night Ride ?

[Simple Nature]

http://www.calendar-365.com/images/moon/moon_th_1.jpg

Next Friday is the full moon for July.
Cool nights after a clear warm day makes for some excellent night rides.

Are there Portland cyclist interested in a casual 15-20 mile westside ride under the moonlight? Friday night? Saturday night?

Post your preferences:

[wsbob]

Right now, after a long day of computer problem trouble-shooting (may yet have work to do.)...the idea sounds interesting. a week from now? Hard to know how I'll feel then.

I'm kind of a moonlight riding neophyte, though I have done it. I actually have a halfway decent headlight to use now. Went west, out to Skyline School, dropped south and back to Cedar Mills, pre-Bethany development. That's a l-o-o-o-ng time ago.

Say what you have in mind for departure time. Eight-ish? A beer, as in one, at Helvetia Tavern sounds nice right now too. When you're cruising the moonlight though...who needs one? Right?

Okay, I'm blabbed out here... . Maybe now, I can rest tonight.

[Simple Nature]

I rarely have a beer -before- a ride but Imrie Hall is around the corner.

I'd suggest a common Max stop between Hillsboro and Beaverton around dark. Back in plenty of time for Trimet.

My night rides are a bit of "local" country roads, good bike lanes and neighborhood streets.
A route isn't to hard to come up with if we hear out peoples preferences.
I'm suggesting a friendly ride where no one is left behind.
Something comfortable and relaxing for all.

[Alan]

Any objection to drive-in/car-toppers? If that's OK, Friday might work better for me but either day could work. Sounds fun!

[Simple Nature]

No objections.

[K'Tesh]

I might be interested... but then again, I've got lots of homework in Zhōngguó yǔyán

[Simple Nature]

Looks like mother nature is getting fickled about the weather for a full moon ride. So far, Saturday night looks better but this could change. I'm not into riding in the rain.

Start/end is Orenco Station MAX; plan on July 16th, 8:40pm gather - 9:00pm ride time.
(NW 231st Ave/NE Cornell Rd, Hillsboro) ...Little green arrow on the map.

I've done this ride a lot. It is a great night ride, about 20 casual miles at under 2 hours with a lot of varying scenery. Some trails/sidewalks (Bethany) but a safe route all around. ...And pretty darn flat for the most part.

This is the MapMyRide link if you can access it:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/41140556

Google Maps link:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authuser=0&vps=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=202503146182953309267.0004a7f8a668af374a8b6

...and here is the image of the route:
https://picasaweb.google.com/SimpleNatureSpirit/BikeRoutes#5628923710542079586

http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cYEMHweneXk/Th30SpqiZmI/AAAAAAAAELw/Fv33_5fpuTA/s640/Bike%252520Loop%252520-%25252020miles.jpg

I'm testing all those links so let me know if one fails.

[Alan]

Ten-four on all that, and the links worked!

PS - clear or partially cloudy sky, I'm about 90% likely to make it. Mostly cloudy or rain, cancel.

[Simple Nature]

...

PS - clear or partially cloudy sky, I'm about 90% likely to make it. Mostly cloudy or rain, cancel.

Me too... a moonlight ride is kinda defeated when the moon is covered by clouds :)

[Swoosh0217]

Im very interested. I have not ridden at night but it sounds interesting.

[Alan]

Start/end is Orenco Station MAX; plan on July 16th, 8:40pm gather - 9:00pm ride time.
(NW 231st Ave/NE Cornell Rd, Hillsboro) ...Little green arrow on the map.


My go/no-go point can be as late as 8:00pm Saturday. I'll be away-from-keyboard most of the day, back late afternoon. So far I see "maybes" from wsbob, K'Tesh and Swoosh...commit!! :D

[Simple Nature]

Everything says the clouds and rain should be moving out around 6pm tomorrow.

I use this site as my weather guide:
http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/97124?begHour=7&begDay=197

I'm still a go unless this changes for the worst.

[wsbob]

I think I probably won't be there. You'll have a fine time though. Got to say, a few clouds won't hurt. I was up late Wednesday night..12:30-1:30 plus. The sky, striated by clouds with the moon peering through was beautiful. The moon seemed to be about 45 degrees up from the horizon. Better than a perfectly clear moonlit night.

[Simple Nature]

I did this ride Tuesday as the clouds were leaving. It was a really nice night for a ride.

[K'Tesh]

I was on my bike at 9:30Pm-11Pm riding from Sherwood to Beaverton . It took an hour to get home, but I kept going to do some grocery shopping.

[Simple Nature]

You're in luck, K-Tesh... it'll be on Saturday night! :)

[Swoosh0217]

I'm a newbie to bike riding but I have been biking about 10 to 15 miles, 2 times a week. I have been looking for some folks to ride along with me so I hope you don't mind but I would like to join you guys tonight.

[Simple Nature]

Absolutely Swoosh. Look forward to meeting you. See you at the Orenco Max tonight.

[Alan]

I have to bail...today ran way late and I can't turn the train around fast enough to make it. Still mostly cloudy here, maybe better over there to the west, but even with broken clouds it should be a pretty evening. Have a great ride, Swoosh and Simple Nature, and hopefully a straggler or two will show up, too.

[Simple Nature]

Next time Alan! Thanks for considering the ride.

[Simple Nature]

No Moon last night but a very nice night for a 20 mile ride. I keep forgetting that a Full Moon ride should start much later as the Moon isn't up high enough at 9:00. It was a beautiful Sunset, however. Looking forward to a midnight ride sometime this Summer.

Swoosh and I rolled back into the parking lot at around 11:15. A very casual ride with great temps and no rain. It was great to meet another member of th board.

Stay tuned for future Moonlight Ride announcements.

[Alan]

Thanks for the report! Sounds like a nice ride, moon or no moon, and the pace sounds good, too. Next time!

[Swoosh0217]

I had a great time last night. Thank you for showing such a nice,easy and safe route. I learnee allot of stuff from Simple nature. Ill definitely do it again!

[wsbob]

Glad to hear you moonlighters had a great time, even if turned out to just be a dynamic duo. Considering it was a night-time ride, I hope the motor traffic dealt with that alright and treated you well.

[Simple Nature]

Much of the route is comprised of bike lanes and neighborhood streets... a few sidewalk sessions; Bethany being one. Drivers were quite courteous.