Since there’s so much bike stuff going on this weekend, how about sharing your adventures?
I’ll start us off…
Friday night, the girls and I took in some great racing action at the Twilight Criterium.
Today, we rode downtown to the Farmer’s Market and then had lunch at Jamison Fountain so we could check out the start of the SS Pussycat Alleycat.
I’ve uploaded photo galleries from both events…
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Tomorrow, I’ll bet some of you are doing the Portland Century. The girls and I have another family bike adventure planned…
Anyone have an update on all the craziness that is the Zoobomb 5th Anniversary celebration?
So, what are you up to?
Thanks for reading.
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I rode in the SS Pussycat yesterday — my first-ever alleycat — and was surprised at how much I enjoyed myself:
http://bikelovejones.livejournal.com/49698.html
Thanks so much to the organizers and volunteers for putting on a FUN bike event!
BH
did the \’parking lot bomb\’ Friday evening and went to the Goose Hollow Inn\’s 40th Anniversary; rode up to Mt. Tabor to see the Soap Box Derby on Saturday; planning on attending ZooBomb 5th Birthday celebrations this afternoon and night.
Took my sweetie on her first bike ride on her new bike- down clinton to new seasons and back. She loved it! Went on a longer bike ride the next day- to movie madness and zuppans… I have been biking alone for so long that its nice to hav company, other than the dog (who also comes on bike rides). Perfect evening bike weather, not to warm or cold… awesome moon last night.
At daybreak this morning, I road Leif Ericson Rd as fast as I could from Germantown and back (with a sidetrip up to the top of Saltzman). Got the cross bike rolling fast as I could with a few sprints up some of the side trails.
Can\’t wait for the cross season this year!
Even got a little mud on the bike. 🙂
~n
Whereas my own riding was light this weekend, highlighted by practical applications- such as a trip to Tabor to check out the Adult Soapbox Derby- my weekend was enlivened by the pedal-power of others. First of all, congrats to all Twilight Criterium riders…impressive and exciting! What fun to watch pros flying at top-speed around the park blocks.
Also, thank you to the fine folks of PDX Pedicabs; last night my companion and I had an extra-enjoyable night out on the town, thanks to an impromptu bike cab ride. For anyone who has yet to try the pedicabs, I highly recommend it. It’s fun, inexpensive, practical, and- for you lovebirds out there- a great thing to do while on a date (there is even a lap blanket if it gets cold!). Just don’t forget to tip your driver well…they deserve it!
Bike safe & have fun, everyone.
Gosh, you all just make me feel like I\’ve got the most inactive weekends… 😉
Swapped out my crappy plastic platform+toeclips pedals for some MKS GR-9s and quality metal toeclips – the left-hand pedal\’s clip had been so mashed down from not being able to catch the flip-up tab properly and missing that they\’d almost become useless. Just having moved to slightly-outer SE, I\’d nearly lost control climbing a few short-but-steep hills near my new home from not being in the clip properly. The new pedals work wonderfully.
So! Now all that\’s left is getting some quality kevlar-reinforced tires so this land of broken glass and debris doesn\’t give me a flat every three days and I\’ll be all set.
Er, apart from climbing those hills with a load of groceries weighing me down. Need to get used to that.
Had a blast watching the Twilight Criterium riders on Friday.. volunteered registering riders for the Portland Century on Saturday and rode the 50-mile ride in the Century on Sunday. Highlight of that was riding more of Marine Drive then I had previously, and all the free beer at the finish!
N.I.K., take a look at Schwalbe Marathon Racers.. a bit heavy but they roll very well and you can forget about flats on normal road glass..
Took a ride to the park blocks and laughed at the sound of bouncing carbon… after making sure everyone was OK.
Sat I followed the puzzycats with my camera. Lots-O-fun. I\’m hoping that this link gets to some of those kitties who I photographed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96761775@N00/sets/72157601682576523/
A lazy weekend for me. Painted my front porch, pickled some eggplant, made some blackberry jam and habanero jelly (extra hot!), and finally went for a bike ride. I plucked a 50-mile route out of my old copy of Rubber to Road – the West Linn Loop – it\’s a really nice ride on some great hilly roads out through L.O. to Pete\’s Mountain and back. In addition to some lovely bits like the climb up the green tree tunnel on Turner, the route passes some ridiculous McMansions in L.O. and on Schaeffer, along with 3 golf clubs, 2 country clubs and 1 \’Hunt\” club, offering many opportunities to mock the extraordinary lack of architectural taste demonstrated by what passes for Oregon\’s landed gentry.
Boring weekend for me – took a friend\’s bike to Sellwood Cycle for expert attention and scheduled service for my bike before Cycle Oregon.
Oh, and work. Ugh.
Cecil, if that\’s a lazy weekend, what do you do on a busy one?
I\’m off to take some photo pics of those silly zoobombers. Fun fun.
Rode the 50-mile route of the Portland Century, and I actually finished under my own power, surprisingly enough. I enjoyed it, despite dodging glass, golf fans headed to the big LPGA tournament, roadkill and semi trucks along the way.
Sunday was my only day off this week so I didn\’t do any extra riding. I know, no excuse. But I did sleep on the couch quite a bit.
Rachel (#9) — great pix! Thanks for sharing them!
Nice to meet you at the \’cat.
Cheers –Beth
we start the weekend a little bit early here in Wichita with the amazing and un bicycle pub cruise every thursday night…Probably the result of living the boring life in the flatlands!
Had Friday fun with OR Bike at their tent for the crit race…thanks Tom and Ayleen!
Saturday checked out the Scrap Iron Artist event…a blast as always. (Perhaps one year they will pimp art some working bikes.)
Sunday was a fun day…getting the kid\’s bikes ready for their private bike adventure to Portland from Vancouver (camping out overnight at the Kenndy School and more riding through Portland on Monday)…our the Roll in the Hole event to Hazel Dells STEAKBURGER and Putt Putt golf club (full 36 holes) was well attended by 22 adventurers…19 came over from Portland along with Jonathan and family. (Thanks Ian.) Then post ride beers on the Vancouver waterfront at the funky Red Lion Quay (go see the pirate ships inside the bar). The Wine and Jazz music in the downtown. Then off to the Kenndy School by bike for a dinner date and back to Vancouver.
Crash (post 12) – for a busy weekend I would have added another bike ride of at least 100 miles, put in a few hours at the office, done the laundry, baked some bread (to go with the jam), made and frozen a couple of casseroles for dinners later in the week, and read the Sunday NY Times. Fortunately, they make medication for people like me. 🙂
Cecil, I grew up on top of \”the Hill\” (Pete\’s Mtn to the rest of you)…. my parents built our house in the mid 70\’s. You might have seen it from Schaeffer, around the Stafford Hill Ranch area. I remember when Farmer Snader planted wheat there, and the family watched Mt St Helens blow up in \’80 from that field. My grandparents and great grandparents lived over there, too… You must have muscles in your legs like nobody\’s business!! 🙂
My weekend: spent Saturday cleaning the house (Late Summer cleaning) for guests on Wednesday. Yerk. Sunday, we did a 30-mile loop from Rubber to the Road 2 out from Champoeg. It was pretty fun! Lovely area, low traffic roads, mostly flat but with some smallish hills, a steady-ish headwind (from all directions) and the lovely smell of hops ripening in the sun. Mmmmm…. beer…. The ospreys were pretty cool, the buzzards and hawks were circling, and it\’s amazing what all you can grow in the Willamette valley (everything!).
Here are some photos of our Sunday bike adventure to Vancouver for a few rounds of mini-golf, corndogs, steakburgers, milkshakes and ice-cream!
Ian Stude led the ride with help on the \’Couv side from Todd Boulanger.
Roll to the Hole photos
Went to the ride in movie with my wife. Writeup is here
here
Rode my first century on Sunday. There was a brief moment of regret on one of the last hills, but overall feels great today. Perfect temp for a long ride. Very well supported (thank you volunteers!!) and no grumbling about getting lost like I heard last year.
I was kind of let down by a few cyclists Yesterday (Sunday). I was driving along Marine Drive, just east of Salty\’s and saw a cycle accident – two cyclists I think, or maybe one crashed and the other went into him. They were up ahead on the side of the road.
I stopped my car, and asked if people were alright. No one would really talk to me. I asked if they needed me to call anyone, and they pretty much just ignored me.
MNy wife and daughter were fairly annoyed at how rude the cyclists were. And I was a little surprised.
I try to help out and get ignored…
Makes me wonder what the impact of their behavior had been if I had not been a cyclist. Maybe I would be less likely to help in the future…
I don\’t know, but it made me a little sad.
Went to the criterium and shot a few nice pix, then (finally) got the chance to go on an extended ride of my new cyclocross (Kona) bike. Muy bien.
I enjoyed watching the Twilight Criterium this year from the VIP area (Thanks ORBike!), and then on Saturday took a ride from Beaverton to Wilsonville with Larry Fratkin for one of his cafe to care rides. And then On Sunday did the 50mile loop of the Portland Century. The Portland Century was much better planned and supported this year. All in all a 110mile weekend on my bike!
friday — bombed my dirtsurfer down THE fastest hill in eugene for the first time
saturday — bombed my dirtsurfer down a 5 foot high pitch black drain pipe a half mile long, carved the sides
sunday — bombed my dirtsurfer down the zoobomb hill for the first time, and first time a dirtsurfer\’s been ever been zoobombed. no injury.
zoobomb\’s 5th anniversary birthday and the zoobomb minibike summer olypmics were this weekend and that\’s a full bikeportland story in itself: 10 guys on minibikes naked in full-contact derby; team longboard meeting up with team zoobomb to do the official summer sk8 race; minibike shotput tossing; and so much more! more! more!
zoobomb isn\’t about police and media. zoobomb brings the FUN! guess you had to be there…
Patrick, Jim & Jeff (me) road around Mt. Hood on Forest Service roads, no stop signs, cars or cops. 250 Miles of beautiful country, in our backyard. We left last Sunday and got back Sat. It rained hard on Monday, gave all my bike gear the ultimate rain test, found out it needs some fine tuning. This one week bike trip cost about $100 per person. You don\’t need a car to get past the city limit signs, there are lots of opportunities to go \”car-free camping\”
Here\’s a few photos
http://picasaweb.google.com/biketimes/MtHoodLoop07
OK, this is probably my only chance to post a more unusual ride than anyone else this week: I biked out ten miles or so, past farms and villages, to a medieval castle! I\’m visiting Utrecht, the Netherlands, where separated bike/ped paths run everywhere, city and \’burb, and therefore many more ordinary folks bike everywhere. Portland may be Bikevana in the Western hemisphere, but the Dutch are way ahead of us in many bikey ways. I\’m riding a big Dutch bike every day and loving it, but missing Portland (and the Century again, darn it) already.
Jeff – how\’s Faraday Road? Have they cleared it? Cool pics.
It was all about the bike this weekend.
Friday night at the Crit – great fun and lots of bike love with new and old friends.
Saturday morning at the State Fair – they had a morning ride that was really fun (and a great way to get star parking). An easy 10 miler around Salem, but we extended it to Independence and back along River Road to Salem. Beautiful. Then for some good old country fair enjoyment – chickens, horses, pigs and sheep, not to mention a bbq sandwich and free marigolds!
Sunday morning – Larch mountain. Phew! What a hill. Preparation for Cycle Oregon and we weren\’t the only ones with the idea.
We ran into many happy, but tired century riders on the way back.
All around great bike weekend.
I road up mt tabor, over to 205 bike path to springwater corrider and back home as a much needed hangover remedy from out of town guests and a friends wedding. Crested Butte here I come!
Fence building in the backyard kept me from the Twilight Crit *again!* Maybe next year.
I did make it to the SS Pussycat race which was fantastic wet, wild fun!
I also had a blast working the 25 mile rest stop at the Portland Century
Click for right ups. Pics are here.
Duh. Write-ups. It\’s OK, I haven\’t finished college, there\’s still hope. 🙂
After a less than enjoyable experience at last year\’s Portland Century I opted to RAPSody. (Ride Around Puget Sound) It was sponsored by 5 Sound local bike clubs and was a fund raiser for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington. (like Oregon\’s Bicycle Transportation Alliance) It was a 165 mile ride with 9000 ft vertical gain. The vast majority (me included) did it in two days. We all stayed at Shelton High School.
This was a top rung event. Superb scenery, excellent support, the best food I\’ve ever had on a ride (I\’ve done a LOT of event rides), great volunteers and unsurpassed camaraderie.
And unlike many other \”benefit rides\”, 100% of the proceeds went to BAW.
You will find me back up there for next year\’s RAPSody.
-Kevin
I came up from Corvallis for the Portland Century and did the 100-mile route with some friends from Portland. It was my first century (and first organized ride), so I don\’t have much with which to compare.
I thought the rest stops were very well stocked, and the route was well enough marked that I made it with no problems despite losing my route map somewhere between mile 17 and mile 35. I can even report that the first-aid kit at the mile-51 rest stop was amply stocked as I had crashed in some loose gravel a few miles before that point.
I look forward to doing the ride again next year (minus the crash, and hopefully minus some more weight before I do Bull Run again).
I went to Diamond Lake to camp with people from the Salem Bicycle Club. On Saturday we rode from there to Crater Lake and around the rim, a very challenging and hilly 61 miles. What goes up, must come down! A great ride.