(Photo: Dat Nguyen)
Hope you’re not letting the wet, slushy, snowy days put a damper on your weekend bike plans.
Last night we started things off right with a nice gathering of regular BikePortland.org readers at the Lucky Lab (SE). It was great fun putting real faces to screen names and I think we’ll make Social Hour a regular thing.
…as it should be.
I heard some folks were hoping to set the all-time Bike Move attendance record today. Anyone have a report on that?
And how about all the Portlanders who made the trip up to Vancouver BC for Bikes Inside? How’s it going up there!?
Early this morning I helped load pink mini-bikes on top of our mini-van. Juli and the rest of the Sprockettes are headed up to Seattle for a performance during the half-time show of a roller derby match.
The Vanport Kermesse racing out at PIR should be epic tomorrow, and of course Zoobomb and snow always make for a fun combination.
Also tomorrow is that big football game (can’t recall the name), anyone have plans to watch it?
Feel free to chime in below. Share your random bike thoughts, snowy photos and your tales of two-wheeled adventure…
we had the first snowbomb of \’08 last week, and it was spectacular. by the end of the night, there was a nice thick layer of snow on the roads, so much snow that my shoes were having a hard time staying on the pegs of my gravity bike. we had a few crashes, myself included at about 45mph, but the snow made them gentle enough to walk away from with little more than some bruising, and a big smile on all of our faces. here\’s hoping that the snow continues this weekend, and we have some more fun.
I had the pleasure of attending today\’s Move by Bike extravaganza. Lots of rain and lots of fun. We had 24 riders, two trips, and lots of pizza by the time I took off. Congrats on your new place, Jeff and Jill!!
A few photos at http://tinyurl.com/2ce3qz
Dat\’s photos at http://tinyurl.com/254dyz
Sick and tired of La Nina. I\’m ready for some drought-like conditions for a little while.
This year will be the end of an era for me and my buddies… the last smoke-filled Superbowl Sunday serial bike ride between the dive bars of Portland. Next year they will all be smoke-free (a good thing). This afternoon we hit the streets of North Portland in search of cheap beer, free buffets, and the bombastic halftime show. Yeehah!
Looks Good, Too bad I read it Saturday morning and showed up at 4:50 on Saturday to see one bicycle, and a car with bike racks in front. I was ten minutes early, so got a beer, figured it would maybe be a small event. Glad it was big, wish I had been there 24 hours earlier. I will be at the next one, on the right day too.
I love that aerial photo of the first BikePortland social! I can see at least two cyclists shaking hands & holding pints.
That\’s what life should be all about! Look forward to being able to make it to the next one, should it happen…
I did aka walk the dog ride. wish more people biked, but then again they would
get in the way.. hehe
low key rides these days seem to really
be fun.
ohh i found an old 10 speed wheel and a bike.. didnt take them tho-
Joe
Too wet on Saturday for me. I went indoors. But today was great! No rain, calm winds, 37 miles of Washington County farm land. A great February 3rd ride for this one-time Chicagoan.
Also a little tired of the weather…but I\’m so impressed with the others on the road at 6:30 am it keeps me on the bike every morning. Yeay Portlanders!
I plan to attend the next social hour…when/if it happens…
I just posted this to my blog, figured I\’d share it here too. If you want to see the two photos along with it click on my name to go to my blog.
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God is a Cyclist!
Or so it seems! Having a birthday in early February and having this habit of riding bike as a way of celebrating it one can\’t really expect to have decent weather in Oregon. It could be snowing, there could be(should be) ice, there definitely is more chance that it will rain than not. But in the 4 years since I\’ve been doing this bike thing we\’ve always had decent weather. On the very first one we had one light shower, the rest of the years have been dry, and today was no exception. Not a drop of rain fell on us as we made our way around our 53 mile loop today. There was only the slightest wind, certainly less than 5mph out of the South. Temperature was a few degrees warmer than predicted so we were quite comfortable. The sun even poked it\’s face out from time to time.
Dave, Laura, Cary, and I made the trip today. The 4 others who expressed an interest decided against riding. After the last two weeks of weather it\’s probably understandable………… but they missed the boat today. It was a great ride!
Makes getting a year older not quite so bad. 😉
I made a great discovery this weekend, Bikieboy\’s list of nicely documented routes on bikely.com. He has several routes I\’m interested in. I chose this one http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/East-Portland-to-Estacada to see the first leg of a multi-day loop I would like to make later in the year around Mt Hood or past Detroit Lake.
Armisigger Road has quite a descent down to Hwy 224 that whips up a good wind chill at 37 MPH. There was light hail falling. From 224 I turned on Hwy 211 to loop back through Sandy. I don\’t think 211 would be good in the best conditions with little or no shoulder full of gravel from the last snow, but by the time I got there today, the hail had set in. I was a little concerned climbing into accumulating slush on 23mm road tires. It handled pretty well, but at the top of the first big climb the slush was nearing ½ inch and becoming packed ice. The descent was littered with cars stranded or in the ditch. That’s where I called to get picked up. I walked and rode for another couple of miles and came out of the other side of the ice and was bummed about having a ride waiting. Oh well, warm and dry now with my feet up and the game on. Good day.
I’m going to be keeping my eye on the forum for anybody looking for company on a multi-day trip.
No time to ride on Saturday, but Sunday morning I got in a quick 38 miles from SE through St. Johns to Kelly Point Park, home via Marine Drive and 33rd – the sun broke through the clouds as I reached North Portland, and I warmed up quickly in my layers of wool – by the time I got home, I was positively sweat-soaked. It was a nice change from being positively rain-soaked. The it was off to the theater (after a shower, of course) – Bodas de Sangre at Teatro Milagro – que bueno!
Why I love this Bike Community:
Two bike moves in one weekend (in February)
Most Unusual Pizza Party
Posting a need for a bike part at 11pm and picking it up first thing in the morning
Biking to Forest Park
and . . . LUCKY LAB
Thanks for a great weekend
Thanks to all the
Always feel guilty about wallowing on the couch like a total meathead drinking beer and watching the Superbowl when everyone is out turning the pedals….but not today. This Superbowl turned out to be one for the ages as the Giants handed the Patriots an ignominious end to their prefect season. Plus I was the only one in our betting pool to pick New York so I made out like a bandit! Promise to go riding next weekend and work of all those chips and beer.
Had a wonderful ride in the rain Friday afternoon, scouting out locations for my upcoming Super Secret Group Ride; ufortunately, I musta run over something sharp, because today the front tire of my trusty steed was flatter than Amarillo TX (and that\’s FLAT).
So no ride today to scout more locations. And it was such a great day for riding! Waah!
Fingers crossed CCC repairs flats; I know how (thanks, Aaron!) but lack the ability (uppper body strength of a muppet here).
Went for a quick ride yesterday to get my heart-rate up. Got caught in a hailstorm (I was riding in Salem) in the south hills.
Hail hurts when it hits the face.
Michael, thanks for letting me know who won the super bowl. BikePortland.org has no end of information! for me, Jeff&Jill\’s move was definitely the highlight of the weekend. thanks fellas!
On Sunday I got drenched helping Jill & Jeff move all their books 😉 to their new place with 23 other bicyclists. But it was a fun, always bike moves always seem to be.
On Sunday, Eliza & I led the first Urban Ecology Ride: Winter Botanizing. We had great weather – Sunshine – and 14 cool bicyclists on the tour. Here\’s some photos:http://flickr.com/photos/redbat/sets/72157603848583620/