coffee ride
I rode over to Cecil's and arrived a little before 9am. We'd decided upon an eastside, easy-paced "coffee" ride and I figured it'd be easier if I just rode across town and we all started out together. Lynne pulled up shortly after I did and by 9:15 or so we were ready to head out.
Nothing momentous to report. Actually, it was a really enjoyable ride, where I was able to sustain a pace of 13 to 14 mph or so on the flats for much of the ride. It felt good to push myself just slightly like that. (Lynne is a stronger rider than me, and Cecil is stronger than both of us, so yeah it felt a tiny bit like pushing my usual city pace, but in a really enjoyable, refreshing way.)
It was a dry, cool morning (low 40's when I got to Cecil's, warmed up to low 50's when we finished) and cloud cover that might eventually burn off, but probably not before our ride was done. I got it just right, with knickers, a couple layers of wool and a rain shell just in case.
We cruised through Colonial Heights in SE, headed out to Hollywood neighborhood and crossed the freeway, then rode up to Alameda Ridge (it's a lot mellower than riding straight up the hill on 37th, like Sweetie and I do when we're coming back from the Farmers' Market). From there we did a big, easy loop through Alameda, Wilshire, Concordia and Woodlawn neighborhoods and headed over to N. Willamette for a easy ride over to the Columbia Slough (via the Peninsula Crossing trail). At the entrance to the Slough path that would take us to Smith and Bybee lakes, we were stymied by a long train. Okay, a very long train. We couldn't see the end of it. After we sipped from our thermoses, admired Lynne's latest knitting project (the first of two sorta-gloves -- beautiful, I want a pair!) and watched Cecil grow more annoyed with the length of the train (it was really very long), we decided to skip Smith and Bybee Lakes, turn around and ride through the New Columbia area and just tootle around North Portland until we found our way to Little Red Bike Cafe. I forgot that Jordan doesn't run through the other side of Lombard, took us about ten blocks too far, and we had to come back on Lombard to the cafe, but this being Super Bowl Sunday the roads weren't too busy.
After a light lunch (get the Paper Boy sandwich! Yummy!) we rode back to Willamette and looped back around to Ainsworth, where I split off from Cecil and Lynne to head home. A delicious ride, nearly 30 miles for me including the pre-ride to Cecil's.
Nothing momentous to report. Actually, it was a really enjoyable ride, where I was able to sustain a pace of 13 to 14 mph or so on the flats for much of the ride. It felt good to push myself just slightly like that. (Lynne is a stronger rider than me, and Cecil is stronger than both of us, so yeah it felt a tiny bit like pushing my usual city pace, but in a really enjoyable, refreshing way.)
It was a dry, cool morning (low 40's when I got to Cecil's, warmed up to low 50's when we finished) and cloud cover that might eventually burn off, but probably not before our ride was done. I got it just right, with knickers, a couple layers of wool and a rain shell just in case.
We cruised through Colonial Heights in SE, headed out to Hollywood neighborhood and crossed the freeway, then rode up to Alameda Ridge (it's a lot mellower than riding straight up the hill on 37th, like Sweetie and I do when we're coming back from the Farmers' Market). From there we did a big, easy loop through Alameda, Wilshire, Concordia and Woodlawn neighborhoods and headed over to N. Willamette for a easy ride over to the Columbia Slough (via the Peninsula Crossing trail). At the entrance to the Slough path that would take us to Smith and Bybee lakes, we were stymied by a long train. Okay, a very long train. We couldn't see the end of it. After we sipped from our thermoses, admired Lynne's latest knitting project (the first of two sorta-gloves -- beautiful, I want a pair!) and watched Cecil grow more annoyed with the length of the train (it was really very long), we decided to skip Smith and Bybee Lakes, turn around and ride through the New Columbia area and just tootle around North Portland until we found our way to Little Red Bike Cafe. I forgot that Jordan doesn't run through the other side of Lombard, took us about ten blocks too far, and we had to come back on Lombard to the cafe, but this being Super Bowl Sunday the roads weren't too busy.
After a light lunch (get the Paper Boy sandwich! Yummy!) we rode back to Willamette and looped back around to Ainsworth, where I split off from Cecil and Lynne to head home. A delicious ride, nearly 30 miles for me including the pre-ride to Cecil's.