Brrrr

Well, I just had to take a ride today. It was cold, but at least it wasn't raining. No time for photos, but it was a brisk and exhilarating little ride. I explored a few neighborhoods I hadn't visited before, and rode by the holly tree farm to see the lights they put up this time of year.

The bike ran well, I had some fun, and I discovered why those hard-core riders need leather chaps after October. My upper body was fine - a fleece, my jacket, helmet and thick gloves took care of that - but the legs were another story. Above 30 mph, the wind cut through my thick jeans like they weren't there. I've got to get something before those nice early spring days arrive and I want to go for some longer rides.

Portland to Astoria and Back

Today was a gorgeous day for a ride. Wanda and I decided to try a tougher, longer ride today and after a short discussion, we settled on a trip to Astoria via Hwy 47 and Hwy 202. The route is listed among the better rides in Oregon and I have to say, we certainly enjoyed and from the number of other riders we met along the way, it is appropriately listed and looks to be a local favorite.

Before we got too far along the way, we stopped at Starbucks for a scone and some coffee and a chat about the ride. The weather forecast called for warm and sunny weather and so we looked forward to a very pleasant ride.  Our plan was to stop in Vernonia for our first break, grab a late lunch in Astoria, and take Hwy 30 home so we would be back by 6 pm.

The first leg was an easy ride with not much traffic. We reached Vernonia on schedule and took a walk around town for a few photos. Cafe 47, seen in the image above, was one of several colorful and interesting buildings along the main route through town. Vernonia suffered a major flood a couple of years ago and it was great to see how well the town had recovered.

Wandering through the town felt great. We hadn't had much time for ourselves lately and it was simply nice to get out of the house and away for a day. I even got Wanda to pose for a few photos while we were out and about. There's an old locomotive and what looked to be an old steam engine in the park near the end of town and they made a nice backdrop for some quick portraits.

After a soda and a bathroom break we got on our way again and headed up into the coastal range to pick up Hwy 202, an old logging road, with quite a few twists and turns. This was our longest trip on the MP3 so far, so we knew we'd need to take a few breaks to allow circulation to return to our butts. So we stopped at the Jewel Meadow Wildlife Area well known as a grazing area for elk and other animals. By this time, Wanda was definitely ready for another break and she spent quite a few minutes walking around the pull-off stretching her legs. I'll have to admit, I need to stretch for a bit too, and the sunshine was nice as the wind was getting a bit chilly as we were getting up to the higher altitudes.  Unfortunately, no elk could be seen as it was simply the wrong time of day for them to be grazing.

The stop warmed us up and let us get the blood flowing again and we needed that for the remainder of the ride to Astoria. As we got higher into the Coastal Range we began to run into cloud cover, much cooler temperatures, and even a bit of fog and mist. The road grew much rougher as well, with many more potholes, cracks and twisties. Wanda kept watching the thermometer on the MP3 and she told me that at one point it reached 57 degrees. As we came down the west side of the mountain range into Astoria, it got a little warmer, but it was cloudy during our entire visit to the city and the clouds only began to break up once we headed back east to Portland.

Since we were thoroughly chilled at this point, we stopped for some chowder at Josephon's Fish House. The chowder was hot and filling, but having lived for many years in New England we found the seasonings to be not quite what we expected. I did, however, have a great Salmon Burger.

After lunch, we took a walk around town for a bit of photography down by the waterfront and along the harbor wall. Astoria has a trolley that runs along the waterfront and to other areas of the town. We didn't take a ride, but the trolly made for a nice photo. There were also several ships at anchor in the harbor basin, but the gray skies didn't make for a great shot. I did my best, though, and tried a hand-held HDR shot to see what I could do.

The shot turned our reasonably well, but it would have been much better with better light.

As we returned from the harbor wall, Wanda noticed a tent in the Sunday Market advertising fresh, hot crepes and she pretty much made a beeline for the tent (I don't think the chowder quite cut it for her).

The small Sunday Market was quite interesting and there were actually some decent bargains to be found. Had we been on/in something other than the scooter, we may have come away with a birdhouse or two from the market. I guess I should be grateful we were on three wheels instead of four.

Wanda did enjoy her crepes and she managed to be one of the last few in line before the market began shutting down for the day. She chose strawberry and chocolate for her filling and proceeded to make short work of them. After she finished licking the chocolate and sugar off her fingers, we took short walk around the area and wandered into a few shops. We didn't buy anything, but we had fun just looking.

Pretty soon it was time to ride, and we geared back up and headed out of the city on Hwy 30. It was still pretty cool, though the clouds seemed like they were ready to start breaking. As we headed east out of the city, the cloud cover become thinner and then suddenly we were back in sunshine and the temperature started to rise. By the time we were a couple of miles out of the city, the temps were back up into the high 80's.

We made one more planned stop for a break, and one unplanned stop when a bee flew up my jacket sleeve, but the remainder of the ride home was mostly uneventful. The bee sting hurt (I can't remember the last time I got stung), but I made a smooth stop and managed to get the bee out of my sleeve without spilling Wanda off the back of the bike. Now I know to keep my jacket sleeves lightly strapped around my wrists when riding.  I sure don't want that to happen again.

All in all, it was a good day and a fine ride. A nice long soak in the hot tub later that evening took care of any aches and pains incurred during the ride and we had good night's sleep.

Riding Weather

We haven't seen much riding weather this year. Every time we think we're about to get a nice long break from the rain,  the forecast changes, it clouds back up, cools off, and the rain begins anew. Fortunately, though, the last couple of weekends have had a least one day of good riding weather and Wanda and I have been able to get out for a jaunt in the countryside. Last weekend we decided to ride up to see some friends on Bald Peak.

The ride up to their place, Dragonfly Landing, is quite scenic and has some great twisties plus some long straightaways through farm country. It wasn't as warm as we would have liked it, topping out in the low 70's, but it was sunny and in Oregon that's all you need for a ride.  Besides, we were looking for any reason to get away from the house and out into the world.

There wasn't much traffic on our route and except for a bit of construction on 185th Ave, we had a nice smooth ride over to Farmington Road and then out to Bald Peak Road. We saw quite a number of other bikes on the roads and more than a few were couples with a rider and passenger as well as a number of small groups.  It seems like lots of folks had the same idea as Wanda and I did.

On the ride up the mountain we had some great views of Mount Hood and the Tualatin Valley. There was a bit of loose gravel on the road, but the twin front tires of the MP3 seemed to handle it quite well, though honestly we weren't moving fast enough to really test it. Wanda was much improved as a passenger this time and I could tell she was much more relaxed on the ride. There were far fewer helmet bumps and she didn't shift her weight in anticipation of the curves. There was one curve on the way down the mountain though where it seemed she was fighting the turn and leaning out of it instead of moving her body with mine, but that was the only one.

At the crest of ride, we stopped at Bald Peak State Park to enjoy the view there. Mount Hood was clearly visible for a change, and the view of the valley was quite lovely too. We took a short hike on one of the trails leading down from the west side of the park to get a better view of the valley. The rain has been good for something at least--the vegetation was lush and there were lots of little wild flowers blooming all up and down the slopes of the mountain.

The trail was well drained, so there wasn't much mud to deal with on the hike down and up. I had Wanda stop for a couple of shots on the trail as I thought I might use it for a future photo shoot and also because I think she looks might fine in her riding gear.

We walked around the park for a bit, used the restroom facilities there, and then headed on over to Dragonfly Landing to see our friends, Mark and Gabi. Our timing sucked though, because Gabi wasn't there and Mark was taking a nap. Good friend that he was, though, he got up from his nap and showed up some of his family's latest projects - a new leather corset for Gabi, new tents and camp-beds for their SCA group, and some of the landscaping and housing improvements they've been doing around the place.

Mark lets me use his property quite a lot for my summer photo projects, so I took some time to check out some of the fields and wooded areas in preparation for an upcoming shoot I have planned. Wanda was very interested in the camp-beds and I'll have to say there were very nicely built and seemed quite rugged and sturdy. Steve, the builder, told us they could be broken down in 5 minutes and setup in about 10 minutes, and more importantly they could be stored flat for transportation.

We didn't overstay our welcome, though, and we wanted to get back home while the sun was still high so we could have a little cookout with our daughters and grandkids. Coming back down the mountain was just as fun as riding up, although the one curve I mentioned previously did give me a bump of adrenaline.  What was rough though, was the winds down on the valley floor, pushing us around when we cleared the mountain shadow.

All in all it was a fun little ride and a nice afternoon outing.

Wanda on the mountain trail

Ready to ride.

Wanda's First Ride

Wanda has gradually been coming around to the idea of riding with me. Slowly, but surely she has been warming to the idea and yesterday, on our way out for our anniversary dinner, we stopped by Beaverton Motorcycles to get her some riding gear. I'll have to say this much for her, she has good taste.

She picked out a lightweight Nolan helmet with built in sunshade and a detachable chin guard, and black armored jacket with magenta piping, some leather gloves, and very nice mid-calve riding boots. She definitely looked good in the outfit.

Today was a perfect day for riding. It was sunny, but not too hot, and the roads were finally dried out from all the previous weeks rain. Our plan was to head out for a ride then hit McMenamin's Rock Creek Tavern for a late lunch on our way back.  Before we could head out, though, Wanda insisted we get some chores done first. So, while she vacuumed and cleaned the house, I edged and mowed the lawn and then we both went to Home Depot to get some supplies for a small project.  After that, Wanda finally screwed her courage to the sticking point and we got ready to ride.

I had a destination in mind and the plan was for a relatively short ride to give Wanda time to adjust to riding with me, and for me to figure out how to ride with her riding pillion. We tool a slow ride through the neighborhood first to let me get a feel for how the bike responded to two riders and to give Wanda's nerves a chance to setting down. After a short circuit around a couple of blocks, we headed down the long, straight route leading east from our subdivision. That let me pick up some speed and settled her in on the bike.

At the first intersection we headed north on a curvy stretch of road to give her a chance to learn how to lean with me and the bike. I kept it fairly slow, but I could feel her grip tighten with each curve. At the next intersection, about 4 miles up the road, I stopped and checked with her and she told me she was fine, so we turned and continued west toward our destination.

The road we eventually rode is called Skyline Boulevard, and it's called that for a reason. It runs along a ridgeline that divides the river area of North Portland from the fields and farms of the Washington County.  Our destination was a logging area just off the road where, on clear day, you can see the snow-capped peaks of Mount St. Helens, Mount Ranier, and Mount Adams in a beautiful panorama. I'd driven there a couple of times when searching for fall foliage to photograph, but had never ridden there on the bike. It seemed the ideal destination for our ride, and I wasn't disappointed.

The view was fantastic. Bright yellow scotch broom dotted the landscape and all three mountains could be clearly seen in the distance. The area where we stopped is owned by a logging company, but they allow hiking on the property and the logging road allows good access to various overlooks. Wanda and I didn't go very far from the gated entrance, but we did wander down the trail to get a couple of different images. It was definitely cool enough at this elevation that we could keep our riding jackets on as we walked.

The ride up was quite curvy and Wanda really got to experience some decent speed and twisties. As we road through the curves, she became better at adjusting to the ride and moving her body with me along the way. We bumped helmets a few times, but that was the worst of it. When we got to the viewpoint she seemed quite excited and happy to be riding with me. She admitted to some nervousness at first, much like the anticipation of standing in line for a roller coaster ride, but she seemed to have gotten over that pretty quickly. Of course, the beauty of the ride and of our destination helped with that I'm sure.

Once a the top of Skyline, it was time to ride back down for lunch. Rock Creek Tavern was our place of choice because of its proximity and its lovely outdoor patio. One thing is for sure, you don't go there for the service which is very, very slow even on the best days. I'm not sure why it is, but service always seems to take 15-20 minutes initially and is intermittent even after that. The surroundings are lovely and the food is quite good (the beers are terrific), but they never seem to have enough wait staff on duty to accomodate the patrons. Even with smaller crowds the service never seems quick and drinks can sit empty for quite a while before your server gets around to you again.

We weren't the only riders deciding to stop for a bite at the tavern. There were at least a half dozen motorcycles parked in the bike area as well as a number of bicycles along the upper fence (we were passed by a couple of sports bikes on the way down from the viewpoint, but we didn't see either of them at the tavern).  We managed to get a nice seat on the patio and settled down for a leisurely meal. As usual, I received a number of questions about our ride, since lots of people are really interested in the unusual looks of the MP3 500ie. One Harley rider asked me some extensive questions and as he rode off said, "nice ride."

After lunch, we went a different direction and chose to ride around looking at some of the lovely farms and homes located in our area. Lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine and working on their yards or on their farms or ranches. Bicyclists were out in droves enjoying the sunshine - it's been raining almost solid here for nearly 3 weeks so who can blame them. After about another 45 minutes of riding, it was time for another short break so we decided to head to Starbucks for a drink before heading home and tackling our own yard project.  A nice cold frappacino hit the spot just right and we took advantage of the stop to check on a small bicycle for our granddaughter and to visit the new toy store in the shopping complex.

All in all, it was a pretty good first ride for us both. We got to spend an afternoon together in some beautiful weather, enjoying some gorgeous scenery, and still managed to get quite a bit of work done around the house as well.

Since the rain is coming back tonight and we'll have the grandkids the rest of the weekend, we made the best of a lovely afternoon and some fun time with just us.

Afterwards, Wanda suggested a trip for us latter in the summer that will require a longer ride and a stay at one of our favorite Oregon retreats. That should be a lot of fun and we're both looking forward to that and many more rides together.

Rain, rain, go away!

Wouldn't you know it? I came back from Georgia and it's rained everyday since my return on Monday. I finally got the MP3 out for a ride yesterday at lunch for a ride up to my favorite sushi place, but didn't get to ride anymore that day as the rain came back as I was finishing up mowing the lawn, weeding and raking after work.

On a positive note, however, Wanda finally admitted she actually wants to start riding with me and we'll soon go get her some riding gear to make it not only fun, but safe for her as well.