The Think Tank

It was chilly and wet in the morning

Joel and I took part in the Worst Day of the Year Ride, the second largest organized ride in Oregon.  It is so named because statistically speaking the middle of February is when the worst day of the year occurs, but despite that mathematical fact, the previous 8 rides have all taken place under blue skies with temps in the 50’s.

This was my first year taking part in the ride, and of course, it is also the first year that it has rained.  Go figure.  Fortunately it didn’t rain terribly hard or for very long, probably only the first hour or so, then it dried out.  By mid-afternoon the sun even made a cameo appearance.

I left my house around 7:30 and rode over to Joel’s house, where we met up and rode down by the Rose Garden, along the East Side Esplinade and then to the start line .  Our registration also paid for food and drinks at all of the many rest stops, including doughnuts and coffee/tea/cocoa here at the start line.

Other Challenge Loopers mounting up

The cool morning temps and drizzly conditions were no match for us Portlandians!  3,500 crazy people came out to ride and revel in this northwest tradition, many of whom came in costume.  Since this year’s ride was on St. Valentine’s Day there was a definite hearts and cupid theme to many of the costumes, including an awesome/ridiculous pair riding a tandem bike dressed as cupid and a human heart.

There were two routes, an 18 mile Urban Ride and a 40 mile Challenge Loop.  We chose the Challenge Loop, which took us from the Lucky Lab on Hawthorne past REI Portland in downtown (where there was a rest stop with warm chai and fresh banana’s), through Washington Park past the Rose

These guys have to win the costume contest

Gardens, down through the Zoo parking lot, up over the rest of Sylvan hill, then down through Beaverton to the half-way point at REI Hillsboro.  At that rest stop we were greeted with bowls of granola and milk, fresh fruit, gatorade, fruit leather, chips and pudding.  Quite a smorgasbord!  There was also a twenty line for the port-a-potties, which we totally ignored and used the bathroom inside the REI store where there was no line at all.  Feeling rather smug and and with possibly too full tummies, we set out for the finish line.  The second half of the route took us through Rock Creek Park to Old German Town Road where we climbed about 5 miles of hills that we felt were pretty brutal (many people walked up the last half), then  down German Town Road through Forest Park, across the Saint John’s bridge (past another rest stop with water and heart shaped cookies), through Saint Johns to the Community Cycling Center on NE Ainsworth, up Alameda Ridge to Bike Gallery on Sandy, through the Hawthorne District and then back to the finish line at Lucky Lab on Hawthorne.  The total distance for the ride came in a little over the stated amount at 46.2 miles.

"Hey, Baby... How you doin'?"

At the finish line there was soup and bread wating for us, and we happily chowed down, adding a beer which sadly was not included with our registration. That German Town Road section really took it out of both Joel and I, so we were very happy to sit down and eat our chili and drink our well earned brews, listening to music and watching all of the people passing by (some more than others, of course).

This guy is really serious about going green

We hung out for about 45 minutes then decided to it was time to ride home when we discovered that Joel’s front tire had gone flat, fulfilling what is quickly becoming a bike event tradition for him.  That was a big bummer, but we figured if he was going to get a flat today, having it happen after we finished the actual ride was probably the best time.  I walked with him to the bus stop on Grand where he hopped a bus home, then I continued on home on my own, finishing with a total round trip of 56 miles on the nose according to my bike computer.  That makes it my longest single day ride, but only about half of what I’ll need to do for just a single day of Seattle To Portland.  All in all I felt I did fine on this ride, although knees and my bum were getting sore by the end, so clearly I need to practice some more distance riding before STP.  Fortunately that is not until the middle of July, so I do have time to prepare.

Once home I had to hop in a bath and get ready for dinner and a movie with my Valentine.

All of these photos were taken with my phone, so the quality isn’t all that great but they do get the point across.