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05-31-07, 03:23 PM
so, my girlfriend and I spent the Memorial Day weekend in Portland, Oregon -- seeing old friends and enjoying tidbits of West Coast life. On Monday, we took a drive up to check out Mt. St. Helens and on the way to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, up Rt. 504, she commented that the shoulder seemed pretty nice and wide and "it would probably be a good travel lane for bikes."
and within five minutes of her saying that, what do you know? paceline of cyclists comes in from the other direction. they flew past, nice and tight and I half jokingly wondered how many minutes it'd be until we'd see that one poor straggler, struggling up the climb that we were now descending.
Of course, three minutes later, there's a guy spinning his way up to 2000 ft. elevation, and I noticed that his bike has the standard randoneer's kit with twin generator lights and a Berthoud handlebar bag. Hey, wait a minute ...
Then, all along the road, we see these two or three man packs of riders with frame bags, fenders, and all of that light touring stuff that one doesn't normally see on a weekend club ride, nor does one see the panniers or support trucks that usually accompany an organized tour -- so I'm thinking that maybe it's the SIR 600 and I'm really wishing that I was on my bike with them instead of a rental car. So, with every parking lot and scenic outlook that we pass, I keep my eyes out for a control point so that I can ask a volunteer or rider what ride they're on, but we never see one.
When I get online, I noticed that SIR didn't have any rides scheduled for today, and while the Oregon Randonneurs had a 100k on that same day, that started from Portland and a 100K would just be the one way from the entrance of the Mt. St. Helens Park to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. So, the mystery remains, who did we see out there? and, more importantly, where did you guys go? :)
thinking maybe I should post this to road or the PNW forums ... but figured I'd try here first given the kit of the cyclists we saw.
and within five minutes of her saying that, what do you know? paceline of cyclists comes in from the other direction. they flew past, nice and tight and I half jokingly wondered how many minutes it'd be until we'd see that one poor straggler, struggling up the climb that we were now descending.
Of course, three minutes later, there's a guy spinning his way up to 2000 ft. elevation, and I noticed that his bike has the standard randoneer's kit with twin generator lights and a Berthoud handlebar bag. Hey, wait a minute ...
Then, all along the road, we see these two or three man packs of riders with frame bags, fenders, and all of that light touring stuff that one doesn't normally see on a weekend club ride, nor does one see the panniers or support trucks that usually accompany an organized tour -- so I'm thinking that maybe it's the SIR 600 and I'm really wishing that I was on my bike with them instead of a rental car. So, with every parking lot and scenic outlook that we pass, I keep my eyes out for a control point so that I can ask a volunteer or rider what ride they're on, but we never see one.
When I get online, I noticed that SIR didn't have any rides scheduled for today, and while the Oregon Randonneurs had a 100k on that same day, that started from Portland and a 100K would just be the one way from the entrance of the Mt. St. Helens Park to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. So, the mystery remains, who did we see out there? and, more importantly, where did you guys go? :)
thinking maybe I should post this to road or the PNW forums ... but figured I'd try here first given the kit of the cyclists we saw.