Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Today's Ride

Today I rode up a mountain. It was really hard, and I had to take a lot of breaks. That was fine because I had my music going and I took some photos. I stopped in front of someone's house and they shot guns! Twice! I don't know what the deal was. Later, I took a video of a nice place I stopped, and someone shot a gun while I was filming. Heh.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3JeIqxz87yo/TAR5KOnwRaI/AAAAAAAAArQ/wRmKm3eNe60/s800/IMG_3612.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3JeIqxz87yo/TAR5OUynbCI/AAAAAAAAArU/F61oYnxLLx8/s800/IMG_3615.JPG

It's hard to really give you a feel for how steep this *(#$(*@ hill is, but these get close!

Here is some of our fascinating Oregon geology:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_3JeIqxz87yo/TASOi0c0nWI/AAAAAAAAAsc/Vtkw3l9fleg/s800/IMG_3627.JPG

A clown millipede on a beautiful roadway:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_3JeIqxz87yo/TASN5SCOnUI/AAAAAAAAAsM/Nla7SC8LV64/s800/IMG_3632.JPG

I rode the same route before, last year, except I went to the top of the hill and over (there's a >13%-grade part that I'm not sure is possible to ride up), and the descent was so scary that I may never do it again. So this time, when I got to the near-impossible part, after walking up a bit, I decided just to flip around and double back. But I had to walk back down again first because it was so steep that I feared for my life. haha.

That side of the hill is so much straighter, and there's so much less gravel, that I flew down the side of the hill, faster than I've ever let myself go before. I was going 37mph (wait, I mean, 60 km/h)!! Using the brakes! I think you could hear hysterical laughter throughout the countryside (along with all the gunshots).

But then, as I rounded a gentle corner, I saw two GIANT RUSSET FIGURES! I screeched to a halt (my brakes were really loud) and the first giant russet figure ran away:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3JeIqxz87yo/TASN2h9WVuI/AAAAAAAAAsI/B7tGA7Mc-_k/s800/IMG_3634.JPG

But the second one stayed! I'd thought they were elk at first, so I was scared they'd rush me, and, thinking back on the goat disaster of 2009, I wasn't sure I wanted to tempt this young male animal. I waited! He waited. In my imagination he was saying "TRY ME!" I pulled out my pepper spray and rolled by him, maybe 15 feet away. He didn't move. It was fantastic.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_3JeIqxz87yo/TASBVuuY5LI/AAAAAAAAArs/i7J_SmNU9JY/s800/IMG_3636.JPG

Around the next corner, I put away the pepper spray and screamed back down the hill again. So good!

I'm going to do it again next weekend, I think, and hopefully I'll have nice speakers for my phone/mp3 player. The only bad part is I only rode for a total of 45 minutes, even though I was on the road for maybe an hour and a half :)

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_3JeIqxz87yo/TASBPFVx6eI/AAAAAAAAArk/B1tDJKTlLZs/s800/IMG_3640.JPG

The end!

That is one hell of a hill :twitchy:. I think some would read your post and wonder what could be wrong with a person who would purposely climb a hill like that, and then proclaim "I'm going to do it again next weekend":thumb:

Posting pics allows all of us to ride together. Thanks

Granny Gear rules:thumb:

Wow, pretty nice. I guess we have to guess where its located!:D

Man, deer scare me on descents, I've heard and know of a few people hitting them on the way down!:eek:

Wow, pretty nice. I guess we have to guess where its located!:D

Man, deer scare me on descents, I've heard and know of a few people hitting them on the way down!:eek:

One of her pics says Oregon, so I am gonna go with............uhh?? Oregon?:p

Deer: We have a huge deer population around here. State Farm hates them. I have had them come screaming out of the bushes and almost run into me. Freaky and always scares the poop out me.

Mr. Beanz, I'll give you a hint! It's in Columbia County in NW Oregon :) I wasn't close enough to almost run into the deer, but I can see how that could happen. I think my music isn't loud enough to scare them away, especially considering how fast I was going. I was counting on the music to scare off the bears, but maybe that won't work...heh :(

jboyd, haha yeah, I sent photos to facebook while I was on a break, and the captions were "Why am I doing this to myself?" I hate riding up hills, so I want to beat them into submission. Also it was really, REALLY fun flying back down again! I love seeing photos of other people's rides so I'm glad if anyone likes mine, too. (PS: I wish I had a great-granny gear, but the gear was so low already that I couldn't spin fast enough to get my bike going. Darnit.)

One of her pics says Oregon, so I am gonna go with............uhh?? Oregon?:p

Deer: We have a huge deer population around here. State Farm hates them. I have had them come screaming out of the bushes and almost run into me. Freaky and always scares the poop out me.

Hahaha jeez. I've only seen maybe 15 of them while I've been riding, and usually they're off in a field somewhere. I hope none ever jump out in front of me! Are they aggressive at all? If you get them in the right season?

You mkae me homesick! Born and raised in PDX, and moved to Wood Village (mouth of the gorge) til '87 and then dumb me moved to OHIO due to the stupid 'spotted Owl' BS...

Haven't been to God's Country since '99 and miss it so!

Oh yeah, you gotta come back! It has been scalped in a few places (see above), but it is still so beautiful, especially as you get further from the bigger cities. I wouldn't live anywhere else! Although I wouldn't say no to long-term visitation in a few places (New Zealand, Colorado, SW Canada...I'm looking at you).

Also I was just getting updated on clown millipedes and learned that they are POISONOUS! They contain cyanide and smell like almonds(?!). Don't eat them!

Nice ride and good pictures. Well done. How many miles were you able to cover?

Thanks! Do you like to climb hills?

I think it was about 7 miles, unfortunately. I was raring to go on some easy riding after all that, but I had run out of time. Maybe tomorrow!

You mkae me homesick! Born and raised in PDX, and moved to Wood Village (mouth of the gorge) til '87 and then dumb me moved to OHIO due to the stupid 'spotted Owl' BS...

Haven't been to God's Country since '99 and miss it so!

I take it that you were in the timber industry? I currently am, and wish I weren't. The spotted owl is not the issue, but now that housing is slow, things are a little scary job wise. We are getting a week off next week. So I will use some of the time to get out and ride some more of this beautiful state. If you ever do make it out this way, I would love to put together another Clyde/ Athena ride for everybody.:)

I will hold you to that promise!! :)

I drove truck long-haul, pulling a flatbed out of Wilsonville - Sticks from the mills (many are closed now), didn't want to become a steel-hauler, so switched to vans running 48 states and moved to the middle...

Was a good choice in hind-sight, but I miss *home*! Best coast-line in the US, Mt Hood... on and on...

One of her pics says Oregon, so I am gonna go with............uhh?? Oregon?:p.

Dude, I don't read, I just look at the pictures!:D

Next time I'll Photoshop in some captions! :)

Nice, that hill looks uber steep!

Very nice. Congratulations.

Now invite Peter C. for a ride up that mountain. :-)