a fabulous bike move (and PDX100)
sunday was a duo-cyclical romp through the ins and outs of portlandia. to begin, we had the first ever portland century bike ride. folks could pedal their way to the 40, 60, or 100 mile mark, depending on their ambition and pain tolerance. i chose the 60-miler, which i term the "metric century" because it makes me sound slightly less wimpy. i didn't feel less wimpy, mind, but in repeating the phrase every half hour or so, i hope that history will treat me kindly. . . or overlook me completely, which seems slightly more likely (and i have only you to thank, my glorious two readers, for some passing notice. grateful and more grateful).
i rode for most of the way with Fillard Rhyne, who had the perfect bike and the perfect hair for the occasion. i felt as though the two of us were a peculiar sight, as neither of us were sporting spandex for the event. Fillard, if you don't know him yet, is a rather tall fellow with what could only be described as rich tresses, which was lucky for me since it was easy to spot him in a crowd. we set out from PSU a little before 9am after having wrestled with the other registrants. there were about 3 times as many participants as they were expecting, and the limited resources (water, gatorade, snacks, etc.) were an often sought and rarely found commodity, but i imagine such is to be expected on the first ride of its kind. i heard later that one of the big reasons for the massive over-registration was that many more people registered at bike shops than had been expected, and those forms didn't get to HQ until a few days before the event. next year will assuredly be more luxurious, but it was great to be among the pioneers of the pdx 100!
i got back to the finish line about 3pm and wound my way to the office to pick up my brand spankin' new bike trailer in time to help my friend my friend move her apartment. there were about 12 of us (?) with trailers and panniers and joy in our heart to be invited for the great Stuff on Bikes parade. our new little trailer (who does not have a name yet, but we are considering "Pluck" or "Minerva") had a big first week with a BTA bike move followed by delivering hot water for breakfast on the bridges with Elly's move as dessert! every one of the movers demonstrated awe-inspiring prowess at bungee-cording, stacking and scrunching every worldly possession she owns onto a team of eager bikes. the trip was incredibly short and followed by a long stretch of multi-course delicious concoctions created by Meisterkoch John.
at the end of the evening i was a tired, tired bicyclettist and endured a rather bad movie just because it meant sitting for 2 uninterrupted hours in air conditioning. sometimes even when the movie's terrible one is able to stay for comfort.
i rode for most of the way with Fillard Rhyne, who had the perfect bike and the perfect hair for the occasion. i felt as though the two of us were a peculiar sight, as neither of us were sporting spandex for the event. Fillard, if you don't know him yet, is a rather tall fellow with what could only be described as rich tresses, which was lucky for me since it was easy to spot him in a crowd. we set out from PSU a little before 9am after having wrestled with the other registrants. there were about 3 times as many participants as they were expecting, and the limited resources (water, gatorade, snacks, etc.) were an often sought and rarely found commodity, but i imagine such is to be expected on the first ride of its kind. i heard later that one of the big reasons for the massive over-registration was that many more people registered at bike shops than had been expected, and those forms didn't get to HQ until a few days before the event. next year will assuredly be more luxurious, but it was great to be among the pioneers of the pdx 100!
i got back to the finish line about 3pm and wound my way to the office to pick up my brand spankin' new bike trailer in time to help my friend my friend move her apartment. there were about 12 of us (?) with trailers and panniers and joy in our heart to be invited for the great Stuff on Bikes parade. our new little trailer (who does not have a name yet, but we are considering "Pluck" or "Minerva") had a big first week with a BTA bike move followed by delivering hot water for breakfast on the bridges with Elly's move as dessert! every one of the movers demonstrated awe-inspiring prowess at bungee-cording, stacking and scrunching every worldly possession she owns onto a team of eager bikes. the trip was incredibly short and followed by a long stretch of multi-course delicious concoctions created by Meisterkoch John.
at the end of the evening i was a tired, tired bicyclettist and endured a rather bad movie just because it meant sitting for 2 uninterrupted hours in air conditioning. sometimes even when the movie's terrible one is able to stay for comfort.
