Washington Cascades bike tour, Day 2 Bridge of the Gods to Eagle Cliff

Read all the posts about this trip in backwards order (or better yet, start at the bottom and work up) here.

See that bridge? Not only is it windy, but instead of an actual road, it's a steel grate you can look through, straight down to the water far, far below. The grate is loose enough that I'm sure it was designed to grab a Shimano road bike cleat and hang on, just like a snare capturing a rabbit.

It's the Bridge of the Gods, which may be the coolest bridge name ever, and actually has a nifty story behind it (scroll down a bit.)

For us it's the start of the second day of riding from Portland, OR to Bellingham, WA on our two week Adventure Cycling trip. And though the bridge is a morning attention getter, it's beautiful and the speed limit is 5 mph so we felt comfortable taking up the whole lane as we pedaled and prayed our way across.

Our day had started with packing up our slightly wet tent and having a breakfast treat. Bob, fellow rider and coffee enthusiast, had gifted us with a just-roasted bag of Portland coffee from Spella, his favorite roaster. Using Adventure Cycling's large French Press we were in coffee heaven. Life can be good sometimes, even in the morning.

After the bridge, we hadn't gone a mile before the morning light was so wonderful we stopped several times just to look at the illuminated world and smile.



This ride took us uphill, and more uphill, with dramatic views of Mt. Saint Helens, an active volcano that blew it's top back in the 80s.



We also went over some stunningly high bridges we couldn't resist peering over. The lack of traffic made it safe, and looking straight down on very tall trees is really an experience. This one was creatively named "High Bridge."



On one short descent my front brake decided to not return to open properly. I had visions of a broken brake/shifter, far from anywhere. Not a great situation with lots of downhill coming up. But after futzing a while I realized it was in the caliper. I squirted some water on it and that seemed to knock out whatever grit was binding it. What a relief. I cleaned it up more at camp, and added a little oil and its been fine since. This was not our last mechanical issue this trip, but it was perhaps the easiest fix.

After about 35 miles and 3,600 feet of climbing we got our reward: A screaming 10 mile descent down baby-butt smooth roads with no cars at all, punctuated by only a glorious scenic overlook of the volcano, and later a sign warning us about that volcano. We wondered how fast we could pedal if we had to.



Our camp was near a store with beer, and had showers, so I was happy as I could be. It wasn't our night to cook, so even better. The campground may have been named Eagle Creek, or named Eagle Cliff. I'm even not sure they were sure. I think I saw it both ways. They seemed to be obsessed with Bigfoot, but we didn't see one.



We had a nice chat with a group of self-contained tourists riding from Colorado and later a couple of French cyclists who were so excited to see the Adventure Cycling van, because they were OH MY GOD (or the French version of the same) using Adventure cycling maps.

Later I noticed Heather and Greg pouring over the ride map and looking like they were working hard on something. Apparently the fires in Washington were right where we were supposed to be in a few days and they were concocting, unbeknownst to us, clever alternative surprises.



Bonus picture of my bike leaning against an old gas pump. It doesn't fit the story, but it's my blog, so here it is.





Read all the entries in backwards order (or better yet, start at the bottom and work up) here.

Washington Cascades bike tour, Day 1

Read the prologue to this trip here.
We met our fellow riders for Adventure Cycling's Washington Cascades van-supported tour on Saturday night. It turned out there were only 11 instead of 13 riders. Two had to cancel before the ride started. Tricia noted that the only other female rider was our friend Catherine, so she'd generally be "ridin' with the boys™" again. She was happy that our ride leader, Heather Anderson, is a woman, which at least brought the total to three.

I'd checked out Heather on the web and discovered she'd written a book, I Never Intended to be Brave, about her five months and over 5,000 miles of solo cycling across Southern Africa. I wondered what she'd think of an old guy on a carbon bike in racer lycra who needed a van to carry his stuff. I was throughly intimidated after reading her story and vowed to never let her hear me complain about the weather or the ride. But after meeting her and her co-leader Greg Edwards I felt like we'd be in good hands, and they both had the good graces not to laugh out loud at me — at least where I could hear them.

We'd been on one Adventure Cycling van tour and several fully supported tours before. The fully supported tours are grand. Your camping equipment is hauled for you, all the meals are provided by a full staff, and the roads are even marked. All you need to do is ride. The van tours differ in that they are smaller (13 instead of over 50,) and the cooking is shared. Every night a team of two is responsible for buying the food from shared funds, setting up the kitchen (camp stove on folding tables) cooking, cleanup and then the next morning setting out breakfast and lunch fixings, and finally cleaning and packing it all up. There are no road markings, just a map and a map meeting the night before. It's not self supported in that we don't carry our tents, bags and food on our bikes, and we have the Adventure Cycling leaders to fall back on if things go to pieces. Still, it feels more like an adventure than a carefully-controlled event.

With the meeting and orientation out of the way we woke up the next morning, packed the van with our tents, sleeping bags and such and headed out from the not-particularly beautiful industrial zone where our Super 8 motel was located. In 90 seconds we were on a wonderful bike path rolling along the river on our way to adventure. The ride was beautiful right from the start. We headed up the Oregon Gorge in search of coffee. Sure, we were semi-roughing it, but we weren't going without coffee. We were shocked that the small community of Troutdale had two coffee shops that weren't open that early. That's just wrong.  But eventually we found a coffee hut that fed our addictions. We also came across a dragon that, as "Mother of Dragons" and "Khaleesi of the Khalasar" Tricia demanded a photo of.

We stopped at the Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint and later the Vista House at Crown Point for some amazing views.




Then it got even more beautiful. The road was smooth, the car traffic light and there were frequent waterfalls to stop at and marvel over.

We rode the first day with our friends Bob and Catherine who know most of this route well and are just fun to hang with.



At one point our route took us off the road and onto a short bike path with a tunnel just the right length for pretty, but not so long and dark as to be worrisome.



Then it was back to hobbit land bike trails.



Close to the end of our ride for the day there are stairs. The good people of Oregon have designed them with tracks and groves  on the sides for bikes, which must be very nice for fully loaded touring bikes. Tricia just hoisted her little pony up and danced down them in road cleats.

We arrived at our camp site in the shadow (well, there would have been a shadow if there had been any sun) of the Bridge of the Gods. Our site had a very bike friendly brew pub and a beautiful setting. I can't tell you how happy I'd be to see a sign like the pub had in my own community.

Our sleeping area was between two sets of train tracks that, it turns out, get a lot of use during the middle of the night. We had some impressively loud sounds that managed to wake up even me, a world class sleeper.

We managed to set up or tent between rain showers and thunder and still had time to grab a tasty brew and attempt to watch the world cup final on an iPhone using the bar's slow-but-free wi-fi.  And, as if a planned special treat, the Thunder Island Brewing Company was showing a traveling photo exhibit of images made of the special  folk who stop in at the Adventure Cycling office in Missoula Montana on their cross country bike trips.

The shared cooking thing worked out well the first night, and Heather surprised Tricia with a birthday cupcake.





Read the prologue to this trip here.
Read all the entries in backwards order (or better yet, start at the bottom and work up) here.

Washington Cascades bike tour, prologue

We went on a two-week bicycle ride, Adventure Cycling's Washington Cascades van-supported tour, but first we had to get there. That involves way too much planning, staying in motels and my least favorite part — driving. But none the less, with our bikes on the roof and a custom road tune playlist blasting through the bluetooth, we launched toward Portland and our ride start.

When we can we try to stay at a Best Western. I could say it's because they're clean and a reasonable value, but really it's because of the Richard Shindell song "Next Best Western" from his "Reunion Hill" CD which we both love.

I also had more fun than I should have making corny jokes about the rest area sign in Weed, CA.

We eventually arrived at the ride start a day early which gave us a chance to explore the bicycle Mecca of Portland. It ain't like here.

From the many well-signed bike paths to the bike-friendly airport and (gasp) on street bike parking, we were in bicycle wonderland. And if the bicycle parts weren't awesome enough the place is so totally Portlandia quirky it was unreal.



They even have blackberries growing right on the bike path for our nourishment. And they are really good.



We were exploring downtown and came upon a long long line. I thought it might be for a show of some sort, but no, it's the normal out-the-door line at Voodoo Doughnuts. Apparently its a Portland institution. We saw people at the airport heading out with multiple boxes.



And if that isn't enough, there's a whisky library. Really. The Multnomah Whisk(e)y Library. It looks like a library, with large tables and bankers lights, but the sky high shelves are stocked with whisky, whisky and more whisky. I had one of the best deep dark smokey single malts I've ever had.



But wait, there's more. The biggest bookstore I've ever seen, Powells, covers a city block on multiple floors. Their cycling book section alone fills multiple long shelves. They even have another store for tech books. Tricia and I had to drag each other out.



We had a day until our official ride, so we went out on our own past the airport on a delightful trail along the water. This city is just wonderful.



And that's just before our ride started. In my rich fantasy life I will post all our days of summer bicycling delight, a day at a time. We'll see.

Ripped and shredded tire on the road. Tip o' the day

You don't want this to happen to you. Tricia didn't either. Her tire had less than 150 miles on it, but sometimes you hit a sharp rock or a piece of glass and your new tire just gets sliced. Then of course, the tube pushes through and dramatically explodes. It isn't pretty.

Then what do you do?

Here's the tip part: Carry Park Tool TB-2 Emergency Tire Boots. These little thick plastic stickers go inside and keep the tube from pushing through. You still get a bump, but it beats sitting on the roadside. Sure, a dollar bill or Cliff Bar wrapper might work, but these Park things are the perfect size, they are thick enough to hold up better, and the sticky side helps keep them in place. I've used bills and wrappers in the past and had the tube push them out of the rip to the point the tube ripped again. That doesn't happen with these stickers.

We had to make use of two of these little suckers during our two-week tour and we were ever so glad to have them. If you ride roads out of cell range, or far from high use roads  (think Calaveras Road) you need these in your seat bag. Really.

Totally completely positively 100% all white Maxis Re-Fuse tires

I had black tires. Then I got a set of nice Schwalbe Ultremo tires with a subtle ivory stripe. They were swell tires, but when Michelin came out with white wall Service Course 4 tires I couldn't resist.

Then I saw these totally white Maxis Re-Fuse tires, on sale no less. I couldn't pass them up. I still use the Michelins on my Power-Tap wheels, but I think these look swell on my Roval Fusée wheels with their several ornamental white spokes.

A responsible person might ask if white tires are a good idea, and if they'll stay white. That person wouldn't be me. I have a black saddle and black bar tape. That's as sensible as I'm willing to be.  But if an excuse is required, I'm going with this: I'm a really white guy, and all the white on the bike makes me look more tan. Yeah, that's it, more tan. And I'm pretty sure these tires will stay white for at least 50 yards or so.

Bohlman-On Orbit, Black Road, China Grade death march

There was dirt too. Photo by Steve

Executive summary: 63 miles, 7800 feet of climbing.

I'd heard of Bohlman-On Orbit ride for years and wondered what it meant. Is there some guy named Bohlman who was once on orbit, or do we ride loops — orbit — something? Perhaps it's so hard you need to be like, way out, man, really in orbit to ride there? Nope, it turns out it's the name of a street in an area where streets all have space-age names.

It also turns out to be crazy steep. As in the longest crazy steep climb I've ever done. And that was only the the first climb of the day. But at least all the climbing gave us an opportunity to descend down a steep loose gravel  trail. By opportunity I mean #&!%@*&?%@. That was followed by a highly technical switchback descent which was also (word of the day) steep. Steep enough I worried about overheating my rims.

Yes, those are 20% grades in spots.

Our friend and über-guide route planner Lanceoldstrong messaged me to say he wanted to do a long ride Sunday. Of course Tricia and I said yes, and joined him and Steve to drive to this crazy route.

Steve had to show off his BMX skills.

I can't believe actual people ride this more than once. There aren't many photos because I spent most of my energy just trying to not fall over and stay alive. That, and keep up with Tricia who, though she kept saying it was hard and she was tired, keep pounding away at a level that made it hard (and often impossible) to keep up with her. Even though she had a strong day riding, she seems most happy with the thumbs-up from a motorcyclist on one of the huge climbs.

Dan may have seen a hobbit.

The ride through the redwoods was stunning, and wonderfully cool. It was great not to have to climb in the hot sun; the trees provided so much shelter despite the hot day it was almost chilly at times. Before the China Grade climb (pro tip: roads with "grade" in their name are often really steep) we stopped to regroup and talked to a guy who was waiting for someone. It was like the state had stationed a tour guide there for us. He gave us park info, climb info and kept telling us how beautiful the climb would be and how much we'd enjoy it.

We did, but is sure was relentless. We kept thinking we must be almost to the top. At one point as we rounded yet another switchback I heard Tricia loudly yell "Really?" as if chiding the mountain would make our summit come sooner. It didn't.

The whole time we were riding I was thinking WTF Oldstrong? But it's amazing how quickly one can forget suffering. Already I'm thinking "Well, that was a nice ride" even as I vaguely remember being at death's door.

Strava motivation

Here's the deal: Strava, (and if you don't know what Strava is I have no idea why you are reading this) the online service that let's us all track our rides and compete for the best time on "segments" also posts "challenges."

I will  never get a KOM (King of the Mountain) on any Strava segment that other riders know about. I'm just too slow, and there are too many riders much faster than I am in the area. I'm pretty much resigned with that. I use Strava to track my own rides and see what my cycling friends are up to.

But this challenge thing? It's hard to resist., and I don't know why. All you get is some pixels on your Strava page. Yet there I was yesterday, very much aware that I was going to complete their "48 hours of riding between June 5 and June 28" Challenge. Heck, I went out of my way to make sure I had a long ride in to make the "Gran Fondo 6" challenge wherein I had to ride 130 km in a single ride. I even had to google the conversion to find out how many miles that was. It's about 81 for you fellow metric-challenged folks.

If that isn't enough, Strava is willing to sell me a jersey for some completed challenges. Yes, a special jersey available only to achievers. I have until July 3 to decided if I want to smack down $103 for this orange jersey. I'm glad it isn't a color I like a lot, because, embarrassingly enough, I'm almost silly enough to do it. There is unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, no jersey for the "Battle of June"

These little badges appear only on my Strava profile page — a page that no one will ever bother to look at who isn't me — and yet there they are.

I am so predictable. I am Pavlov's dog.

Ride Every Road: It's now a "thing" #RER

This is the kind of RER GPS track you get in the burbs

Tricia has always enjoyed adding a few highly randomized, explore-the-neighborhood rides to our cycling outings. We'd done so many goofball routes that I started wondering what it would be like to ride every road in the city of Antioch, where we live.

Little did I realize that it was becoming a "thing." But then I saw a post on Richard Masoner's cyclelicious where he wrote about other folks with the same goal in their cities.  and realized I hadn't had a unique idea at all. But it did give us a bit of impetus to actually see if we could do it.

We aren't killing ourselves to do this, and we have no serious plan. We don't even have a time frame to completion. Mostly we try to "pick off" a few subdivisions when we're out on a ride.

Already we've noticed a lot in our silly attempt. I'll write about sociology, urban planning,  litter, landscaping, architecture and automobiles later. For now I'll stick with a few bike riding observations.

This is harder cycling than it looks like it would be. There's no rhythm to be had. Instead, it's endless turns after short distances. And courts. Oh my dizzy head there are courts. Zillions. And we're trying to hit every one. The constant slowing for a tight semi-circle followed by getting back up to speed is a lot more tiring than just maintaining a constant pace. And of course, drafting is out of the question.

On the North side of the city the streets are in a very tidy grid. We haven't started them yet, but I expect the experience to be quite different from the clever-yet-annoying loops and swirls on the south side. Sometimes we think we've hit every street, only to Strava the ride and discover that, nope, we missed something.

The other part of this that's hard is the documentation. Strava and my Ascent for Mac program show routes on a map for each ride, but don't show every ride. Strava has a "heat map" feature, but it's to show where you ride a lot. Roads ridden only once are hard to see. I'd love to take all my GPS files, combine them and have my tracks show up on a map. I tried to in Ascent, but after many hours of churning, trying to combine 18 months of files, my poor Mac just choked.

If you, gentle reader, have any idea how I might accomplish my GPS mapping goal, please let me know!

I can hardly see the light blue lines. I want more drama!

Delta De Anza Trail: Good news?

This section of cracked pavement may soon be really swell

VIA the City of Antioch Environmental Resources Facebook page I learned that the weekly City Manager's report contained the following short sentence.

Delta De Anza Trail repairs (Viera Ranch Subdivision 7220, between Ridgeline Drive and Neroly Rd.) – Construction is scheduled to begin June 9th and to be completed August 8th.

Does this mean that at long last there will be a connector trail to Oakley so I don't have to risk my life on Lone Tree? That would be great.

I, as always, am a bit skeptical. I rode by there and there is some work going on, but it isn't on the trail itself, it's next to the trail. They are building a wall to keep dirt from washing where they don't want it. I didn't see any work being done on the trail itself.

Currently there is a trail there, but it's gated off and in ill repair. I've heard various tales about why it was never open for use; everything from the developers who constructed it didn't meet East Bay Parks specs to the Water District somehow torpedoing it.

But if it does actually get built and opened, it will be so extra very cool.

Here's the East Bay Park's page on the tail, with a pretty good map, and a screen shot from the area where the trail is being repaired (marked proposed here.)

No sports at sports bar #bitter

Sad Tricia needs food. No luck at Tailgators. 

Maybe I'm just spoiled. When I ride my bike to Antioch's Okawa Japanese restaurant for sushi they graciously stash my bicycle in the back. When Tricia and I go to Antioch's Cocina Medina we park our bikes next to us on their patio. So when we thought "Beer, burgers and World Cup soccer on a patio at a sports bar" after our bike ride we figured we'd roll into Antioch's Tailgators and get similar treatment. After all, it is Tailgators Sports Bar. Surely paying customers with sports equipment would be welcome.

Apparently not so much. When we entered the front door we were shouted at by the distant bartender not to bring our bikes in;  that we could leave them in the bike rack (far away from the door, near the dumpster, in a perfect bike-theft zone.) We said we just wanted to leave them on their patio — the patio with not a single person was using.  Nope. No deal.

This, in a near-empty restaurant in a location that's failed several times before, can't be the best way to gain customers. At least it didn't work for us.

Tricia and I believe in local dining. We avoid chains and try to eat where we'll see the same staff and deal with owners that have actual names. Partly because we support local businesses, and partly because we think we get better food and service from real people and not faceless corporations.

We'd been to Tailgators twice before. They have a good beer list, the food is fine for pub/sports bar fare, and the wait staff was commendable. Heck, the staff was the main reason for our return visit.

But sorry excellent wait staff, no tips for you today.

We instead rode over to the lovely and delightful Cocina Medina, parked our bikes on the patio, enjoyed lunch (and a margarita!) and had a fine time.

Tailgators, we won't trouble you again.

I really want to park my bike here.

UPDATE:
I got an email from a member of the local bicycle club:

Well, I did go by and the Gator did smile!
This seems to be the story:

The bike rack by the dumpster is largely used by the employees that ride to work.

There is a back gate (another CA secret path and secret menu thing) to the patio that is reached by a path around the back. The back gate is locked for security, but it will be opened and people with bikes will be helped to get around. It will not be locked back right away since they trust people with bikes (did not understand that part)
The manager I spoke to was surprised this was not offered and will make sure that all the greeters know. If they do not (or cannot be bothered) just ask for a manager.

Dogs (except service dogs) are not permitted on the patio and bikes in the restaurant are not permitted (even $5000 carbon fiber bikes) due to CA Health Code which currently does not make an exception.

The front patio will shortly have a low iron fence and chairs and tables and the bikes can be placed there and secured if you sit on that new future patio. (Apparently they need more quiet space for those of us who cannot hear or just want to talk to our wives or girlfriends).

It worked out OK, I hope. BTW - The number is 925.754.2277 and you can call ahead to order food so it will be ready when you get there - if you like to eat and run.

The Fixer, Bill Y

Marsh Creek Trail closed WTF?

Tricia and I were surprised on our ride this week to discover the Marsh Creek Trail closed. If you get on at Big Break Marina in Oakley you can ride as far as the bridge over the canal, but that’s it. Not only is it closed, but it will be closed all summer, until October. This is a highly used path that connects Antioch to Brentwood. It helps cyclists avoid some very sketchy high traffic roads. It also serves families on walks and nature observers enjoying the delta wetlands. I guess were just supposed to ride down Highway 4.

Of course, there were no detour signs, temporary bypasses, marked useable detours,  or any of the things that you’d normally find for autos. Not that I’m bitter…

I called the Contra Costa water District office number listed on the closure sign — 925 688 8010 — to register my disappointment. While the man on the phone was nice enough, he basically said "Yep. That's the way it is." I'd like to encourage you to call as well. Perhaps it won't fix this issue, but it will send a message that this is unacceptable.

Anniversary ride to the Diablo summit

Fifteen years ago, on July 12, Tricia and I were married.  Today we celebrated with a bike ride up to the Mt. Diablo summit. We started in a huge wind that was mostly in our faces and we wondered if we'd end up bailing out at the junction. But as we rode the wind let up, and the day became pleasantly warm.

We must have seen 40–50 cyclists, and only a dozen cars. Maybe the state park should rededicate the pavement to cycling, and then see if they can find funding for some very small, limited access automobile paths.  Or have limited automobile use hours, or days, or both. Just a thought...

Schwalbe Marathon Plus mounting and review

I live in the land of broken glass and stickers, so I've become pretty darn proficient at changing (and patching) bike tubes. I can get most road tires mounted without even using tools. I've done it in the dark, and in the rain. Not to say I love it, or I'm the best, but I know what I'm doing. At least I thought I did.



After my last tire wore out I did some research and decided to try a 700c 28mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus for my commuter bike. It's the darling of commuters and tourists because it is, apparently, bullet-proof and lasts almost forever. At over $50 (discounted!) it isn't cheap, but if it lasts as long as its fans claim, it will be a cost savings in the long run. I'd used their Marathon Racer and Marathon Green Guard (they cost less) and been satisfied. I figured I'd step up to the Plus as not flatting on my commutes would be really really nice.

I'd read that they were hard to mount. Heck, just click this. Google has a lot of hits for mounting. But, as I said, I'm really good.

Ha.

I tried using no tools. No luck. I couldn't even get it started. I tried using one, then two, then three levers, but couldn't get it going. I'd think I had, but it would just pop off the other side.

I was eventually inspired by this video. (I might have realized there could be issues when there's a YouTube video, but there are YouTube videos on boiling water...)



Living in 2014, I had no extra toe straps hanging about to use as the video suggests. But I did have some serious Velcro waiting for a useful purpose. And that's what it took.



Using three levers, and tying down the tire with several velcro strips ever time I got another inch settled in the right spot I was eventually able to get the blasted thing mounted.



It's all good now. But what will I do if I hit the biggest thorn ever? How will I repair it on the road? Should I carry three levers and a bunch of velcro strips? I'll need a bigger seat bag...

If you have any hints about mounting this tire, let me know. And seriously, don't think you could do it easily if you haven't actually tried.

Democracy by bicycle

Tricia has been riding to vote for along enough she has quite a collection of stickers — there are a lot more than you see here.  I love the Spanish one, I just wish we could get them in every language they make them in. Viva Democracy!