Mt. Margaret

Maggie does not disappoint.

This ride has...

Lots of wildflowers....

Lots of elk...

Roosevelt Elk. Named for Theodore Roosevelt.

Lots of scenery and challenging riding...

Chris circumvents St. Helen's Lake

Coming up on a snow field

St. Helen's Lake. You can still see blowdown from the 1980 eruption. (Those sticks in the lake are trees).  Mt. Adams in the background.

Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake in the distance; Chris in foreground.
Old timer Harry Truman lived at Spirit Lake and refused to evacuate.
He and his cabin were consumed by the lava flow.

And lots of snow!

These pictures were taken July 21 at only 5000 ft. The rest of the country is having a heat wave. Crops are dying. The price of corn chips and Coca-Cola are skyrocketing. But here in the Northwest we still haven't had a 90 degree day and there is snow at 5000ft.

It's very difficult riding a bike through the snow. But it was still a great day out. This trail really stands out as one of the best. Very scenic, wild, rough around the edges, seldom used. I've seen more elk and toads than people. In the fall, more wild blueberries than you could eat.


More fun than sitting at my job. Can't you tell?

Chris, not at work

Bring It On

I'm about as ready as I'll ever be for the FA. I've settled into a weekly routine of one after-work evening ride from Skyline/Old Germantown to Dixie Mountain with 2,200 feet of climbing, and my new Saturday ride at Larch Mountain with 3,200 feet. Each ride is only about 28 miles round trip. Just the way I like it, no excessive distance, just give me my elevation. It's worked out well. As of today I have more elevation in July (25,035 ft) than any other month this year, including our big climbing month in May in California (24,050 ft). My evening ride will need to be modified soon because I don't get back to the car until nearly 8:45 p.m. and now that we're losing our evening light (Chris has begun to announce our 'minutes lost' on practically a daily basis, accompanied by much sighing; if only we had a bell to toll it would be perfect) it's a little too dark to be on the road at that time. For all of about two weeks I'd added a third, much shorter ride, but really didn't have the enthusiasm for it and I wasn't convinced the extra ride was going to matter much in the long run. So I dropped it. After all, who am I, Bradley Wiggins? At this point my goal is not to 'get in shape' but to maintain whatever shape I'm now in. So August will be all about maintaining what I've gained. 

I'm not as skilled as Chris at taking self-portraits. Here's one of my feeble attempts. Conclusion of today's ride up Larch Mountain. Yes, I nailed it again.

Another Larch Mountain in the Bag

Chris rode his mountain bike at Mt. Margaret (near Mt. Saint Helens) last weekend and promises a guest post soon, with some great pictures. 

Until then, all is going purrrrrrfectly.

Smuge Pot

Weekends

Many weekends have been dedicated to painting the bathroom. It took longer than anticipated because much time was wasted on bad color choices. The first color was white with just the slightest hint of light blue. So I thought. After spending one early afternoon painting a couple of walls, I returned that evening to admire my work. OMG! At night under the glare of the ceiling light the walls took on the most hideous, sickly green/blue that I'd ever seen (or, at least, that I'd ever seen up close, in our house). I don't remember what Benjamin Moore called this color: Ice or Clouds or Dream or something like that. I renamed it Psychiatric Ward Blue. I said to Chris, 'Who would ever use a color like this?!" The next week I found out. At the allergist, waiting for the doctor in one of those tiny windowless rooms, there it was on the walls. Pysch Ward Blue. Or, at least, it's weaker but still ugly cousin. Ugh.

The next choice was not offensive in the least, but was almost a dead-on match to the existing wall color. Funny, it didn't look like that on that little paper chip at the paint store. Third choice was the charm. Ahhhh.... Peaceful White. That was the ticket.

Smudge helps me paint

Smudge on her favorite perch; might be time to get her nails clipped. Ow!

I've been wanting to ride longer climbs in preparation for the French Alps. Yesterday I drove to the base of Larch Mountain Road. Larch Mountain is about 20 minutes down the highway from Portland, in the Columbia River Gorge. I've never ridden Larch Mountain before. There are no views. The road is entirely ensconced in trees (or, the occasional clearcut field). But it's a nice ride and a good workout. 14.5 miles, 3,200 feet of climbing. Oh, then a great, long downhill. It was overcast most of the ride up but sunny all the way down.

Proof that I made it.

Back at car, at Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint.  View of Columbia River Gorge with Vista House in the distance. Very hazy.

Junuary

I would never have gotten out of the car if it weren’t for our upcoming trip to French Alps (FA) and, more immediately, the need for another 2,800 feet of climbing. Given the rain I don’t think FA would have been enough by itself. The trip is still too far off to trigger a sense impending doom. I can still be lax in my training and pretend it ain’t gonna happen. But it was June 30^th, the last day of the month and the last day to reach my goal of 100,000 feet of climbing by mid-year. So I sat in the car for 20 minutes and watched the rain and watched the occasional cyclist go by, searching their faces for some sign that it really wasn’t too bad out there. I phoned Weather Central (aka Chris) to have him check the online weather radar so he could tell me which way the rain was heading and how long it might take to blow through, but our normally reliable radar was down for maintenance. On the plus side, the temperature was around 70 degrees. On the other hand, when you ride a bike in the rain you get a whole lot wetter than when you are just walking in the rain. So I was going to get really wet, but I probably wouldn’t go hypothermic. When the rain let up just enough that I felt I was going to be a real weeny if I didn’t get out of the car I put my stuff on and headed off. Such is the power of “the goal.” It makes you do things you’d never normally do. It rained steadily the first few miles and I got pretty wet. Then I turned a corner and conditions changed completely. Still overcast, but not a drop of water anywhere. Not on the road, not in the sky. This is the beauty of the West Hills. Bad weather can be very localized. Many days that look awful can be decent riding depending on where you are. Anyway, I lucked out, and was dry most of my ride. I went through another soaker about 15 miles in, but rode out of it quickly and my cycling clothes dried nicely. I got my climbing in that day, eeking past the 100,000 foot mark by a few hundred feet. Boo-yah!

 Birthday? No. Anniversary? No. 100,000 feet of climbing in 6 months.
(Notice I am still wearing a fleece coat inside the house on June 30th)

And with that, our year-to-date stats through June:

But Who's Counting, We're Just In It for the Scenery

ELLEN YEAR-TO-DATE, ENDING JUNE 2012

YEAR-TO-DATE
Distance	1,106 mi
Time	94 hours
Elev Gain	100,887 ft
Rides	44

CHRIS YEAR-TO-DATE, ENDING JUNE 2012

YEAR-TO-DATE
Distance	2,791 mi
Time	205 hours
Elev Gain	307,264 ft
Rides	88

Portland natives often refer to June as Junuary (June + January… get it?) which makes Chris and I crazy. The neighbors say it. The coworkers say it. The idiot TV anchors say it. Portlanders also like to use the phrase a lot, That’s why it’s so green here, which also sends us into a frenzy. June 2012 has officially gone into the books as the second rainiest June on record. I knew this June sucked, but wasn’t sure how much. It came in behind June 2010, the wettest June on record, which also sucked. I don’t know where June 2011 falls in the scheme of wet Junes, but that June sucked too. Three bad Junes in a row. I don’t remember Junes prior to 2010. I think the trauma of the last three Junes wiped out my memory bank. I wonder if it’s possible to get social security disability for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by rain.

In June, the only clue that it's summer is that flowers are blooming.

Needless to say, my plans to ride the Tour de Blast Century on June 23 and the Mt. Adams Century on June 30th were both rained out. A ride report from someone who did venture out for the Blast ride described it this way: "Light drizzle and about 48 degrees starting conditions...The rain is starting to increase... ice pellets start mixing with the steady rain… It's a solid rain/ice mix... temp reading: 37 degrees. ....ride monitors invoke "course emergency plan", which is a weather contingency plan. Essentially, all available vehicles were sent up the course to start pulling riders off the mountain who wanted transport back to base."  Yeah. That sounds like fun.

There is one more proverb Portlanders like to spout: Summer doesn't start until after the 4th of July. And, so, right on cue, I bring you summer in the Northwest:

July 4, 2012
Mt. Saint Helens
Viewpoint on the ride to Johnston Ridge Visitor Center

  

Mt. Saint Helens

Lots of climbing behind us, lots of climbing in front of us. 

We made it. Johnston Ridge Visitor Center. Mt. Saint Helens 5 miles distant. 

Summer mob, Johnston Ridge

 
Mt. Saint Helen stats:
Ellen: 51 miles, 5,672 feet of climbing
Chris. 55 miles, 6,260 feet of climbing

Because summer's here, and that's how we roll!