January Saturdays

[Duane n Oregon]

When you live in (basically) Portland, Oregon, and are a pretty fair-weather rider, you don't get a lot of opportunities to ride from November through February. But, with a little patience, flexibility, and effort, it is possible to get out.

 

Last January, my riding friend and I were able to get out for short rides 4 out of the 5 weekends in January. On one of those rides we learned an important thing about cold-weather riding in the area. We decided that if it got above 40 and was dry, we'd brave it for a ride. With the right gear and the heated grips and wind protection the RT provides, it would be fairly comfortable. Well, we rounded some curves and I felt like a slid a bit on a particular right turn. When we came up to the next stop sign, I asked if he'd experienced anything. He said he felt himself slide also! We decided that if it only reached about 40, some curves that were shaded all day by hills could be slick even though the temperatures seemed to make that unlikely.

 

So, fast forward to 2010. We didn't ride in December, but decided to try to match our "record" from 2009. So far we have done so by taking rides 3 of 4 weekends. We've been picky about when to go, but have been able to find a 2-hour window with dry weather and temps at least 45 degrees. (Based on lessons learned!)

 

Not much of a ride tale yet, I know. Let this just be a celebration of even finding a simple opportunity to get out on two wheels this time of year. We checked the weather Friday night and discovered it was supposed to be 48 and sunny Saturday afternoon, but rainy all day Sunday. We picked Saturday! :-)

 

We pulled out around three Saturday afternoon after each of us had kids' basketball games to cheer for and got some things done around the house. I put sunglasses on for the first time in a while, turned my heated grips on low, and hit the road.

 

The first 20 miles were on the freeway to get to the fun. We started out on the Historic Columbia River Highway and headed toward the Vista House. The Vista House sits high above the Columbia River and provided great views of the gorge to the east and the west. The slow curves on the way there were fun, but are even more enjoyable when dry!

 

We continued south along a fun road filled with various summer camp and lots of curves. Generally, we had a hillside on our left and a pretty valley down to a river on the right. It was a very nice January day, but still many corners were cloaked with dampness. The occasional dry curves were the highlights of the day!

 

We continued riding unpopulated back roads for several more miles, experiencing some for the first time. As we entered back into civilization, our first stop is BORING, OR. Yup, no lie! The name of the town is BORING. We are used to it around here, but sometimes it still cracks me up!

 

We pulled in to our respective garages about 2 hours later. The ride wasn't spectacular, but still it felt worthy of a smile that we are most of the way to reaching our goal to ride in January. Those of you in cooler climates understand.

[Woodie]

GRIN!

[johnlt]

Well Duane, you know the BMWST saying: no pics, it didn't happen

[Bruce H]

Duane, ride over to the beach. I'll bring the camera.

[Duane n Oregon]

Bruce, I want you to know that your brief reports of riding this time of year, in spite of the weather, were what got me out this winter!

[krussell]

I snuck out that way yesterday afternoon. I headed out of Portland on SR-14 down to Cascade Locks, and back via Marine Drive, St. Johns Bridge, Germantown and Skyline. The sun was setting as a I passed Crown Point, I was without camera unfortunately. It poured for about 15 minutes as I was passing the airport, then just drizzle. A really great ride though. It was really quiet in the Gorge. It's always surreal when you ride through there and the river is mirror calm.

 

Normally I would have stopped at Grant's Cheesesteak for dinner, but my new years resolution remained intact!