Rides

Short week. Better weather

Short ride with lots of climbing. Cloudy and cool.

Back to winter. Rain everyday except Friday. Sunny but windy Friday afternoon.

Overnight camping trip on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway.

Another week of good weather. One ride to Philomath and a few around town

I needed a long hard ride to get ready for the MLC. This one is the closest thing we have around here. First up Mary's Peak which is hard enough by itself. I'm convinced now that most of it is steeper than Mt. Ashland, or it could just be the extra weight I'm carrying. It was a hot day, but much cooler in the woods. It's 9 miles from the base of Mary's Peak road, which is the summit of the coast range so I'd already been climbing quite a bit.
After Mary's peak it's down to Alsea, and then up the South Fork of the Alsea to the falls. It's also 9 mile from the start of this road to Alsea Falls, but most of this is gentle uphill, following the river. After the falls it is another 4 miles of slightly steeper climbing to the summit, and then 5 miles mostly down to the community of Alpine (at 316 feet). Then its the roller coaster which is Bellfountain road, always a killer after a long ride.
On the way down from the falls I ran into a young couple resting by the side of the road. They were heading up with loaded bikes to camp. The road is much steeper coming up from the valley.

Finally a week of good weather. 3 longer after work rides, 2 to Philomath. Taking a longer route some mornings as well.

Not quite warm enough or too warm with my wind breaker. Lazy ride with the trucker2 partly loaded. No problem on the hills as long as I'm not in a hurry.

Still winter like most days. Getting in a few extra miles but not many. Enjoying riding the new Trucker.

Out through Philomath and Wren. Cloudy but warm, with the sun peeking through. Took the road bike to see how it felt after a week on the Trucker. Fist thing I noticed is how much harder you have to squeeze the brakes without disk brakes. Started out kind of slow but picked up as I went. Didn't take Maxwell Cr. Rd. but instead went on to Peede. After crossing the Luckiamute in Kings Valley the road starts to climb again. Several climbs and fast downhills. After Pedee you take Maple Grove Rd. At this point it's only 14 miles from Monmouth. Maple Grove road also has a good climb but after 7 miles hits Airlee Rd. Across 99 to Suver Rd to Corvallis Rd. I missed the turn of to Buena Vista so just headed in on Independence Rd. Did an extra loop through Crescent Valley to get the miles.

Tried out the Trucker2 with a load. Loaded up with books at the Library, lot;s of weight. Rode fine, just like I expected.

Truckin' to work. Got colder each day. Back to Winter now.
Linda started ridding in with me a couple of times a week.

Gave trucker 2 a good shake down ride today. I wanted to see what the route was like on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway going north from Albany. Getting through Albany was a pain and between Albany and Jefferson the route crossed several very busy roads. Then once your on Scravel Hill road there are some hills and nicer country. Coming into Jefferson you cross the Santiam River. North of Jefferson everything quiets down and the riding gets mellow. Then, after the Buena Vista ferry the road starts climbing Anekey Hill for some nice ups and downs before getting back on the flat before the bridge to Independence. Came back on Buena Vista road and Independence hwy.
It got quite hot today. Beautiful but a little much for April.

A new bike and a summer like day. Took Riverside to Albany then back on Springhill, Scenic, Palestine, and Indendence. Then back to the bike shop for some adjustments.

Rain on Monday AM, then nice. Warmer and mostly dry the rest of the week.

Up over Sulphur Spriings and down Soap Creek. Across on Sprighill and back on Riverside. Warm and sunny. Got down to just a short sleeve jersey. Nice.

Finally some nice weather. No rain gear this week. It did rain, but not during commute times. After work I was test riding possible trucker replacements at the local bike shops. Found one I really like.

40 years ago I lived 10 miles up the Yachats River, so I was pretty excited to have a chance to ride there. I was cool and quite windy at the beach so I didn't know what to expect but the wind was offshore so if it kept up at lest it would be at my back on the way in. Turned out to be much warmed as soon as I got a couple miles in from the coast, which was exactly how I remembered it. Nothing much had changed in 40 years and the valley was just as idyllic as I remembered it. Almost jungle like in its lushness, it's both green and rugged. Had I stayed I would have had to become a hearty woodsman just to survive.

Birthday ride plus 4. Nice and sunny to start. Clouded over about half way but still nice

Rain finally let up on Friday. Getting tired of the rain gear routine.

It stopped raining and by early afternoon the sun was peaking through. Went in to town to test ride a LHT.

Rain, rain, rain. The wettest week of commuting since I got to Corvallis.

After a week a DrupalCon Denver it was really good to get back on the bike. Forecast was for showers but it turned out to be mostly sunny. Took Fern road out of Philomath to Decker Rd., then Bellfountain to Alpine. From Monroe I tried to find a way though town to get to Old River Road but could not. Had to head North out of town to Stowe Pitt road to get to Old River Road. A few miles on the highway and then Smith Loop. By now the wind was fierce out of the west which made riding on the highway a bit tricky.
Lat 2 rides I have had no plan when I rode off and ended up with exactly 60 miles both times.

Pulled the kid trailer into town. Left Linda and JJ at the park next to the Library. Headed south, just a few miles out of town. Kiger Island is formed by a big slough off of the Willamette. Lots of nice farms and orchards. Got rained on a few times.

Darker in the mornings again. Several rainy rides. Got pretty wet on one.

Cold mornings and warm afternoons. 3 longer rides after work. Next week starts DST so maybe more longer rides.

Independence Hwy - Corvallis Road. Back Buena Vista Rd - Springhill - Albany -Bryant -Riverside. Started out overcast but got sunny.

Most of these miles were actually last month. March came in with 4 inches of snow. Rode my mountain bike on day. Nicer on Friday.

Some sun, some wind, some rain, and some hail. My toes are still cold. Did see a nice rainbow.

Colder, some rain. One nice after work ride

Some fog, some rain, one nice ride after work.

Out through Philomath to hwy 34 Decker to Greenberry to Smith Loop. Llewelyn to Fern to Chapel to Plymouth into Corvallis. Hwy 20 to Connifer home. Started out partly sunny but then clouded over.

Some rain, but not bad. Not too cold. Mostly quite enjoyable.

Sunny and cool. Great views of the Cascades today. This route could become a favorite.

Some of these miles were last weekend which was last month. No rain, cool clear mornings and sunny days. Took the long way home several evenings,

Cold but sunny day after fog lifted. Bryant road was closed due to flood. Still lots of high water.

Plus around town last weekend. Some rain, some cold, but nothing like last week.

Snow, slush, rain, and floods. Rode my mountain bike Monday due to snow. Then it started raining really hard and by Thursday the rivers were all flooding. Super heavy rain.

Cold, cold, and colder, but no rain, and days are getting longer.

Walnut Reservoir Philomath Fern Peterson Decker Bellfountain Plymouth through town and home. Sun peeked through a few times.