bikelovejones

After a slow start to my Intentional Riding Season, delayed here and there by nasty colds, flare-ups and a 48-hour virus, I decided that today I really needed to go for a ride. At first I felt sort of unmotivated; it was cold and damp out and the clouds threatened rain. But when Sweetie announced that she was going to the gym, that gave me the kick in the pants I needed, and I was out the door before she'd gotten dressed.

I didn't have a planned route. All I knew was that I imagined a ride of between 20 and 25 miles. I rode east and twisted and turned through quiet neighborhood streets of Northeast Portland, until I found myself at the foot of Rocky Butte. Climbing it would shorten my reserves and therefore shorten my hoped-for distance. But to get this close and NOT climb seemed wrong. The sun was peeking through the fast-moving clouds, and I knew that the view from the top would be dramatic on a day like this. So up I went.

I was certainly winded, and had to stop a few times to catch my breath. But I rode all the way up. I hadn't ridden up Rocky Butte in a very long time, years really. So I took a few snaps:


At the end of the pavement, with the stone "fortress" in view:





On the tippy-top, walking my bike up the gravel path to get to this great view of the Columbia River:





The "fortress" was the former site of a jail that used to be up here many years ago. When I got there, there was a group of climbing students practicing belaying off the stone wall into the parking lot below (are they allowed to do that?). The sun had broken through and warmed things up, and I would have stayed longer to enjoy it all but nature called. So I thew on my rain jacket as a windbreaker and sped back to the porta-potty I'd noted on the way up, then descended the rest of the way back down the hill. It had taken me some fifteen to twenty minutes to climb the thing, and less than five to descend.

The weather turned after I crossed 82nd and started for home, splattering me with big, wet raindrops which I didn't really mind at all. By the time I got home I felt a little bit of a chill and was ready to end my ride. A good choice. Total: 16.4 miles in two hours.