If you've been keeping up on my blog - and I know you have - you'll know that there is an event count discrepancy currently in play between Camera Crew and Yours Truly. We are working to find me an event to do to bring us back to square but until that happens, I am putting it to rest by calling the 30-mile Petal Pedal this last Saturday 'Event 20'.
Now, this is not dismissing CC's event. It's just that we ain't done until I hit 50 events. If she winds up doing 51, I can live with that. I think.
I had never been to The Oregon Garden in Silverton. The closest I had come was when I did the Buck Mountain run in Silver Falls State Park all those months ago. Like most rides, there were several distances from which to choose. We went with the shortest option, the 30 miler, only because of the crazy event we had lined up for the following day. More on that in a later post.
The grand opening for the Oregon Garden was held in 2001. It's an 80-acre botanical garden with 20 or so specialty gardens showcasing the wide diversity of plants and environments found in the Pacific Northwest. Within the garden grounds is the Gordon House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Lots to see there.
Check it out at www.oregongarden.org
The best part of this event is that my sister and brother-in-law were participating with us!! Camera Crew had entered a drawing for two free entries - and she won! We were already registered, and Susan and Doug had expressed an interest in riding so it all worked out. And when I say 'Susan and Doug', I really mean 'Susan' and she was 'trying to convince Doug'. As Doug said to me "The price was right" with the free entries so there was no reason not to join us.
Amazing how more and more people are getting sucked into the 50@50 vortex...
The drive down to Silverton took about an hour. The early morning weather looked fantastic and it held true throughout, giving us a gorgeous day for the ride. We parked and fired off a text to the McElmurry's who, as it happened, were pulling in 6-7 cars down from us. We all got ready to go and rolled down the hill to the check-in area. Susan and I went in to pick up all four bib numbers as well as maps, while Camera Crew and Doug stayed with the bikes. This was fine except the chance of my bike being stolen (thus getting me out of the ride) are much lower if someone is actively keeping an eye on it. Oh well.
Bib numbers pinned on, bathroom breaks complete and helmets buckled, we were ready to go. We coasted down hill to the official start line, which was at the entrance gate to the grounds. We took a rightie, then more downhill into the downtown area of Silverton. There were a couple of sandwich board signs pointing the way for the 4 different distances - 30, 60, 70 and 100 miles. However, after we followed the directions for the 30 mile route we were doing, we didn't see any other markings and subsequently got lost - in Silverton. We weren't alone, either. There were 15-20 or more other riders, all wandering around different streets in downtown Silverton trying to figure out which way to go.
To be fair, the event organizers did have the course marked, with little spray-painted directionals on the road. They just didn't bother to tell riders what we were to be looking for to find our way. In fact, we didn't notice the road markings until we were 5-6 miles into the ride, having bumbled our way out of town (finally!). I noticed the white markings coincided with the route were taking, which was pretty much entirely determined by following the riders in front of us. Once we 'cracked the code', it all made sense.
The countryside we rolled through was beautiful. Farms, ranches, open meadows. Lots of berry farms - blueberry, raspberry, blackberry. Saw a pretty large hop farm and lots of grain - barley or wheat. Like I said, the weather was perfect. Sunny, high clouds but not too warm. Very little wind, which was nice. All in all, it was a great day.
My bro Doug was nervous prior to the ride, not knowing how he would handle the distance. But he did great, even pushing the pace along. I'm assuming he felt okay Sunday and that his arse didn't hurt too much! Susan's new bike enjoyed the ride very much, too. She has quite the machine and it seemed to move effortlessly, even when she laid it down after a near collision with Camera Crew early on. Riding in a crowd takes some getting used to!
Toward the end of the 30 miles, there was a covered bridge! There are quite a few in Oregon and the longer routes took riders over many of them. Our route just had the one, the Gallon House Bridge. It was built in 1916 and has a 14 ton weight limit. I mention the weight restriction because I tease Camera Crew about how heavy her bike is or, conversely, how light my bike is compared to hers. Since it's such a picturesque spot, we shot a short video for the blog and in it I try to make a joke. I comment that because of the weight limit Camera Crew will have to take her bike across separately. Haha, right? Well, based on the reactions from Susan, Doug and some other riders who were standing nearby, I guess it sort of sounded like I was saying that Camera Crew AND her bike were too heavy, when I was really only poking fun at her bike. Anyhoo, I'll post the video and you be the judge. And, yes, the couch is rather comfy, thankyouverymuch.
From the covered bridge to the finish was just a few more miles, so we wrapped up the ride, locked up the bikes and went inside for some food and beer. Or more accurately, 'beer then food'. HUB was pouring a couple of brews, which surprised me only because there are several good breweries in the Silverton/Salem area and HUB is out of Portland. Oh well - no complaints here. www.hopworksbeer.com The food was fantastic! Salmon, asparagus, salads, chicken, rolls and more. Worth the price of admission! For dessert there was German chocolate cake and some fantasticly strong coffee from Nossa Familia, a roaster out of P-Town. The java was so good, I bought a bag o' beans. If you see their stuff, get it. The beans are from the family plantations in Brazil, roasted daily in Portland. The company is family owned and goes back six generations! www.familyroast.com
After chowing down, we rode back up to the parking lot, loaded up and parted ways. It was so cool to have Susan and Doug with us! Hopefully, we can get them out again. Once we got home, we unloaded, relaxed for a bit and started mentally preparing for Sunday's event.
Yikes.
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