Mussels, clams, prawns, chorizo, chicken, veggies, rice - it was amazing!
Monday, July 29, 2013
50@50 Project - Event 34 - Wrap... and Dinner!
Two vids here - the wrap and a quick shot of the kitchen at Chris King HQ...
Mussels, clams, prawns, chorizo, chicken, veggies, rice - it was amazing!
Mussels, clams, prawns, chorizo, chicken, veggies, rice - it was amazing!
The Barn
This is that bad side of me I told you a long time ago you might see. I look pretty wiped in this vid. Ran out of water about 4 miles before getting here so was feeling a little dehydrated and miserable. After chugging some H2O and resting in the shade, we felt much better! From here, only 15 miles to the finish - 4-5 of it climbing, of course.
Lunch Time!
About 34 miles in, time for lunch. At this point we've ridden from NW Portland all the way out to Banks, OR!!
50@50 Project - Event 34 - Chris King Gourmet Century - Intro... and Breakfast!!
You may wonder why this ride is called a 'century' but we're only doing 70 miles. It's what is also know as a metric century - 100 kilometers. DGV
Big Bad Scary Ride Is Over!
"Okay, I admit it - I'm really nervous."
"Yep, I'm scared to death."
But there it was in front of us - Newberry Road. A short 2.1 mile climb over the west hills. About a thousand feet of elevation gain, with an average grade of around 7%. In itself, that's no big deal, really. But there is a stretch of this road that is at 12%, then 13%, then 14%, topping out at 15.8%. That's the part I've been having nightmares about.
Camera Crew and I were riding in the Chris King Gourmet Century, a 70-mile outing and - more importantly - Event 34 in the 50@50 Project. This one was a biggie, probably the hardest event we'll do in this adventure. But if you know us and you noticed the word 'gourmet' in the title of the ride, then you will also realize this is just our kind of thing. We love food, and the CKGC is amazing. With chefs from Portland's top restaurants providing the sustenance along the way, not to mention an amazing pre-ride breakfast buffet and a post-ride dinner beyond compare, how could we NOT do this ride.
Chris King is the owner of Chris King Precision Components. They are a US manufacturer of high end bicycle components - hubs and headsets, mostly. They have vehemently said 'no' to the the temptation to make their products overseas at lower costs. Chris King bike parts are USA-made, baby! Go, 'murica!! The story about how he got started is pretty simple - he rode bikes and thought he could make better hubs and headsets than what was being put on factory bikes. So he started in his barn back in the '70's and the rest, as they say, is history.
Chris King is also passionate about food - local sourced, organic, free-range, grass fed, etc. He is so into food that his company headquarters in NW Portland has it's own cafeteria, kitchen, chef, kitchen staff for the 100 or so employees! In fact, when possible, fruits and veggies are sourced from Chris King's own farm. So it was a no-brainer for him to come up with the Gourmet Century. This year there were chefs from Crown Paella, Verde Cocina, Clyde Common, Kitchen Cru, and Prasad as well as folks from several local coffee roasters. All of these culinary masters worked with Chris King's own chef to coordinate feeding us riders to power us along the way. It's good to be a rider under these circumstances, trust me.
I could write paragraphs about the food but instead I'll let those who are curious about that aspect look it up on their own at www.chrisking.com , click on 'Company' and then click the tab to the Gourmet Century where you can access the menu. Crazy delicious.
Back to the ride...
We loaded up the bikes Saturday morning and made the short drive to Chris King HQ. In reality, it's only 2 miles from our house. We considered riding TO the event but the thought of riding home AFTER made us decide to drive instead. This was a good call, in the end and for our 'ends' if you get my drift. We parked the SUV, double checked snacks and gear then rode down the alley to Chris King for breakfast. After fueling up on baked eggs, veggie hash, granola, coffee, juice, and fruit we faced up to the real reason we were there - the ride.
The first 7 miles were on Highway 30, which was thankfully not too terribly busy early in the morning. Oh, there was traffic but the shoulder was mostly debris-free and once we got past the St. John's Bridge traffic was pretty light. We were both getting nervous about Newberry. We had driven the course the week before to scout out the hills and see what we had gotten ourselves into, so knew this first climb was a doozy.
It was.
We made the turn off 30 and the road immediately kicked up as it began to snake over the west hills. We got part way up and took a break, then started climbing again. The grade didn't seem too bad, actually, so we were chatting away. Then we came around a corner and saw the real hill. OMG.
"Yikes. Talk to you later."
"Talking is over. Let's meet up at the top."
It was the steepest road I've ever climbed on a bike. It wasn't too long a stretch but - wow - was it tough. It was so steep in spots that when I would pull the pedals around then push down, I could feel my front tire come off the ground like I was going to flip over backwards. Of course, I was leaning forward enough to counter it, but feeling the tire bob up and down with each downward pedal was a little weird. I'll admit I took a couple of breaks, struggling to get started again on the incline. But I rode the whole damn thing! There were several people who walked their bikes up, something I just wouldn't let myself do, although it was tempting. Each person tackles these obstacles in their own way and they were out there doing the event, so more power to them, I say!!
Just around the corner from the one mile marker, there's a flat spot in the road. People used that to catch their breath before continuing up the last mile. Camera Crew and I met up there for a brief rest then chugged on. The second mile was much easier than the first, still a climb but compared to the super steep part, it was cake. Elated, we got to the top with smiles on our faces, knowing we had just conquered the first big climb of the day!!
From there, the route took us along Skyline Blvd, then down the very steep fast Springhill Road - this was a blast!!! The ride west through the farms was very nice. Rolling hills, very little traffic. Being a small race (limit of 200 or so riders), it was often just the two of us on the road. We rolled along, enjoying the time together on this gorgeous day. After about 17 miles we hit the first rest stop. We were served flaky chicken vol au vent salads with a wonderfully salty arugula base. These were light enough to keep riding but filling and savory enough to feel like we ate. We refilled water bottles and kept heading west. We stopped at Old Scotch Church to look around a little. We have driven by this many times so took this opportunity to explore for s few minutes. It's a Presbyterian church founded in 1873. Beautiful grounds and cemetery. We saw headstones with birth dates from the early 1800's. Read up on it at www.oldscotchchurch.org
We gradually made our way all the way out to the town of Banks for the much-anticipated lunch stop. Now, loyal readers, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. If you read this blog you know there is a super secret brunch spot that Camera Crew and I frequent, a place I've been reluctant to share for fear of it being overrun with, well, YOU. If that happened, we wouldn't be able to get seated. Selfish, I know. But now - I'll share. Just don't go there when I'm going to go there, okay? Promise? Pinky swear? Okay.
Lunch was put on by Verde Cocina. We love this place. They do a fantastic brunch on the weekends, make great drinks and have a couple of locations in the area (Hillsdale and the Pearl district, downtown). It's farm fresh Mexican food - lots of vegetables, fresh made tortillas to order. They even have a booth at the Saturday farmers market downtown by PSU. The food is spectacular and, believe it or not, quite simple. In fact, Camera Crew has replicated the style several times at home and, honestly, it's like eating at Verde Cocina.
Check out their website at www.verdecocinamarket.com But remember what you promised, okay??
We ate, enjoyed the live music, refilled water bottles and hit the road to start the ride east toward the finish. Oy. The second half of the ride was much harder than the first. There were a lot more climbs and it was getting warm. In fact, the only improvement I would suggest to the fine people who put on this event would be to have a water stop somewhere between lunch and The Barn (Chris King's house/farm/barn where he started his business). At 20 miles between the two and out in the middle of nowhere, more water would have been good. Temps were rising and I tend to take in a lot of water. I ran out with a few miles to go. Unfortunately, some of these miles were up Mason Hill Road - 'Hill' being the operative word there. I think I was speaking in tongues by the time we finally arrived at The Barn. This was at the 55 mile mark of the ride, the last rest stop before starting the last big climb back over the west hills to NW Portland.
We filled water bottles, drank deeply, refilled them and sat in the shade for a bit to rest. They were serving sliders at this stop but neither of us thought that was a good idea, seeing as how we had 1,000+ feet to climb, starting almost immediately upon leaving The Barn. I did have a cup of iced coffee, which really did me good. Camera Crew had a brown butter mousse cake (tasted a bit like tiramisu). We walked back out to the dirt driveway where we left the bikes - they were still there - and we figured it's now or never.
As we rode out, the SAG wagons were pulling in to pick up another load of riders who were opting out of climbing the hill. Some were getting rides to the top, some were checking out and being delivered to the finish line. We knew we were going to ride this thing, and we did.
After climbing up a ways, we turned off on Germantown Road for half a mile, then cut off on Old Germantown Road. Keep in mind that the grade of Germantown Road looks bad enough. It's a bit like Newberry. Also keep in mind that when Germantown Road was built, it was considered to be an improvement over OLD Germantown Road. The sucky part of this cutoff was that the first thing Old Germantown Road does is drop down for about a quarter of a mile, losing a lot of the elevation we had just fought to gain. Thanks.
Then it was switchback time. The road kind of winds back and forth on itself, climbing the hillside. After almost three miles and several brief rest stops, we made it to the top where Old and New Germantown Roads join together again.
All I can say is - WOOHOO!!!!! Camera Crew and I had just conquered this ride!! I can't begin to tell you how good I felt. Yeah, we still had a few rollers and ten miles to the finish. But a lot of this was some screamin' downhills - Thompson, Cornell, Lovejoy. We cruised through NW P-town, feeling pretty proud of our accomplishment and looking forward to dinner. We got back to Chris King HQ and stopped by the SUV to change clothes, load/lock the bikes. Like a lot of riders, we didn't have time to shower. Meh. We bought a bottle of wine and waited for the seating to start.
Dinner was amazing! Multiple courses - check the menu on the website, remember. Salad, gazpacho, paella with mussels, clams, prawns, chicken, and chorizo; dessert was a maple chocolate tart topped with berries and a vanilla cream sauce. I enjoyed black coffee with my dessert. It's that bitter/sweet combination that I love. Camera Crew even took a few sips.
We chatted with our table mates - a couple from Austin, a guy from Houston, another from Atlanta. There were riders from all over the country. This event is so popular it sells out in a matter of hours. I highly recommend this ride. It's a little spendy but extremely well done.
Event 34 was complete and left us sore, tired and feeling amazing. Yep, I'm patting us on the back - so proud of what we did!!
But in the category of 'no rest', here is what is coming up:
Thursday 8/1 - The Dual Duel, a 10 mile relay on a 1/4 mile track - we alternate running laps, passing a baton between us until we've each done 20 laps (five miles).
Saturday 8/3 - Super Hero Fun Run, a 5k to support music education in Portland's schools
Sunday 8/4 - XDog's Whine on the Vine, a 5 mile obstacle course run at a winery out near Hillsboro - note the 'h' in the word 'Wine' (it is an XDog event, after all)
Saturday 8/10 - Aurora's Colony Days 5k
Sunday 8/11 - Bridge Pedal, 36 miles with Fremont Express option, meaning our ride starts on the top deck of the Fremont Bridge at just before sunrise = awesome!
See ya!
"Yep, I'm scared to death."
But there it was in front of us - Newberry Road. A short 2.1 mile climb over the west hills. About a thousand feet of elevation gain, with an average grade of around 7%. In itself, that's no big deal, really. But there is a stretch of this road that is at 12%, then 13%, then 14%, topping out at 15.8%. That's the part I've been having nightmares about.
Camera Crew and I were riding in the Chris King Gourmet Century, a 70-mile outing and - more importantly - Event 34 in the 50@50 Project. This one was a biggie, probably the hardest event we'll do in this adventure. But if you know us and you noticed the word 'gourmet' in the title of the ride, then you will also realize this is just our kind of thing. We love food, and the CKGC is amazing. With chefs from Portland's top restaurants providing the sustenance along the way, not to mention an amazing pre-ride breakfast buffet and a post-ride dinner beyond compare, how could we NOT do this ride.
Chris King is the owner of Chris King Precision Components. They are a US manufacturer of high end bicycle components - hubs and headsets, mostly. They have vehemently said 'no' to the the temptation to make their products overseas at lower costs. Chris King bike parts are USA-made, baby! Go, 'murica!! The story about how he got started is pretty simple - he rode bikes and thought he could make better hubs and headsets than what was being put on factory bikes. So he started in his barn back in the '70's and the rest, as they say, is history.
Chris King is also passionate about food - local sourced, organic, free-range, grass fed, etc. He is so into food that his company headquarters in NW Portland has it's own cafeteria, kitchen, chef, kitchen staff for the 100 or so employees! In fact, when possible, fruits and veggies are sourced from Chris King's own farm. So it was a no-brainer for him to come up with the Gourmet Century. This year there were chefs from Crown Paella, Verde Cocina, Clyde Common, Kitchen Cru, and Prasad as well as folks from several local coffee roasters. All of these culinary masters worked with Chris King's own chef to coordinate feeding us riders to power us along the way. It's good to be a rider under these circumstances, trust me.
I could write paragraphs about the food but instead I'll let those who are curious about that aspect look it up on their own at www.chrisking.com , click on 'Company' and then click the tab to the Gourmet Century where you can access the menu. Crazy delicious.
Back to the ride...
We loaded up the bikes Saturday morning and made the short drive to Chris King HQ. In reality, it's only 2 miles from our house. We considered riding TO the event but the thought of riding home AFTER made us decide to drive instead. This was a good call, in the end and for our 'ends' if you get my drift. We parked the SUV, double checked snacks and gear then rode down the alley to Chris King for breakfast. After fueling up on baked eggs, veggie hash, granola, coffee, juice, and fruit we faced up to the real reason we were there - the ride.
The first 7 miles were on Highway 30, which was thankfully not too terribly busy early in the morning. Oh, there was traffic but the shoulder was mostly debris-free and once we got past the St. John's Bridge traffic was pretty light. We were both getting nervous about Newberry. We had driven the course the week before to scout out the hills and see what we had gotten ourselves into, so knew this first climb was a doozy.
It was.
We made the turn off 30 and the road immediately kicked up as it began to snake over the west hills. We got part way up and took a break, then started climbing again. The grade didn't seem too bad, actually, so we were chatting away. Then we came around a corner and saw the real hill. OMG.
"Yikes. Talk to you later."
"Talking is over. Let's meet up at the top."
It was the steepest road I've ever climbed on a bike. It wasn't too long a stretch but - wow - was it tough. It was so steep in spots that when I would pull the pedals around then push down, I could feel my front tire come off the ground like I was going to flip over backwards. Of course, I was leaning forward enough to counter it, but feeling the tire bob up and down with each downward pedal was a little weird. I'll admit I took a couple of breaks, struggling to get started again on the incline. But I rode the whole damn thing! There were several people who walked their bikes up, something I just wouldn't let myself do, although it was tempting. Each person tackles these obstacles in their own way and they were out there doing the event, so more power to them, I say!!
Just around the corner from the one mile marker, there's a flat spot in the road. People used that to catch their breath before continuing up the last mile. Camera Crew and I met up there for a brief rest then chugged on. The second mile was much easier than the first, still a climb but compared to the super steep part, it was cake. Elated, we got to the top with smiles on our faces, knowing we had just conquered the first big climb of the day!!
From there, the route took us along Skyline Blvd, then down the very steep fast Springhill Road - this was a blast!!! The ride west through the farms was very nice. Rolling hills, very little traffic. Being a small race (limit of 200 or so riders), it was often just the two of us on the road. We rolled along, enjoying the time together on this gorgeous day. After about 17 miles we hit the first rest stop. We were served flaky chicken vol au vent salads with a wonderfully salty arugula base. These were light enough to keep riding but filling and savory enough to feel like we ate. We refilled water bottles and kept heading west. We stopped at Old Scotch Church to look around a little. We have driven by this many times so took this opportunity to explore for s few minutes. It's a Presbyterian church founded in 1873. Beautiful grounds and cemetery. We saw headstones with birth dates from the early 1800's. Read up on it at www.oldscotchchurch.org
We gradually made our way all the way out to the town of Banks for the much-anticipated lunch stop. Now, loyal readers, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. If you read this blog you know there is a super secret brunch spot that Camera Crew and I frequent, a place I've been reluctant to share for fear of it being overrun with, well, YOU. If that happened, we wouldn't be able to get seated. Selfish, I know. But now - I'll share. Just don't go there when I'm going to go there, okay? Promise? Pinky swear? Okay.
Lunch was put on by Verde Cocina. We love this place. They do a fantastic brunch on the weekends, make great drinks and have a couple of locations in the area (Hillsdale and the Pearl district, downtown). It's farm fresh Mexican food - lots of vegetables, fresh made tortillas to order. They even have a booth at the Saturday farmers market downtown by PSU. The food is spectacular and, believe it or not, quite simple. In fact, Camera Crew has replicated the style several times at home and, honestly, it's like eating at Verde Cocina.
Check out their website at www.verdecocinamarket.com But remember what you promised, okay??
We ate, enjoyed the live music, refilled water bottles and hit the road to start the ride east toward the finish. Oy. The second half of the ride was much harder than the first. There were a lot more climbs and it was getting warm. In fact, the only improvement I would suggest to the fine people who put on this event would be to have a water stop somewhere between lunch and The Barn (Chris King's house/farm/barn where he started his business). At 20 miles between the two and out in the middle of nowhere, more water would have been good. Temps were rising and I tend to take in a lot of water. I ran out with a few miles to go. Unfortunately, some of these miles were up Mason Hill Road - 'Hill' being the operative word there. I think I was speaking in tongues by the time we finally arrived at The Barn. This was at the 55 mile mark of the ride, the last rest stop before starting the last big climb back over the west hills to NW Portland.
We filled water bottles, drank deeply, refilled them and sat in the shade for a bit to rest. They were serving sliders at this stop but neither of us thought that was a good idea, seeing as how we had 1,000+ feet to climb, starting almost immediately upon leaving The Barn. I did have a cup of iced coffee, which really did me good. Camera Crew had a brown butter mousse cake (tasted a bit like tiramisu). We walked back out to the dirt driveway where we left the bikes - they were still there - and we figured it's now or never.
As we rode out, the SAG wagons were pulling in to pick up another load of riders who were opting out of climbing the hill. Some were getting rides to the top, some were checking out and being delivered to the finish line. We knew we were going to ride this thing, and we did.
After climbing up a ways, we turned off on Germantown Road for half a mile, then cut off on Old Germantown Road. Keep in mind that the grade of Germantown Road looks bad enough. It's a bit like Newberry. Also keep in mind that when Germantown Road was built, it was considered to be an improvement over OLD Germantown Road. The sucky part of this cutoff was that the first thing Old Germantown Road does is drop down for about a quarter of a mile, losing a lot of the elevation we had just fought to gain. Thanks.
Then it was switchback time. The road kind of winds back and forth on itself, climbing the hillside. After almost three miles and several brief rest stops, we made it to the top where Old and New Germantown Roads join together again.
All I can say is - WOOHOO!!!!! Camera Crew and I had just conquered this ride!! I can't begin to tell you how good I felt. Yeah, we still had a few rollers and ten miles to the finish. But a lot of this was some screamin' downhills - Thompson, Cornell, Lovejoy. We cruised through NW P-town, feeling pretty proud of our accomplishment and looking forward to dinner. We got back to Chris King HQ and stopped by the SUV to change clothes, load/lock the bikes. Like a lot of riders, we didn't have time to shower. Meh. We bought a bottle of wine and waited for the seating to start.
Dinner was amazing! Multiple courses - check the menu on the website, remember. Salad, gazpacho, paella with mussels, clams, prawns, chicken, and chorizo; dessert was a maple chocolate tart topped with berries and a vanilla cream sauce. I enjoyed black coffee with my dessert. It's that bitter/sweet combination that I love. Camera Crew even took a few sips.
We chatted with our table mates - a couple from Austin, a guy from Houston, another from Atlanta. There were riders from all over the country. This event is so popular it sells out in a matter of hours. I highly recommend this ride. It's a little spendy but extremely well done.
Event 34 was complete and left us sore, tired and feeling amazing. Yep, I'm patting us on the back - so proud of what we did!!
But in the category of 'no rest', here is what is coming up:
Thursday 8/1 - The Dual Duel, a 10 mile relay on a 1/4 mile track - we alternate running laps, passing a baton between us until we've each done 20 laps (five miles).
Saturday 8/3 - Super Hero Fun Run, a 5k to support music education in Portland's schools
Sunday 8/4 - XDog's Whine on the Vine, a 5 mile obstacle course run at a winery out near Hillsboro - note the 'h' in the word 'Wine' (it is an XDog event, after all)
Saturday 8/10 - Aurora's Colony Days 5k
Sunday 8/11 - Bridge Pedal, 36 miles with Fremont Express option, meaning our ride starts on the top deck of the Fremont Bridge at just before sunrise = awesome!
See ya!
Friday, July 26, 2013
Oops, I'm Recording
Sometimes we take pictures when we mean video and other times we take video when we want a picture...
Viking Vengeance - or
Can you believe we are thirty-three events into the 50@50 Project?! I know, neither can I!! And here at HQ we thought this was gonna be tough. Ha! Easy peasy schmeasy.
Event 33 in ye olde project was the Viking Vengeance 5k, a fundraiser for the Forest Grove High School cross-country program. The run was held in - you guessed it - Forest Grove. Being one of those pesky weeknight runs, I drove out to the dreaded Beaverton Transit Center to meet up with Camera Crew. Once I acquired the better half of this here couple, we went west. We decided to avoid the whole Highway 217 cluster eff and the equally sketchy Sunset Highway 26 , and took Highway 8 which is sort of backroad-y. I think they call 26 the Sunset Highway because if you're on it in the afternoon, you usually end up watching the sun go down while you're stuck in traffic.
Speaking of... traffic was actually pretty darn good on the way out to Forest Grove. We arrived early and got our ginormous race packet envelopes which contained, among other things, the all-important bib number. These precious commodities are our keepsakes as we track the number of events. We said howdy to Heather, who is one half of Huber Timing, the folks who do the timing chips and the cool finish line arch at some of the events around the area. www.hubertiming.com Be sure to click on the 'Learn More About Us' tab to meet the other highly trained members of their staff.
We wandered around a little, then sat on the curb awaiting the race start. Did I mention we were early? It was a very warm evening, with temps in the high 80's. There was a nice breeze which helped but it was going to be a warm run, for sure. The event had a kids run, which we expected to take place where they were staging the 10k/5k, in front of the Forest Grove School District offices. It's where the start/finish line was set up, and where everyone seemed to be gathering. Little did we know that they were doing the kiddies race out back, on the playground. We missed it - oh well.
The Lady with the Bullhorn gathered up the 10k runners and after announcing pretty much every turn on the 6.2 mile course, the Man with the Air Horn sent them on their merry way. After about a 15 minute stagger, it was our turn. The Lady with the Bullhorn again described the 5k course in great detail, then counted down from ten. At zero, the Man with the Air Horn frightened us and, with hearts racing, we were on the road.
XDog's conch shell send off is way cooler, FYI.
The route meandered through one of Forest Grove's older neighborhoods. Very nice houses, some were rather large. This stretch was mostly shady, which was nice. While it lasted, anyway. Eventually, we ended up running a stretch on the multi-use path parallel to Highway 47 which was in full sun. The breeze helped but it was pretty damn warm. Meh, it's only 3.1 miles, right?
Pretty non-eventful other than the copious amounts of sweat, most of which somehow ended up in my eyes. Camera Crew was in right behind me and that was that. We both felt a little shaky due to the heat and the weirdness of running in the evening. Or maybe it was just withdrawals since evening time is usually wine time. We found water and PowerAde but could not find the cooler with wine. So we settled on water and had some orange slices. Then we grabbed some cash from the SUV and lined up to order some food.
One great thing about the 'burbs is the fantastic authentic ethnic food. For this event, the Viking Vengeance folks secured Taquerias Hermanos Ochoa's Mexican Grill to set up shop and serve their delicious food to the crowd.
In the words of the great Kyle Miller: Yum. Yum.
There is something about the tacos they make that is utterly amazing. They are very simple but, wow, are they good. I could eat a dozen of them, easy. But they were also making their tamales and enchiladas, so of course we tried it all. They had the full spread of salsas, sauces, guacamole, cilantro, lime wedges, chopped onion, cheese, sour cream. An incredible deal, heaping plates for $7. We washed it all down with mango soft drinks!
Feeling full and happy, and still feeling good about the run, we headed for the SUV. As the sun set behind us, we headed east to home. All in all, it was a great evening.
Event 33 in ye olde project was the Viking Vengeance 5k, a fundraiser for the Forest Grove High School cross-country program. The run was held in - you guessed it - Forest Grove. Being one of those pesky weeknight runs, I drove out to the dreaded Beaverton Transit Center to meet up with Camera Crew. Once I acquired the better half of this here couple, we went west. We decided to avoid the whole Highway 217 cluster eff and the equally sketchy Sunset Highway 26 , and took Highway 8 which is sort of backroad-y. I think they call 26 the Sunset Highway because if you're on it in the afternoon, you usually end up watching the sun go down while you're stuck in traffic.
Speaking of... traffic was actually pretty darn good on the way out to Forest Grove. We arrived early and got our ginormous race packet envelopes which contained, among other things, the all-important bib number. These precious commodities are our keepsakes as we track the number of events. We said howdy to Heather, who is one half of Huber Timing, the folks who do the timing chips and the cool finish line arch at some of the events around the area. www.hubertiming.com Be sure to click on the 'Learn More About Us' tab to meet the other highly trained members of their staff.
We wandered around a little, then sat on the curb awaiting the race start. Did I mention we were early? It was a very warm evening, with temps in the high 80's. There was a nice breeze which helped but it was going to be a warm run, for sure. The event had a kids run, which we expected to take place where they were staging the 10k/5k, in front of the Forest Grove School District offices. It's where the start/finish line was set up, and where everyone seemed to be gathering. Little did we know that they were doing the kiddies race out back, on the playground. We missed it - oh well.
The Lady with the Bullhorn gathered up the 10k runners and after announcing pretty much every turn on the 6.2 mile course, the Man with the Air Horn sent them on their merry way. After about a 15 minute stagger, it was our turn. The Lady with the Bullhorn again described the 5k course in great detail, then counted down from ten. At zero, the Man with the Air Horn frightened us and, with hearts racing, we were on the road.
XDog's conch shell send off is way cooler, FYI.
The route meandered through one of Forest Grove's older neighborhoods. Very nice houses, some were rather large. This stretch was mostly shady, which was nice. While it lasted, anyway. Eventually, we ended up running a stretch on the multi-use path parallel to Highway 47 which was in full sun. The breeze helped but it was pretty damn warm. Meh, it's only 3.1 miles, right?
Pretty non-eventful other than the copious amounts of sweat, most of which somehow ended up in my eyes. Camera Crew was in right behind me and that was that. We both felt a little shaky due to the heat and the weirdness of running in the evening. Or maybe it was just withdrawals since evening time is usually wine time. We found water and PowerAde but could not find the cooler with wine. So we settled on water and had some orange slices. Then we grabbed some cash from the SUV and lined up to order some food.
One great thing about the 'burbs is the fantastic authentic ethnic food. For this event, the Viking Vengeance folks secured Taquerias Hermanos Ochoa's Mexican Grill to set up shop and serve their delicious food to the crowd.
In the words of the great Kyle Miller: Yum. Yum.
There is something about the tacos they make that is utterly amazing. They are very simple but, wow, are they good. I could eat a dozen of them, easy. But they were also making their tamales and enchiladas, so of course we tried it all. They had the full spread of salsas, sauces, guacamole, cilantro, lime wedges, chopped onion, cheese, sour cream. An incredible deal, heaping plates for $7. We washed it all down with mango soft drinks!
Feeling full and happy, and still feeling good about the run, we headed for the SUV. As the sun set behind us, we headed east to home. All in all, it was a great evening.
Monday, July 22, 2013
This Is Kevin
I like his comment about the course: If I don't bleed setting it, then it's not a good course.
This Post Should Be Easy
A morning in my brain:
(Let's see... I need to write up Event 32 in the 50@50 Project. Need to do this while it's still like the cuts and scratches from yesterday - 'fresh'.)
Sluuurp.
(Lots of races coming up in the next couple of weeks, so I don't want to get behind.) Sluurp.
(Besides, I may not survive the Chris King Century this Saturday, so it's also categorized as 'getting my affairs in order'.)
Sluuuuurp.
(Coffee is damn good this morning. Bet it will help with sore muscles and healing wounds. That's my theory anyway.)
Sluurp.
(At least the bleeding stopped. Camera Crew got to break out the ol' first aid kit, put those WFR skills to use AND use her wound irrigation syringe, which pleased her greatly - especially when I winced. Hmmm - come to think of it, she actually smiled.)
Slurp.
(That was a fine cup o' java.)
(The injuries weren't that bad. Just the usual XDog carnage. One on the calf had quite a bit of dirt in it, so it was good to rinse it out, although CC didn't have to enjoy it quite so much.)
(Oooh... what time does 'Matlock' come on...?)
(Nah, need to blog - my loyal readers want to know what happened!)
(Okay, okay - probably seen this episode anyway)
(Just write, will ya?)
(But I love me some Andy Griffith!)
(Focus!!)
(Alright already! Gawd!)
(It was an XDog Event - the McCubbin's Gulch Scramble. Hmmmm... but all the XDog events have two things in common: 1} they are exceptionally well done and B} they try to kill you.)
(So, let's just go back to, say, the post for the Mt. Hood Scramble, grab a few paragraphs from that one...)
[cut... paste]
[cut... paste]
[cut... paste]
(Ooh, I should throw in some of the stuff from Havoc at the Hideout...)
[cut... paste]
[cut... paste]
(And grab some choice excerpts from the Dirty Duathlon in April and the White River Snowshoe 8k way back in January.)
(January??! Holy cow, that was Event One in this crazy adventure!!)
(Okay, where was I? Oh yeah. Let's grab... this line [cut... paste] and this part [cut... paste] and this funny part here [cut... paste]. Oh, hey, and this part describing XDog and how they do events [cut... paste]. Add some stuff about how XDog receives kickbacks from the local ER's... okay, looks good.
(Okay, now let's do some findin' and replacin'. Find 'Mt. Hood'; replace with 'McCubbin's Gulch'. Okey dokey... find 'Havoc at the Hideout'; replace with 'McCubbin's Gulch Scramble'. Check. And let's just delete and type it in here... and here. Oh, and here.)
(And...)
(Tada - a post is born!!)
(Okay, let's take a look...)
The weather was overcast when we left the house, and even looked like it could rain. We were on our way up and over Mt. Hood to McCubbin's Gulch, an area on the mountain we'd never been. It lies in the Mt. Hood National Forest. It's a campground/recreation area popular with dirt bikers and XDog. Well, for XDog it's popular once each year for this event. We were heading to Event 32 in the 50@50 Project, a sort of special race in that Camera Crew and I are finally back on the same event count! Hooray!
As is usually the case, once we went over the shoulder of Mt. Hood on Highway 26 and got to the east side, the clouds were gone and it was blue skies, baby! My navigator was napping, so we missed the turn off 26 and had to double back. I saw the sign just as we went by it, so it was no biggie. We got to the campground where Race HQ was set up, parked the SUV and went to check in. This event is known for crazy camping the night before, complete with Camp Bingo and an annual event known as 'The Creek Streak'. I am sorry we missed both! The former would have been fun and the latter would have actually counted as another event. Drats! Next time, though.
We got our bib numbers and hung out - still had 45 minutes to start time. We saw Kevin from XDog and he came over to chat. Like always, I asked how the course was and he got his usual 'crazed' look, smiled and said "Oh, it's a good one. It's really good!" Which meant he had a doozy for us - again. But how much damage could he do in 5.9 miles? Yeah. We would have been disappointed if it had been anything but epic, right? LOVE XDog!
The McCubbin's Gulch area was dusty and it was getting warm, but all in all it was pretty much a perfect day to go running through the brush, across creeks, and up/down hill sides. I've said it before but will again: the people attracted to the XDog events are wonderful. Friendly, supportive, fun, attractive, good-natured. Seriously. It's a great atmosphere. Like Kevin says in his pre-race pep talk 'It's not about how fast you finish. It's about finishing.' He also says to follow the pink ribbon and the yellow cones and that if you get lost 'it's your own damn fault'.
It was time to get going. We lined up and the conch shell sounded (probably the best conch sendoff yet). We started out down a paved road, then cut off on a dirt road - losing elevation the whole way. Yikes. Sure enough, we crossed the creek (knee/thigh deep) and then after a bit of running through brush, over logs, across deadfall we hit the first climb. Steep. Steep. And as we discovered over the course, the shortest of the FOUR hill side scrambles. (sigh) The course included several water crossings, a couple of balancing acts on logs over the creek (with an option to get in the water to cross, if ya wanted), lots of hopping over fallen trees.
This event was unlike the Mt. Hood Scramble in a couple of ways. There seemed to be a lot more decent open ground to run on, which made it nice. I'm not saying we were on trails, mind you. Like XDog says 'There are parts of the course you can run, parts you cannot run, and sections you clearly shouldn't run.' The parts I'm talking about were littered with fallen trees and branches, rocks and roots. Camera Crew described it best when she said it was like 'running through tires when you have to high step them in an obstacle course. Except the tires aren't evenly spaced.' A couple of short choppy steps, then a long hop to clear some brush, then hop up on a log, down to another log, then onto some rocks. Fun!
The other way this one seemed different is that if you got lost out here, got off the marked trail, missed the pink ribbon - you may really be lost. We were out of earshot of the dirt bikes and there aren't any roads, other than the campground. If a runner got turned around and couldn't find the ribbon, that could be bad. On the Mt. Hood Scramble, the entire event takes place along the river - starts out heading upstream, finishes heading downstream. You're rarely out of sight/sound of the water plus you have Highway 35 right there at the mid-point and the finish line is there in the big parking lot. But like the man said 'if you get lost it's your own damn fault'. Plenty of course markings so it wasn't an issue at all.
We got through the second and third big climbs, both feeling really good along the way. Once we hit the monster fourth climb, though, I was about done for the day. Camera Crew and I work together really well at times like this. I usually set the pace in the beginning. Then at some point, I get close to my limit and she takes over. This was that time. She took the lead and because she kept trudging up the hill, I kept trudging up the hill.
We knew we were close to the end. After a good long stretch of running through the brush and over logs, we finally saw the road and a friendly volunteer directing us toward the finish line 1/2 mile or so down the way. However, to get to the road and the friendly volunteer we had to run down into a shallow ditch then up to the road. I was just a couple of strides from the edge of the ditch and my left foot got tangled up in a tree branch (I think it caught in my laces). Essentially, I picked the branch up with my shoe laces. I got skills. This caused the branch to catch my right foot, and I... I...
I didn't fall.
It was the most amazing save ever. I know I hopped once, maybe twice. At some point the branch came loose, I stumbled forward into the ditch but kept my balance and made it onto the road. The volunteer was cracking up and I yelled "Save!" and high-fived him. Whew, that was close. I didn't find out til after this near miss that the branch I tripped on almost tripped up Camera Crew when I dislodged it, with all my ninja-like skills.
The last part of the run was on the paved road. We have learned not to trust XDog and assumed this was a trap, that at any moment we were going to see pink ribbon sending us off a cliff or up a tree or into the den of a bear. But, no, this really was the end - except for having to hop a waist high fence and run across the creek to the finish line. One last rinse of the shoes! The always great XDog crowd, the fast, average and slow alike, always cheer for everyone. It's a great feeling. All finishers are welcomed to the party, with congratulations and the location of the kegs of Redhook beer. "Nice job, bro!" "Brewskis are right over there, dude." "Look at the size of those calves!!" This last comment from a woman who pointed out that I was bleeding.
It was another awesome event. If all 50 events could be XDog races, that would be fine by us. We hung out, had a beer and drinks from our XDog flasks, then hopped in the SUV for the drive home. We stopped off in Rhododendron for lunch at the Barlow Trail Roadhouse. Excellent food and service, good beer lineup - and tator tots! Next time you're up on the hill, check them out. www.barlowtrailroadhouse.com
Lots going on in the next few weeks. We have rare weeknight events the next two Thursdays, an epic bike ride this Saturday and (if I survive the ride) more double header weekends coming soon.
Peace out.
(Let's see... I need to write up Event 32 in the 50@50 Project. Need to do this while it's still like the cuts and scratches from yesterday - 'fresh'.)
Sluuurp.
(Lots of races coming up in the next couple of weeks, so I don't want to get behind.) Sluurp.
(Besides, I may not survive the Chris King Century this Saturday, so it's also categorized as 'getting my affairs in order'.)
Sluuuuurp.
(Coffee is damn good this morning. Bet it will help with sore muscles and healing wounds. That's my theory anyway.)
Sluurp.
(At least the bleeding stopped. Camera Crew got to break out the ol' first aid kit, put those WFR skills to use AND use her wound irrigation syringe, which pleased her greatly - especially when I winced. Hmmm - come to think of it, she actually smiled.)
Slurp.
(That was a fine cup o' java.)
(The injuries weren't that bad. Just the usual XDog carnage. One on the calf had quite a bit of dirt in it, so it was good to rinse it out, although CC didn't have to enjoy it quite so much.)
(Oooh... what time does 'Matlock' come on...?)
(Nah, need to blog - my loyal readers want to know what happened!)
(Okay, okay - probably seen this episode anyway)
(Just write, will ya?)
(But I love me some Andy Griffith!)
(Focus!!)
(Alright already! Gawd!)
(It was an XDog Event - the McCubbin's Gulch Scramble. Hmmmm... but all the XDog events have two things in common: 1} they are exceptionally well done and B} they try to kill you.)
(So, let's just go back to, say, the post for the Mt. Hood Scramble, grab a few paragraphs from that one...)
[cut... paste]
[cut... paste]
[cut... paste]
(Ooh, I should throw in some of the stuff from Havoc at the Hideout...)
[cut... paste]
[cut... paste]
(And grab some choice excerpts from the Dirty Duathlon in April and the White River Snowshoe 8k way back in January.)
(January??! Holy cow, that was Event One in this crazy adventure!!)
(Okay, where was I? Oh yeah. Let's grab... this line [cut... paste] and this part [cut... paste] and this funny part here [cut... paste]. Oh, hey, and this part describing XDog and how they do events [cut... paste]. Add some stuff about how XDog receives kickbacks from the local ER's... okay, looks good.
(Okay, now let's do some findin' and replacin'. Find 'Mt. Hood'; replace with 'McCubbin's Gulch'. Okey dokey... find 'Havoc at the Hideout'; replace with 'McCubbin's Gulch Scramble'. Check. And let's just delete and type it in here... and here. Oh, and here.)
(And...)
(Tada - a post is born!!)
(Okay, let's take a look...)
The weather was overcast when we left the house, and even looked like it could rain. We were on our way up and over Mt. Hood to McCubbin's Gulch, an area on the mountain we'd never been. It lies in the Mt. Hood National Forest. It's a campground/recreation area popular with dirt bikers and XDog. Well, for XDog it's popular once each year for this event. We were heading to Event 32 in the 50@50 Project, a sort of special race in that Camera Crew and I are finally back on the same event count! Hooray!
As is usually the case, once we went over the shoulder of Mt. Hood on Highway 26 and got to the east side, the clouds were gone and it was blue skies, baby! My navigator was napping, so we missed the turn off 26 and had to double back. I saw the sign just as we went by it, so it was no biggie. We got to the campground where Race HQ was set up, parked the SUV and went to check in. This event is known for crazy camping the night before, complete with Camp Bingo and an annual event known as 'The Creek Streak'. I am sorry we missed both! The former would have been fun and the latter would have actually counted as another event. Drats! Next time, though.
We got our bib numbers and hung out - still had 45 minutes to start time. We saw Kevin from XDog and he came over to chat. Like always, I asked how the course was and he got his usual 'crazed' look, smiled and said "Oh, it's a good one. It's really good!" Which meant he had a doozy for us - again. But how much damage could he do in 5.9 miles? Yeah. We would have been disappointed if it had been anything but epic, right? LOVE XDog!
The McCubbin's Gulch area was dusty and it was getting warm, but all in all it was pretty much a perfect day to go running through the brush, across creeks, and up/down hill sides. I've said it before but will again: the people attracted to the XDog events are wonderful. Friendly, supportive, fun, attractive, good-natured. Seriously. It's a great atmosphere. Like Kevin says in his pre-race pep talk 'It's not about how fast you finish. It's about finishing.' He also says to follow the pink ribbon and the yellow cones and that if you get lost 'it's your own damn fault'.
It was time to get going. We lined up and the conch shell sounded (probably the best conch sendoff yet). We started out down a paved road, then cut off on a dirt road - losing elevation the whole way. Yikes. Sure enough, we crossed the creek (knee/thigh deep) and then after a bit of running through brush, over logs, across deadfall we hit the first climb. Steep. Steep. And as we discovered over the course, the shortest of the FOUR hill side scrambles. (sigh) The course included several water crossings, a couple of balancing acts on logs over the creek (with an option to get in the water to cross, if ya wanted), lots of hopping over fallen trees.
This event was unlike the Mt. Hood Scramble in a couple of ways. There seemed to be a lot more decent open ground to run on, which made it nice. I'm not saying we were on trails, mind you. Like XDog says 'There are parts of the course you can run, parts you cannot run, and sections you clearly shouldn't run.' The parts I'm talking about were littered with fallen trees and branches, rocks and roots. Camera Crew described it best when she said it was like 'running through tires when you have to high step them in an obstacle course. Except the tires aren't evenly spaced.' A couple of short choppy steps, then a long hop to clear some brush, then hop up on a log, down to another log, then onto some rocks. Fun!
The other way this one seemed different is that if you got lost out here, got off the marked trail, missed the pink ribbon - you may really be lost. We were out of earshot of the dirt bikes and there aren't any roads, other than the campground. If a runner got turned around and couldn't find the ribbon, that could be bad. On the Mt. Hood Scramble, the entire event takes place along the river - starts out heading upstream, finishes heading downstream. You're rarely out of sight/sound of the water plus you have Highway 35 right there at the mid-point and the finish line is there in the big parking lot. But like the man said 'if you get lost it's your own damn fault'. Plenty of course markings so it wasn't an issue at all.
We got through the second and third big climbs, both feeling really good along the way. Once we hit the monster fourth climb, though, I was about done for the day. Camera Crew and I work together really well at times like this. I usually set the pace in the beginning. Then at some point, I get close to my limit and she takes over. This was that time. She took the lead and because she kept trudging up the hill, I kept trudging up the hill.
We knew we were close to the end. After a good long stretch of running through the brush and over logs, we finally saw the road and a friendly volunteer directing us toward the finish line 1/2 mile or so down the way. However, to get to the road and the friendly volunteer we had to run down into a shallow ditch then up to the road. I was just a couple of strides from the edge of the ditch and my left foot got tangled up in a tree branch (I think it caught in my laces). Essentially, I picked the branch up with my shoe laces. I got skills. This caused the branch to catch my right foot, and I... I...
I didn't fall.
It was the most amazing save ever. I know I hopped once, maybe twice. At some point the branch came loose, I stumbled forward into the ditch but kept my balance and made it onto the road. The volunteer was cracking up and I yelled "Save!" and high-fived him. Whew, that was close. I didn't find out til after this near miss that the branch I tripped on almost tripped up Camera Crew when I dislodged it, with all my ninja-like skills.
The last part of the run was on the paved road. We have learned not to trust XDog and assumed this was a trap, that at any moment we were going to see pink ribbon sending us off a cliff or up a tree or into the den of a bear. But, no, this really was the end - except for having to hop a waist high fence and run across the creek to the finish line. One last rinse of the shoes! The always great XDog crowd, the fast, average and slow alike, always cheer for everyone. It's a great feeling. All finishers are welcomed to the party, with congratulations and the location of the kegs of Redhook beer. "Nice job, bro!" "Brewskis are right over there, dude." "Look at the size of those calves!!" This last comment from a woman who pointed out that I was bleeding.
It was another awesome event. If all 50 events could be XDog races, that would be fine by us. We hung out, had a beer and drinks from our XDog flasks, then hopped in the SUV for the drive home. We stopped off in Rhododendron for lunch at the Barlow Trail Roadhouse. Excellent food and service, good beer lineup - and tator tots! Next time you're up on the hill, check them out. www.barlowtrailroadhouse.com
Lots going on in the next few weeks. We have rare weeknight events the next two Thursdays, an epic bike ride this Saturday and (if I survive the ride) more double header weekends coming soon.
Peace out.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
All Evened Up - Finally!
As you loyal followers know, Camera Crew has been ahead of me by one event for some time now. This was caused by her doing an event when I was in Guatemala and the time of my make-up race being moved so that I couldn't make it. So, for a while now, every time I announce an event, she has piped up with 'event +1'. Review any of the last 6-8 videos and you'll see what I'm talking about.
"Welcome to Event 28 in..." "Twenty-nine!"
Grrr...
But finally - redemption! We had signed up for the West Linn Trail Run Series, a set of races to be held on weeknights over the summer in nearby West Linn, a 'burb of PDX. The races are only $5 so they are a great deal for us, since we've been dumping quite a bit of money into this project! We'll take the bargains where we can get them.
The first of these races was last night. But Camera Crew had a dilemma. She isn't high maintenance - she can do a muddy trail run in the morning then dress up for dinner and the opera that same night. I love this about her. But one thing she has grown to love is her massages. Several years ago I got her a gift certificate for a massage - nice gift, right? But she put it off for a long time - she'd never had one before and wasn't sure she would like it. Well, she finally went and - wow - now she loves them! So last night she had a massage appointment and we had this race. She really wanted the massage and after a short discussion, it was decided that she would go to her thing and I would go to the run. This would get us all evened up again in the event count! Hooray!
The race was being held in Mary S. Young State Park. I had never been there before and, being a weeknight, rush hour traffic was horrendous. Still, with a race start of 6:15 and me heading out at 5:10, I figured I was okay. Man oh man, I barely made it. Seriously, I do not know how people do this type of drive every day. I couldn't deal with it. So I'm stuck in traffic watching the minutes tick away toward my start time. I was 99% sure I was not going to make it. But I did - barely.
I finally arrived at the park. Looked like a neat area. The land was given to the state by Thomas and Mary Young for the sole purpose that it be used as a park. It was dedicated to Mary on August 7th, 1973. The park is roughly 113 acres in size.
I parked the SUV, shot a quick intro video, then jogged over to the race area. I just had time to get my bib number and use the little boys room. In fact, as I was in the restroom, the guy is announcing "One minute to the 5k!!". Yikes. The check-in table didn't have any safety pins and I didn't have time to run to the car to use four of the 600 or so we've accumulated from other races and stashed in the center console, so I folded up my bib number and stuck it in the little pocket of my water bottle.
Checking out the competition, I realized that the participants were mostly high school track and cross country teams along with their coaches. There were a few adults, parents of some of the high schoolers. And me, a big kid from the city.
"Three, two, one - go!"
Aaaagh! Not ready. But whatcha gonna do.
I ran.
The course consisted of two loops around what I guess is the soccer complex located within the park. I never had time to explore or check out a map prior to showing up, so can't describe where within the park I was. Anyhoo, feeling a little frantic from the drive and being rushed, I covered the first mile in under 10 minutes, which is waaaay too fast for me. So I slowed myself down a little, gathered myself and my breathing then settled in. It was a good run, mostly dirt paths, some wood chip and a short section that was blacktop. Very slight up and down elevation changes, barely noticeable.
With all the high school speedsters, I am still trying to figure out how I never got lapped. The race started in the middle of the soccer fields, we ran a cross the fields to the wooded path, then did two loops, then back onto the fields to the finish. I figured I could stay ahead of them for the first lap but I kept waiting to be lapped at some point on the second. It never happened. Oh well. I didn't have to trip any punk kids!! See, it all worked out and I didn't get arrested.
I finished up and felt pretty good that I was finally in sync with Camera Crew! Thank goodness she likes her massages!
Next up this Sunday: XDog Events McCubbin's Gulch Scramble, somewhere on the east side of Mt. Hood or east of Mt. Hood or something like that. I have no doubt it will be very XDog-y. Which reminds me - I need to clean up my trail shoes!
"Welcome to Event 28 in..." "Twenty-nine!"
Grrr...
But finally - redemption! We had signed up for the West Linn Trail Run Series, a set of races to be held on weeknights over the summer in nearby West Linn, a 'burb of PDX. The races are only $5 so they are a great deal for us, since we've been dumping quite a bit of money into this project! We'll take the bargains where we can get them.
The first of these races was last night. But Camera Crew had a dilemma. She isn't high maintenance - she can do a muddy trail run in the morning then dress up for dinner and the opera that same night. I love this about her. But one thing she has grown to love is her massages. Several years ago I got her a gift certificate for a massage - nice gift, right? But she put it off for a long time - she'd never had one before and wasn't sure she would like it. Well, she finally went and - wow - now she loves them! So last night she had a massage appointment and we had this race. She really wanted the massage and after a short discussion, it was decided that she would go to her thing and I would go to the run. This would get us all evened up again in the event count! Hooray!
The race was being held in Mary S. Young State Park. I had never been there before and, being a weeknight, rush hour traffic was horrendous. Still, with a race start of 6:15 and me heading out at 5:10, I figured I was okay. Man oh man, I barely made it. Seriously, I do not know how people do this type of drive every day. I couldn't deal with it. So I'm stuck in traffic watching the minutes tick away toward my start time. I was 99% sure I was not going to make it. But I did - barely.
I finally arrived at the park. Looked like a neat area. The land was given to the state by Thomas and Mary Young for the sole purpose that it be used as a park. It was dedicated to Mary on August 7th, 1973. The park is roughly 113 acres in size.
I parked the SUV, shot a quick intro video, then jogged over to the race area. I just had time to get my bib number and use the little boys room. In fact, as I was in the restroom, the guy is announcing "One minute to the 5k!!". Yikes. The check-in table didn't have any safety pins and I didn't have time to run to the car to use four of the 600 or so we've accumulated from other races and stashed in the center console, so I folded up my bib number and stuck it in the little pocket of my water bottle.
Checking out the competition, I realized that the participants were mostly high school track and cross country teams along with their coaches. There were a few adults, parents of some of the high schoolers. And me, a big kid from the city.
"Three, two, one - go!"
Aaaagh! Not ready. But whatcha gonna do.
I ran.
The course consisted of two loops around what I guess is the soccer complex located within the park. I never had time to explore or check out a map prior to showing up, so can't describe where within the park I was. Anyhoo, feeling a little frantic from the drive and being rushed, I covered the first mile in under 10 minutes, which is waaaay too fast for me. So I slowed myself down a little, gathered myself and my breathing then settled in. It was a good run, mostly dirt paths, some wood chip and a short section that was blacktop. Very slight up and down elevation changes, barely noticeable.
With all the high school speedsters, I am still trying to figure out how I never got lapped. The race started in the middle of the soccer fields, we ran a cross the fields to the wooded path, then did two loops, then back onto the fields to the finish. I figured I could stay ahead of them for the first lap but I kept waiting to be lapped at some point on the second. It never happened. Oh well. I didn't have to trip any punk kids!! See, it all worked out and I didn't get arrested.
I finished up and felt pretty good that I was finally in sync with Camera Crew! Thank goodness she likes her massages!
Next up this Sunday: XDog Events McCubbin's Gulch Scramble, somewhere on the east side of Mt. Hood or east of Mt. Hood or something like that. I have no doubt it will be very XDog-y. Which reminds me - I need to clean up my trail shoes!
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
...Our Next Event...
...the Deschutes Dash 5k. This one was another milestone of sorts - Event 30 in the 50@50 Project. Boy, these events are just flyin' by, aren't they?!
The Deschutes Dash weekend is a series of events held over two days. As I said in the previous post, they have a bunch of different races at a bunch of different distances, from hardcore Olympic distance triathlons to a kids Splash Dash with water obstacles. Since we had done the the big ride yesterday we opted for a nice little 5k run. I was tempted to try the duathlon but Camera Crew talked me down from the ledge. Thank goodness.
Camera Crew made the point that, in a way, we were doing a duathlon over the weekend, just with a realllllly long transition in between the ride and the run. We decided not to go down this path since a duathlon would count as only one event in the project. But I love the 'outside the box' thinking.
When we arrived at Bend's Old Mill District and found a place to park (a little exasperating!), the sprint distance triathetes were already in the water. This race/distance is something I want to try some day. The Deschutes Dash version was made up of an 800 yard downstream swim in the river, a 12 mile bike ride and a 5k run. I love swimming but that leg would be the trickiest part of this for me because A] I don't have the opportunity to get in the water that often and B] I don't think they make wetsuits in my size. Haha! Actually, they do but it's all about the self-deprecation, folks!
We watched the swimmers for a bit then cheered them on while they came out of the water to transition to their bikes. Some of the racers were darn quick at this; others not so much. This sprint distance is kind of like a testing ground for those wanting to 'try a tri', to see if it's something they want to pursue. It would certainly be the level I would do if/when I ever attempt this.
A few of the bikers even made it back and started their run just before we were sent off on our 5k. I have to say that for everything going on all at once, our race started right on time. Very well organized event overall.
Our route took us mostly along the Deschutes River through the Les Schwab Amphitheater grounds, across a bridge, under a very low bridge right along the waters edge, and was a mix of paved trail, sidewalk, dirt trails, gravel trails. It was an all-terrain run. Back along the other side of the river, over another bridge, then back to the finish line!! I can't speak for Camera Crew but I will admit that I felt every one of the bike miles from the day before, so never really fell into a good running rhythm. Hips ached and my quads hurt on even the slightest little hill. But, meh, it was only 3 miles. I made it through and CC was literally right behind me. Another 10 yards and she woulda caught me!
Facing the ride back to Portland, we decided not to hang out at the race and went back to the hotel to shower and pack. However, being ones who never want to miss an opportunity for brunch, we went in search of food prior to leaving town. We were very successful in that we found the Victorian Cafe. Awesome place for any number of reasons, not the least of which was the bar they have outside in the parking lot. They make mimosas and bloody mary's for those waiting for a table. Did I tell you they were awesome? After a reasonable wait, we were seated inside and enjoyed our food immensely. Me: biscuits and gravy; CC: pulled pork eggs benedict. Most excellent!
www.victoriancafebend.com
So that was Bend. Any questions? No? Okay, then - class dismissed.
The Deschutes Dash weekend is a series of events held over two days. As I said in the previous post, they have a bunch of different races at a bunch of different distances, from hardcore Olympic distance triathlons to a kids Splash Dash with water obstacles. Since we had done the the big ride yesterday we opted for a nice little 5k run. I was tempted to try the duathlon but Camera Crew talked me down from the ledge. Thank goodness.
Camera Crew made the point that, in a way, we were doing a duathlon over the weekend, just with a realllllly long transition in between the ride and the run. We decided not to go down this path since a duathlon would count as only one event in the project. But I love the 'outside the box' thinking.
When we arrived at Bend's Old Mill District and found a place to park (a little exasperating!), the sprint distance triathetes were already in the water. This race/distance is something I want to try some day. The Deschutes Dash version was made up of an 800 yard downstream swim in the river, a 12 mile bike ride and a 5k run. I love swimming but that leg would be the trickiest part of this for me because A] I don't have the opportunity to get in the water that often and B] I don't think they make wetsuits in my size. Haha! Actually, they do but it's all about the self-deprecation, folks!
We watched the swimmers for a bit then cheered them on while they came out of the water to transition to their bikes. Some of the racers were darn quick at this; others not so much. This sprint distance is kind of like a testing ground for those wanting to 'try a tri', to see if it's something they want to pursue. It would certainly be the level I would do if/when I ever attempt this.
A few of the bikers even made it back and started their run just before we were sent off on our 5k. I have to say that for everything going on all at once, our race started right on time. Very well organized event overall.
Our route took us mostly along the Deschutes River through the Les Schwab Amphitheater grounds, across a bridge, under a very low bridge right along the waters edge, and was a mix of paved trail, sidewalk, dirt trails, gravel trails. It was an all-terrain run. Back along the other side of the river, over another bridge, then back to the finish line!! I can't speak for Camera Crew but I will admit that I felt every one of the bike miles from the day before, so never really fell into a good running rhythm. Hips ached and my quads hurt on even the slightest little hill. But, meh, it was only 3 miles. I made it through and CC was literally right behind me. Another 10 yards and she woulda caught me!
Facing the ride back to Portland, we decided not to hang out at the race and went back to the hotel to shower and pack. However, being ones who never want to miss an opportunity for brunch, we went in search of food prior to leaving town. We were very successful in that we found the Victorian Cafe. Awesome place for any number of reasons, not the least of which was the bar they have outside in the parking lot. They make mimosas and bloody mary's for those waiting for a table. Did I tell you they were awesome? After a reasonable wait, we were seated inside and enjoyed our food immensely. Me: biscuits and gravy; CC: pulled pork eggs benedict. Most excellent!
www.victoriancafebend.com
So that was Bend. Any questions? No? Okay, then - class dismissed.
Halfway - and Some Good News! (or not)
As it turns out, the signs were WRONG! We ended up riding a total of 51 miles!!
Still better than the Inland Empire ride we did back in May - that one was off by about 5 miles!
Have Bikes (and Running Shoes), Will Travel
Whose idea was this 50@50 Project, anyway!!???! Oh yeah... never mind.
Events 29 and 30 took us to Bend, OR for (29) the Tour des Chutes 50 Mile Ride and (30) the Deschutes Dash 5k. We'll cover the ride here and the run in a separate post.
We arrived in Bend Friday afternoon and visited the two different locations for our event packet pickups - one bike shop and one running store, obviously. After enjoying lunch at Longboard Louie's www.longboardlouies.com we headed to the hotel, checked in, unloaded the SUV and settled into the room to do what every couple does in a hotel - or at least every couple who doesn't have cable at home - we watched the Food Network almost non-stop. This consists of non-stop 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' with host Guy Fieri (who, I gotta say, is looking just a little bit chunky these days) and 'Restaurant: Impossible' with Robert Irvine, who must lift refrigerators in between takes to maintain his physique.
We assumed Bend would be busy enough, given that there were two sporting events happening the same weekend - and the Deschutes Dash is a two-day affair offering triathlons, duathlons, runs, rides, swims - and all in various distances. We didn't know it was also the same weekend as Bend's Summer Fest, which closes off the streets of downtown for several stages of live music, food and crafts vendors and a gajillion people. Plus, we found out all of this is the same weekend as - wait for it - the Outdoor Quilt Show in nearby Sisters, OR www.sistersoutdoorquiltshow.org All of these events culminated in us playing the people watching game of 'Triathlete, Musician, Vendor or Quilter?' for the next three days.
We walked from the hotel to Summer Fest, listened to some music and had dinner at Pizza Mondo. Or tried to, anyway. Downtown was a zoo of people and the restaurants were all slammed. The pizza place lost our order so the pie didn't get made until I went to check on why we hadn't yet been fed. They apologized, made our pizza right away and boxed it up. After waiting so long, we were ready to head back to the hotel to chill before our ride the next morning. They did give us a couple of fresh baked brownies as a 'sorry' for holding us up. So that was nice!
The next morning we loaded up the bikes and drove across town to Highland Elementary School, which was the start/finish for the event. The ride was started by Bend resident Gary Bonacker, who was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in 2003. In 2005 he started the ride to raise awareness and money for the St. Charles Survivorship Program, a service that provides comprehensive support to cancer patients and their caretakers. read about the ride, Gary and the program at www.tourdeschutes.org
The riders tackling the full century and the 74 mile routes had already departed. We were in the 50 miler group and started at 8. They gathered us all together and then sent us off en masse to bagpipers playing tunes in honor of all those who have dealt with cancer in one way or another. People rode in memory of loved ones, others rode in groups with a survivor or rode in honor of someone fighting the fight now. It was really touching.
Some rolling ups and downs spread the peloton out pretty quickly. The course was very well marked and we soon found ourselves outside of town on quiet country back roads. The first half of the ride was pretty easy with a lot of elevation loss. This was fine and dandy except that we knew for every hill we blasted down we would have to climb back up at some point to get to the finish. Oh well - enjoy it while you can! We made great time to the halfway point at Cline Falls State Park, where we enjoyed the usual ride snacks of peanut butter, jam and bread, fruits, energy bars, electrolyte drinks. We refilled water bottles and hit the road for the second half.
This stretch started out much like the first half - flats, rolling hills once in a while - all fine. Then the climbs started getting a little more serious. Then a little more. And so on. Whereas the elevation loss in the first part was pretty even throughout the 25 miles, the climb back up was mostly in the last 10-12 miles of the last part of the ride. So the climbs were a little steeper. No biggie, though - we powered 'through and up'. Or maybe we threw up. I forget.
Anyhoo, we finished in about 4 hours of actual ride time, which was pretty great for us. After parking the bikes we lined up for some much needed food, which was catered by... Longboard Louie's!! They had set up a burrito and taco bar, which was a-w-e-s-o-m-e!!
Back at the hotel, we cleaned up, watched more FoodTV then ventured out to have dinner with some friends who live in Bend, Mike and his fiancee Krista, as well as 3 year old Emmit. Great people! We met up at Crux Fermentation Project, a fairly new brewery in Bend. Food and beer were both very good, and the place was packed. Very nice brewhouse and the restaurant has an awesome outdoor area.
If in Bend, visit!! www.cruxfermentation.com
After dinner, it was back to the hotel for some rest and prep for...
Events 29 and 30 took us to Bend, OR for (29) the Tour des Chutes 50 Mile Ride and (30) the Deschutes Dash 5k. We'll cover the ride here and the run in a separate post.
We arrived in Bend Friday afternoon and visited the two different locations for our event packet pickups - one bike shop and one running store, obviously. After enjoying lunch at Longboard Louie's www.longboardlouies.com we headed to the hotel, checked in, unloaded the SUV and settled into the room to do what every couple does in a hotel - or at least every couple who doesn't have cable at home - we watched the Food Network almost non-stop. This consists of non-stop 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' with host Guy Fieri (who, I gotta say, is looking just a little bit chunky these days) and 'Restaurant: Impossible' with Robert Irvine, who must lift refrigerators in between takes to maintain his physique.
We assumed Bend would be busy enough, given that there were two sporting events happening the same weekend - and the Deschutes Dash is a two-day affair offering triathlons, duathlons, runs, rides, swims - and all in various distances. We didn't know it was also the same weekend as Bend's Summer Fest, which closes off the streets of downtown for several stages of live music, food and crafts vendors and a gajillion people. Plus, we found out all of this is the same weekend as - wait for it - the Outdoor Quilt Show in nearby Sisters, OR www.sistersoutdoorquiltshow.org All of these events culminated in us playing the people watching game of 'Triathlete, Musician, Vendor or Quilter?' for the next three days.
We walked from the hotel to Summer Fest, listened to some music and had dinner at Pizza Mondo. Or tried to, anyway. Downtown was a zoo of people and the restaurants were all slammed. The pizza place lost our order so the pie didn't get made until I went to check on why we hadn't yet been fed. They apologized, made our pizza right away and boxed it up. After waiting so long, we were ready to head back to the hotel to chill before our ride the next morning. They did give us a couple of fresh baked brownies as a 'sorry' for holding us up. So that was nice!
The next morning we loaded up the bikes and drove across town to Highland Elementary School, which was the start/finish for the event. The ride was started by Bend resident Gary Bonacker, who was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in 2003. In 2005 he started the ride to raise awareness and money for the St. Charles Survivorship Program, a service that provides comprehensive support to cancer patients and their caretakers. read about the ride, Gary and the program at www.tourdeschutes.org
The riders tackling the full century and the 74 mile routes had already departed. We were in the 50 miler group and started at 8. They gathered us all together and then sent us off en masse to bagpipers playing tunes in honor of all those who have dealt with cancer in one way or another. People rode in memory of loved ones, others rode in groups with a survivor or rode in honor of someone fighting the fight now. It was really touching.
Some rolling ups and downs spread the peloton out pretty quickly. The course was very well marked and we soon found ourselves outside of town on quiet country back roads. The first half of the ride was pretty easy with a lot of elevation loss. This was fine and dandy except that we knew for every hill we blasted down we would have to climb back up at some point to get to the finish. Oh well - enjoy it while you can! We made great time to the halfway point at Cline Falls State Park, where we enjoyed the usual ride snacks of peanut butter, jam and bread, fruits, energy bars, electrolyte drinks. We refilled water bottles and hit the road for the second half.
This stretch started out much like the first half - flats, rolling hills once in a while - all fine. Then the climbs started getting a little more serious. Then a little more. And so on. Whereas the elevation loss in the first part was pretty even throughout the 25 miles, the climb back up was mostly in the last 10-12 miles of the last part of the ride. So the climbs were a little steeper. No biggie, though - we powered 'through and up'. Or maybe we threw up. I forget.
Anyhoo, we finished in about 4 hours of actual ride time, which was pretty great for us. After parking the bikes we lined up for some much needed food, which was catered by... Longboard Louie's!! They had set up a burrito and taco bar, which was a-w-e-s-o-m-e!!
Back at the hotel, we cleaned up, watched more FoodTV then ventured out to have dinner with some friends who live in Bend, Mike and his fiancee Krista, as well as 3 year old Emmit. Great people! We met up at Crux Fermentation Project, a fairly new brewery in Bend. Food and beer were both very good, and the place was packed. Very nice brewhouse and the restaurant has an awesome outdoor area.
If in Bend, visit!! www.cruxfermentation.com
After dinner, it was back to the hotel for some rest and prep for...
The Wallowa's - A Little Slice of Heaven
Event 28 in the 50@50 Project brought us to the northeast corner of Oregon. And - WOW - is about all I can say! It's been a week and I'm still kicking myself for never visiting this area before. It is absolutely beautiful. If you haven't been - get thee to there post haste.
As you know, we had just done the ORRC '4 on the 4th' run in the morning. We got home, showered and packed the SUV, loaded the mountain bikes and hit the road for the drive east. We were excited for this trip because, really, this was our honeymoon. We got hitched in September but never got away to celebrate. So, yeah, we were pumped up for this little getaway. Of course, we never seem to go anywhere that doesn't have a race of some sort attached to it! I think we got into this 'habit' back in 2008 when we ran the Whidbey Island Marathon. "Let's go check out Whidbey Island - oh and run 26.2 miles while we're there." We did the same thing in February 2009 when we celebrated Valentine's Day in Austin, TX by again running a full marathon.
What the hell is wrong with us?! Haha!
Running four miles then jumping in the car for a six hour drive may not be the best idea but it wasn't too bad. Okay, I'm lying a little. The last hour or so was pretty rough. I was tired and had a headache. No coffee and not enough water did me in. This was a part of Oregon I had never seen before so once we got off the freeway at Pendleton it was all new territory. The one lane road with lots of twists and turns kept my attention, to be sure.
We arrived at the Rim Rock Inn, which is in... nowhere. Really. It's a fantastic little place that sits off Highway 3, about 35 miles due north of Enterprise, OR in the middle of nowhere. The inn sits on the edge of Joseph Canyon near the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. I cannot stress enough: if you are looking for a unique getaway at a place that is as gorgeous as they come that is run by the most awesome couple ever, book a stay at the Rim Rock Inn. www.rimrockinnor.com You will thank me.
We were met at the front desk/bar by Lindsay (one half of the caretaker couple) who said "You must be checking in for a stay in the tepee." Yes, tepees. I said it was unique, right? They have three tepees - we were in the smallest, the 16 footer, and it gave us plenty of room. They have two others that are even bigger. They also have a more traditional room on the main floor as well as a 'suite' above the restaurant which has (I believe) two bedrooms and a full kitchen. Then there is the Mustang Sally Bunkhouse, which is a... mmmm, best to click the link and check it out for yourself. Throw in the Looking Glass Platform Tent room (read up on that one, too), add some tent sites, and you have a very cool, quirky place to spend a few days.
Don't get the idea that staying here means you're 'roughing it'. The ground inside our tepee was covered with a wicker mat and had a small area rug; we had a futon mattress on the ground, with sheets and Pendleton wool blankets; they provide towels, shampoo, conditioner, etc. plus locally handmade soaps and chocolates; a lantern and flashlight; a chiminea with all the firewood you could ever burn; adirondack chairs. Inside the main house are two shared bathrooms and two shower rooms. The inn has a bar (wine and beer only) and a restaurant. Lindsay's husband, Mike, does the cooking. The two of them do pretty much everything around the place, in fact. Their three year old son, Sebastian, supervises them to keep them on task. And Simon runs herd on Sebastian. Simon is their dog.
After getting settled in, we broke out some wine and food, lit up the chiminea and got comfortable in the chairs. The shadows spread across the canyon as the sun set, then the stars began appearing a few at a time, it seemed. Having lived in the city for so long, I always forget just how breathtaking the night sky can be when you lose the ambient city light. Camera Crew recalled some of her astronomy from years gone by and pointed out different constellations. It was a pretty magical night.
The next morning, we thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast spread put out by Mike and Lindsay. So wonderful - and included in your room cost! Scratch made biscuits and gravy, cheeses, charcuterie, fruits, breads, great coffee, tea, juice. Our plan for the day was to eat then go mountain biking, early before it got too hot. But, surprisingly, Camera Crew just wanted to languish for a bit so we finished eating but stayed up on the deck enjoying more coffee (me) and tea (her). We read and relaxed. For me, this comes easily. But for CC, I was a little shocked. She is the one who is usually more like: "Okay, breakfast is done. Let's load up the bikes and hit the road." I have to admit the roles were reversed this time! I was getting a little antsy to get going while she was "I think I'll have a little more tea and maybe some more blueberries." Freaked me out, man!
Eventually, we got moving and drove south to Enterprise, then six miles SE to Joseph, OR. We stopped at the local bike shop to ask about cool spots to mountain bike. Now, when I say 'bike shop' I mean the local hardware store. Cool story: Joseph Hardware is a family owned business in this small town. It's your typical hardware store - everything you need is probably in there somewhere! If not, they can find it for you. But the cool thing is that when road and mountain biking took off in the area as a tourist 'thing' the owners saw a golden opportunity. There is no bike shop in town, so they sent some of their employees to the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, OR to take the Bike Maintenance courses. UBI is a renowned school that teaches (in addition to maintenance courses) frame building, wheel building, and bike shop management. www.bikeschool.com To me, this was a genius move by Joseph Hardware!! So, now they ARE the local bike shop and they run it out of the hardware store. Brilliant!
The guy in the store directed us to Salt Creek Summit, about 30 minutes outside of town. It was a great spot, with some nice gentle rolling hills and enough whoop-de-doos to make it interesting. Camera Crew is still pretty new to mountain biking so there are nerves. After reiterating the deal we have - that if she gets hurt mountain biking it's not my fault even though I'm the one who got her into it - we took off and rode for a while. Had a blast and she did great, even tackling some of the fun parts! Afterwards, we drove back to Joesph and hit Mutiny Brewing for lunch and brews. The brewery is pretty cool, sits right on the main street in town - as does most everything else. The food was good and the beers were refreshing. The name of the place comes from the fact that it was started up by a former Terminal Gravity employee. FYI - TG is a very popular microbrewery that is located in nearby Enterprise. Oh, the drama! www.mutinybrewing.com
Back to our tepee and a light snack, plus more fire and more stars. We went to bed (kinda) early because we had the run the next morning! Yeah, see, I had you so enamored with this beautiful little area that you completely forgot about the Lostine River Run 10k. It's okay - we pretty much did the same thing, reminding ourselves "Oh, crap - we have a run tomorrow!" We are nuts.
We got up around 6 AM, got ready, then made the 50 minute drive to Lostine. When we arrived, people were already there and there was a genuine excitement. Lostine is a small town - estimated population of 208 people in 2012. It was a very cool vibe for sure. I think most of the town was either running or volunteering for this event. The course was pretty neat. The Lostine River runs about 31 miles from up in the mountains down to town, then eventually dumps into the Wallowa River. The river was a primary source of Coho and Chinook salmon for the Nez Perce people indigenous to this area. Unfortunately, due to irrigation and water diversion by the settlers over the years, by the '60's the salmon run was all but extinct. However, in the 1990's the Nez Perce tribe began restoring the river habitat and in 2005 signed an agreement with the farmers and the Oregon Water Trust. I am happy to say that in 2009 the Chinook salmon run in the Lostine River was counted at over 2,000 fishies and is improving each year.
The route for our run was a bit unusual. Usually a run will either go in a loop or be an 'out and back' - both with the start and finish being the same place. This run was a 'back'. We loaded on buses and they took us upriver 6.2 miles along the road that parallels the river, then dropped us off. About 60 runners and one race official. We waited til 8:59:50 AM, the guy counted down, then fired his starter pistol and we were off. Not much to say about the run itself other than it was very nice country. Mountains all around, big fields, nice ranches, forest, and the river. This was a bit of a distance push for us - we haven't done a run this long since the Mt. Hood Scramble and that's not really a run, technically. But we were up for the task and finished in very respectable times.
We hung around for the awards to be handed out. With a 1 mike run, a 5k and our 10k, there were quite a few categories to get through. The organizers did a great job of recognizing the kids who participated, giving out ribbons for places 1st-5th. Only the top two adults got stuff. Nothing for this fat kid. But Camera Crew's name was drawn for one of the raffle prizes! So that was exciting. The guy pulled the ticket out and said "Crew, Camera?" and she jumped up a winner!
After the run we wandered the main street of Lostine. As it happened, this was also the week of their annual Flea Market Days, a three day event. The street was lined with 20-25 vendors from all over the area selling antiques, tools, handmade crafts, junk, etc. Oddly, there were at least three different folks selling wooden handles for hammers, sledges, axes, and the like. It was a lot of fun. And because Lindsay seemed bummed about not being able to go, we found a couple of super-kitschy knickknacks for her and Mike - totally tongue-in-cheek items: a butter dish with cows wearing rubber galoshes and a plastic peacock with full plumage. We even found a cool little toy truck for Sebastian.
On the drive back we stopped in at Terminal Gravity for lunch. Cool brewery in Enterprise but truthfully I preferred Mutiny, at least the food anyway. TG is certainly worth a stop, though. Check 'em out at www.terminalgravitybrewing.com We drove back 'home' and got showered up. It was nice to relax knowing we had finished a race and had an amazing dinner to look forward to this evening.
You'll be pleased to know that Lindsay and Mike enjoyed our flea market treasures and that, unbeknownst to us, they really dig peacocks! We (mock)insisted that the butter dish be used for breakfast the next morning. And it was! Sebastian really liked his new truck, too.
The Rim Rock Inn does dinner Tuesday-Saturday. The menu is pre-set - one entree per evening, reservations required so Mike knows how much food to make. We were seated on the deck overlooking the canyon, a little placard with our names marked our table. The meal started with a signature bread made for them by Liberty Bakery in Joseph. No website but you can find them on Facebook. The specialty bread is made with lavender and sea salt, and served with olive oil for dipping. Next came a fantastic green salad with a strawberry vinaigrette. Lindsay and Mike maintain a garden on site so some of the produce is from 20 feet away and the rest is sourced locally as is all the meat and poultry. Saturday's main course: tenderloin steak skewers, served with fire roasted vegetables and scratch made mashers. We had choices for dessert - lava cake, chocolate brownie, or peach hand pies. The dinner portions were quite large but we justified ordering dessert because we had run that morning, right? Riiiight! I had the peach hand pie and Camera Crew had the brownie; we both added 'a la mode' of course. Neither of us finished dessert. We were stuffed. The food was amazing as was the bottle of Walla Walla-area wine we enjoyed with our meal.
One last plug: Take some time for yourself, go to the Rim Rock Inn, sleep in a tepee and enjoy the caretakers, the amazing food, views, stars and atmosphere. Plus you can go visit the creepy old buildings only three+ miles away in the ghost town - Flora, OR.
The next morning (Sunday) we had breakfast - again, amazing - then reluctantly packed the SUV and headed for home. Never satisfied with traveling the same routes, we cut off the highway we came in just a few days before and drove over some crazy twisty mountain highway before hooking back up with the interstate for the holiday weekend traffic drive back to Portland.
A great honeymoon, another event in the 50@50 books and some new friends in Mike and Lindsay.
Yep, that made it a pretty spectacular weekend.
As you know, we had just done the ORRC '4 on the 4th' run in the morning. We got home, showered and packed the SUV, loaded the mountain bikes and hit the road for the drive east. We were excited for this trip because, really, this was our honeymoon. We got hitched in September but never got away to celebrate. So, yeah, we were pumped up for this little getaway. Of course, we never seem to go anywhere that doesn't have a race of some sort attached to it! I think we got into this 'habit' back in 2008 when we ran the Whidbey Island Marathon. "Let's go check out Whidbey Island - oh and run 26.2 miles while we're there." We did the same thing in February 2009 when we celebrated Valentine's Day in Austin, TX by again running a full marathon.
What the hell is wrong with us?! Haha!
Running four miles then jumping in the car for a six hour drive may not be the best idea but it wasn't too bad. Okay, I'm lying a little. The last hour or so was pretty rough. I was tired and had a headache. No coffee and not enough water did me in. This was a part of Oregon I had never seen before so once we got off the freeway at Pendleton it was all new territory. The one lane road with lots of twists and turns kept my attention, to be sure.
We arrived at the Rim Rock Inn, which is in... nowhere. Really. It's a fantastic little place that sits off Highway 3, about 35 miles due north of Enterprise, OR in the middle of nowhere. The inn sits on the edge of Joseph Canyon near the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. I cannot stress enough: if you are looking for a unique getaway at a place that is as gorgeous as they come that is run by the most awesome couple ever, book a stay at the Rim Rock Inn. www.rimrockinnor.com You will thank me.
We were met at the front desk/bar by Lindsay (one half of the caretaker couple) who said "You must be checking in for a stay in the tepee." Yes, tepees. I said it was unique, right? They have three tepees - we were in the smallest, the 16 footer, and it gave us plenty of room. They have two others that are even bigger. They also have a more traditional room on the main floor as well as a 'suite' above the restaurant which has (I believe) two bedrooms and a full kitchen. Then there is the Mustang Sally Bunkhouse, which is a... mmmm, best to click the link and check it out for yourself. Throw in the Looking Glass Platform Tent room (read up on that one, too), add some tent sites, and you have a very cool, quirky place to spend a few days.
Don't get the idea that staying here means you're 'roughing it'. The ground inside our tepee was covered with a wicker mat and had a small area rug; we had a futon mattress on the ground, with sheets and Pendleton wool blankets; they provide towels, shampoo, conditioner, etc. plus locally handmade soaps and chocolates; a lantern and flashlight; a chiminea with all the firewood you could ever burn; adirondack chairs. Inside the main house are two shared bathrooms and two shower rooms. The inn has a bar (wine and beer only) and a restaurant. Lindsay's husband, Mike, does the cooking. The two of them do pretty much everything around the place, in fact. Their three year old son, Sebastian, supervises them to keep them on task. And Simon runs herd on Sebastian. Simon is their dog.
After getting settled in, we broke out some wine and food, lit up the chiminea and got comfortable in the chairs. The shadows spread across the canyon as the sun set, then the stars began appearing a few at a time, it seemed. Having lived in the city for so long, I always forget just how breathtaking the night sky can be when you lose the ambient city light. Camera Crew recalled some of her astronomy from years gone by and pointed out different constellations. It was a pretty magical night.
The next morning, we thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast spread put out by Mike and Lindsay. So wonderful - and included in your room cost! Scratch made biscuits and gravy, cheeses, charcuterie, fruits, breads, great coffee, tea, juice. Our plan for the day was to eat then go mountain biking, early before it got too hot. But, surprisingly, Camera Crew just wanted to languish for a bit so we finished eating but stayed up on the deck enjoying more coffee (me) and tea (her). We read and relaxed. For me, this comes easily. But for CC, I was a little shocked. She is the one who is usually more like: "Okay, breakfast is done. Let's load up the bikes and hit the road." I have to admit the roles were reversed this time! I was getting a little antsy to get going while she was "I think I'll have a little more tea and maybe some more blueberries." Freaked me out, man!
Eventually, we got moving and drove south to Enterprise, then six miles SE to Joseph, OR. We stopped at the local bike shop to ask about cool spots to mountain bike. Now, when I say 'bike shop' I mean the local hardware store. Cool story: Joseph Hardware is a family owned business in this small town. It's your typical hardware store - everything you need is probably in there somewhere! If not, they can find it for you. But the cool thing is that when road and mountain biking took off in the area as a tourist 'thing' the owners saw a golden opportunity. There is no bike shop in town, so they sent some of their employees to the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, OR to take the Bike Maintenance courses. UBI is a renowned school that teaches (in addition to maintenance courses) frame building, wheel building, and bike shop management. www.bikeschool.com To me, this was a genius move by Joseph Hardware!! So, now they ARE the local bike shop and they run it out of the hardware store. Brilliant!
The guy in the store directed us to Salt Creek Summit, about 30 minutes outside of town. It was a great spot, with some nice gentle rolling hills and enough whoop-de-doos to make it interesting. Camera Crew is still pretty new to mountain biking so there are nerves. After reiterating the deal we have - that if she gets hurt mountain biking it's not my fault even though I'm the one who got her into it - we took off and rode for a while. Had a blast and she did great, even tackling some of the fun parts! Afterwards, we drove back to Joesph and hit Mutiny Brewing for lunch and brews. The brewery is pretty cool, sits right on the main street in town - as does most everything else. The food was good and the beers were refreshing. The name of the place comes from the fact that it was started up by a former Terminal Gravity employee. FYI - TG is a very popular microbrewery that is located in nearby Enterprise. Oh, the drama! www.mutinybrewing.com
Back to our tepee and a light snack, plus more fire and more stars. We went to bed (kinda) early because we had the run the next morning! Yeah, see, I had you so enamored with this beautiful little area that you completely forgot about the Lostine River Run 10k. It's okay - we pretty much did the same thing, reminding ourselves "Oh, crap - we have a run tomorrow!" We are nuts.
We got up around 6 AM, got ready, then made the 50 minute drive to Lostine. When we arrived, people were already there and there was a genuine excitement. Lostine is a small town - estimated population of 208 people in 2012. It was a very cool vibe for sure. I think most of the town was either running or volunteering for this event. The course was pretty neat. The Lostine River runs about 31 miles from up in the mountains down to town, then eventually dumps into the Wallowa River. The river was a primary source of Coho and Chinook salmon for the Nez Perce people indigenous to this area. Unfortunately, due to irrigation and water diversion by the settlers over the years, by the '60's the salmon run was all but extinct. However, in the 1990's the Nez Perce tribe began restoring the river habitat and in 2005 signed an agreement with the farmers and the Oregon Water Trust. I am happy to say that in 2009 the Chinook salmon run in the Lostine River was counted at over 2,000 fishies and is improving each year.
The route for our run was a bit unusual. Usually a run will either go in a loop or be an 'out and back' - both with the start and finish being the same place. This run was a 'back'. We loaded on buses and they took us upriver 6.2 miles along the road that parallels the river, then dropped us off. About 60 runners and one race official. We waited til 8:59:50 AM, the guy counted down, then fired his starter pistol and we were off. Not much to say about the run itself other than it was very nice country. Mountains all around, big fields, nice ranches, forest, and the river. This was a bit of a distance push for us - we haven't done a run this long since the Mt. Hood Scramble and that's not really a run, technically. But we were up for the task and finished in very respectable times.
We hung around for the awards to be handed out. With a 1 mike run, a 5k and our 10k, there were quite a few categories to get through. The organizers did a great job of recognizing the kids who participated, giving out ribbons for places 1st-5th. Only the top two adults got stuff. Nothing for this fat kid. But Camera Crew's name was drawn for one of the raffle prizes! So that was exciting. The guy pulled the ticket out and said "Crew, Camera?" and she jumped up a winner!
After the run we wandered the main street of Lostine. As it happened, this was also the week of their annual Flea Market Days, a three day event. The street was lined with 20-25 vendors from all over the area selling antiques, tools, handmade crafts, junk, etc. Oddly, there were at least three different folks selling wooden handles for hammers, sledges, axes, and the like. It was a lot of fun. And because Lindsay seemed bummed about not being able to go, we found a couple of super-kitschy knickknacks for her and Mike - totally tongue-in-cheek items: a butter dish with cows wearing rubber galoshes and a plastic peacock with full plumage. We even found a cool little toy truck for Sebastian.
On the drive back we stopped in at Terminal Gravity for lunch. Cool brewery in Enterprise but truthfully I preferred Mutiny, at least the food anyway. TG is certainly worth a stop, though. Check 'em out at www.terminalgravitybrewing.com We drove back 'home' and got showered up. It was nice to relax knowing we had finished a race and had an amazing dinner to look forward to this evening.
You'll be pleased to know that Lindsay and Mike enjoyed our flea market treasures and that, unbeknownst to us, they really dig peacocks! We (mock)insisted that the butter dish be used for breakfast the next morning. And it was! Sebastian really liked his new truck, too.
The Rim Rock Inn does dinner Tuesday-Saturday. The menu is pre-set - one entree per evening, reservations required so Mike knows how much food to make. We were seated on the deck overlooking the canyon, a little placard with our names marked our table. The meal started with a signature bread made for them by Liberty Bakery in Joseph. No website but you can find them on Facebook. The specialty bread is made with lavender and sea salt, and served with olive oil for dipping. Next came a fantastic green salad with a strawberry vinaigrette. Lindsay and Mike maintain a garden on site so some of the produce is from 20 feet away and the rest is sourced locally as is all the meat and poultry. Saturday's main course: tenderloin steak skewers, served with fire roasted vegetables and scratch made mashers. We had choices for dessert - lava cake, chocolate brownie, or peach hand pies. The dinner portions were quite large but we justified ordering dessert because we had run that morning, right? Riiiight! I had the peach hand pie and Camera Crew had the brownie; we both added 'a la mode' of course. Neither of us finished dessert. We were stuffed. The food was amazing as was the bottle of Walla Walla-area wine we enjoyed with our meal.
One last plug: Take some time for yourself, go to the Rim Rock Inn, sleep in a tepee and enjoy the caretakers, the amazing food, views, stars and atmosphere. Plus you can go visit the creepy old buildings only three+ miles away in the ghost town - Flora, OR.
The next morning (Sunday) we had breakfast - again, amazing - then reluctantly packed the SUV and headed for home. Never satisfied with traveling the same routes, we cut off the highway we came in just a few days before and drove over some crazy twisty mountain highway before hooking back up with the interstate for the holiday weekend traffic drive back to Portland.
A great honeymoon, another event in the 50@50 books and some new friends in Mike and Lindsay.
Yep, that made it a pretty spectacular weekend.
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