Friday, September 20, 2013
50@50 Project - Event 44 - XDog's Ole's Assault - Intro
Notice how clean we are here, before the race...
Toughest Course Yet
It's getting harder to write about XDog's events because, while they are similar in a lot of ways, they are each unique animals. I could pretty much cut and paste from previous posts on this blog and get damn close to describing the latest and greatest race - Ole's Assault, Event 44 - but that would be cheating, right? This post may sound much like the ones for McCubbin's Gulch or the Mt. Hood Scramble or Whine on the Vine. But take any part of any one of those events and amp it up another 30-40-50% - and you have Ole's Assault.
Let's start with the distance. This is the longest scramble in the series, the course varying each year a little depending on Kevin's mood. This year's route came in at 7.2 miles, give or take.
Next let's analyze Kevin's pre-race comments on the course. He usually says something cheeky like 'It's 6 miles but it'll feel like 8!" Or it's five and a half but it'll feel like 7!" Always with a big grin on his face, too. For Ole's Assault?
"It's a little over 7 but it'll feel like 15!"
How right he was...
Throw in rain in the days leading up to the event (not to mention thunder, lightning and rain DURING), add in steeper hills and gullies and ravines, lower obstacles that are crazy hard for a guy 6'4" - and you have a much more epic-er XDog outing.
The race is held on property just outside of Astoria, OR. Ole was the original owner of much of the land in the area, and his granddaughter and her family still own and work the land today. They run a logging operation and do it in a sustainable way, which is pretty awesome.
We had driven over the night before and camped at Cape Disappointment out near Ilwaco, WA. We scored a nice little campsite at the end of the road and enjoyed a fairly quiet evening. Camera Crew even got in a little kite flying. I don't mean a short span of time kite flying; I mean a 'little kite'.
It started sprinkling a little just as the sun was going down so we were forced indoors (tent) earlier than we would have liked, given the mild temps. But we played cards (I crushed her at Crazy 8's, she killed me at Go Fish), then we hit the hay so we could be well rested for the big day of killing ourselves.
We got up the next morning after a wonderfully restful sleep, fired up the camp stove to heat water for coffee and tea. We made breakfast - fruit and PBJ's, then broke camp. The drive over to Klaskanine River Park took about 45 minutes. We were enjoying the windy roads of Highway 202 out of Astoria and blew right past the turn off to the race start. We joked that we did that intentionally because we were both feeling a little apprehension over this event.
Ole's Assault brought out the usual XDog crazies. Many people look familiar since we've seen them many times over the last several months. A few asked what event number we were on - we're famous that way. I've said it before - this crowd is awesome. A special breed of people who are always more interested in a good time than in their finish time. We hit the restrooms and waited for the pre-race announcements, which are always entertaining. The gist of the instructions are 'if you get lost or hurt yourself, it's your own damn fault'. To start us off, Kevin led us out in the truck for the first 1.25 miles on some paved and gravel roads, then released us upon the 'trails'. Or maybe it was 'released the trails upon us'.
There were many obstacles on the course, some man made and others placed by Mother Nature. It seems there were a lot of 'duck under and/or crawl' obstacles, which were brutal to my lower back. Standing back up straight got more difficult the further along we went. To rub a little lemon juice into the cut, we were standing on a very steep bank sizing up the best way to get to the bottom of a particularly nasty gully, when alluvasudden my feet went out from under me in the slimy mud and I landed square flat on my back. Ouch. Still hurts today - partly because of another fall a few days later!
That, kids, is what we call foreshadowing.
About two-thirds of the way through we came across a young man named Jake, about 15, who was visibly upset. We asked if he was okay and he replied that his mom had fallen, hit her head and was bleeding, so he was trying to find help. Camera Crew is a trained Wilderness First Responder and I have a fair share of training as well. So we asked a few questions - not enough, as it turned out - and decided to backtrack to find them, see what we could do to help. Jake was with some other runners so we sent them on the way out. The info we got made it sound like his mom was just back up the trail a little ways. Thankfully, we met up with the boys older brother, Aiden, and found out a couple of vital pieces of information: His mom hadn't fallen and hit her head, but rather had smacked it while ducking under a log. Big difference. The velocity of a fall would lend itself to a more serious injury, but bumping your pumpkin could only be so bad, since one would theoretically be moving a little slower while maneuvering under a deadfall. And we found out that she was actually back very near the start of the trail portion of the race, not any where near where we were. So we decided to re-retrace our route, and head back along the course with Aiden until we got to a point to hook up with the road. We found the younger brother and left them near the road to be picked up by volunteers. A gal named Liz came through saying she had arranged help to get to the mom via the road and that there were a couple of soldiers with her and her husband. So those guys would definitely be trained to help her out.
Well, we were pretty frazzled by all that excitement, confusion and extra effort. The finish was a little anti-climactic because we were just a little fried from the course and the backtracking. Needless to say, this race was exceptionally epically awesomely difficult - and fun, in it's own devilish way. It was as advertised - the toughest XDog event of the season. As usual, we felt a unique sense of accomplishment that comes from the extreme nature of a challenge such as this. It pushes your limits as well as your buttons, a test of physical and mental toughness. We did pretty well in both categories, for the most part. I will say that at least I wasn't speaking in tongues like after the Dirty Duathlon back in April.
I'm sure Ole was looking down at the spectacle, laughing his ass off.
We took Highway 30 back to Portland. I like this drive - it's interesting and traffic moves along. But, wow, my back was killing me. Sitting still while driving just made it tighten up, which made unloading the SUV fun. Oh well - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
Let's start with the distance. This is the longest scramble in the series, the course varying each year a little depending on Kevin's mood. This year's route came in at 7.2 miles, give or take.
Next let's analyze Kevin's pre-race comments on the course. He usually says something cheeky like 'It's 6 miles but it'll feel like 8!" Or it's five and a half but it'll feel like 7!" Always with a big grin on his face, too. For Ole's Assault?
"It's a little over 7 but it'll feel like 15!"
How right he was...
Throw in rain in the days leading up to the event (not to mention thunder, lightning and rain DURING), add in steeper hills and gullies and ravines, lower obstacles that are crazy hard for a guy 6'4" - and you have a much more epic-er XDog outing.
The race is held on property just outside of Astoria, OR. Ole was the original owner of much of the land in the area, and his granddaughter and her family still own and work the land today. They run a logging operation and do it in a sustainable way, which is pretty awesome.
We had driven over the night before and camped at Cape Disappointment out near Ilwaco, WA. We scored a nice little campsite at the end of the road and enjoyed a fairly quiet evening. Camera Crew even got in a little kite flying. I don't mean a short span of time kite flying; I mean a 'little kite'.
It started sprinkling a little just as the sun was going down so we were forced indoors (tent) earlier than we would have liked, given the mild temps. But we played cards (I crushed her at Crazy 8's, she killed me at Go Fish), then we hit the hay so we could be well rested for the big day of killing ourselves.
We got up the next morning after a wonderfully restful sleep, fired up the camp stove to heat water for coffee and tea. We made breakfast - fruit and PBJ's, then broke camp. The drive over to Klaskanine River Park took about 45 minutes. We were enjoying the windy roads of Highway 202 out of Astoria and blew right past the turn off to the race start. We joked that we did that intentionally because we were both feeling a little apprehension over this event.
Ole's Assault brought out the usual XDog crazies. Many people look familiar since we've seen them many times over the last several months. A few asked what event number we were on - we're famous that way. I've said it before - this crowd is awesome. A special breed of people who are always more interested in a good time than in their finish time. We hit the restrooms and waited for the pre-race announcements, which are always entertaining. The gist of the instructions are 'if you get lost or hurt yourself, it's your own damn fault'. To start us off, Kevin led us out in the truck for the first 1.25 miles on some paved and gravel roads, then released us upon the 'trails'. Or maybe it was 'released the trails upon us'.
There were many obstacles on the course, some man made and others placed by Mother Nature. It seems there were a lot of 'duck under and/or crawl' obstacles, which were brutal to my lower back. Standing back up straight got more difficult the further along we went. To rub a little lemon juice into the cut, we were standing on a very steep bank sizing up the best way to get to the bottom of a particularly nasty gully, when alluvasudden my feet went out from under me in the slimy mud and I landed square flat on my back. Ouch. Still hurts today - partly because of another fall a few days later!
That, kids, is what we call foreshadowing.
About two-thirds of the way through we came across a young man named Jake, about 15, who was visibly upset. We asked if he was okay and he replied that his mom had fallen, hit her head and was bleeding, so he was trying to find help. Camera Crew is a trained Wilderness First Responder and I have a fair share of training as well. So we asked a few questions - not enough, as it turned out - and decided to backtrack to find them, see what we could do to help. Jake was with some other runners so we sent them on the way out. The info we got made it sound like his mom was just back up the trail a little ways. Thankfully, we met up with the boys older brother, Aiden, and found out a couple of vital pieces of information: His mom hadn't fallen and hit her head, but rather had smacked it while ducking under a log. Big difference. The velocity of a fall would lend itself to a more serious injury, but bumping your pumpkin could only be so bad, since one would theoretically be moving a little slower while maneuvering under a deadfall. And we found out that she was actually back very near the start of the trail portion of the race, not any where near where we were. So we decided to re-retrace our route, and head back along the course with Aiden until we got to a point to hook up with the road. We found the younger brother and left them near the road to be picked up by volunteers. A gal named Liz came through saying she had arranged help to get to the mom via the road and that there were a couple of soldiers with her and her husband. So those guys would definitely be trained to help her out.
Well, we were pretty frazzled by all that excitement, confusion and extra effort. The finish was a little anti-climactic because we were just a little fried from the course and the backtracking. Needless to say, this race was exceptionally epically awesomely difficult - and fun, in it's own devilish way. It was as advertised - the toughest XDog event of the season. As usual, we felt a unique sense of accomplishment that comes from the extreme nature of a challenge such as this. It pushes your limits as well as your buttons, a test of physical and mental toughness. We did pretty well in both categories, for the most part. I will say that at least I wasn't speaking in tongues like after the Dirty Duathlon back in April.
I'm sure Ole was looking down at the spectacle, laughing his ass off.
We took Highway 30 back to Portland. I like this drive - it's interesting and traffic moves along. But, wow, my back was killing me. Sitting still while driving just made it tighten up, which made unloading the SUV fun. Oh well - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
Friday, September 13, 2013
Big Week Coming Up!!
We here at the 50@50 Project strive to keep you, the reader and follower and supporter, entertained. It's because of this crazy commitment that we will be attempting to hurt ourselves next week, not in one event but in three.
First up - Event 44: This Sunday is an XDog Event (I could stop right there and you'd get the point) - Ole's Assault. We've never done this race. It's rumored to be the toughest, most badass XDog event on the calendar. The website says the average racer will take 2 to 2.5 hours to complete the course. An as yet to be determined number of miles in the forested mountains of the Coast Range near Astoria, OR with 'no less than 10 challenging obstacles' on the course. Yippee.
This fat kid is in trouble.
(Note to Kevin at XDog: I love you and hate you.)
Next up will be Event 45: Race #2 in the Portland Trail Series. This one is an evening run on Wednesday. If the first course we ran a couple of weeks ago,for Event 43, was any indication, these guys like hills.
Camera Crew - don't forget to wear your hair up...
And then, the following Sunday - Event 46 AND (more importantly) our first wedding anniversary!!!! XDog's (there they are again) Ride-Row-Run, an extreme triathlon. Yep. This is how everyone celebrates their anniversary, right? Right? No? Hmmm...
So our one year celebration will be in Maupin, OR where we'll bike 26 miles, then kayak the river for three miles, then run four miles to the finish line. I'm going to say this now - ouch.
What's that? I could have just gotten Camera Crew some flowers and a card? Son of a...
So, yeah. Three potentially grueling and painful events in 8 days. I hope this makes you very happy.
First up - Event 44: This Sunday is an XDog Event (I could stop right there and you'd get the point) - Ole's Assault. We've never done this race. It's rumored to be the toughest, most badass XDog event on the calendar. The website says the average racer will take 2 to 2.5 hours to complete the course. An as yet to be determined number of miles in the forested mountains of the Coast Range near Astoria, OR with 'no less than 10 challenging obstacles' on the course. Yippee.
This fat kid is in trouble.
(Note to Kevin at XDog: I love you and hate you.)
Next up will be Event 45: Race #2 in the Portland Trail Series. This one is an evening run on Wednesday. If the first course we ran a couple of weeks ago,for Event 43, was any indication, these guys like hills.
Camera Crew - don't forget to wear your hair up...
And then, the following Sunday - Event 46 AND (more importantly) our first wedding anniversary!!!! XDog's (there they are again) Ride-Row-Run, an extreme triathlon. Yep. This is how everyone celebrates their anniversary, right? Right? No? Hmmm...
So our one year celebration will be in Maupin, OR where we'll bike 26 miles, then kayak the river for three miles, then run four miles to the finish line. I'm going to say this now - ouch.
What's that? I could have just gotten Camera Crew some flowers and a card? Son of a...
So, yeah. Three potentially grueling and painful events in 8 days. I hope this makes you very happy.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
50@50 Project - Event 43 - Portland Trail Series - Intro and Wrap
The first run in a five run series, 5.78 miles in length.
This was an evening run and two days after a 10k trail run. So neither of us was very excited to do this event, at least until we got going. Once it started, we had a blast, naturally.
As you will see in the first vid, Camera Crew was not a happy camper. I'm posting the Intro and Wrap together so you can see the difference a trail run makes! Haha!
Enjoy!
Intro:
Water bottle - check
Running hat - check
Watch - check
Grumpy wife and running partner - check
Wrap:
Look who's all rainbows and unicorns!!
This was an evening run and two days after a 10k trail run. So neither of us was very excited to do this event, at least until we got going. Once it started, we had a blast, naturally.
As you will see in the first vid, Camera Crew was not a happy camper. I'm posting the Intro and Wrap together so you can see the difference a trail run makes! Haha!
Enjoy!
Intro:
Water bottle - check
Running hat - check
Watch - check
Grumpy wife and running partner - check
Wrap:
Look who's all rainbows and unicorns!!
Back on the Trails - Two Days Later
As you saw in the previous post, we had returned to our beloved Forest Park! On Labor Day, we had completed the Wildwood Trail 10k. And here it was two days later on Wednesday for Event 43 in the 50@50 Project - the Portland Trail Series. As the name suggests, this is a series of runs put on as a fundraiser for the Forest Park Conservancy. This organization works to protect, foster, and preserve the ecological health of the park as well as inspire appreciation and future stewardship of this magnificent place. At 5,000 acres, it is the largest naturally forested urban park in the US. Take that, Seattle!! Read all about it at www.forestparkconservancy.org
The trail runs in this series are held every other Wednesday and consists of five races. The first four of these will be official 50@50 events - numbers 43, 45, 47 and 49. We'll be missing the last one because we will be, uh, er... 'out of town'. These events will be fun mostly because each course will be of a different distance on different trails, so we'll get to re-visit more of the park. Which is wonderful, truly.
I really had no idea what to expect as we drove up to the top of NW Thurman for the start of the race. Registration for the series is limited to 150 people but there are usually no shows. I wasn't sure how formal the event would be or how many people would show up. As it turns out, the races are chip timed and they had a big official timing clock, a check-in table, water, etc. - all the trappings of a real live event!! Sweet! Surveying the crowd, I noticed that most of the runners looked to be, well, runners. I'm a big guy at 6'4" and packing some extra weight, so I stand out as the most Clydesdale of Clydesdales at most events, especially the smaller ones like this. For those who don't know, 'Clydesdale' is a special category at runners - means we're all big fellas. Anyhoo, seeing all these wimpy-size people never bothers me. I feel good about getting out and participating. And, hell, this was Event 43, remember. I am confident that no one in this crowd, other than Camera Crew, had done 42 events since January prior to showing up at the trail head.
Now, you all know I love Camera Crew very much. But I have to say, she was a little grumpy as we milled around waiting for the start. This was another of those evening races, something we still haven't adjusted to yet. We're 'run in the morning' folks, so evening is all about cooking dinner and winding down. I was still sore from the 10k trail run two days earlier, so wasn't super excited about this one. But Camera Crew was downright pissy. She had to come home from a day of work, then get ready to go out and run. She really didn't want to be there. But we love running trails and so I finally told her 'You know that as soon as this is over, you'll be grinning from ear to ear!' She was.
In fact, I'll post the intro video and the wrap video together. You'll see the difference. And you will laugh. I promise.
Our course for the run looked like this:
For reference, as a general rule any part of the course that runs right to left is predominantly steeply uphill and (of course) left to right is out-of-control downhill. The trail rolls up and down for a lot of it but Wildwood, Alder, Dogwood, and Wild Cherry can be pretty steep in places. In summation, this was a damn tough course, coming in at 5.78 miles.
The race started and we took off up Leif Erikson for about a mile, which was a nice warm up. Once we turned off on Dogwood, it was fun time! The trail went up and up, met up with Wildwood. We took that to Alder then bombed back down to Leif. Now, I have to tell you that up to this point we had been trading off taking the lead. Shortly down Alder, Camera Crew took the front and she just kept going and going and going. She set quite a quick pace and didn't stop til we got all the way down to Leif! I was pushing to keep up, thinking to myself "Wow, she's either still pissed about having to run or feeling really REALLY good!". Fortunately, it was the latter. After the first mile, her endorphin's kicked in, she realized where we were and got all happy! So by the time we got to Alder, she was thoroughly enjoying herself. When I hit Leif, she was waiting for me, smiling.
We headed back down Leif until we hit Dogwood again, did the same climb as the first loop (see map) but instead of cutting off on Wildwood, we kept going to the tippy-top of Dogwood, as it brushes NW 53rd. We cut off Dogwood onto Wild Cherry for the wild drop back down to Leif. This stretch went on much longer than I remembered, but I tell ya, we were bombing down this trail. I'm writing this three days later and my feet, ankles, and knees are still quite sore and achy from the downhill pounding.
(Also, note to self: consider bringing headlamp next time; it's dark in the woods and trail vision was sketchy at times!)
Once we got to Leif, it was about half a mile to the finish at the park gate. At this point, we're both feeling good and excited to be almost done. We were cruising down the road, a gentle downhill. I'm picking up speed cuz, well, I'm fat and running downhill. Camera Crew speeds up and starts to pass me. I keep pace. She speeds up a little more.
Oh, I see now. It's going to be one of those finishes.
Miss Grumpypants is now in a full out sprint, as am I. I thought - briefly - of reaching over to grab her ponytail to get ahead of her but then wisely considered the repercussions. I usually take her in these sprints - longer legs, longer stride. I'm not sure what had gotten into her, but Camera Crew was matching me straight up. Thank god the finish line came when it did because I was running out of gas. And, as it turned out, I shoulda yanked her hair because the official results had her finishing one second ahead of me.
I call BS.
Like I said before, it was so awesome to be running in Forest Park again. It's gorgeous and this trail series is going to be a blast. I'm very excited to have this be a part of my little project.
But next time, Camera Crew - you better wear your hair up.
The trail runs in this series are held every other Wednesday and consists of five races. The first four of these will be official 50@50 events - numbers 43, 45, 47 and 49. We'll be missing the last one because we will be, uh, er... 'out of town'. These events will be fun mostly because each course will be of a different distance on different trails, so we'll get to re-visit more of the park. Which is wonderful, truly.
I really had no idea what to expect as we drove up to the top of NW Thurman for the start of the race. Registration for the series is limited to 150 people but there are usually no shows. I wasn't sure how formal the event would be or how many people would show up. As it turns out, the races are chip timed and they had a big official timing clock, a check-in table, water, etc. - all the trappings of a real live event!! Sweet! Surveying the crowd, I noticed that most of the runners looked to be, well, runners. I'm a big guy at 6'4" and packing some extra weight, so I stand out as the most Clydesdale of Clydesdales at most events, especially the smaller ones like this. For those who don't know, 'Clydesdale' is a special category at runners - means we're all big fellas. Anyhoo, seeing all these wimpy-size people never bothers me. I feel good about getting out and participating. And, hell, this was Event 43, remember. I am confident that no one in this crowd, other than Camera Crew, had done 42 events since January prior to showing up at the trail head.
Now, you all know I love Camera Crew very much. But I have to say, she was a little grumpy as we milled around waiting for the start. This was another of those evening races, something we still haven't adjusted to yet. We're 'run in the morning' folks, so evening is all about cooking dinner and winding down. I was still sore from the 10k trail run two days earlier, so wasn't super excited about this one. But Camera Crew was downright pissy. She had to come home from a day of work, then get ready to go out and run. She really didn't want to be there. But we love running trails and so I finally told her 'You know that as soon as this is over, you'll be grinning from ear to ear!' She was.
In fact, I'll post the intro video and the wrap video together. You'll see the difference. And you will laugh. I promise.
Our course for the run looked like this:
For reference, as a general rule any part of the course that runs right to left is predominantly steeply uphill and (of course) left to right is out-of-control downhill. The trail rolls up and down for a lot of it but Wildwood, Alder, Dogwood, and Wild Cherry can be pretty steep in places. In summation, this was a damn tough course, coming in at 5.78 miles.
The race started and we took off up Leif Erikson for about a mile, which was a nice warm up. Once we turned off on Dogwood, it was fun time! The trail went up and up, met up with Wildwood. We took that to Alder then bombed back down to Leif. Now, I have to tell you that up to this point we had been trading off taking the lead. Shortly down Alder, Camera Crew took the front and she just kept going and going and going. She set quite a quick pace and didn't stop til we got all the way down to Leif! I was pushing to keep up, thinking to myself "Wow, she's either still pissed about having to run or feeling really REALLY good!". Fortunately, it was the latter. After the first mile, her endorphin's kicked in, she realized where we were and got all happy! So by the time we got to Alder, she was thoroughly enjoying herself. When I hit Leif, she was waiting for me, smiling.
We headed back down Leif until we hit Dogwood again, did the same climb as the first loop (see map) but instead of cutting off on Wildwood, we kept going to the tippy-top of Dogwood, as it brushes NW 53rd. We cut off Dogwood onto Wild Cherry for the wild drop back down to Leif. This stretch went on much longer than I remembered, but I tell ya, we were bombing down this trail. I'm writing this three days later and my feet, ankles, and knees are still quite sore and achy from the downhill pounding.
(Also, note to self: consider bringing headlamp next time; it's dark in the woods and trail vision was sketchy at times!)
Once we got to Leif, it was about half a mile to the finish at the park gate. At this point, we're both feeling good and excited to be almost done. We were cruising down the road, a gentle downhill. I'm picking up speed cuz, well, I'm fat and running downhill. Camera Crew speeds up and starts to pass me. I keep pace. She speeds up a little more.
Oh, I see now. It's going to be one of those finishes.
Miss Grumpypants is now in a full out sprint, as am I. I thought - briefly - of reaching over to grab her ponytail to get ahead of her but then wisely considered the repercussions. I usually take her in these sprints - longer legs, longer stride. I'm not sure what had gotten into her, but Camera Crew was matching me straight up. Thank god the finish line came when it did because I was running out of gas. And, as it turned out, I shoulda yanked her hair because the official results had her finishing one second ahead of me.
I call BS.
Like I said before, it was so awesome to be running in Forest Park again. It's gorgeous and this trail series is going to be a blast. I'm very excited to have this be a part of my little project.
But next time, Camera Crew - you better wear your hair up.
Monday, September 2, 2013
50@50 Project - Event 42 - ORRC's Wildwood Trail 10k - Intro
Happy Labor Day, USA!!!
Anne - Thanks for the shirt! I wore it proudly!
Late Night Decision
So.
I had picked up a nice flank steak earlier in the day on Sunday, mixed up a spicy dry rub for it, rubbed down this underrated cut of beef and let 'er sit for a few hours. Yesterday evening, I grilled it beautifully. I cooked peppers and onions in a cast iron skillet on the grill, as well. I'm a live fire guy - can't stand propane BBQ's. I've tried them in the past but just don't like how they cook. Give me charcoal or hardwood any day and I'll do anything you can do on a propane grill or a smoker, and probably better.
Anyway, suffice it to say we had an excellent dinner. We enjoyed flank steak fajitas, black beans and scratch made margaritas. While it was a great meal, it's not exactly what I would call a good pre-race meal, if one were running the next morning. But, hey - no worries! We were thoroughly enjoying a little hiatus from the 50@50 Project, letting our aches and pains and scratches and bruises heal. Hell yeah! Bring on the spicy food and the booze, baby!
But, you see, there was this itch that needed to be scratched. We hadn't done a race in a couple of weeks and, well, it was starting to bug me. I felt like we should be doing a race. Camera Crew felt the same way. If you run or ride or partake regularly in any form of exercise, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, there was a run we had on the calendar that we had thought 'Nah, we have our schedule set. Let's keep resting and healing.' Ha! The run was this morning, Labor Day. And the Sunday of the great dinner and drinks was last night.
We're settling in for the evening last night, in bed - playing some cards and getting ready to watch a show on the laptop 'TV'. It's 10 PM and we both decided at almost the same time 'We should do the run tomorrow morning.' Wow and yikes. So, we looked up the details on the innerwebs, set the alarm and watched our show. Then it was sleepy time.
See? Just like that, Event 42 happened!
We felt like we should do this run for many reasons, mostly to scratch that itch. But it was also in our neighborhood - NW Portland. The event was the Wildwood Trail Run 10k. Over the last 7-ish years, Camera Crew and I have run all over Forest Park trails and countless times on Wildwood Trail. It's the main single track trail through the park, running about 30 miles north-south. A lot of the other trails intersect it at some point or another. It's a beautiful park and Wildwood is THE iconic trail. It was nice to be back.
The run was put on by the Oregon Road Runners Club. We've done several of their events for the 50@50 Project and are always impressed with how well-organized they are. This was to be a 'point to point' race, meaning the start and finish were not the same place, as is the case with most races. We drove up the where NW Cornell intersects with Skyline Blvd. and the volunteers helped us get parked. By the number of cars already there this was going to be a pretty good crowd. Of course, we hadn't pre-registered so we filled out the form and paid the fee. After a short wait, a school bus picked us up and took us to the start area. We were dropped on Forest Lane and walked in about a half mile to Firelane One. We gave our registrations to the start officials, they entered them in the race computer so they could track our time and that was it. We could start any time.
This was a unique race in that they allowed you to start whenever you wanted to start. The course was open from 7:30 to 12:30, with buses running continually, dropping off the next load of runners. This was smart and, for all I know, a requirement of the park that ORRC had to abide by. Makes sense. I can't imagine releasing several hundred runners all at once on a single wide trail. And since the trail is not closed for the race, there are other users on it at any given time. This type of 'open start' allowed runners to get spread out, which was really the only way it would work.
We stretched a little and took off. It was awesome being back on the trails of Forest Park. With all of our crazy events and full weekends, we had not been able to get on the trails. Years ago, when we were dating, we logged a lot of miles up here, training for marathons and other races. In fact, at our wedding last September, rather than label the tables by numbers or letters, we marked tables with the names of trails in Forest Park. "Mr. and Mrs. So and So, you'll be seated at Aspen." Or Wild Cherry. Or Dogwood. You get the idea. Yeah, it meant a lot to be running up here again. In fact, we are registered to do the fall slate of runs in 'our' park that are put on by Portland Trail Series, so we'll be back several more times as part of the 50@50 schedule.
Firelane One took us down to Wildwood and from there, we headed (generally) south. The trail has gentle ups and downs as it runs along the side of the west hills. It's pretty gorgeous, especially in the morning as the sun comes through the trees.
I took this picture several years ago during a run on Wildwood. It was a Sunday and this, folks, is my church. Glorious!
There were two rest stops along the 6.2 mile course - one at 2 miles, the other at the 4 mile mark. As we approached the second stop, one of the volunteers looked at me trundling down the trail and side "Nice Labor Day shirt!". I'll explain.
A couple of months back, at the 4th of July run, Camera Crew suggested I could 'try harder' at dressing up for the themed events we were doing. She said this because it was July 4th and I maybe had some blue or red on, but didn't make a big effort to dress up in the ol' red, white and blue. Other runners had on Uncle Sam hats, streamers, Statue of Liberty get ups, etc. I made the comment in the blog post for that event that I would try to come up with something for Labor Day.
Enter Anne, my mother-in-law.
She sent me a t-shirt to wear, should we happen to do a Labor Day event! Well, we did and I wore it, proudly. It was a shirt for the AFSCME Local 52 - AFL-CIO, with the eight stars of the Alaskan flag and the slogan 'Alaskans Working For Alaska'. Ha! It's safe to say that I was the only one wearing a Labor Day-themed shirt. Read up on the union I represented at www.afscmelocal52.org Thanks, Anne!
The course was mostly flat with some rollers here and there. We passed the Stone House, an old public restroom - nonetheless, an impressive structure that was built in the '30's by the Works Progress Administration. Portland's infamous Columbus Day storm in October 1962 damaged the water lines. Repairs were considered to be too costly, so the building was gutted and the outer stone walls remain. Kinda eerie looking in the fog, just so you know. The last little bit, less than a mile, was UP. Yoinks. It was quite the hill climb, starting gradually then getting steeper! It was tough. A speedy guy passed us as we were struggling and said 'Come on, you can do this!' - so we did. It wasn't pretty but we ran (most of) the rest of the way to the finish at Upper Macleay Park.
The finish was somewhat comical, in an anticlimactic sort of way. At most races, a few people (at least) clap and cheer for you as you cross the finish line. Because the finish for this race was steeply uphill right to the end, we crossed the line gasping and were met by everyone else breathing hard from their climb to the finish! Haha! It was strangely quiet, except for the panting.
After sitting for a bit, drinking some water and Gatorade, the bus came around and we loaded up for the drive back to the SUV. Even though this event was a very last minute decision, we were feeling pretty good about the results.
I may just fix up flank steak fajitas and margaritas before every event!
I had picked up a nice flank steak earlier in the day on Sunday, mixed up a spicy dry rub for it, rubbed down this underrated cut of beef and let 'er sit for a few hours. Yesterday evening, I grilled it beautifully. I cooked peppers and onions in a cast iron skillet on the grill, as well. I'm a live fire guy - can't stand propane BBQ's. I've tried them in the past but just don't like how they cook. Give me charcoal or hardwood any day and I'll do anything you can do on a propane grill or a smoker, and probably better.
Anyway, suffice it to say we had an excellent dinner. We enjoyed flank steak fajitas, black beans and scratch made margaritas. While it was a great meal, it's not exactly what I would call a good pre-race meal, if one were running the next morning. But, hey - no worries! We were thoroughly enjoying a little hiatus from the 50@50 Project, letting our aches and pains and scratches and bruises heal. Hell yeah! Bring on the spicy food and the booze, baby!
But, you see, there was this itch that needed to be scratched. We hadn't done a race in a couple of weeks and, well, it was starting to bug me. I felt like we should be doing a race. Camera Crew felt the same way. If you run or ride or partake regularly in any form of exercise, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, there was a run we had on the calendar that we had thought 'Nah, we have our schedule set. Let's keep resting and healing.' Ha! The run was this morning, Labor Day. And the Sunday of the great dinner and drinks was last night.
We're settling in for the evening last night, in bed - playing some cards and getting ready to watch a show on the laptop 'TV'. It's 10 PM and we both decided at almost the same time 'We should do the run tomorrow morning.' Wow and yikes. So, we looked up the details on the innerwebs, set the alarm and watched our show. Then it was sleepy time.
See? Just like that, Event 42 happened!
We felt like we should do this run for many reasons, mostly to scratch that itch. But it was also in our neighborhood - NW Portland. The event was the Wildwood Trail Run 10k. Over the last 7-ish years, Camera Crew and I have run all over Forest Park trails and countless times on Wildwood Trail. It's the main single track trail through the park, running about 30 miles north-south. A lot of the other trails intersect it at some point or another. It's a beautiful park and Wildwood is THE iconic trail. It was nice to be back.
The run was put on by the Oregon Road Runners Club. We've done several of their events for the 50@50 Project and are always impressed with how well-organized they are. This was to be a 'point to point' race, meaning the start and finish were not the same place, as is the case with most races. We drove up the where NW Cornell intersects with Skyline Blvd. and the volunteers helped us get parked. By the number of cars already there this was going to be a pretty good crowd. Of course, we hadn't pre-registered so we filled out the form and paid the fee. After a short wait, a school bus picked us up and took us to the start area. We were dropped on Forest Lane and walked in about a half mile to Firelane One. We gave our registrations to the start officials, they entered them in the race computer so they could track our time and that was it. We could start any time.
This was a unique race in that they allowed you to start whenever you wanted to start. The course was open from 7:30 to 12:30, with buses running continually, dropping off the next load of runners. This was smart and, for all I know, a requirement of the park that ORRC had to abide by. Makes sense. I can't imagine releasing several hundred runners all at once on a single wide trail. And since the trail is not closed for the race, there are other users on it at any given time. This type of 'open start' allowed runners to get spread out, which was really the only way it would work.
We stretched a little and took off. It was awesome being back on the trails of Forest Park. With all of our crazy events and full weekends, we had not been able to get on the trails. Years ago, when we were dating, we logged a lot of miles up here, training for marathons and other races. In fact, at our wedding last September, rather than label the tables by numbers or letters, we marked tables with the names of trails in Forest Park. "Mr. and Mrs. So and So, you'll be seated at Aspen." Or Wild Cherry. Or Dogwood. You get the idea. Yeah, it meant a lot to be running up here again. In fact, we are registered to do the fall slate of runs in 'our' park that are put on by Portland Trail Series, so we'll be back several more times as part of the 50@50 schedule.
Firelane One took us down to Wildwood and from there, we headed (generally) south. The trail has gentle ups and downs as it runs along the side of the west hills. It's pretty gorgeous, especially in the morning as the sun comes through the trees.
I took this picture several years ago during a run on Wildwood. It was a Sunday and this, folks, is my church. Glorious!
There were two rest stops along the 6.2 mile course - one at 2 miles, the other at the 4 mile mark. As we approached the second stop, one of the volunteers looked at me trundling down the trail and side "Nice Labor Day shirt!". I'll explain.
A couple of months back, at the 4th of July run, Camera Crew suggested I could 'try harder' at dressing up for the themed events we were doing. She said this because it was July 4th and I maybe had some blue or red on, but didn't make a big effort to dress up in the ol' red, white and blue. Other runners had on Uncle Sam hats, streamers, Statue of Liberty get ups, etc. I made the comment in the blog post for that event that I would try to come up with something for Labor Day.
Enter Anne, my mother-in-law.
She sent me a t-shirt to wear, should we happen to do a Labor Day event! Well, we did and I wore it, proudly. It was a shirt for the AFSCME Local 52 - AFL-CIO, with the eight stars of the Alaskan flag and the slogan 'Alaskans Working For Alaska'. Ha! It's safe to say that I was the only one wearing a Labor Day-themed shirt. Read up on the union I represented at www.afscmelocal52.org Thanks, Anne!
The course was mostly flat with some rollers here and there. We passed the Stone House, an old public restroom - nonetheless, an impressive structure that was built in the '30's by the Works Progress Administration. Portland's infamous Columbus Day storm in October 1962 damaged the water lines. Repairs were considered to be too costly, so the building was gutted and the outer stone walls remain. Kinda eerie looking in the fog, just so you know. The last little bit, less than a mile, was UP. Yoinks. It was quite the hill climb, starting gradually then getting steeper! It was tough. A speedy guy passed us as we were struggling and said 'Come on, you can do this!' - so we did. It wasn't pretty but we ran (most of) the rest of the way to the finish at Upper Macleay Park.
The finish was somewhat comical, in an anticlimactic sort of way. At most races, a few people (at least) clap and cheer for you as you cross the finish line. Because the finish for this race was steeply uphill right to the end, we crossed the line gasping and were met by everyone else breathing hard from their climb to the finish! Haha! It was strangely quiet, except for the panting.
After sitting for a bit, drinking some water and Gatorade, the bus came around and we loaded up for the drive back to the SUV. Even though this event was a very last minute decision, we were feeling pretty good about the results.
I may just fix up flank steak fajitas and margaritas before every event!
50@50 Project - Event 41 - West Linn Trail 5k - Intro
This was a series of runs put on over the summer. My second time running this course, Camera Crew's first.
Revisit for Me; New to Camera Crew
The 50@50 Project has been sailing along magnificently! This odyssey to complete 50 races between my 50th and 51st birthdays is waaaaay ahead of schedule.
Event 41 was the West Linn Trail 5k at Mary S. Young State Park. You avid blog followers - or 'blogollowers*' - will remember this particular run at this particular park from Event 31 back on July 17th. On that day, I did the run on my own. It was The Great Equalizer run! As you may recall, Camera Crew had been one event ahead of me for a while due to some unforeseen scheduling issues on my end. Doing the run solo back in July got us all evened out, which was nice for me because it meant Camera Crew lost her bragging rights. She was insufferable! Okay, and cute.
As this was a mid-week run, I picked up Camera Crew from her office in Tualatin, then we made the drive to West Linn and the lovely park where the run would take place. My partner in this craziness had never been there before so it was all new to her. We arrived, parked and got checked in. Then it was getting close to go time. As we waited to get started, I noticed the participant makeup was a little different this time. This is a small event, not a whole lot of people doing this series. Unfortunate, since the races are so well organized (except they ran out of safety pins for bib numbers - again). When I did the run back in July, there were a lot of high school runners and coaches as well as parents. This time, there weren't so many 15-18 year olds, but a lot of younger kids and families.
We would be running the same course as I did before, two laps around the soccer complex within the park, on trails of wood chips, dirt, gravel, pavement. It was pretty warm out but the course lies mostly in the trees which made things okay. Since I did this run before and already described the event in the blog post for Event 31, I think I'll see if Camera Crew has anything to add to this. Camera Crew!! Hey, Camera Crew! Yoohoo!
Uh, what, huh me?!? Hmmm, okay. Let's see... This would be a pretty neat park to live next to. A maze of bark chipped trails with mild elevation gain/loss. We crossed paths with plenty of locals out on their runs and walks. But did I mention the paths were bark chipped? Soft and good for the knees, I'm sure, but if I worked at Boise Cascade and took home as many bark chips as I had in my shoes, I'm sure I'd be charged with theft.
Good point. I suppose they could always just chop down the trees in the park and replace the wood chips on site. Er, that would be bad, actually.
We completed the run and I have to say that we just CRUSHED the little kids. Heh heh heh. Kidding - some of them beat us. But afterward we all had ICE CREAM CONES!!! It was fantastic. A good run and one more event down!
Event 41 was the West Linn Trail 5k at Mary S. Young State Park. You avid blog followers - or 'blogollowers*' - will remember this particular run at this particular park from Event 31 back on July 17th. On that day, I did the run on my own. It was The Great Equalizer run! As you may recall, Camera Crew had been one event ahead of me for a while due to some unforeseen scheduling issues on my end. Doing the run solo back in July got us all evened out, which was nice for me because it meant Camera Crew lost her bragging rights. She was insufferable! Okay, and cute.
As this was a mid-week run, I picked up Camera Crew from her office in Tualatin, then we made the drive to West Linn and the lovely park where the run would take place. My partner in this craziness had never been there before so it was all new to her. We arrived, parked and got checked in. Then it was getting close to go time. As we waited to get started, I noticed the participant makeup was a little different this time. This is a small event, not a whole lot of people doing this series. Unfortunate, since the races are so well organized (except they ran out of safety pins for bib numbers - again). When I did the run back in July, there were a lot of high school runners and coaches as well as parents. This time, there weren't so many 15-18 year olds, but a lot of younger kids and families.
We would be running the same course as I did before, two laps around the soccer complex within the park, on trails of wood chips, dirt, gravel, pavement. It was pretty warm out but the course lies mostly in the trees which made things okay. Since I did this run before and already described the event in the blog post for Event 31, I think I'll see if Camera Crew has anything to add to this. Camera Crew!! Hey, Camera Crew! Yoohoo!
Uh, what, huh me?!? Hmmm, okay. Let's see... This would be a pretty neat park to live next to. A maze of bark chipped trails with mild elevation gain/loss. We crossed paths with plenty of locals out on their runs and walks. But did I mention the paths were bark chipped? Soft and good for the knees, I'm sure, but if I worked at Boise Cascade and took home as many bark chips as I had in my shoes, I'm sure I'd be charged with theft.
Good point. I suppose they could always just chop down the trees in the park and replace the wood chips on site. Er, that would be bad, actually.
We completed the run and I have to say that we just CRUSHED the little kids. Heh heh heh. Kidding - some of them beat us. But afterward we all had ICE CREAM CONES!!! It was fantastic. A good run and one more event down!
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Local News Reports on 50@50 Project??!
No? Drats.
We did make the KGW online feed, though, with a picture of us crossing the Fremont Bridge. This pic was in a slide show on the stations website.
We did make the KGW online feed, though, with a picture of us crossing the Fremont Bridge. This pic was in a slide show on the stations website.
Holy Crap! Event 40!
To start off the post for Event 40, I thought I'd smack ya with a little trivia from the 50@50 Project:
- we completed Event 20 on June 15th - the Petal Pedal, 30 miles on the bike
- we completed Event 40 on August 11th - the Providence Bridge Pedal, a 37 mile ride
- 20 events in 57 days
- an average of one event every 2.85 days
No wonder we were feeling a little tired and a lot beat up. The schedule we were pushing was a little cray-cray, for sure. But - wow! - are we awesome or what!!?
Event 40 was the Bridge Pedal, an annual Portland event that celebrated its 18th year in 2013. This ride is a unique opportunity for cyclists because you get to ride over all the main bridges in the city. Yep, it's a traffic nightmare for cars. Getting any where on Bridge Pedal day is a bee-otch. At some point during the event, the bridges - St. Johns, Fremont, Broadway, Steel, Burnside, Morrison, Hawthorne, Ross Island, Marquam and Sellwood - are closed, at least one lane anyway. And usually at the same time. The real news was that in all 18 years of this ride, it has never rained. NEVER! Wild stuff, man. Granted, we were a little worried when we left the house. It was very overcast but we decided against carrying rain gear. The forecast said the rain would hold off. Temperature-wise it was nice enough and we thought that bringing rain gear would only bring the rain. I am happy to report that things worked out quite well - no rain.
This was another two-event weekend. The day before we had done the Aurora Colony Days 5k. We figure if we're ruining one day of our weekend with a race, we may as well double it up. Besides, Camera Crew had never done this ride so we felt she should experience this bit of Portlandia.
Our events are usually at a decent hour - 8 or 9 AM. For this one we had to leave the house before the sun was up.
I'm a guy who stays up late and likes to sleep in. So, of course, Camera Crew is the exact opposite of that. She's all giggles and rainbows in the morning. But I think even she was still a little sleepy. Even though it was tough to drag ourselves out of bed, this was a special event. First of all, it was Event 40! Second, we had signed up for a new ride option being introduced this year. For those who are not familiar, Bridge Pedal has several distance options. There is a 2 (or 3?) bridge ride that covers a few miles, for people with small kids. There is a 6 bridge ride that comes in around 16-18 miles or so. There is a 'regular' 10 bridge ride and this year they added a new 10 bridge option - The Fremont Express. The is the one we signed up for and the reason we were out the door before the sun.
This Fremont Express option allowed us up on the top deck of the Fremont Bridge before sunrise and included what I would call a bike rider-style continental breakfast. Coffee, juice, muffins, Clif Bars, fruit. And we got to watch the sun come up from atop the bridge of an interstate freeway. Actually, it was cloudy - we got to watch the gray sky get lighter. Seriously, the logistics behind this ride are nuts. Organizers have to work with city, state and federal agencies to close bridges on Portland's main throughfares - state and interstate roads like Highway 30, 99E, I-5, I-405, Highway 26, etc. The ride starts and ends downtown, too, so all the streets all over the core of SW Portland are closed. Pretty incredible. Throw in that they must coordinate with marine traffic, as well, (my assumption, anyway) because several of the bridges are raised for water traffic - and you have one large sized planning headache.
I can imagine the planning meetings for the first Bridge Pedal. "Let me get this straight: you want to close all the bridges in town, essentially shutting down the city, pissing off anyone trying to get anywhere. We're going to alter bus and train schedules. We should call ODOT and say 'Yes, we'd like to close several of your big roads. Will that be a problem?' And all so a bunch of damn bicyclists can ride their damn Huffy's back and forth over the damn bridges!? ARE YOU INSANE??!"
Now, 18 years into this, most people know to stay home. The ride attracts 18,000+ participants. It raises a lot of money. So - yeah, it's sweet.
We left the house, rode through NW Portland, crossed the Broadway Bridge (this crossing was on us, necessary to get to the start) and made our way north on Williams to the east side access to the Fremont Bridge. We got there pretty early so there were just a couple dozen riders ahead of us in line.
At about 6 AM, they released us and we pedaled our way to the apex of the Fremont Bridge. Pretty awesome sight, looking back to see hundreds of bikes pedaling up the bridge, bike lights twinkling and zigzagging around on the wide open freeway! We ate and watched Portland wake up as the sky got brighter, bit by bit. It's quite a view from there, I have to say. I hope they continue to offer this early start option because it's spectacular. Highly recommended by us!
Our early start option meant they released us ahead of the main pack, who were queued up on Naito Avenue between the Burnside and Morrison bridges. This is where most of the 18,000+ riders would start. They release them in waves, getting the regular 10 bridgers started, then the 6 bridgers, then the short stuffs and their shortened version. I have done Bridge Pedal 2-3 times, but this was years ago. I can say that even though it's a wave start, it is a zoo riding in the pack! It's slow going, at least until there is any kind of incline to speak of, at which point natural selection takes over and the riders spread out. But being in the early start of the Fremont Express meant we were definitely on the front end of the huge group, with which we eventually began merging. Riding was easy going, very little congestion. We were able to go as fast (or slow) as we wanted without feeling pushed or like we would get tangled up with others. And we could stop on each bridge for photo and video opportunities. Again, early start = recommended.
The cruise down from the Fremont Bridge was awesome! We tore down I-405, then pedaled up the not-so-obviously-uphill-when-driving-in-a-car stretch that brought us around to our first (official) crossing, the Marquam Bridge. From there it was past OMSI and out McLoughlin to the Sellwood Bridge. The route then took us over the Hawthorne Bridge, then looped around to catch the Ross Island Bridge. From there we meandered around SW PDX to get in position to cross the Marquam again. Yes, two of the crossings in our 10 bridge ride were the Marquam, but it's a double decker and the descent is fun, fun, fun. The Burnside Bridge was next, followed by the Broadway Bridge. After that it was the Fremont Bridge, where we had started our early day, then out Highway 30 to the St. Johns Bridge. A ride back along the bluff took us south on Greeley, then Interstate Avenue and over the final river crossing via the Steel Bridge. Tada - finished!
We hung out for bit, enjoyed some chocolate milk, then weaved through the gathering crowd toward home. It was quite a fun ride and I'll say it again - the early start is the way to go. We were finished with the entire 37 mile ride and there were still riders that had a ways to go yet. The fact that we had pretty much wide open roads was nice, too. Bridge Pedal is a truly iconic Portland 'thing'. The chance to ride over all these bridges is pretty unique. Camera Crew had never done this - and now she has! Event 40 - complete!
- we completed Event 20 on June 15th - the Petal Pedal, 30 miles on the bike
- we completed Event 40 on August 11th - the Providence Bridge Pedal, a 37 mile ride
- 20 events in 57 days
- an average of one event every 2.85 days
No wonder we were feeling a little tired and a lot beat up. The schedule we were pushing was a little cray-cray, for sure. But - wow! - are we awesome or what!!?
Event 40 was the Bridge Pedal, an annual Portland event that celebrated its 18th year in 2013. This ride is a unique opportunity for cyclists because you get to ride over all the main bridges in the city. Yep, it's a traffic nightmare for cars. Getting any where on Bridge Pedal day is a bee-otch. At some point during the event, the bridges - St. Johns, Fremont, Broadway, Steel, Burnside, Morrison, Hawthorne, Ross Island, Marquam and Sellwood - are closed, at least one lane anyway. And usually at the same time. The real news was that in all 18 years of this ride, it has never rained. NEVER! Wild stuff, man. Granted, we were a little worried when we left the house. It was very overcast but we decided against carrying rain gear. The forecast said the rain would hold off. Temperature-wise it was nice enough and we thought that bringing rain gear would only bring the rain. I am happy to report that things worked out quite well - no rain.
This was another two-event weekend. The day before we had done the Aurora Colony Days 5k. We figure if we're ruining one day of our weekend with a race, we may as well double it up. Besides, Camera Crew had never done this ride so we felt she should experience this bit of Portlandia.
Our events are usually at a decent hour - 8 or 9 AM. For this one we had to leave the house before the sun was up.
I'm a guy who stays up late and likes to sleep in. So, of course, Camera Crew is the exact opposite of that. She's all giggles and rainbows in the morning. But I think even she was still a little sleepy. Even though it was tough to drag ourselves out of bed, this was a special event. First of all, it was Event 40! Second, we had signed up for a new ride option being introduced this year. For those who are not familiar, Bridge Pedal has several distance options. There is a 2 (or 3?) bridge ride that covers a few miles, for people with small kids. There is a 6 bridge ride that comes in around 16-18 miles or so. There is a 'regular' 10 bridge ride and this year they added a new 10 bridge option - The Fremont Express. The is the one we signed up for and the reason we were out the door before the sun.
This Fremont Express option allowed us up on the top deck of the Fremont Bridge before sunrise and included what I would call a bike rider-style continental breakfast. Coffee, juice, muffins, Clif Bars, fruit. And we got to watch the sun come up from atop the bridge of an interstate freeway. Actually, it was cloudy - we got to watch the gray sky get lighter. Seriously, the logistics behind this ride are nuts. Organizers have to work with city, state and federal agencies to close bridges on Portland's main throughfares - state and interstate roads like Highway 30, 99E, I-5, I-405, Highway 26, etc. The ride starts and ends downtown, too, so all the streets all over the core of SW Portland are closed. Pretty incredible. Throw in that they must coordinate with marine traffic, as well, (my assumption, anyway) because several of the bridges are raised for water traffic - and you have one large sized planning headache.
I can imagine the planning meetings for the first Bridge Pedal. "Let me get this straight: you want to close all the bridges in town, essentially shutting down the city, pissing off anyone trying to get anywhere. We're going to alter bus and train schedules. We should call ODOT and say 'Yes, we'd like to close several of your big roads. Will that be a problem?' And all so a bunch of damn bicyclists can ride their damn Huffy's back and forth over the damn bridges!? ARE YOU INSANE??!"
Now, 18 years into this, most people know to stay home. The ride attracts 18,000+ participants. It raises a lot of money. So - yeah, it's sweet.
We left the house, rode through NW Portland, crossed the Broadway Bridge (this crossing was on us, necessary to get to the start) and made our way north on Williams to the east side access to the Fremont Bridge. We got there pretty early so there were just a couple dozen riders ahead of us in line.
At about 6 AM, they released us and we pedaled our way to the apex of the Fremont Bridge. Pretty awesome sight, looking back to see hundreds of bikes pedaling up the bridge, bike lights twinkling and zigzagging around on the wide open freeway! We ate and watched Portland wake up as the sky got brighter, bit by bit. It's quite a view from there, I have to say. I hope they continue to offer this early start option because it's spectacular. Highly recommended by us!
Our early start option meant they released us ahead of the main pack, who were queued up on Naito Avenue between the Burnside and Morrison bridges. This is where most of the 18,000+ riders would start. They release them in waves, getting the regular 10 bridgers started, then the 6 bridgers, then the short stuffs and their shortened version. I have done Bridge Pedal 2-3 times, but this was years ago. I can say that even though it's a wave start, it is a zoo riding in the pack! It's slow going, at least until there is any kind of incline to speak of, at which point natural selection takes over and the riders spread out. But being in the early start of the Fremont Express meant we were definitely on the front end of the huge group, with which we eventually began merging. Riding was easy going, very little congestion. We were able to go as fast (or slow) as we wanted without feeling pushed or like we would get tangled up with others. And we could stop on each bridge for photo and video opportunities. Again, early start = recommended.
The cruise down from the Fremont Bridge was awesome! We tore down I-405, then pedaled up the not-so-obviously-uphill-when-driving-in-a-car stretch that brought us around to our first (official) crossing, the Marquam Bridge. From there it was past OMSI and out McLoughlin to the Sellwood Bridge. The route then took us over the Hawthorne Bridge, then looped around to catch the Ross Island Bridge. From there we meandered around SW PDX to get in position to cross the Marquam again. Yes, two of the crossings in our 10 bridge ride were the Marquam, but it's a double decker and the descent is fun, fun, fun. The Burnside Bridge was next, followed by the Broadway Bridge. After that it was the Fremont Bridge, where we had started our early day, then out Highway 30 to the St. Johns Bridge. A ride back along the bluff took us south on Greeley, then Interstate Avenue and over the final river crossing via the Steel Bridge. Tada - finished!
We hung out for bit, enjoyed some chocolate milk, then weaved through the gathering crowd toward home. It was quite a fun ride and I'll say it again - the early start is the way to go. We were finished with the entire 37 mile ride and there were still riders that had a ways to go yet. The fact that we had pretty much wide open roads was nice, too. Bridge Pedal is a truly iconic Portland 'thing'. The chance to ride over all these bridges is pretty unique. Camera Crew had never done this - and now she has! Event 40 - complete!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)