Yes, it has finally happened: a FULL WEEK without rain! The last rain we saw was last Saturday, May 5th. And the weather forecast has no rain for the next week, either! (Of course, that can change.) The skies have ranged from cloudy to brilliantly sunny. The high temperatures have ranged from about 60F/16C to a scorching 87F/31C on Sunday. It's been our most tantalizing taste of summer in these parts since, oh, October. While there will definitely be some cool days between now and late June (when the weather switch turns to "awesome all the time, for the most part, for the next three months"), I don't care. It's reminding me of all the things I looooove about summer in the Pacific Northwest.
And one of the things I love about summer is Doing Stuff All The Time. This last week has been a bit of that, this week will be even more. So what's happened?
Tuesday, May 8: At the behest of local non-profit Dill Pickle Club I spoke to about fifty (!) students from (The) Evergreen State College about Dead Freeways here in Portland. I guess I qualify as an "expert" since I lead the bike ride, huh? (I always find it amusing to be asked to speak to college* students in an authoritive way when I never graduated college myself.) The event took place on the roof of the Dekum Building downtown, a great venue to see all the different non-existent freeways in town.
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| If you squint hard enough, you might see me on the top. |
Thursday, May 10: Carl Larson and myself led our yearly Bike Fun Workshop at the hostel, as part of the "Get people ready for Pedalpalooza" program. Three people attended (hey, Amanda!) and I hope they got something out of our hour of speaking at them.
Friday, May 11: Pedalpalooza preview party at VeloCult bicycles. There was free beer. This is all I need to say about that.
Saturday, May 12: I somehow managed to drag my ass out of bed, finish up my "special projekt" (more on that in the near future!), and ride downtown to Powells to see Mr. Retro-Grouch himself (and possibly my spiritual leader**), Grant Petersen of Rivendell Bicycles, speak. He was there promoting his new book Just Ride. After that, a bunch of us went on the official ride with Grant over to VeloCult (again!) to hang out with Grant. VeloCult was quite busy with things going on, as they were the start-end of the 100 kilometre Multnomah Falls Populaire randonneuring event led by my friend Theo. While I didn't get my bicycle signed by Grant (as many Rivendell/Bridgestone owners were doing), he did think my Long Haul Trucker was a "nice bike".
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| This bike now has the true Retro-Grouch Seal of Approval. |
Sunday, May 13: Sunday Parkways returned for 2012! It's our monthly summertime cyclovia, taking over about eight miles of streets for walkers and bicyclists. This time it was in Northwest Portland. April and I managed to take in a full circuit. The route was packed with people, as the photos hopefully capture.
I only managed to take a few photos during the day. If I was a better photographer I would have taken photos of:
- The collection of vintage bikes for sale at one house on the route. April and I had to stop ourselves from buying what looked to be a 50's era Raleigh Sports ladies frame bike in good shape for only $120. The owner of the bikes supposedly has 40 more stored away. Keith, you know who you're going to visit when you come here in July!
- The 26" wheeled, truss-framed touring bike built by Joseph Ahearne. You'll just have to look at the photo set over here and drool.
What does this week promise? You'll see...
*Or, if you are that way, university students.
**Except I don't agree with him about food/diet stuff.
Hi! Yes, it was great, thank you! I've been filled with ride ideas ever since. It'll be a while before I'm ready to do anything about it, but having the idea-seeds to ponder is nice.
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