Joe and I rode from his house off N. Peninsular out to Kelly Point, then back to St. John’s, across the bridge, through northwest Portland, then north on Interstate and Greeley back to his place for a 24 mile outing yesterday. The weather was ideal, the wind non-existant, and the pirate danger moderate. This was also the last segment of the 40 mile loop I had not completed.
Starting at his house, we rode through the neighborhood to N. Portsmouth, then got on the 40 mile loop trail. From there, we headed out past Smith & Bybee lakes towards the end of the “loop.” We’re planning on doing the STP next year so we schemed about training schedules and test rides. The loop may provide an excellent test if done in full at some point, maybe even two days in a row, but in opposite directions.
From Kelley Point, we followed Lombard and a few other streets to end up underneath the St. John’s bridge, where we heard cannon shots and saw a convention of pirates. Most of their clothes were polyester, so I doubt they were real pirates, but they were none-the-less intimidating. We stopped by the first tower on the bridge to look down on the convention and watch some cannon-shooting, organized dancing, and what looked like a puppet show. We could also see Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood from the bridge, though the view to downtown was somewhat obscured by smog.
From the bridge, we rode into NW Portland on HWY 30, crossed the broadway bridge, and followed Interstate (passing a handful of tempting pubs) to the Polish Festival. We stopped briefly to see if we could spot Scott but did not have much luck. We finished the ride by taking Greeley back to his place, completing a 24ish mile loop in just over 2 hours. We both agreed that we could not have ridden another 24 that day, let alone 100. And 100 the next day. Better plan on training some more.
It was a very pleasant ride though and relatively flat. The stretch along Hwy 30 is really unpleasant and would be very intimidating for riders not comfortable crossing railroad tracks at angles. Still, it was a very fun ride. I just need to figure out this knee pain thing.