Local Legends

The day started with a mechanical, on the MAX train.  Apparently the train's brakes wouldn't stop stopping, so several riders had to ride from Beaverton to Hillsboro while the rest of us hung around Maggie's Buns eating pastries and drinking coffee.  When we rolled out, the head count was ten guys, two chicks.  I had invited the other chick, Erinne, who is a fun and strong rider.  She made it to the top of the massive gravel climb first.

I first met Erinne on this road, the Trask River Road, in 2012 during the Velodirt Rapture, which I rode twice.  The first year, I took my road bike with 32mm tires, and the second year I rode my "vintage" fully rigid 26" wheel mountain bike.  The latter was like riding a couch, so I opted for that steed on this latest adventure.

 

The second, and third, and fourth and fifth mechanicals all happened on the Trask River road.  There just comes a point where skinny tires lose out when confronted with lots of chunky sharp gravel.  I did notice that the rim tape had a sharp seam and used some pink duct tape to cover it.  Maybe that helped.  The impressive part was the 13 year old kid riding the bike with the multiple flats, his strong legs and good attitude under duress.

 

Also impressive is the gentleman in orange pictured above.  He rode a fixed gear and had a spare cog strapped to his saddle bag, along with a full sized chain whip strapped to his top tube.  At the top and bottom of each major climb, he'd pull over and change out his gearing.  He never coasted, and he never complained.

By the time we got close to the brew pub in Tillamook, the headwind had started in earnest.  Erinne and I worked together, or, well, okay she pulled me the entire time, and we finally made it to beer.  The Bike Concierge was right on time to scoop us all up and take us back to points east.  

I really appreciated the thorough ride leadering, support, planning, pre-ride communication and route details offered by our organizer.  Cheers, Gugie.