Well, it's that time again, time for the Society of Three Speed's
Three Speed October challenge!
My inaugural ride of the challenge took place on a perfect fall day - crisp and sunny. I rode to Goodwill to drop off a donation, then over to Grocery Outlet to pick up some groceries. I rode my beloved forest green Ross three speed bicycle a grand total of 3.4 miles.
The next ride took me 4.3 miles over to the newly-striped bike lanes on Foster and an early morning accupuncture session. When I came out, I was delighted to see another 3 speed locked alongside mine! The weather was just gorgeous that day, sunny and dry.
For number three, I rode the bus downtown with my niece and delivered her to Union Station so she could take the Amtrak home. Then I rode my beautiful Ross 11 miles to get home, which took me along the Esplanade and the Springwater Trail. I ran into a friend on the way home and was hard tasked to keep up with him and his titanium road bike. Later, close to home, I stopped to take a photo on the bridge over the tracks, when the train containing my niece whooshed by underneath me!
Ride number four, or ride number one of week two (three speed challenge tracking can be complex) started off with the Felony Flats Hill Killerz, but I cheated and took a bike with two derailleurs. So that doesn't count. I dropped by home and changed clothes and bikes and headed over to the Portland Mercado for the Foster Night Ride. It was a fun night, clear and very cold for this time of year. We went over to Rose City golf course and rode the single track. The Ross handles surprisingly well on that terrain and everything was great except that my pannier fell off. Pretty bumpy! We swung by Woodstock Park to hang out on the sea-saws on the way home. 12 miles total.
Ride number five happened on a windy and sunny with brilliant fall leaves swirling around. I rode over to Goodwill to make a donation, then to BiMart to pick up a prescription and around the hood until I made it to 3 miles.
Ride number six took me to a facial on Friday night, then to a party. The weather was absolutely fantastic. A little chilly, dry, sunny and a slight breeze to help the leaves fall. The party featured a backyard bonfire and the Ross got to attend that as well. 13 miles all in all. I'm not sure who this vest guy is, but he stepped right into the picture, so why not.
Lucky ride number seven featured gorgeous weather yet again. On Tuesday, October 15th, I took my lunch break to drop off a get well card at the postal box, then tooled around gravel "unimproved" roadways in my neighborhood until I reached 3 1/3 miles.
My eighth ride was both a failure and a success. I only made it 2 miles, so it won't count toward my Three Speed October status. But, it was super fun. It was rainy and dusky and ended up being a pretty creepy evening. I passed one house with every sort of terrifying thing in their yard imaginable. I ended up at a Jewish graveyard. The graves were all set into just a few rows and there was something about all that empty grass that gave me the shivers.
The second attempt at an eighth ride took me over to visit and feed my friends' kittens. I built in as many bonus blocks as possible to make it to 3 miles. The threat of rain never materialized. It was dark and fun to find as many "unimproved" blocks as possible.
My ninth and final ride of the challenge happened on a Sunday evening. I'd already gone riding and errand running with multiple derailleurs in tow, so this final ride served no other purpose than three speed fun. It was a bit misty as I headed out. I packed some books with me to leave at free libraries and ended up coming home with more books than I started with! I visited three free libraries in all and rode 3 miles.
This year's three speed challenge is complete! And I'm grateful for all the fun miles I had, and especially for re-learning a valuable lesson about biking - there's no distance too short. I've really enjoyed getting out and exploring my neighborhood.
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