June 13, 2025 to June 14, 2025
Sauvie Saturday
Friday
We both had plans to get out today - Rachael for a walk, and I for an ambitious ride somewhere. I was considering ideas like Chanticleer Point or a loop up on Skyline Boulevard, but those thoughts lost all appeal when I was startled by how cold, windy and grey it still was when I biked back from coffee. The temperature dipped about fifteen degrees today, and neither of us saw any good reason to go out before it warmed up. Also, Rachael's arm is still sore enough from the shingles and Covid shots she got two days ago that she's inclined to sit another day out.
While we were waiting though, Rachael unexpectedly gets an opportunity to reschedule her audiology appointment from next month to an earlier time - at 3:45 today. So there goes her afternoon; and since I'm due to go in for another blood draw anyway we decide to drive over together and take the day off.
Afterwards we drive back to Allora for dinner, glad we'd made a reservation because the place was already filling up quickly - so quickly in fact that we get seated for the first time in the room next door they've recently expanded into. We both enjoy our meals, as well as getting to see what they've done on the other side of the wall.
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Saturday
We have to return the car back to the airport tomorrow, so today is our last chance to use it to take a bike ride together. We decide we'll go out to Sauvie Island this afternoon, and I'll ride the Bike Friday because the two folders will fit into the car better than if I take the Rodriguez.
My Bike Friday is assembled but not yet been ridden since we returned to Portland, so I ride it to coffee as a shakedown test. Afterwards I plan to make a short loop through town to check out the real major event of the day, No Kings Day. There are three demonstrations scheduled in the downtown area - at the Convention Center, at Westmoreland, and the primary one down at the waterfront. I'm thinking I'll make a loop past all of them and take a few pictures of the crowds and then get home in time for the drive out to the island.
The No Kings loop doesn't happen though because it's apparent that my bike needs work. There's something wrong with the front brake that I can't immediately fix, so I decide that No Kings Day will still happen without me and my bike helping to build a crowd and just head home. Later I'll be relieved that my absence wasn't noticed and the crowds were ginormous here and at many other places around the country. Portland's demonstration was reported to be in the tens of thousands; but 70,000 turned out in Seattle, 100,000 in Philadelphia and Minneapolis, and 200,000 in New York and LA.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch I'm having no success at all at adjusting my front brake. It's a pretty easy adjustment that I've got down reasonably well (although it's a little hard with the vision thing because it's hard to see the spacing between the rotor and pads). Finally I figure it out though - the pads have worked loose somehow. I haven't gotten down how to replace pads yet, so that's a job for the bike shop when I take it in for its pre-Europe tune-up. And when I look at the pads they're basically down to the metal anyway so due for replacement anyway.
Fortunately, Sauvie Island is flat and I'll be perfectly fine out there with one brake. I could almost make the ride with no brakes at all if I kept my distance. Before we go though I have to call Shawn, because history is still being made at warp speed. I was shocked and horrified over coffee to read about the MAGA inspired assassination of a democratic legislator and her husband back in Minnesota, along with a second shooting that may yet also result in fatalities of another legislator and his wife.
It's not until I'm done with the brakes and read the news one last time to see if the shooter had been apprehended though that I realize that one of the shootings was in North Brooklyn and the other was in the neighboring town, Champlin. Shawn and the girls live in Champlin, and when I look at the map it looks like they might be only a few blocks from the incident. Imagining that they and their neighborhood might be in lockdown I give Shawn a call, but he reassures me. Champlain's larger than I thought and the shooting was about two miles away. There's no lockdown, and the report is that the shooter has escaped the perimeter and a wider manhunt is on.
So horrible. It feels entirely frivolous to just drive out to Sauvie Island and go for a bike ride, but life must go on. We pile the BF's in the back of the Jeep and a half hour later we're unloaded and ready to roll.
And roll we do - we just ride, essentially nonstop. I left the camera at home and my phone in my pocket and we just enjoy the ride. I suspect this will be the pattern for the most part when we ride together now because it's easier on her hands and feet for Rachael to just keep moving than to stop and wait. I'll save my slow travel and photography for days when she's walking.
And, since I've only got one brake, I ride behind; and since I'm behind, I've got the GoPro. Have we ever had video of just Rachael before? It's about time!
When you look at the video you'll notice from the flag that it's very windy today, and overcast at first. We're biking into it all the way north until we turn around, and Rachael's pretty miserable because it leaves her so congested that she keeps clogging up - it's a good thing I'm keeping a safe distance behind to stay out of the blast zone. It's blowing hard enough that her helmet gets blown back to the backside of her head, which is my reminder to look at it later to tighten it.
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But then we turn back, and sail most of the way back to the car. I'm pleased when we make it back to hear that her major complaint isn't her breathing, or her feet, or her hands. It's her triceps again, something that should get better with more biking. She is surprised about how tired and out of shape she feels though, but this could be because her front tire is nearly flat - something I discover when I bike her bike back from rhe car to the elevator because it's easier for me than walking.
Sound track: Rise and Shine, by Robert Glasper
We just went out to dinner last night so Rachael opts for a TV dinner, but I decide to do some research and test out The Star to see how they're holding up, in case Jonathan wants to come down for another deep dish shootout. Along the way I stop for a few shots of Zen Park, since I'm not holding anyone up and the journal needs some padding.
I don't test the deep dish this time, but the thin crust is fine; and I'm happy to discover that they've upped their game and introduced a local IPA instead of the standard Athleta choices so many places offer.
Today's ride: 24 miles (39 km)
Total: 1,201 miles (1,933 km)
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1 month ago
1 month ago
There'll definitely be biking. I can't walk worth a damn but I don't really have a problem with biking, though I'm still working up to much of a climb. Assuming my surgery isn't until spring, we're booked for two months in Tucson this winter and I plan on biking my age in miles again.
1 month ago
1 month ago
1 month ago