July 17, 2025
McNamee Road
Today's plan is yesterday's plan - or at least the plan I started the day with until Bruce reminded me that we were having coffee shortly. So like yesterday I'm locking up outside Ovation when it opens at six, looking up at the same buck moon, noticeably higher and more slimmed down than yesterday. Might as well complete the gallery, because it's the last time there apt to be a good shot of it.
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I put in my time at the office and then decide to take a shot of the table before I leave. I step away from it and walk toward the counter before turning around and being surprised to see there's another Pendleton wearer just on the other side of the glass from me. I take the shot just in time because within a half minute she's packing up her belongings to move on.
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1 month ago
So the plan for the day, in case you've forgotten or didn't track what it was yesterday, is another climb up to Skyline followed by a descent to the river. On my first ride I dropped down Newberry Road but this time I'll go a bit further and descend McNamee. After that I'll ride south to the Saint John's Bridge, cross it, and then stop in at either Cathedral Coffee or the Red-e Cafe before heading over to Kaiser to pick up my next Tyenne refill.
The first time up Skyline was a challenge, and one I was pleased to rise to. It wasn't easy though. I struggled my way up the first steep blocks from Raleigh to Cornell, and then stopped to catch my breath halfway up rhe three mile, 9% climb up Thompson Road. Today I have an easier time of that first steep mile. I still stop at the first plateau after a few blocks at 13% takes my breath away but after that I bike straight through to the crest where the Wildwood Trail drops and crosses Cornell to join the Balch Creek Trail.
As I'm climbing toward this first low summit I look up and see an immature bald eagle flying low over the road and straight at me. It's too fleeting a vision to get a camera on, but it's an inspiring sight that sustains me on the climb.
I stop there briefly at the crest to pull out the Canon and strap it across my back, and then to read the info panel on the Olmsted Brothers. If you're not familiar with the brothers, the sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, you might check out the astonishing legacy they've blessed us with. In my Pantheon the three Olmsteds rank right at the top.
From the usual source:
The Olmsted Brothers completed numerous high-profile projects, many of which remain popular to this day, including park systems, universities, exposition grounds, libraries, hospitals, residential neighborhoods and state capitols. Notable commissions include the roadways in the Great Smoky Mountains and Acadia National Parks; Yosemite Valley; Atlanta's Piedmont Park; Springvale Park; Uplands; residential neighborhoods in Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada, Oakland, California, including the street layout for what is now the Lakeshore Homes Association (the oldest homeowners' association west of the Mississippi River and which includes parts of Oakland's historic Crocker Highlands and Trestle Glenneighborhoods) and Baltimore, Maryland (including parts of Mayfield and Roland Park); entire park systems in cities such as Birmingham, Cleveland, Portland, Seattle; and Washington state's Northern State Hospital.
Perhaps inspired by thoughts of the Olmsteds, I stay in the saddle for the rest of the climb to Skyline, the last three miles of which are a pretty steady 9% pitch. It's very encouraging, because this climb is essentially a minor pass. If I can do this, I can ride in the mountains again.
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The next eight miles rolling along Skyline are identical to the previous ride so I don't stop for photos but just ride and hope something worthwhile comes back from the GoPro. The ride itself feels much different this time though - I keep a faster pace and a surer line, maintaining enough speed on the dips to help me keep momentum on the coming rise.
McNamee Road drops over a thousand feet in three miles, and is a challenge both because it's so steep in spots and because there are several sharp, blind hairpin turns to negotiate. The final mile is the steepest, dropping 500' at about 12% the whole way. Midway through the descent I round one of these bends and see a young deer in my path but unfortunately don't have the GoPro running to capture it. My hands ache from the braking by the time I reach the bottom, and later they'll both cramp up when I'm eating dinner.
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Back on the highway, there's a fast six mile run before I come to the turnoff to the Saint John's Bridge; and then the bridge traffic is bad enough that I decide I probably won't bike across it again soon.
Cathedral Coffee is the first of the two stops I was considering, and at twenty miles into the ride it comes at the right pot for a stop. I order up my coffee and a salami/kalamata wrap and then take a seat by the window opposite my bike.
As I'm sitting down, the man behind me interjects a comment about how much he's been admiring my bike outside. He's right, of course - it's a beautiful machine, practically a work of art, and it excites me to think that it's going to Tucson with us for the first time this winter.
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Leaving Cathedral Coffee, I follow the bluff south to Killingsworth and then east to Concord to follow the bike boulevard to Kaiser. I'm pleased about my progress here also when I manage to mare it across the spiral pedestrian overpass over Going Street without having to stop because I can't manage the bends. I still (and probably always will) have to take it slowly so I can see back on my blind side whether anyone is coming the other way; but I can do it.
I walk out of Kaiser with two Tyenne prescription fills (four needles) - my normal one, and the single extra I can get each year as a travel allowance. I'm a little taken aback by the cost - $250 per refill - because I'd been thinking it would zero out after the copay was spent down. I think that's wrong though, and $250 every four weeks is what this drug will cost us at today's prices. Now that I know my dosage I read up on what it costs and whether we might get a better price overseas; but we're definitely time boxed by the need to return to America for refills. The list price for a one month supply is $2,000, though you can get it from Amazon for only $1,500. Even at the lower price that's still six times what we'll be paying.
It's nearly all downhill for the next two miles as I drop down Interstate until the climb toward the Broadway Bridge. I could continue on the final two miles west up to where the car is parked, but because it's so hot and I'm carrying $500 worth of breakable cargo in the pannier I decide it's prudent to stop by the apartment and refrigerate it as long as I'm so close anyway. And once I'm there, it feels smart to just stay put for two hours while I wait for the day to cool down some - and besides, it's a money saver because the car is already parked in a no-fee zone. Save a little here and a little there and before you know it you've covered the cost of another prescription fill.
And it is at least somewhat better when I leave the apartment at 5:15. I'm not heading there directly though, because first I'm stopping off at the Hostel Cafe again, for another meet-up with our former host Brad and his nosey old guard dog yanking him my direction. We're meeting him again because he messaged us earlier today because another left-behind object was just found, Rachael's lavender-hued rain jacket she wasn't aware she was missing. It's a mystery to me why both weren't discovered at the same time, and it's a little embarrassing to have the Team exposed as the hopeless flakes that they are, but hopefully we're seeing the last of it.
And since I'm nursing an IPA inside the hostel in the shade while I wait for him it seems only natural to order up another, along with a nutritious cheeseburger and fries before continuing uphill for the last mile. And by the time I leave it's cooled down considerably and I'm biking in the shade ahead of a refreshing breeze and it's quite comfortable now. Much better.
Sound track: Afro Blue, by Cal Tjader
Today's ride: 32 miles (51 km)
Total: 188 miles (303 km)
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1) what was the carved wood statue of on the left side of the road at the beginning of the video?
2) were those padlocks on the underside of the bridge trestle? So many colors!
What a ride, Scott! Thanks!
1 month ago
1 month ago
1 month ago