Great New Cycle Shop in Astoria!

Big Mouth Cycles is now open under the bridge! Formally of Bikes and Beyond, Bruce has opened his own shop under the bridge in the old Liberty Theater. He offers a full retail line of road, BMX, and mountain bikes, parts and accessories, (and possibly becoming the exclusive Fuji dealer on the coast) and a full time repair shop. It sounds all very routine, I know, but what Bruce offers is far from the norm. First and foremost, his customer service cannot be beat. I have the luxury of living and working on the coast and in the Portland area at the same time. I split my time between locations regularly, and cycle avidly in both. At this point, I have yet to find a better or more knowledgeable man in the business. Not only is Bruce great at what he does, his new location is about as good as it gets for all cyclists, especially those that are touring the coast. Being located right under the bridge, its a great place to drop in to give your ride a once over, a tune up, to make that emergency repair or to pick up some accessories you might need while making your way down the coast. Remember, its a long way to the next full service shop in Tillamook! Now, for what makes Big Mouth Cycles (named after the mouth of the Columbia) unique. Soon there will be an indoor freestyle riding area! As far as I know, this will be the only place of its kind on the coast, and I cannot think of any place like it outside of Portland or Seattle. Cosidering our riding season is so short, I have no doubt that Big Mouth Cylcles will be a destination for riders year-round from all over the Northwest. Bruce is truly an innovator and is most definitely community minded, and there's nothing better than fining that one place where you know you can count on to keep you on the road and in the saddle. He has earned my business for life, and I know that there are a lot of other people in the community who feel the same way, so do yourself and Bruce a big favor and drop in. He's located at 230 W. Marine Drive, in Astoria right under the bridge on the river side. You can reach the shop by phone at 503-325-8713, or check out their website at http://www.bigmouthcycles.com/.

100 Plus Mile Training Ride Goes Off Without a Pain!

On April 31st, I set out on a two day training ride, fully loaded, as if on tour to prepare for the coast trip this summer. The knee has slowly been getting better, and has been feeling fine when riding while wrapped, so I thought I'd put it to the test. Mother Nature threw everything she had at me from rain, wind, some snow, and a fair amount of hail (which only hurt when it hit me in the face after bouncing back up at me from the road!). The day ended in warmth, sunshine, and a clear, cold night. The first day, I wanted to take it easy, in case the knee started to act up, so I went straight to Champoeg State Park, which was a nice 45 mile ride. I had no pain in the knee, and was very encouraged by that. Upon arrival at Champoeg Park, I found the camp host and requested an upgrade to a yurt, as I had no desire to spend the day in my tent, because it was raining, and showing no signs of letting up. But soon after I got to the yurt, the sun came out and it was quite nice the rest of the day. The yurt was nice, and allowed me to fully relax in style and much comfort. On day two, being encouraged by the lack of knee pain from the day before, I headed out on an 80 mile ride home. What a great day of riding, even though the last 13 miles was an almost constant up hill battle with a strong & steady headwind! That's okay though, because it really gave me a good idea of what it's going to be like heading down Highway 101 this summer. Bring it on!

Willapa Ride Postponed

After receiving many emails from folks relating that they wouldn't be able to make the ride on Sunday, I decided to postpone it until next month. As it turns out, most people cancelled because of the weather, but of course the only nice day that whole week was Sunday! I certainly felt bad about cancelling the ride, but still think it was a good decision based on the fact that we've had so much snow, hail, wind, rain and everything else in between, that I didn't want us to get caught in the elements. I will reschedule the ride for sometime next month when we're more likely to have better weather. In the mean time, the knee continues to heal, and I have an overnight trip planned to Indian Henry this week. It should be a nice 150 mile round trip. Until then, keep 'er rubber side down!

Willapa Bay Ride Scheduled for April 20th

It sounds like we will have quite a turnout for the ride on the 20th. I've had quite a response from charter members and potential members alike, so I'm very excited about this ride. Hopefully the weather will cooperate...it's bad enough having to ride in the rain, but the snow is in a category all by itself! Remember, we'll meet at the coffee roasters at 1:00, and pedal out to the wildlife refuge for a late lunch. From there, we'll just have to see how we feel, I guess. It's a pretty easy ride for the most part, so I anticipate we'll want to ride a little further. If that's the case, we can head back by way of Ilwaco and take Loop 100 and break at the viewpoint, then either finish the loop or turn around and go down Willows Road back to the coffee shop. I look forward to seeing the old faces, and to meeting some new folks. Take care.

There's hope (I think). The knee might be healing.

Over the last couple of days, I've stuck my toe in the water, and ventured out on the 'bent. Still very weary about the pain that inevitably sets into the knee at the point of no return, I went without loading the ol' girl down too much and tightened up the knee brace. I am happy to say that on day one, 20 miles went by with very little pain, if any at all. Yesterday, I put over 30 miles in the saddle (riding to the Harley Davidson shop and back...ugh) with only moderate pain after having to pull every hill in the city to get home. I think the knee might be getting better. I'm trying not to push it too hard, but trying to rehab it at the same time with lots of walking and spinning of the stationary recumbent at the gym. Keeping my fingers crossed, I hope to be healed up for a three day tour I have planned at the end of the month, not to mention the Coast Tour in July. Happy trails!

New Name, Same Ol' Thing

I decided today to change the title of this blog from "Reports From the Fogline" to the new title you see above. Having found a new passion for riding my recumbent, this has more or less turned into a recumbent blog, and I wanted to be easier to find when doing a Google search. However, I still ride the MTB, so am not an exclusive 'Bent Snob! But I am the only one in my group of riding buddies that piolots a 'bent, and understand that not everyone is as wise as I am! In any case, please feel free to make comment and check me out even if you don't ride a 'bent. You might still find something useful here. Enjoy.

Screw the Knee! Much Needed Ride Worth the Pain.

Despite significant pain in the knee while on the flats, I managed to put a few miles in the saddle this weekend. The wind was howling, and a few times almost pushed me off the shoulder or into traffic. It rained most of the time, and my knee which started off just fine, ended up killing me at the point in the ride when it was too late to turn around. The funny thing is, that it only hurt on the flats. Climbing any hill was the only thing that managed to make it feel better. Weird. Anyway, it has been feeling better, and I actually took the opportunity to ride in such foul weather on purpose. I loaded everything that I plan on packing during the coast tour this summer, and ventured out to test how everything would stand up during the worst case scenario. I'm glad I did it, because it gave me the chance to see where the chinks were in my armor. Thankfully, there weren't many. Mostly, I found that there are a few items I need to pack differently, and discovered that the bike handles quite well when fully loaded with at least 50 pounds of stuff. Let me tell you, I absolutely flew down the hills with all that extra weight, hitting 45 m.p.h. and almost passing a car on Holly Lane! Having said that...going up hill is a KILLER! Upon arrival back at the house, I set up the tent, and prepared to camp as if on the road. It rained all night, and was colder than a well digger's brass monkey, but me and all my stuff stayed as dry as a bone! Now, if the knee would hurry up and heal, I will be ready to hit the road and travel in any kind of weather fair or foul.

Considering a Recumbent?

Patrick:

I recommend riding several bikes before deciding on one. Take them for LONG rides and throw some hills in there, so you can be sure you're getting what you want. The guys at Coventry are very willing to let you do this, as long as you give them some form of collateral like your driver's license or something. There is a bit of a learning curve to begin with, especially when riding at slower speeds with longer wheel based bikes, but I'm sure you'll have no problems. I have let many people ride mine, and most just get on and go like old pros. Some things to consider before making the commitment to buying a recumbent: One, sticker shock. 'Bents tend to be more expensive than conventional bikes. Two, they can be heavier than a conventional bike. Three, you have to build up your "recumbent muscles", as you use different muscle groups than you do for a diamond frame (DF) bike, although this takes most people only a few weeks at most. Four, pulling hills can be a challenge at first, but once you get your new muscles built up, I see no difference versus riding a "wedgie" up hill. Obviously, you cannot stand up on the pedals, but you can push back against the seat, which can give you a tremendous amount of power. Going down hill, though, is awesome! Finally, getting your bike around can be a challenge depending on what kind of vehicle you have. However, there are plenty of options for that as well. Overall, I think a 'bent is the better choice for me. I do still ride my mountain bike, but most of my riding is done on the road over long distances. For this purpose, I feel that a 'bent cannot be beat! There are no issues with sore, numb hands or neck, back, and butt. My limit on a DF is around 60 miles before I have to get off the bike for a while to rest all my sore parts. On a 'bent, I can easily go 100 miles in a day. Sure I'm tired, but definitely not sore! Also, the considerable potential health problems, especially for men on a "wedgie" can be avoided when riding a 'bent. 'Bents are certainly not the end-all-to-be-all, but for me I don't think I'll ever go back to riding a DF other than when taking the MTB off road.

By the way, you should come ride with us. I will add you to the riding group email list, if that's okay with you. I cannot seem to reply to your emails, though. My email address is allsupd@hotmail.com, so I'm not sure if your antivirus is blocking me?

Take care,
David

What Kind of Bike is That?

Patrick:

Have tried twice to respond to your email without success. So, to answer your question, the bike is an EZ Sport recumbent. I picked it up at Coventry Cycle Works in Portland. There's a link to them below. They are really good people to work with, and very knowledgeable. Jeff is the one who helped me out the most, being very patient with me while answering all of my questions, and allowing me to test ride many bikes before deciding on this one. I truly feel this is the best all around recumbent out there. Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them. By the way, I'm right across the river from you, and ride with a small group on your side of the water once a month or so. If you ride, leave me a message if you're interested in being part of the group. Take care.

Knee Injury

Well, I've been off the air for a while, so I thought I should at least put down a few lines. I damaged a key piece of riding equipment a few months ago, so have been laying low. My left knee has an issue that does not seem to be getting any better. The doc says it will heal, but could take up to another 6 months! Damn! I guess it's gonna be a long painful coast tour this summer...

Fort Clastsop Ride a Success!

We had an awesome ride on Saturday! Agnes and I drove out together and were very pleased to see that Helen and Lesley were waiting for us. The weather was so nice that I could hardly believe it was still February. We all made it to Fort Clatsop in good time, and decided to ride on to Netul Landing for a break. At that point I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that everyone wanted to push on further, and we ended up making our way down to Logan Road, and then back to the cars; a 22 mile ride in all! I was proud of Lesley who came out for her maiden voyage on her new Trek, especially considering that I remember her saying that she didn't think she would be ready for a 20 plus mile ride! Well, she did it, hills and all. Good for her. Helen did well also, and what a great way to cross train for that marathon, eh? Anyway, we all tossed around some ideas for our next ride, so if anyone has any suggestions let me know. I'll plan another ride for some time next month.

By the way, I think that if I'm going to fit in with this group I'll need to come up with some sort of an accent. Something from this continent to really round us out...so, I was thinking I'll start slowly phasing in a southern drawl.

Worst Day Ride 2008

Although I was slightly disappointed that the weather was actually pretty nice for the "Worst Day of the Year Ride", the event itself was far from disappointing. At last count, there were over 2,000 riders in attendance, my number being 2060. What a sight to see, all those cyclists on the road at one time! At one point while crossing the Broadway Bridge along the course, I looked down to see a line of cyclists riding up Front Avenue as far as I could see, and they were all heading my direction. Wow! Of course everyone was very cool, and I got a lot of comments on the 'bent (I only saw 4 others). There were some pretty nice bikes there and some outrageous costumes. The atmosphere as a whole was awsome. Good ride, good compay, some rain, and of course great beer and chili to finish it all off! What more could you ask for?

Young's Falls Ride Rescheduled to Fort Clatsop

I think we should consider riding to Fort Clatsop on the 23rd instead of Young's Falls. I rode by the falls yesterday, and it looks like a disaster area after the storm. Fort Clatsop offers covered picnic areas, multiple trails, and is an easier ride for our newer riders. I will get the word out to everyone with the change. I hope you all can make it.

Astoria to Seaside Ride

Bright, sunny, cold, clear and crisp. The perfect weather for a ride as far as I'm concerned. Starting in Astoria yesterday, I rode to Fort Clatsop, then to Seaside and back via Logan and Lewis & Clark Roads. The traffic was sparse, the scenery was beautiful, and the hills were exhilarating both up and down. I spotted several bald eagles, and enjoyed views of some really great country. My lunch in Seaside at Sam's Seaside Cafe was delicious, and really complimented my day. What a nice way to spend the day, putting another 50 miles on the ol' bike!

Winter Time Palm Tree Ride in Portland

After meeting at the Hawthorne Hostel, and enjoying a vegan breakfast of O.J., coffee, biscuits & gravy, and a tofu scramble, we spent about three hours on Sunday cycling around East Portland visiting all of the city's palm trees and other tropical or exotic non-native evergreens. Led by our guide Shawn of the Urban Adventure League, thirty of us pedaled around to view these little gems and get a taste of the tropics in the dead of winter. I truly enjoyed the company of everyone on the ride, and intend to participate in more events sponsored by the group that consists of all kinds of people from physicians to vagabonds. Check out their schedule of events at http://www.urbanadventureleague.blogspot.com/. This was an interesting ride that I look forward to participating in for years to come!

Young's Falls Ride Scheduled for February 23rd.

There will be a Riding Group ride at 11:00 on February 23rd. We'll meet at the DMV parking lot in Astoria, ride to Young's Falls, eat lunch, then return to the parking lot. This is a beautiful ride (weather permitting) along Old Young's Bay Road. The traffic is sparse, and the road is mostly flat, with some rolling hills. Let's hope that Young's Falls hasn't been damaged too badly since the storm. I've not been out there, but have heard there was some significant flooding. Everyone is welcome. I hope to see you there!

Riding Group Meeting

We had a meeting and went on a short ride yesterday. Luckily, we got a break in the weather, and rode the Discovery Trail a bit, then headed back to LBCR. There was a new face in the group. It was nice to make her acquaintance, and to get out and ride with someone new. I hope she will continue to ride with us. We decided that as far as a name goes, we would just let it evolve on its own. There will be a time when someone will say something at just the right time, or something will happen, and a name will be born. I like that idea a lot. Instead of trying to make up a name, we'll just let one come to us! I rode to the meeting from home, then put another 12 miles on afterward. In all, I put another 35 miles in the old saddle. I have six days off starting tomorrow, and I hope to get in at least another 100 miles, weather permitting.