September 6, 2008 - Mt. Hood Ski Bowl for the Lazy Biker

The ski lift takes you up the hill. I had 15 turns at a cost of $26. $20 was for the lift and $6 was for the park pass. There was $10.80 for a Cheese Burger with Fries and a 7-Up. On the way home I stopped at the trout pond to get a fish for dinner. The fish I caught were 16 inches and 10 inches at a cost of $11.50. (One lake has them up to 24 inches. There were 6 lakes and you fished in the lake that had the size you wanted to catch.) It was 120 miles round trip and I got 20 miles to the gallon - cost $22.38. That made it $70.68 for ever thing. It was a comparatively cheap day for all the fun.

I could have done more runs but I was not talking to anyone. The operator said it took me 15 minutes to go down the face and 20 minutes to go the road. The lift ride is included in that time. It started at 11:00 a.m. and went until 6:00 p.m. You do the math for that part. Well, OK, 28 minutes a run. The lift takes longer than the run. Yes, I talked a little and passed out my blog. I am still looking for the person who says they will not look at it. “Oh yea, I will look at it,” they say. When I look on the stats, no one has looked in weeks. I am starting to think they say that so I will get out of their life. It is still fun for me to do. I have had two different people say “I don’t want to look at your blog.” I like people who say what they want or think.

What makes you think I fell on the ride? Ok, so I fell one time just before I got on the lift. The next week end I fell two times - one coming down the hill, not going fast. I just could not make the turn on the loose rocks.

The trails are marked by .02 is easy and .09 is hard. You can rent bikes there. I don't know what they cost. The .09 is hard for me and I walked a lot of it. Some riders don’t even slow down. The .02 is the road most of the time.

I thought it was worth the money and I had a great time.

Now for the cheap people there is Timberline to Rhododendron by trail. It had hard and easy on it and I only fell two times. When I rode it this year, the bike stopped on a rock and I stepped over the bars and landed standing up. The second time it stopped and I just fell over and was lucky the rocks softened my fall. The trail from Timberline to Government Camp is called Glade (.09) and the trail from Government Camp to Rhododendron is the Highland Trail (.02 and .06). They call it hard. It took Robert and I two hours and 15 minutes to go about 15 miles. We did walk some of it, mostly the up part. There was very little down that we walked. There were three steep ups and if you were coming from the other way, they would be easy downs. Elevation: 6,000 feet to 3,000 feet (I think).

I hope you are having a fun day.

August, 2008 - Portland Bridge Pedal


There are a lot of great rides but the one I like the best is the Providence Bridge Pedal in Portland, OR. It was a ride this year, 2008, of 17,000 of your closest friends. It is the second largest ride in the USA.

This is how this works for me. I live in Milwaukie, OR and I ride ten miles to Portland to the ride. They changed the start place. I had Ilene (wife) sign me up. She said that she told me but as we all know men can’t hear women when they talk. The people at the old start didn’t know where the new start was. They did know it was over in N W Portland so off I went and just followed the riders to the start.

There was a lot to see. Some of the riders were in costumes. There were old bikes, new bikes, cheap bikes, and very high end bikes. The riders wore everything and none matched. They looked like they belonged to a biking team. They were really fun to look at and watch how they rode. Some didn’t even know how to shift their bike but they made it. I saw kids about five on the solid 10 inch wheel bike with training wheels and they were doing just fine on the short course.

As you lined up for the long ride, it was blocks long and you just stood there until it was time to leave. I was about half an hour early getting to the start. I was up at 4:30 a.m. and the ride didn’t start until 6:45 a.m. There was a bike trail from my house so I could make good time.

I was a half hour early and it seemed like forever. Some years they let about 100 go then wait for a minute and let another 100 go. This doesn’t work very well because the second bunch catches up to the first too quick and there is still a mess. This year they just let everyone go. It was two lanes to a six lane freeway and over the Fremont Bridge. I always stop to look at the view and then down the other side onto a four lane freeway that took you over to the Marquam Bridge and back up to six lanes. The riders were starting to thin out and there was more room to ride. We went back into town and over some bridges that were built around 1909. I can’t remember the last time they put up a bridge that was not a freeway bridge over the Willamette River. That is probably because I was not born until 1942.

One of the bridges has steel grates and they put plywood down on it. It sounded like you were on a train. Clickity clack, Clickity clack.

Out to the St John’s Bridge - the climb up to it took it’s tole on the ones who don’t ride much - two blocks long. There were a lot of walkers and I cheered them on. It was the prettiest bridge on the ride. There were rest spots, drinks, and food - Bananas, apples, and doughnuts. There were two rest spots on the ride.

The rest of the bridges are just some you have to do. They are fun but those three are the best ones.

I went over the finish line and got my ice-cream and chocolate milk to go with my doughnut, and then through Saturday Market to talk to some venders and friends there. Yes, it was back over the bridge and home by way of the Oaks Bottom, a mile of back roads and onto the Spring Water Corridor that is 28 miles long. It is an old street car track turned to trail. It goes all the way to Boring. It was a real fun 60 mile ride.

This all happened before lunch. Now what to do? Why nap and watch sports on TV.

My kids and their friends left later and had just as much fun.

Just a fun day

September 13, 2008 - Just a fun day at the beach

6 AM and we were on our way to the beach. Jet skies, Vellen, Sharon, Myran, Ilene and I. A donut and cup of coffee for breakfast. We were not in a hurry but there was this truck that was going 45 mph on the highway and we couldn't get around it. When we came to a passing lane, it was up to 75 mph. We were thinking "what a jerk." It was a good thing we were not in a hurry. We drafted him and got good mileage.

At Nehalem Bay there were a lot of boats and trailers. The lot was full and they were parking on the street. It seemed the crabbing has been out of this world. Some boats had been getting 20 to 30 with just two nets.

We were off to fish. We put on our cold water gear and went over the bar. The bar was the easiest one I have ever been over. We were out in the big blue thing and the rollers were not too big so air time was only 20 to 30 feet. There were no boats out there and we soon found our favorite fishing spot and started to fish. To make a long story short, we caught about 10 and let half of them go because they were too small. I hooked into a 30 inch lingcod and a 15 inch rock. Myran caught three Cabezon about two feet long. With light trout poles they pulled out line and gave you a good fight. Vellen caught two but had to let them go - too small. They have to be 22" or larger for the lings. The interesting thing was a slight breeze came up, the tide changed and the fish stop biting - Just that fast. I wanted to try for tuna but it was getting rough and was going to get worse. Tuna are 20 miles out and that is a long way on a ski. We were only out two miles.

Back to the truck. The bar going back was easier than going out. There is just something about being in the big waves that are over your head that gives you a rush.

We carry the fish up through the people oowing and awing about them.

Off to clam and Myran put on all his gear, a diving belt that is very heavy, his life jacket over his wet suit, and up the bay we go. We found ourselves out of the channel a few times, but got to where we wanted to be. It took a little time but in two feet of water you can see them. Myran has his diving gear on and picks them up. Vellen and I pulled the boat around. Soon we had our limit and were headed back. Note: We didn't take something to put them in so they were in the runner of the boat with a foot to keep them there. Myran had a senior moment. He was thinking that he should put on his life jacket - Oh he had his life jacket on. He had been DIVING with his life jacket AND WEIGHT BELT. Well, never too safe!

Vellen and Myran went to play in the big blue thing and I tried to get one of those crabs with nets that I paid $40.00 apiece for. I have not caught a crab with one of them yet! I STILL have not. I don't think much of them. After an hour I gave up. Vellen and Myran were back to rest and then I went out with them to jump. What a hoot. The wind was blowing about 20 or so and you got a face full of spray that hurts so you stand up and it was less. Your eyes burned from the salt in them. With the sun out I was red in the face. It was worth every little pain. Oh yea, the waves were sharp so you could get a lot of height, much higher than the ski was long. The problem was when you came down it was like a pile driver on your back. Yes, we were standing up but the seat came up and banged you in the butt. You really had to do it to see what I am talking about. Myran got one as it broke and it almost washed him off. It was just a lot of fun.

The wind was up and we had been on the water for 7 hours so it was time to go home. Just a great day. You could say I was hurting. It was a good thing Myran was driving because I soon fell asleep in the seat. Vellen and Sharon took his own pick up and Myran and Ilene and I were in Myran's pick up.

At home we filleted the fish and cleaned the clams. We fried up fresh fish and ate some fresh clams. It was time for bed.

Any time you can come back from a trip like that and just hurt a little, it is a good one.