Post about this weekend
Apr. 28th, 2009 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aprilstarchildSaturday: 30 miles
Sunday: 40 miles
My knees: still aching on Tuesday
I: need a goddamn granny gear
Got another reminder that longer-distance riding, especially when loaded, is different than city riding. Say I'm riding in the city, and look! A hill! I often just hammer my way up. Standing on my pedals may be involved.
Can't do that if the hill is several miles long. Nope. Gotta find a pace I can handle and just. keep. going. My lack of a granny gear is unhelpful in this regard, I must admit.
Ainsworth State Park is really pretty and the campsites are nice. The lovely quiet of nature (excepting the vague roar of I-84 and the rattle of trains, which didn't bother me) was ruined at about 9pm or so, by a bunch of late teenagers (if I had to guess) arriving. I think both Shawn and I saw them come in with a feeling of "Oh nonononono." Oh yes. Can we say "wow, drunk teenagers are obnoxious"? Nothing like trying to sleep while a party is going on nearby. Fuuuuck. Neither of us (nor, apparently, anyone else camping nearby) wanted to get out of their tent and freeze long enough to tell them to STFU. After one girl shouted "Where the FUCK is the alcohol?" I gave up and put on headphones. I'm glad I brought them, although perhaps earplugs would have been better. Anyway, managed to sleep thanks to Sigur Ros.
The next morning both Shawn and I ran into a ranger. I came across him as he was leaving the women's bathroom--they'd broken a shot glass on the floor. As it turns out, they also hadn't paid. Oh, and they illegally cut down some firewood. Fuckers. Have I mentioned that they were driving a BMW SUV but were drinking Busch beer? WTF?
ON TO SOMETHING MORE CHEERFUL. Every time Shawn G and I saw another cyclist (or four) we rang our bells. They were almost always roadies in the full spandex getup and weird looking bikes, and they usually waved back, some smiling some not. One smiled, waved, and rang his own bell. Awesome.
The riding on the way there was mostly on the Columbia River Scenic Highway, which is a much more gradual hill from here to Crown Point, than on the way back. We took I-84 on the way back, which has a nice wide shoulder most of the time. Occasionally it's full of gravel, but oh well. And trucks going by is kinda scary, but they do pull you along a little in their wake. It's kinda tiring to ride next to interstate traffic, but less tiring than that awful climb up to Crown Point from the east.
Speaking of the way back, we stopped at Rooster Rock. The nude beach isn't listed on the sign when you get in, but we weren't going there anyway. We stopped near the (closed) interpretive center to rest and eat and refill our water bottles, and we sat on some stairs that went straight into the water. Supposedly there's a beach there in the summer, but it was kinda surreal to see the stairs end in the river.
While we were there, a squirrel started checking us out, so I threw it a tiny bite of the energy bars Shawn G made. Whether or not that was a mistake, depends on whether you like squirrels or not, as soon we had four of them checking us out and trying to sneak up on us. I thought they were cute and hilarious, Shawn G did not seem to agree. Although there was one time I stood lower on the stairs, and as Shawn G looked out on the (beautiful) view, one squirrel s l o w l y crept up behind him. He got pretty close before Shawn noticed and turned fast, at which point the squirrel spooked and ran off. I swear to god, it was so funny.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Best discovery of the night: Our mummy bags can zip together. We still have separated feet, and we gotta be careful or someone ends up sleeping on top of the zipper, but yay for snuggling!
Sunday: 40 miles
My knees: still aching on Tuesday
I: need a goddamn granny gear
Got another reminder that longer-distance riding, especially when loaded, is different than city riding. Say I'm riding in the city, and look! A hill! I often just hammer my way up. Standing on my pedals may be involved.
Can't do that if the hill is several miles long. Nope. Gotta find a pace I can handle and just. keep. going. My lack of a granny gear is unhelpful in this regard, I must admit.
Ainsworth State Park is really pretty and the campsites are nice. The lovely quiet of nature (excepting the vague roar of I-84 and the rattle of trains, which didn't bother me) was ruined at about 9pm or so, by a bunch of late teenagers (if I had to guess) arriving. I think both Shawn and I saw them come in with a feeling of "Oh nonononono." Oh yes. Can we say "wow, drunk teenagers are obnoxious"? Nothing like trying to sleep while a party is going on nearby. Fuuuuck. Neither of us (nor, apparently, anyone else camping nearby) wanted to get out of their tent and freeze long enough to tell them to STFU. After one girl shouted "Where the FUCK is the alcohol?" I gave up and put on headphones. I'm glad I brought them, although perhaps earplugs would have been better. Anyway, managed to sleep thanks to Sigur Ros.
The next morning both Shawn and I ran into a ranger. I came across him as he was leaving the women's bathroom--they'd broken a shot glass on the floor. As it turns out, they also hadn't paid. Oh, and they illegally cut down some firewood. Fuckers. Have I mentioned that they were driving a BMW SUV but were drinking Busch beer? WTF?
ON TO SOMETHING MORE CHEERFUL. Every time Shawn G and I saw another cyclist (or four) we rang our bells. They were almost always roadies in the full spandex getup and weird looking bikes, and they usually waved back, some smiling some not. One smiled, waved, and rang his own bell. Awesome.
The riding on the way there was mostly on the Columbia River Scenic Highway, which is a much more gradual hill from here to Crown Point, than on the way back. We took I-84 on the way back, which has a nice wide shoulder most of the time. Occasionally it's full of gravel, but oh well. And trucks going by is kinda scary, but they do pull you along a little in their wake. It's kinda tiring to ride next to interstate traffic, but less tiring than that awful climb up to Crown Point from the east.
Speaking of the way back, we stopped at Rooster Rock. The nude beach isn't listed on the sign when you get in, but we weren't going there anyway. We stopped near the (closed) interpretive center to rest and eat and refill our water bottles, and we sat on some stairs that went straight into the water. Supposedly there's a beach there in the summer, but it was kinda surreal to see the stairs end in the river.
While we were there, a squirrel started checking us out, so I threw it a tiny bite of the energy bars Shawn G made. Whether or not that was a mistake, depends on whether you like squirrels or not, as soon we had four of them checking us out and trying to sneak up on us. I thought they were cute and hilarious, Shawn G did not seem to agree. Although there was one time I stood lower on the stairs, and as Shawn G looked out on the (beautiful) view, one squirrel s l o w l y crept up behind him. He got pretty close before Shawn noticed and turned fast, at which point the squirrel spooked and ran off. I swear to god, it was so funny.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Best discovery of the night: Our mummy bags can zip together. We still have separated feet, and we gotta be careful or someone ends up sleeping on top of the zipper, but yay for snuggling!
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-29 03:30 am (UTC)sounds like fun. you are such a stud :)
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Date: 2009-04-29 03:45 am (UTC)Yeah, I had my phone off all weekend, so I didn't see your text until Sunday night!
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Date: 2009-04-29 11:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-29 12:38 pm (UTC)I will admit to being partial to most rodent species due to their resemblances to my rats.
I love the way squirrels move. And these ones were just so cute!