Weekend BikeAway: Crater Lake

Hi All!

Dimitrios heard on his obsessive watching of the bike forums that Crater Lakewas open to cyclists and hikers only this past weekend.  It was a rare occasion as the snow has melted earlier this year than any other year.  So we moved some stuff around in our busy life schedules to make the trek (it's five hours one way) to Crater Lake and back in one night and a day.  Yes it was a bit grueling near the end (I crashed pretty quickly after showering when we got home) but...it's something we have been meaning to do since we lived here as we heard the experience actually seeing the lake is amazing...and well.  It is.  

Dimitrios was a trooper and sherpa'd the bike bag the whole way on our ride around the lake.  The highest point we climbed was 7708 feet (higher than the city of Denver..WOW) and you could feel it in your lungs going up that beast.  The ride we did is here (http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2723133) should you feel so inclined to look at what we did.  

These photos have not been photo shopped at all.  I have done nothing with them.  Crater Lake is seriously that beautiful and seriously an experience to uh...experience.  We want to go again, maybe even rent out one of the cabins they had in the National Forest (they only allow swimming in ONE area of thelake and usually just in July/August..and even then, the water is between 55-60 degrees so..you don't swim for very long me thinks.)..

If you want to look up more information on Crater Lake (yes it was a volcano that went boom, but there is SO MUCH MORE!!) then to to this link:
http://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm

But now, let's show some photos! :)

Oregon Biking: Pedalpalooza and other events

From the ORBike Website:

DALPALOOZA | June 6-29 - Portland and Vancouver 

Oh how we love June! The rain starts its low recession and lush summertime relaxation is on the horizon. Bike events abound and there's no shortage of fun to be had on two wheels.

June also means its time for Pedalpalooza, Portland's annual celebration of bike creativity. Clever bikers host a series of mostly free (and often wacky) events for three jam-packed weeks of velo revelry.

One of the signature events is the World Naked Ride. Incarnations of the event happen worldwide, but Portland's is regarded as the largest. This year the ride will kick off in partnership with the Portland Art Museum's Cylepedia bike-themed art exhibit. The ride will leave from outside the museum and a pre-party will be held inside. Admission is $1 per piece of clothing.

Other Pedalpalooza rides encourage clothing, such as Bowie vs. Prince ride (pick your allegiance to one of those two pop stars by dressing in homage), Cowboy Ride, Star Trek vs. Star Wars , and the Hot Socks Ride.

If you're new to biking, Pedalpalooza offers ample opportunities to meet other bikers and learn new skills as educational events abound (like Bike Touring for Women). If you're new to biking with kids, the family-friendly activities are an excellent way to gain knowledge from experienced biking families.

Every city should be so lucky to have a festival like Pedalpalooza, when bikers come out in droves to revel in summertime cycling silliness. The only downside? Some days are so full there are as many as 20 events to choose from. We've highlighted some of our favorite events in the ORbike calendar (and the newsletter calendar on the sidebar here). Rally your bike party posse and start planning now - you definitely don't want to miss out on this bike fun, the perfect way to kick off summer. 

Memorial Day: McKenzie Pass trail open

Memorial Day weekend.
We picked the default city for us to go (resolution has been to go somewhere any time there is a three or four day weekend..even if it's just a day trip or two).
The big thing this year for us..was we got notice that the McKenzie Pass was open to cyclists and hikers only until June 9th..we had known for a few months, but just had too many things scheduled to make a day trip out of it or anything.  So this weekend was THE weekend to go.  I was excited as a friend of our's (Brendan) had gone there back in JULY of 2011 and the snow was so high he got a great photo of his bike up against a snow wall that was over 10 feet high!!  It's a great photo!  I wanted similar.

So we started the climb.  Honestly..I figured Dimitrios was going to leave me in the dust.  But..he didn't.  My bike rides up Rocky Butte at lunch every other day have paid off.  We only had to stop once and that was for me to take off my long sleeves (it was actually pretty warm at the bottom) and take photos of us at a lookout point before the top.  I still haven't learned how to do the 'Bike and remove' things well, especially on inclines.  Maybe one day.




As we got closer to the top, the snow started to appear!!








Then we got to the wall, the snow WALL!!





It wasn't as HIGH as we were hoping (there wasn't a lot of snow this year and it's a little late as has mostly melted off) but man oh man!  Does it make me want to go back next year on the first weekend to experience all the snow craziness.
We loved being up there!  You'll see in one of those photos Dimitrios is holding a snowball and tossing it :)  He threw it at me after the photo, which led to a snowball fight, which then made us realize that SNOW IS MADE OF WATER AND IT'S COLD ;)
We kept heading to the top!  And then..we were there!  We didn't take any photos as we were taking a break (ok I took a few on my phone, but I don't have them where i can access them right now) and then bundled up to head back down.
And man, am I glad I brought the right stuff to bundle up.  Windbreaker, jersey with sleeves (that can be removed, they were snapped back on), wool socks, knickers that are fleece lined, ear warmer, and full fingered gloves.  Oh yea...GLAD I brought those.
The descent was COLD...I got up to speeds of 35mph ..Dimitrios went faster (he has less fear than I do) and video'd it with his helmet cam :)  It was FUN AS HELL TO GO DOWN..then we had all this energy..our commute speed back to the car was like 23mph!!!  It was great!  The wind was at our backs..I felt GOOD!

Portland, I love you

Biking home today I have a small but steep 35 foot climb. As I'm climbing, a car comes behind me. He's polite and gives me plenty of space. I get to the top, then I hear a voice from the car. Being used to Florida jerkiness, I think the car is yelling rudeness at me and mentally prep myself to ignore ...then I hear the tone and realize they are being cordial and telling me about their daily run up that hill and how it's so small but it'll kill you with the steep. 
We shared a laugh, said our niceties "have a great day " and continued. 
I love this city.

Poor Biking Bettie Blog

I have neglected you for over a year now :(

So - let me attempt to sum up here:
- I moved.  That's right.  Finally did it.  Across the country to Portland.  I can't say I just up'd and did it or admit to being all brazen like that, however, I did get the job I've been wanting since 2008 with the company I wanted to work for and basically had no reason to stay in Florida after getting my acceptance letter.  So, I did it.

- I've gotten adjusted to Portland.  Honestly, it's everything I thought it would be and more.  I will post more observations on biking in this area vs biking in Florida here and more often.  Plus some other tips and pointers on cycling that I have learned.  But, no, even with the cold/drear/rain weather we've had since November...you couldn't PAY me to move back to Florida.

- I have been at my company officially one year as of yesterday and been in Portland for one year as well.

- Biking is definitely the way to go in Portland.  Everything is so bike friendly here compared to where I was.  It's still amazing to me when riding after work to downtown to meet someone for dinner, how many cyclists pass me heading that way ..I counted one day and it was something in the amount of over 57 cyclists..in only a 7 mile radius.

- At the same time, you still have people, and I don't know if they're from here and haven't experienced areas that don't have any cycling benefits at all or what, but they still don't think the cycling or roads or WHATEVER are good enough here and continue to complain.  Dudes, you got it pretty cake here.  Why don't you go and live where I'm from for a MONTH and tell me if it's better for your cycling adventures or ease of use to cycle here.  And you won't be able to complain ever again.  It's easy to live here and bike.

Anyways, that's my synopsis.  I promise to write more on this blog later.  I've also been too busy trying to make friends..and I've made some great ones thus far ( a great lady who has a great blog about vintage stuff and a lovely tattoo'd lady who models for Diamond Dolls Inc. just to name a few.  I've met some wonderful burlesque performers, an emcee and a great band of those performers, a body paint artist who's super talented and super kind ...yea..I'm lucky to have met and hopefully make friends will all these super talented people :)    It's starting to feel like home connecting with people that I enjoy supporting them in their arts and doing similar activities with.  Almost like..Tampa/St Pete and it's conventions and whatnot I attended and worked in.  I think because of the people I mentioned above (and a couple other's of course) Portland finally feels like home.