Left Eugene yesterday morning after a very enjoyable stay.
The ride toward Albany is a flat ride along rural roads ... very enjoyable and a good road to rebuild a level of fitness. Not much to report about the ride other than the fact that the final two miles into Albany was in a downpour. Not a good way to finish up a day's ride ... very wet and very cold.
Today's ride toward Portland ended in Newberg. First part of the ride was again flat, but the middle third was nothing but rolling hills. This part of Oregon is wine country, so the scenery was quite beautiful ... but very much up. The roads in this area do not have a bike lane, so the climbs were somewhat stressful when cars/trucks approached from the rear.
On one of these climbs, I had the opportunity of sharing a guy's road-rage. This guy, in an over sized pick-up truck, slowed down to my climbing pace (4 mph) to share with me his thoughts regarding my being on (t)his road. "You may be in the right to be on this road ... you may even be dead-right ... but you will not be any less dead!!" Clever fellow. Due to my hearing losses, I thought he was kidding at first, so I just laughed and smiled, which just ignited his anger. Thankfully, after a minute or so of his diatribe, he sped off. I later saw his truck parked at a house along the road. This road is a designated route on the Willamette (rhymes with "will-dam-it" ... emphasis on "dam" for you non-Oregonians) Valley Bicycle map. I suspect this guy probably had to give up a few seconds of his busy driving schedule, to bikers, on a fairly regular basis. Scary, to say the least.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, just a lot of agricultural areas and less-rolling hills. Tomorrow I will be heading into Portland, then flying down to Phoenix for about a week. Not sure if I am looking forward to the heat, but I am looking forward to seeing familiar faces.
The adventure continues, and life is good.
The ride toward Albany is a flat ride along rural roads ... very enjoyable and a good road to rebuild a level of fitness. Not much to report about the ride other than the fact that the final two miles into Albany was in a downpour. Not a good way to finish up a day's ride ... very wet and very cold.
Today's ride toward Portland ended in Newberg. First part of the ride was again flat, but the middle third was nothing but rolling hills. This part of Oregon is wine country, so the scenery was quite beautiful ... but very much up. The roads in this area do not have a bike lane, so the climbs were somewhat stressful when cars/trucks approached from the rear.
On one of these climbs, I had the opportunity of sharing a guy's road-rage. This guy, in an over sized pick-up truck, slowed down to my climbing pace (4 mph) to share with me his thoughts regarding my being on (t)his road. "You may be in the right to be on this road ... you may even be dead-right ... but you will not be any less dead!!" Clever fellow. Due to my hearing losses, I thought he was kidding at first, so I just laughed and smiled, which just ignited his anger. Thankfully, after a minute or so of his diatribe, he sped off. I later saw his truck parked at a house along the road. This road is a designated route on the Willamette (rhymes with "will-dam-it" ... emphasis on "dam" for you non-Oregonians) Valley Bicycle map. I suspect this guy probably had to give up a few seconds of his busy driving schedule, to bikers, on a fairly regular basis. Scary, to say the least.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, just a lot of agricultural areas and less-rolling hills. Tomorrow I will be heading into Portland, then flying down to Phoenix for about a week. Not sure if I am looking forward to the heat, but I am looking forward to seeing familiar faces.
The adventure continues, and life is good.
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