March 18, 2020
Preparing to break camp
Today began, as it has for the last few days, with a Team Anderson business meeting. This is fast becoming a part of our New Normal, and represents quite a change for the team. With all the local sit-down coffee shops shut down, I’m staying around the unit in the morning now. We’re learning to adapt to each other’s morning styles as we talk over our plans for the day and share thoughts that came to us in the night. As part of this, Rachael is coaching me on waiting until her morning coffee has soaked in until popping off with my latest brilliant ideas.
Today, we’re focused on preparing to break camp. We’ve been back in town for over five weeks now, but next Tuesday our time is up at our 23rd floor aerie. It’s time to start preparing to move on to our next lodging, in The Dalles.
Since we’ve only got a few more mornings of waking up to this dramatic view, let’s have another look while we still can:
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We have a few tasks on the agenda today. We both woke up thinking it was time to start moving things into storage that won’t be going to The Dalles with us, so we take some time working out the approach we’ll take this time. We decide to take everything with us that we might need in the next few months, since we still don’t know what will happen beyond our stay in The Dalles. Driving down to Utah is still on the table, though it’s teetering on the edge; but it’s also possible that we’ll leave town in the Jetta next week and not return until June.
Also, Rachael has decided that she’d like to get an indoor trainer, so she’ll have a pathway for keeping her sanity if we become total shut-ins. I agree that her sanity is important to both of us, so she orders one from Western Bikeworks and I agree to drive out to their warehouse near the airport this afternoon and pick it up.
Also, we have an appointment to take the Jetta in to the Firestone shop on Burnside that’s serviced our car over the years. We don’t know how many miles we might put on the car over the next few months, and we want to leave town well-prepared.
And, we want to stock up on more staples and supplies from the grocery, and decide we should pick up some more first aid supplies as well. Ironic and foresight duo, because they’ll be needed before day is done.
Also, we talk about the imperative to bike as safely as we can. This would be the wrong time to need be emergency room services.
So, an errand day. We pack up everything that’s storage-bound and load it in the car, and then I’m off to storage and to drop off the car for servicing while Rachael goes shopping.
45 minutes later I’m driving around the block on 8th and Burnside, wondering where the Firestone station went. It was there the last I looked, but now there’s just this big crater in the ground. apparently it was razed about a year ago. I call Rachael to find out where she really made the appointment, but she can’t talk at the moment because she’s in the midst of scanning groceries. After several halting communication attempts and a call to Firestone, we finally learn that we’re actually scheduled for an appointment out east on Powell Boulevard. It’s too far to walk back from, so I swing by the apartment, pick up Rodriguez, and drive off to the appointment.
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I drop off the car, hop on Rodriguez, and wheel off. I’ve got three or four hours to fill and was thinking I’d fit in a ride, but I’m surprised at how cold it is. I didn’t think to bring a coat and don’t really feel prepared for a couple of hours on the bike, so I just head back to the apartment and wait for the call that the car is ready for pickup.
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An hour later, the call comes. They’ve discovered that the heater hose is cracked and needs replacement. They can replace it, but they have to get the part from one of the other stores so it will take another hour or so.
Around 3:30 they call again. The Jetta is ready for pickup, so I bike straight over, stopping a few spots along the way since I’ve got the time.
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4 years ago
How cool that the cat has this tree for some mid-walk entertainment!
If you're ever there with them, please take a photo to post on Instagram.
4 years ago
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So, I pick up the car just at 4. There’s still time to head out to the Western Bikeworks warehouse and pick up the indoor trainer, so I head right off. Two minutes later, I get the phone call. It’s Rachael.
A Public Safety Announcement
We almost decided to omit this event from the journal, but decided it was important to share. Maybe someone will read this, think about their own cycling behavior, and learn from it.
Rachael had a cycling accident, and is calling for me to pick her up. Incredible, after we were just talking about cycling safety this morning. She was waiting for a light on the corner of Interstate and Tillamook, when a UPS truck turned right into her. A very big UPS truck.
Before going further, know that Rachael is just fine. She was knocked sideways from a standstill position, and isn’t really sure what hit her specifically. Fairly minor but messy scapes to her right elbow, hip and knee. No evidence that her head hit the ground; and no real damage to the Straggler, though we’ll take it in for a safety check.
It’s not clear exactly what happened, but there were witnesses - a man and his 5 year old son saw it from their towing operation across the street, ran right over to help and comfort her, and called the police. By the time she called me it was clear that she was fine, and after getting bandaged up and checked over for any serious injuries she just waited the half hour it took me to drive there to pick her up. The police car was still parked there and keeping an eye on her when I arrived.
One of Rachael’s first comments when I picked her up was to express her regret at not getting her 42 miles in. Still, 40 miles is respectable, and four times what I did today.
So, the lesson for the day. When waiting at an intersection, wait behind or in front of the lead vehicle. If you’re behind and they’re turning, let them go first. If you’re in front, look back nd make eye contact. Don’t just stay straight on the right and trust that the driver has seen you and is observing your right of way.
This happened to me also, 33 years ago. A car turned right into me at a light one morning in Salem on my way to work, and I found myself and my bicycle skidding along the pavement under the front bumper of the car, screaming. Fortunately the driver heard me in time, so the only real damage was a broken pedal and minor scrapes. I remember that the first thing on my mind after I was hit was that my planned tourfrom Cedar City to Flagstaff was off (though it wasn’t, since I was uninjured).
I was due to leave for my tour in just a few days. 10 days later, when I returned to the office, I learned that Rachael had hired on as a new programmer in my absence. With just a bit less luck, Team Anderson might not have happened.
So, don’t let this be you. I’ve always regarded my close shave as lucky in more than one way. I survived it intact, and I learned a valuable lesson I’ve never forgotten.
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4 years ago
Trucks making right hand turns are the major cause of serious, often fatal, bicycle accidents here. Kids are often the victims. Eye contact, eye contact, eye contact! And how about legislation making those safety devices for trucks mandatory!
4 years ago
4 years ago
4 years ago
Did you talk with the driver? If yes, what did they say?
4 years ago
4 years ago
Also glad that Portland has the green boxes so that everyone who reads this can learn about safest position in the box.
And making eye contact with drivers, especially if they're in big rigs is also a good idea.
4 years ago