A trip to Eugene

March 27, 2018 to March 28, 2018

Monday

We’re staying close to home this week so that we can do all we can to keep the home sale project forward. Today, while Rachael went out for a morning bike ride, I sacrificed myself for the team yet once again by staying home taking care of business. The morning started early for me, with a short walk to the nearby Starbucks (a place I won’t return to, even though it opens early - too drafty; too loud; and, we’ll, it’s Starbucks). Next time, I’ll just roll over and go back to sleep for an hour and wait for Crema to open it’s doors.

My errands for the morning were to do some research on issues with the type of windows in our building, make arrangements with a contractor for an inspection, and discuss the situation with our HOA to make sure we understood any constraints we are under. The short story on the outcome: we have an inspection scheduled for next Monday, while we’re in Minnesota (my sister volunteered to come over and be on site); and an informal estimate on time frame of a month or more, since parts will likely need to be ordered from the manufacturer back in Iowa. Nothing sounds too scary, yet.

So, suddenly faced with nothing requiring us to be in town for the next few days, we hurriedly made arrangements for a quick trip to Eugene to bring home our new Bike Fridays. Afterwards I biked over to my sister’s home for a visit and cup of tea; Rachael and I walked over to Pambiche for a late lunch; and we rounded off the day by taking in a film at Cinemagic.

Tuesday

We got an early start today, and were out the door and on our way south by 7. After driving to Salem and stopping at Busic Court (our favorite breakfast stop down there), I headed over to Gentleman’s Choice for a date with Bill the Barber. I’ve been going to Bill for my quarterly haircuts for nearly twenty years, and wanted to make it down one last time before we leave for Greece - partly because I’m overdue, but mostly to thank him for his years of service and to explain why he’ll see me less regularly in the future. I’ll miss Bill - it took awhile to break him in on my habit of showing up every three months with an unmanageable mane, but he has the routine down and does a great job. He still chides me for not coming in more often like all his other regulars, but it’s done good naturedly.

Today, we’re careful to come away with some documentation. I want to have something to show a barber in some foreign land when the time comes, so they’ll know what to aim for.

An hour later, we arrive at Green Gear, the Bike Friday warehouse in Eugene. We’ve been anticipating this day for a long time. I’m sure our current BF’s have a lot of miles left on them, but this is a good time to start over in our opinion; and we have some good justifications: our new rides have disk brakes; they have a 2x11 drivetrain rather than 3x9, which should be easier to find servicing for overseas; and mine should be a better fit because it is modeled after Rodriguez, which fits me better than the old Cannondale that was the sizing model for my first folder.

Steve makes a few last minute adjustments

Next we’re off on a test ride, one of two we have planned before casing them up and driving them north tomorrow. As we assemble ourselves for departure, we’re approached by a couple asking about our new bikes. They’re interested in Bike Fridays, because they’re considering them for a possible tour of Greece. This is a striking coincidence, because we’ve of course toured there twice ourselves and are soon going back for thirds. As if this isn’t coincidence enough, Bo and Lindsey are Portlanders too, and live about two blocks from our current Airbnb! We exchange information and agree to meet up soon in Portland to continue our conversation. Such a small world!

Today’s ride is a 44 mile, 2,300’ loop through the hills south of town and back north for a loop around Fern Ridge Reservoir. The first half of the ride is beautiful - we’ve never ridden down here, but the south hills are great cycling country. We don’t really care much for the back half of the ride though - the long stretch on the Territorial Highway is a bit too busy and cramped for our tastes.

A pastoral stretch on the Lorane Highway

Aww! Reminds me of how cheering it was to bike in Scotland during lambing season years ago.

The dam and spillway, Fern Ridge Reservoir

Working our way back to Green Gear, along the Fern Ridge Cycle path

After returning to our car we drive over to our friend Lynn’s home, where we’ll spend the night. We spend an enjoyable evening together catching up and reminiscing over a tasty Thai meal, and listening to her tale of her first trip to Europe, fresh out of college, when she and her cousin went on a road trip that took them among other places through Yugoslavia on their way from Greece to Dubrovnik, skirting the eastern border of Albania. Pretty intrepid stuff for a pair of young women, 50 years ago at a time when this part of the world was still communist. It makes our upcoming visit to Albania sound tame by comparison.

Wednesday

Lynn’s new apartment is well up the side of a hill in Southwest Eugene, in a semirural neighborhood. In the midst of broken woodlands, she sees a bit of wildlife. While we visit, a flicker swoops in, lands on the roof and starts hammering away. A bit later, Lynn points out the wild turkeys on parade: a group of hens reels down the street, followed soon after by a tom puffing himself up to best effect. She says they’re seen frequently, and are part of a large gang of 20 or so birds. She leafs through photos on her camera and pulls up a couple of great shots of them colonizing her house.

We say our goodbyes for now to Lynn, wondering when we’ll meet in person again; and after breakfast head back over to the Bike Friday showroom, our base for another day ride. It’s cool and damping when we start our ride, but gets steadily fairer as the day progresses - by the time we return in early afternoon, it is sunny, warm and very pleasant. Today’s ride is another 40 mile loop, this one set entirely in the south hills. It’s great the entire way. This is really fine riding country, and well worth a trip back some day for a longer look.

The descent down the south side of Briggs Hill is a lot of fun. I’d be happy to bike this way again someday.

Still working our way down Briggs Hill Road

On Fox Hollow Road, near the summit of Fox Ridge. We’re up at about 1,400’, and im sure it’s quite cold up here at night still.

Between the two rides, we’ve given our bikes a decent trial and tested them on a few respectable climbs. We’re very happy with both of them. Back at the shop, Steve coaches us on how to pack them into the suitcases. It’s a bit different than packing the old bikes - these have disc brakes, which take some special care; the handlebars no longer split;and there are a few other small changes. Rachael takes a video of him packing my bike, as a reference we can go back to in the future.

It’s a pretty tight fit, but it looks like it will work OK. The other bikes fit with more room to spare - the disk brakes add something, and the split handlebars gave you a bit more flexibility.

Finally, we wrap up this fine excursion by having dinner in Salem with our good friends Frank and Julie. We meet at La Margarita, Rachael’s favorite Mexican restaurant that we’ve been dining at for 30 years. We have a great visit, enjoy hearing of their recent tour of the southwest, and finally head north and back to Kate’s place.

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