Back on the bike

February 14, 2023 to February 15, 2023

Tuesday

Today is one of the few dry days we can expect here, and was a candidate for my first outing on the bike since turning my ankle a week ago. It doesn’t happen though, as the day fills with an assortment of activities and errands. It starts with me down at Cafe Umbria visiting with Elizabeth (big spender that I am, I bought her tea as her Valentine’s Day present) while Rachael walks to her eye clinic for an exam and to pick up the new set of glasses she’s been looking forward to for the last few months.

Elizabeth and I are just wrapping up our visit when Rachael calls. It’s too cold and she’d like to meet up to get a ride home, so we hang around Cafe Umbria until Rachael arrives; and then a second visit commences while Rachael and Elizabeth do their own catching up. It’s closing in on 11 by the time we finally move on.

Next is a quick stop back at the storage unit to see if we missed anything yesterday on our first stop there. I was perplexed last night to find that almost none of my clothes made it back from storage - where’s my other pair of jeans, my other pair of shorts, my other t-shirts? And how, btw, did it happen that we made it back to Tucson with me having only a single pair of socks?

We didn’t miss anything at the storage unit. I don’t know what the hell happened to the rest of my clothes, but it’s looking like a shopping spree is in order. At a minimum I should at least pick up a second pair of socks, or go all out and get a couple pair.

Next it’s off to REI to pick up Rachael’s new bike shoes she’s ordered and they’ve been holding for her, and my Bike Friday that they’ve had hanging from the ceiling ready to be picked up for the last month. Like Rachael’s, mine was due for some significant work. There’s the usual: routine maintenance, new chain, cables, brake pads, tires, rear cluster. Plus the less common - new shifters and bottom bracket, among a few other things.

The bike feels great when we walk it back to the car. There’s a surprise though when I fold it to stuff it into the Raven and it won’t collapse because one of the cables is misrouted and binds tight when the bike folds. When I return it to REI the mechanic looks perplexed at first until he sees the problem. He hasn’t worked on many folders before, and he’ll have to add a test fold to part of the checklist. He cheerfully offers to reroute the cables for free, and says they’ll fit the work in sometime in the next few days.

By the time we make it back to the apartment it’s nearly one. After eating lunch and waiting to digest it feels like the riding day has gotten away from me so we punt that idea into tomorrow and I focus on retrieving our photos from our 2003 tour of Provence from our storage device so I can finally complete that journal. And then the day rounds out with Rachael walking down to 24 Hour Fitness to see if she can get a short-term membership while I walk down to the waterfront to check out the happy hour.

A murky porter from Elliptical Brewing, a good offering for a cold winter’s day.

Wednesday

A look out the window and a quick check of the weather app confirms that there’s no rush in getting out the door just yet. It’s right around freezing, there’s a dense fog blanketing the river, and it’s not due to break 40 until noon.

Still can’t tell if we’ll be able to see Mount Hood from our apartment.

I’m thinking I’ll drive down to the waterfront (it’s too far to walk yet on my still-healing ankle) and have breakfast at Caffe Ponte, a favorite hangout for the past several years. I pull up the map to check the opening hours to be on the safe side, and am concerned when I can’t find it. A Google search finds their website and the unhappy announcement that after seven years they’ve moved on to other things. I’m saddened to see this. It was a comfortable place to start a chilly day, savoring a jalapeño scone with my Calabrian coffee, admiring the architecture of its century-old building. And I really appreciated that they never frowned on me bringing Rodriguez inside for safekeeping.

A light bike ride to test out the ankle is definitely on the day’s agenda, but first I drive over to our bike locker to pick up the Straggler and the suitcases we’ll pack the Bike Fridays into (and thanks again, Suzanne and Janos! We’ll think of you every time we use them in the future). It occurred to me last night that I might have left my clothes in them, and I’m right. Everything I’d been expecting is there, so a clothing shopping spree gets crossed off the list. Even better, I make a more thorough search of the Raven and find a second pair of socks tucked into a corner.

Back at the apartment, I swap the cleats from Rachael’s old bike shoes to the new ones she picked up at REI yesterday, and then she takes off on a test ride - through the parking garage in the basement, because it’s still too cold outside. She’s back ten minutes later, somewhat discouraged. One of the shoes is fine, but the other won’t clip into her pedals. A quick check reveals that her ace mechanic put in one of the cleats upside down.

Finally, I’ve run out of excuses to stall any longer and bring Rodriguez in from the deck. Rachael’s off to the gym again (she’s thrilled that she’s got access for a few weeks for next to nothing), and I head down to the waterfront for an easy ride to test the ankle and hopefully find a new bird or two. I’m pretty sure I’ll find a Canada goose (as I do) and a gull (which I don’t, surprisingly enough). I decide to bike south a few miles to Willamette Park in hopes of finding a western grebe there, and do. And when I realize that my ankle feels perfectly fine with easy cycling I keep going south, finally crossing the river on the Sellwood Bridge and turning back north on the Springwater Trail. As I bike I’m thinking about what else I could be watching for here at this time of year - a Stellar’s Jay, a flicker, maybe even an eagle if I’m lucky - and then I look up and see a huge, dark raptor just above, glaring down at me. Eagle!

So that pretty great. Fourteen miles is more than I’d imagined for this ride, but if anything the ankle feels better at the end than the beginning. Tomorrow I’ll try for something more ambitious - Kelly Point maybe - and maybe haul Rachael along with me.

On the waterfront, admiring one of the displays from the Winter Lights Festival.

The weathering steel on the new Sellwood Bridge is aging well. It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years since I was out here watching the new span being lifted into place.

#100: Bald eagle, a worthy subject to hit the century mark with. This one must be still in its first year, from all the brown on it.

#101: Black-capped chickadee. I hope this blurry shot isn’t the best look I get of one, but I’ll include it just in case.

Nice to see this new art project as I near Tilikum Crossing.

A painter’s painted work bike and a painted wall bike.

____________________

2023 Bird List

99. Western grebe

100. Bald eagle

101. Black-capped chickadee

102. Canada goose

Today's ride: 14 miles (23 km)
Total: 1,478 miles (2,379 km)

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Rich FrasierGreat to read that you’re healing!
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Rich FrasierThanks, Rich. I was out again today for a somewhat longer ride and it went fine too. I’m definitely on the mend, but not there yet. I tried biking without the brace today but quickly realized it’s too soon for that.
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1 year ago

Janice BranhamCongrats on breaking the century mark for your bird list!
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Janice BranhamThanks! I was especially pleased to do so on such a prestigious bird.
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1 year ago