The (Not-So) Worst Day of the Year Ride

Sunday, February 12, 2006. Matt and I woke up and donned our cold-weather bicycling gear, preparing for some cold and wet weather. We had multiple warm layers, rain gear and head-lamps in case it got dark during or after the ride.

I even got Godzilla (circa 1995) strapped to one of my “CityBike Buckets” to act as my bicycle security. (see pic)

We then met up with 1,500 other riders at the “Lucky Lab Pub” near downtown Portland.

We lucked out and had 50º+ weather and sun for the entire day and even had to remove some of our warm layers to keep from over-heating.

It was just a fun ride to raise money for the Community Cycling Center in North Portland that has a lot of great volunteer programs to get people to commute, kids to ride and people to learn to fix their own bikes. I like them!

At the end of the ride of 18 miles, we had to wait in line for about 15 minutes for some chicken soup and bread-rolls that tasted AWESOME. We would have ridden the 40-mile challenge loop, but we already rode 10 miles to get to the ride then had another 10 to get back.

Despite having an Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) and possibly a kidney stone lodged somewhere in my guts, I felt pretty good during the ride and had an enjoyable time.

Categories: Bicycling