No, not the crappy 90's band - the Seattle-to-Portland ride. I've been debating signing up for this thing for a couple of weeks. It's sold out, but there are lots of people selling registrations on Craigslist and the STP message boards. Well, this morning while perusing CL, I came across a guy selling his registration - I figured, why not. So I grabbed it up.
I may be biting off more than I can chew with this one. I mean, 200+ miles in two days? I get sleepy just thinking about driving that much, let alone biking it. I'm looking forward to it, though.
Now I'm trying to find a ride to Seattle, a room near the start line and a room at the half-way point, none of which is proving easy. I'm sure something will present itself.
I'll be posting here from the road. Blogger has a neat way of allowing you to e-mail posts. So I'll be posting from my iphone during the many breaks scheduled during the ride. Should be interesting.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Fireworks
I don't know what the law is in Oregon on fireworks, but I have never heard so many bangs leading up to the 4th of July in my life. These people are either terribly patriotic or just love blowing shit up. You'd think that the South would have these dirty hippies beat on patriotism (phony or otherwise) and blowing shit up, but you'd be wrong. It's like Beirut outside my window.
Tonight I rode down to the grocery store to pick up a few things and stopped off for coffee on my way. I've already racked up 38 miles, so I'm well on my way to beating June's final mileage tally. We shall see.
I decide that in the spirit of giving up stuff, I'd give up Diet Coke (and all colas) for the month of July. I tend to drink about 4 cans a day, so for me this is tougher than it sounds. I'm sticking strictly to water at home and anything but cola when I'm dining out.
Tonight I rode down to the grocery store to pick up a few things and stopped off for coffee on my way. I've already racked up 38 miles, so I'm well on my way to beating June's final mileage tally. We shall see.
I decide that in the spirit of giving up stuff, I'd give up Diet Coke (and all colas) for the month of July. I tend to drink about 4 cans a day, so for me this is tougher than it sounds. I'm sticking strictly to water at home and anything but cola when I'm dining out.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Car-Free July?
Don't mind if I do! Actually, I went to the doctor yesterday about my gnarled paw and weighed in at a buck 73 on the scales. Not good. I've gained ten pounds since arriving in Portland. Undoubtedly, some of it (like 10-12 ounces) is muscle gained from peddling up the hills here, but I'm sure the other 9.4 pounds is all vegan junk food.
So tonight I biked down for coffee and then on to the grocery store to try and pick up some less fattening shit to eat. I did pretty good - didn't buy my usual cookies. I'll have to try and lay off the sweets, but it won't be easy. I rode a total of 13 miles tonight. I'm going to try and beat 266 for July.
So tonight I biked down for coffee and then on to the grocery store to try and pick up some less fattening shit to eat. I did pretty good - didn't buy my usual cookies. I'll have to try and lay off the sweets, but it won't be easy. I rode a total of 13 miles tonight. I'm going to try and beat 266 for July.
Monday, June 30, 2008
266 Miles
That's what the odometer reads on my bike. Not bad for a month of riding. Did I go strictly by bike for the entire month - shit no. But I did the vast majority of my running around by bike. Sure, I cheated and rode the motorcycle a few times and drove my truck once or twice, but overall I deem my little experiment a success.
So the question I keep getting is, 'what now?' Now that June is over, what am I going to do? I guess I should've named the site something else, like "Car-Free Summer", but at the time, that seemed like a impossibly long time. Now it seems doable.
I'll continue to ride as much as possible. Trying to do all my errands by bike with the exception of those that must be done by car, like long distances or hauling something big or heavy - like if I ever commit to actually buying a bed frame. I'll continue to write here, but would like to get www.ecphelps.com going. I have a wysiwyg web site editor and with any luck, I'll figure out enough to start putting entries over there.
I've definitely gotten back in the grove of riding, learned a lot over the last month and seen some amazing things. I'm glad I did it and I've really started to enjoy riding again - like I did when I was a kid and did everything by bike.
So the question I keep getting is, 'what now?' Now that June is over, what am I going to do? I guess I should've named the site something else, like "Car-Free Summer", but at the time, that seemed like a impossibly long time. Now it seems doable.
I'll continue to ride as much as possible. Trying to do all my errands by bike with the exception of those that must be done by car, like long distances or hauling something big or heavy - like if I ever commit to actually buying a bed frame. I'll continue to write here, but would like to get www.ecphelps.com going. I have a wysiwyg web site editor and with any luck, I'll figure out enough to start putting entries over there.
I've definitely gotten back in the grove of riding, learned a lot over the last month and seen some amazing things. I'm glad I did it and I've really started to enjoy riding again - like I did when I was a kid and did everything by bike.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Organic Beer Fest
Today Dani and I went to the North American Organic Brewers Festival. It was pretty good. Tons of samples of organic beer - some good, some tasted like booty, but overall a good time. Tofurky had a booth there selling their beer brats, Italian sausages and whatnot. Pretty nice not just to have something to eat, but something good to eat at a festival. Beats the shit out of freedom fries and cotton candy.
We got a little tipsy on the samples and had to cut ourselves off. We ending up giving away our our last few tickets so we could still drive home. I made it - but I haven't heard from Dani, so I'll assume she's in jail.
Here is a random video I took of Pants yesterday. He was sleeping so hard I actually thought he might have expired, but he didn't and he's fine. He never woke up, but did start to convulse uncontrollably, which is how I knew he was still alive. Enjoy.
We got a little tipsy on the samples and had to cut ourselves off. We ending up giving away our our last few tickets so we could still drive home. I made it - but I haven't heard from Dani, so I'll assume she's in jail.
Here is a random video I took of Pants yesterday. He was sleeping so hard I actually thought he might have expired, but he didn't and he's fine. He never woke up, but did start to convulse uncontrollably, which is how I knew he was still alive. Enjoy.
Critical Mass
Friday night I rode downtown to the Critical Mass ride. Critical Mass is a ride that takes place in cities all over the world on the last Friday of the month. Depending on where you live there could be just a handful of folks to several hundred, to over a thousand. Friday there was a hundred or so riders. I was expecting more, but wasn't disappointed by the turn-out.
We rode all over downtown with a police escort, which is unusual. In most cities, typically the point is to do it without the police escort, tie up traffic and generally chuckle at the people in cars who actually get really pissed. Having the cops there was good, because several cars charged the group at a couple of different intersections and the cops pounced on them, yelling at them to stop or back-up. I don't think anyone got a ticket, but they damn sure could have.
About ten minutes into the ride, the group pulled into a parking lot. It wasn't clear at first what was going on - then a guy pulling several wheeled towers of donuts came out and everyone went crazy. One of the organizers had arranged for Voodoo Donuts to pass out a bunch of free donuts to the riders. It was pretty awesome. Voodoo Donuts makes several vegan varieties, but I was more interested in snapping a few pictures than eating.
After the donuts and back on the road, the ride went on for about an hour or so altogether. I'd guess we covered about 8 to 10 miles. It was a pretty long ride and it was pretty warm out too, so I was glad when we arrived back at the starting point.
You can see a few pics from the ride here.
We rode all over downtown with a police escort, which is unusual. In most cities, typically the point is to do it without the police escort, tie up traffic and generally chuckle at the people in cars who actually get really pissed. Having the cops there was good, because several cars charged the group at a couple of different intersections and the cops pounced on them, yelling at them to stop or back-up. I don't think anyone got a ticket, but they damn sure could have.
About ten minutes into the ride, the group pulled into a parking lot. It wasn't clear at first what was going on - then a guy pulling several wheeled towers of donuts came out and everyone went crazy. One of the organizers had arranged for Voodoo Donuts to pass out a bunch of free donuts to the riders. It was pretty awesome. Voodoo Donuts makes several vegan varieties, but I was more interested in snapping a few pictures than eating.
After the donuts and back on the road, the ride went on for about an hour or so altogether. I'd guess we covered about 8 to 10 miles. It was a pretty long ride and it was pretty warm out too, so I was glad when we arrived back at the starting point.
You can see a few pics from the ride here.
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