Rails to Trails and a View with a Room in Everyday Ramblings
- Aug. 2, 2017, 4:13 a.m.
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- Public
This is also from our hike on Saturday. Just look at the way this house is sited! Wow. I love this picture. It has that windswept forlorn feel but with a big city vibe. It also reminds me a bit of a freezing but magical house we rented out on the windswept point in West Seattle when I was a kid, a much more modest domain than this.
We entered a record-breaking heat wave today. I took the day off work ( I so enjoyed that!) and Most Honorable and I were planning a hike up in the Gorge like we often do at least once during the summer.
There was a trail closure and some fires and it was really really hot so Most Honorable suggested an alternative, a bike ride on a Rails to Trails conversion between Portland and the Coast.
We were out there hiking on my birthday about six years ago. It was an okay hike, lots of railroad history and we enjoyed it but he had his eye on a bike trip even then, for Kes and him and me. In time he ended up going out and doing a 46-mile loop mostly on the trail by himself.
I am not an experienced bike rider as an adult and have struggled riding around here. Today I found out why. There is a lot of elevation around here! See picture above. :)
The Vernonia to Banks multi-use trail has an amazingly steady 2% grade. It is awesome and achievable even for someone like me who has completely different muscles built up from walking so much and yoga.
We took Kes’s bike for me. It is easier to shift. And the whole front end is a bit different from my bike. I admit we realized when we stopped for lunch that I had my gloves on, well, wrong. Duh. I feel like I should get bonus points for finding my gloves and my helmet, and appropriate shorts and…
For someone who is not bike conditioned I thought I did well. We rode out about an hour at that grade and lo and behold, much to my surprise and delight it was downhill almost the whole way back! There was one stretch in particular where it was basically impossible not to go fast.
Fun! Summer fun!
The traffic was pretty intense getting back into Portland but I still had time to hustle down to the outpatient pharmacy and pick up the meds for my surgery on Thursday and then get to the hair salon for a haircut. Man it was hot.
Blast furnace hot. It takes it out of one.
But now (this is a flex day for the power company so I am sitting in the dark typing this on my laptop on battery power) the cats and I are chilling (so to speak) waiting to be able to turn the fan back on in a half hour.
Tomorrow is an office and a studio day and so the real concern is getting there and back. I can always take a bus or hire a car if the heat is really bad. It is shaping up to to be an extraordinary three hot hot days .
That just must sound so strange to you all in the depths of winter.
Last updated August 02, 2017
ODSago ⋅ August 02, 2017
There's a precarious perch sense about that house, but oh my goodness, what a site. I'd love to be able to look outside the windows and see the views.
Re: weather, I thought of you immediately when I saw the temperatures shown on the news recently. And to hear you went biking at those temperatures, I'm impressed. I hope you didn't leave the water bottle at home. I'm sure you didn't.
Deleted user ⋅ August 02, 2017
Your power company has flex days ? Wow! The demand there must be super high. People here would freak out as they always do when the power goes out. I admit it spooks me too .i can't imagine how society would cope with an EMP and it looks like every day N. Korea gets closer to being able to do that . I wonder if we would even have the power to bomb them back if they hit us first . Morbid thoughts .
You have my great admiration for that bike ride ! What a tremendous view that house in the picture must have !
I hope it's not too hot for you tomorrow and you can easily get where you need to go .
noko Deleted user ⋅ August 02, 2017
Our flex days are voluntary during peak weather extremes. I am so grateful to participate knowing the power I am not using goes to hospitals and nursing homes and fire stations...But yes the demand is super high and mostly wind generated.
Deleted user noko ⋅ August 02, 2017
It's nice that it's voluntary . Not forced. I think it's a good thing too. We need more wind generated power all over. I admire people who do solar panels and wind to stay off the grid.
Lyn ⋅ August 02, 2017
Whew, hope you can stay cool, or at least not melt!
Deleted user ⋅ August 02, 2017
What a view! Wow!
Do you have British or Aussie background, I wonder? I'm surprised you wrote 'hire' a car. That doesn't sound very American of you! :)
You must have really great leg muscles from all your walking. I'm finding that with all the walking I'm doing, my legs look and feel great. But like you, I don't love bike riding. It's not a problem of balance or ability... but I just love walking soooo much.
Stay cool!! What a summer it's been for you guys!
edna million ⋅ August 03, 2017
Oh, what a gorgeous view!! I've been hearing about the horrific heat there - hope it's moving on soon.