Yesterday I went on a roughly 200 mile bike ride to get from Newberg back to Corvallis. Yesterday also happened to be the first day of a major arctic cold front moving into the region. Because of this fact it made sense to me to add an extra 140 miles to my ride to go visit Rick S. up in Oregon City and go riding with him out to Sauvie Island. We also tried to stop by the Wingman store by the airport but it was closed. Had it been open, my ride would have been a tad bit more comfortable. I had planned to buy some Gerbing heated riding gear.
Rick and I stopped partway through the ride to get some gas. I took 1.945 gallons and had ridden 90.5 miles by the odometer plus 10 miles from when the odometer had not reset correctly. That gives me an average mileage of 51.4 mpg. Not bad considering the antics of accelerating onto 99W out of Newberg. Prior to yesterday I was not aware that the Honda Pacific Coast can do wheelies. Now I am educated and I have a fresh change of pants. I wonder what the cars thought of a crazy cyclist screaming like a little girl while doing a wheelie down the highway.
Riding up to Sauvie Island we passed the western Portland freight rail yard and tank farms. I don’t think I’ve ever been past that area before. The neighborhood of Linnton really is in a crappy location considering all that industry next door. I got a bit of a start riding past the rail yard when two lines of cars boomed into each other. There weren’t even any fences separating the road from the rail yard. Anyone could walk right in if they didn’t mind being hit by a train.
Coming back down to Corvallis I took the freeway as far as I could before I got too cold. At the rest area near Aurora I pulled off to stomp my feet on the ground and try to warm my hands. It wasn’t any use. In Salem I exited the freeway for the slower 99W route to Corvallis. Even so, when I arrived in town shortly after sunset I couldn’t feel my feet or hands. My hands came back to life in short order but it took about an hour before feeling returned in my feet.
High on the to-buy list are heated gloves and insulated boots with heated insoles.
Route Map
