The personal and professional website of Douglas Van Bossuyt
Chris and I went on a quick ride up Dimple Hill. Our original goal was Mc Cullock but my bike’s issues made us have a late start. The front tire had gone flat the last time we had gone for a ride. Three attempts at patching the tube failed when the tube exploded as we were getting ready to reinstall the wheel. Luckily I had some old tubes in my old wheelset.
The whole ride was about 16 or 17 miles.
Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure to ride my motorcycle in the rain for the very first time. After putting on two layers of undergarments to keep me warm, my riding gear, a layer of goretex rain gear, and a layer of plastic rain gear I mounted my bike in a downpour. It was touch and go heading down my parents steep and twisty driveway. On the highway I ran into a big traffic jam going into Dundee. I stalled my bike about halfway through it but it fired right back up again. The clutch was being a bit touchy. Perhaps that’s the benefit of premium gasoline?
I discovered that I can keep my visor from fogging if I leave it open one click to allow air (and rain) to flow along the inside. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see on the way down. Even with my visor clear, it was still difficult with all the fog and water flying everywhere. When I got to Corvallis I was very happy to be off the bike but also a little sad. It was fun riding in the rain!
During the week preceding Christmas all the way up through Christmas day, a series of storms hit the Willamette Valley that dumped upwards of two feet of snow at my parent’s farm. In Corvallis we received somewhere around five inches over the course of several days. These are the photos of our wild snowy week and a half of fun.
Corvallis
Newberg at the Farm
