Archive for the 'Biking' Category

Bridge Pedal 2008

Published
by
Michael Comfort
on August 10, 2008
in Biking, Family and Recent Events
. 0 Comments

What a fun day! This year’s Bridge Pedal went WAY smoother than last year! (More details here.)

Here we are on the top of the Fremont Bridge. The highlight for me on this ride was just being with the family and especially that Deanne came! I thought after my first Bridge Pedal that someday it’d be fun if Deanne came too—and this year she did!

That’s Austin and Deanne on the left, and Alison on the right, coming down off the Marquam Bridge.

This is roughly the same area that we got stopped last year. Notice the difference!

I spotted Rick Bauman, the event director, near the finish line, so I went over and thanked him and told him I appreciated all of his efforts. After complaining last year I had to let him know I felt this year was a great success. He told me I ought to try to get my name in the paper this year too, but i sure don’t plan to : )

Bridge Pedal 2007 Review

Published
by
Michael Comfort
on August 3, 2008
in Biking
. 2 Comments

I just signed up for Portland’s Bridge Pedal again this year. It’s coming up next weekend. It’ll be my 5th time, and I am really looking forward to it, even though last year was such a mess.

I better explain that last sentence…

Bridge Pedal 2007 had some problems—and I complained about it.

Since we had a late start time, Alison, Austin and I got caught in the traffic jam waiting to cross the Ross Island Bridge. It was a stand-still for over an hour! This picture shows what was ahead of us, and it was pretty much the same behind us.

Since we got delayed for so long, 1,500 of us were too late to go across the Fremont Bridge. They had to open it up for cars. Well, they turned us around over by the Rose Quarter, and sent us to the finish line, so we never even got to the rest area. I was especially not happy at all about that, and decided right then I would do something about it. Something - I wasn’t sure what.

When we got home, I did two things. (1) I emailed the Bridge Pedal organizers, and (2) I posted a comment on BikePortland.org (an excellent Portland/bike-related blog which has since become one of my favorite blogs). There were dozens of comments on this particular topic, and so I added my own frustrated experience, followed by my full name (most people only use their first name). Well, the jam had become a big news story, and an Oregonian news reporter saw my name on the bikePortland.org site, and Googled me.

I was pretty shocked when I got the phone call from the Oregonian! I am not one to complain usually, and I really don’t like the spotlight as most of you know. She asked me a bunch of questions, and the next day my name was in the paper as one who was not happy with my Bridge Pedal experience.

I was even more shocked when I got a personal email from Rick Bauman, the Event Director! It contained an apology, a promise to solve the problems that created the bottleneck, and a note that the registration fees had been refunded to my credit card. Cool!

By the looks of things, it seems like they have worked out most of the problems for 2008 without placing a cap on the number of riders. (There were around 20,000 last year!) It really is a great ride, and I recommend it for bike riders of any skill level… Its a really fun way to see the city and it’s bridges, and it’s pretty fun to ride on the freeway too!

I must comment on my 2 kids during this episode last year. They both had such good attitudes, and took it all in stride. Even while standing still for over an hour, they were very patient. I can learn much from them.

I’ll post a recap and review of this year’s Bridge Pedal after the ride next weekend. I expect it will be a good one—Deanne is going to join us!

Good times with my “fat-tired” friends

Published
by
Michael Comfort
on May 21, 2008
in Biking, Friends and Travel
. 3 Comments

Last weekend was another great weekend away to Black Butte with the guys. 19 in all went, some fished, some hiked, a couple played golf, and 13 of us mountain biked on one ride or another.

On friday, David Andres and I biked over on Horse Ridge, about 20 miles east of Bend. It is desert climate over there, and it was HOT. mid 90s. I got a bit overheated and had to lay down under a Juniper tree for a while. after that I was OK.

On Saturday we went to the Phil’s Trails area. It’s the best complex of bike trails anywhere in my opinion. Our favorite, called the Whoops Trail, is named for its many large jumps and curves. Unfortunately, David had a pretty serious crash on the upper end of that trail. It took us quite a while to get him off the mountain, since he couldnt walk or ride. We didnt know what injuries he had, but he was hurting pretty bad. Thankfully there was an access road nearby, cell phone service, and a Jeep in the area that brought him down to the van. (David found out yesterday he has a torn hamstring.)

On Sunday we rode on the Sisters trail, and there were no mishaps, except for Taylor Swan turning his front wheel into a Taco!

Here are some more pictures of the trip…

Awareness Test

Published
by
Michael Comfort
on March 14, 2008
in Biking and Just for fun
. 4 Comments

This makes a great point.
(Yes, I failed the test.)

Movie test

Published
by
Michael Comfort
on February 5, 2008
in Biking
. 1 Comment

I’m testing a new Wordpress plugin tonite that lets me put Quicktime movies into my posts, and I just couldn’t resist sharing my test movie! It was recorded last May, in the awesome trails west of Bend, Oregon. We had ridden a thrilling downhill trail all the way from Mt. Bachelor to the trail head right outside Bend.

Sorry it’s so jerky. Yes…I was steering with my left hand! (I was holding the camera with my right!) On some of the corners I had to let the camera swing from the strap around my neck and grab the handlebar quick!

3 Unusual Things

Published
by
Michael Comfort
on October 11, 2007
in Biking
. 0 Comments

I rode my bike to work this morning. Here are three unusual things that happened:

  1. There was a sleeping raccoon right in the bike lane! I suppose he got tired of waiting to get across the “Dundee traffic”. That’s smart. Possums are a lot less patient. (I guess my “I share the road” sticker means more than I thought)
  2. I got honked at by a pretty girl (OK, it was Deanne, driving past on her way to class)
  3. I almost ran into a parked car (riding straight into the sun, I tilted my helmet/visor down to shade my eyes, and then was studying the pavement a little too long!)
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