08.07.06

Yep. Got Bub started in the wee hours of Saturday.

Hang on a sec'.

Until he got started, it was all kind of unreal. Now that I know that his engine works, everything else that I've got to do to make him rideable seems like a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie.

Saturday, D, J, and I rode in a technical race. I rode bitch with J--and it was quite an education for him. (In the best possible way.) It's a race where each rider is timed from stage to stage. There were three classes; 35, 45, and 55 m.p.h. Perfect for both experienced and new riders--and a great way to learn about fun roads in the area.

There were five timed segments in this race. It started and ended at the Skyline Tavern. The first part took us up along a ridge over the Tualatin Valley. Then over the ridge, and some hairy turns down to the Willamette River. Back into the hills and the end of the first segment.

Part two had some lovely turns with alternating woods and strange, leftover hippie shanties that weren't so much built as grown. We waved at some cows.

Part three continued along the same theme with more strange houses and yard art...and we passed a grinning Multnomah County sheriff at one point. No need for worries there, J and I were putt-putting along.

Stage four sent us back through a toney tract mansion area and along a mile and a half of gravel/dirt road. Quite a challenge as J had never ridden on gravel for that long or on terrain that hilly. The extra ballast on the back (i.e. me) helped a lot. We passed a llama ranch, a bunch of horse farms, and some rather frightening Christian home-schooling, uhm, places.

Between stage four and five, we stopped under the high-power lines for a while. Another friend rode up and, miracle of miracles, shared an icy bottle of Steinlager with us. (A New Zealand beer that's recently flooded the Stumptown market. Go figure.)

Stage five was a scramble--no directions to get back to the Skyline Tavern (and the barbecue!), and we had to do it as quickly as we could.

We did. Food can be a powerful motivator.

Met up with D and T, had some food, talked about the race and what fun we had. Then they announced the winners.

D won second place in the 35 m.p.h. class. Talk about excited. Whoo.

We rode back to J's, and fell asleep on the back porch for a while.

A wonderful day, spent with my favourite kind of people.

Mmmmmmmm.

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