[OrRando] Wine Country Populaire 2007-11-24

D. Jason Penney jason.penney at verizon.net
Sun Nov 25 13:18:15 PST 2007


Lynne met me at my house at around 7 AM and we drove to the start at Grand
Lodge.  The thermometer on her console kept reading very alarming
numbers.31.30.29.

 

We saw many patches of ice and completely rimed fields as we drove through
Forest Grove.

 

At Grand Lodge, we had a pang of alarm.no Susan.no bikers.we went inside to
look around and use powder our noses.  As Lynne emerged, she said, "Oh, I
think the ride must start at nine, not eight."  Ahhh.

 

We spent a comfortable hour drinking coffee and staying warm, then went out
to join the herd getting prepared for the ride.  No, it wasn't any warmer. 

 

I decided this was about as cold a ride as I'm likely to do, so I had most
of my hard-core winter weather clothing:  chemical toe warmers, heavy wool
socks, neoprene booties, Perl-Izumi Amphib tights, my best jacket and
windproof layers, my best gloves, and a balaclava,.

 

With a minimum of ceremony, Susan loosed us on the unsuspecting world at the
stroke of nine (not eight :-)).  Still not warm.  Grey overcast, but not
much wind.  Rumor was there were about 34 of us, including at least two
tandems and possibly as many as five recumbents.

 

As usual, the first couple of miles out of Forest Grove were a bit trying.
It seemed like almost every traffic light in town turned red as soon as I
got near, and there really is a slight ascent on the Gales Creek Highway
after you leave town.

 

Stringtown Road is always a hoot - you have a slight descent so you get to
take a break and feel really strong for a couple of miles.  The only catch
this time were a few places that looked suspiciously like black ice.
Fortunately the patches didn't cover the entire width of the roadway, so a
bit of judicious piloting..ahhhh.safe again.

 

Past Dilley, then out on SR-47 I started to hammer again; I don't care if
this part of SR-47 has a wide shoulder, this is still the most murderous
highway in my neck of the woods.  I've been on it (at one time or another)
all the way from Scappoose to McMinnville, and the drivers are uniformly
fast and inconsiderate.

 

Turn off to Cherry Grove.I stop and check the cue sheet.  You see, the
problem is, rides out in Washington County and Yamhill County are like an
erector set to me now:  the question is how you put them together.  "Ah,
yes, the Cherry Grove out-and-back."  As I pulled in front of the ___ Church
(well, there is an informational control question about this :-)) we saw
Susan waiting for us.  Ah well, I'll take Susan's stamp instead.  As I was
pulling away I saw a great herd of  riders pull in, but no Lynne.  On the
way back to SR-47 I kept looking for her, but after about ten minutes I
decided she was either right behind me or in a ton of trouble.

 

A few minutes after that:  "Ow!...Ow!  Ow Ow Ow!"  Why, that's.that's.hail!
There wasn't much, but it just seemed.appropriate.

 

A quick right and left through Gaston, and then we were on to the next piece
of the erector set:  Spring Hill/Spring Valley Road.  The sun made a brief
peek and then went into hiding again.

 

The timing of the control/rest stop at Laughlin Road was perfect:  I was
just starting to get hungry and a stretch break was in order. The hot
instant chicken noodle soup really hit the spot, and having a chair to sit
in was just wonderful.  I also waited for Lynne here.  I had decided to
split the ride into two parts:  a hammer-and-nails attack-every-hill slugger
and then a lower intensity distance ride.  Sure enough, Lynne showed up just
a few minutes later with the bulk of the other riders, claiming a mechanical
issue (a water bottle cage decided to escape).  After about 25 minutes, we
were both ready to launch again.  A quick loop through Yamhill (lots of
traffic, one very dangerous driver as we negotiated SR-47.what did I tell
you?...at least traffic kept speeds low through there).

 

As we pulled away from Carlton, we started to get spits of rain.  I had
never disrobed, but Lynne took a moment to put her rain jacket back on.  The
droplets didn't last, but Lynne left her jacket on for the rest of the ride.
It just plain wasn't warming up.  As it turns out, my balaclava never came
off, and I'd expected to at least switch to a warm cap somewhere in the
ride.

 

In Lafayette we stopped just long enough to address the open control:  the
Korean store owner was slightly peeved because there were so many of us, but
she was nice about it nonetheless.

 

At this point those of us familiar with the Yamhill County ride routes went
pretty much on autopilot:  Abbey/Kuehne/Ribbon Ridge/North Valley.yada yada
yada.  On the short stretch of SR-240 we had a good ole boy try to startle
us, and, since that didn't work, threw a Pepsi can at us.  Sigh.  And you
want to know why this country is in trouble.

 

When we turned onto Fern Hill Road, Lynne started to smell the barn.  I did
too, but I think it was just because my chemical toe warmers had decided it
was time to quit.  Back at the Grand Lodge, we spent a long time in their
Japanese soaking pool.  This is a great way to finish a cold ride:  not only
do you get circulation restored in your feet, you can do real stretching
while you warm up.  Keep in mind that it's free if you are going to have a
meal afterwards!

 

Afterwards we had a great dinner where Sal told stories about PBP, Cecil Ann
told us about her high profile high prestige legal case (sorry, Cecil, I
couldn't resist :-), for those of you who hadn't heard, she's representing
the State of Oregon's position in the Snowball case), and I had that second
pint of Terminator.

 

Checking the weather records when I got home, I'm pretty sure we never saw
upwards of about 43 degrees out there in the farmlands.  Last year, by
contrast, it was a glorious warm day.  You just can't tell what you're going
to get in November.  But, as Lynne often tells me, "there's no such thing as
bad weather, just inappropriate clothing."  Yes, ma'am!  Seriously, there
wasn't much wind, not any significant precipitation, and we even saw a few
patches of blue sky.as we were finishing the ride :-)

 

This is a great ride, with tremendous support and a terrific party at the
end.  Thanks to Mike, Susan, Beth, and others for their help putting this
on, and I hope more of you come out next year!

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