Tag Archives: biking

Aug2

A trip down to California

Posted on August 2, 2023 by perfectusvarrus

Friday, 23-June-2023, through Sunday, 25-June-2023

The Summer Solstice behind me, I drove South.

Green Lakes, and its barrier mountains, receded behind me. Shasta loomed ahead, then passed beside me. Huge spillways loomed around me, and I ate a burrito as I entered Sacramento itself.

The drive was long, but I enjoyed it and appreciated the stillness and solitude. I continued my mental wanderings from my earlier backpacking trip, and took notes (speech to text, of course) as insights popped up.

It was lovely – I’ve learned to appreciate, and even seek out, long drives in the past few years. They’re a form of meditation for me, and they keep my hands busy while allowing my brain to wander… forcing it to wander, in essence, since I don’t have the limitless distractions that I have available at home.

I arrived in the evening, after being gifted a stunning sunset and equally stunning views of Shasta. We caught up, relaxed, and frankly headed to bed earlier than I normally would… but later than Mike and Michelle probably would have liked – impact of having a young one around.

The next morning we hit up an excellent brunch spot that Mike had recommended the last time I was down, and then kicked around town on the bikes – all four of us, excitingly, as this was James’ first chance to ride in his baby carrier, attached to Michelle’s bike!

We rode, checked on the setup frequently, and played around. We relaxed, flew the drone a bit, and enjoyed the sun and surprisingly moderate weather. In short – it was chill, and I adored it.

Sunday was my driving day… but not before another bike ride to breakfast where I was introduced to Acai bowls – for the first time, if you can believe it! I don’t know how I’ve lived in Portland so long and not tried them before… but damn if they weren’t amazing! Crunchy, fruity… all the good things!

Then the sadness of departure, and another gloriously long and meditative drive home – with my traditional stop at In n’ Out for dinner, of course. A drone flight or two, a leg stretch, and I was home before I knew it.

Jul9

Memorial Day in Portland – the Biking

Posted on July 9, 2023 by perfectusvarrus

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Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – 25-May-2023, 26-May-2023, and 27-May, 2023

Historically, I used to go on big Memorial Day adventures – trips to Acadia, flights to France, adventures in Joshua Tree, and recently a drive down to Sacramento. This year, though, I kind of needed some rest and relaxation… Life, the Universe, and everything has been a heck of a time, and some downtime was exactly what the doctor was ordering.

Saturday, 25-May-2023 (and a bit on Sunday, I think?)

I’ve also always had a dream of enjoying Portland from a bike… I’d biked around a fair bit while living in North Portland, but the rides were generally few and far between – and almost exclusively solo. I wanted to ride with a friend, enjoy the long warm summer evenings, and just appreciate what Portland has to offer.

Jess and I both have bikes, are both in solid shape… so hey! We got a bike adventure going!

The majority of the adventure took place on Saturday – we did a glorious loop all around Portland, going from her place in Southeast to her new place in Southwest, then into Northwest for some desserts followed by dinner (since you never know how long the world will last… have dessert first), and then a lovely ride back home.

We took the gondola, we appreciated the views, and we ate some absolutely glorious food from Papa Hayden (amazing deserts) and Matador (glorious tacos). We biked ’till we were exhausted… and then biked a bit more. We cruised home riding the high of a perfect day, with perfect weather and perfect sunshine (deflected by perfect sunscreen!).

On Sunday, we relaxed for most of the day, but made a point to head out onto the town in the evening to harvest a bit more of the lovely biking weather. A ride to dinner (German food! I had Schnitzel for the first time!), an attempt at dessert (Pix isn’t open anymore, sadface), and then a successful dessert run (an ice cream shop that also sells Charcuterie plates to go?).

It wasn’t the full-day adventure of Saturday, by any means… but it was still absolutely lovely, and gave us the freedom to have a super lazy day and pretty much binge all of Arcane (a great single-season TV show that I absolutely adore). So… absolutely a win of a day!

Apr13

A Passover biking adventure – 08-Apr-2020

Posted on April 13, 2020 by perfectusvarrus

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Wednesday, 08-Apr-2020

Well, we’re not doing an in-person Seder this year, I’ll tell you that.

Instead, We’re going low-key – Matzos Ball soup and roast chicken for dinner tonight, possibly even with Latkes and asparagus on the side. Then, this weekend, we’ll do a family Seder via Hangouts (or Zoom, or whatever video conferencing technology the cool kids are using these days.

For today, though, I took the day off from work.

The plan for the year involved quite a few major trips – Sarah and I hadn’t gone on any full-week climbing trips last year, so this year was supposed to make up for that. I’d gotten an extra two weeks of vacation as a benefit, and we were planning on burning those vacation days up in Colorado, Joshua Tree, New Hampshire, and who knows where else. Friends would visit, we’d visit them, and we’d be all-around jet-setting cool kids.

Instead… COVID-19 hit, the stock market imploded, and we’re under stay-at-home orders when I’m not going into work as an essential employee.

So I took a day off.

And you know what? It was an amazing decision.

The weather seemed to know that today was a day for being outside, and being calm. No wind, no rain, just beautiful sunlight and clear skies. I took my bike out from the garage, and went for a long ride down the empty streets.

With the city being under semi-lockdown, there wasn’t traffic, and almost everyone I saw (and it wasn’t very many) was simply sitting. Some kids were quietly playing, and a lot of people were mowing their lawns… or more accurately, a lot of people had yard workers mowing their lawns for them… but still, the sound of lawnmowers was ubiquitous.

It was gloriously calm and serene, just slowly pedaling around the city.

I don’t think have any other words to describe how relaxing it was, so I’ll fill in the details with photos. Sit back, relax, grab a glass of iced tea, and enjoy.