Ride #4...#1 Blog

Hello all,

Kate, Taylor and Mom at the start of our ride

Well today Mom, Taylor and I completed the fourth ride, of our yet to be determined number of rides, on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway.  We started where we left off last week at the Buena Vista Ferry and rode through Jefferson, on into Albany...or "Albania" as Mom likes to say.  As we were about to ride off on our journey today, we remembered to take a commemorative photo.  This got me thinking about the unique experiences we are encountering on our rides, and that it might be fun to blog about them.  So... here we are, our 4th ride and my 1st blog posting.  It may just be me, Mom and Tay reading these posts, but it will be a fun way to remember the time we've spent together riding this summer.  Plus, I've been inspired recently by watching the movie "Julie and Julia".  I'm 99% sure my blog won't turn into a blockbuster movie, but I still plan to have fun blogging.

I should give a little background on our blog's name and why we are embarking on this journey.  I believe it all began as an idea from my 13 year-old niece, Taylor.  The idea was that she and my mom, who is affectionately known as "Ma'am" by her 5 grandchildren, would ride bikes this summer.  My mom, who is a retired elementary school teacher and loves to have adventurous and educational experiences with her grandchildren, jumped on the idea.  Naturally, Mom did her research and learned about the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway.  The Oregon Parks Department has numerous rides on their website and Mom thought this would be "the one" for she and Tay to tackle.  The entire ride goes from Champoeg Park to Armitage Park, in Eugene.  A total of approximately 135 miles!!!  This number is a bit much for a group of beginners, so Mom has broken it down into several 20 mile rides.

Kate, Taylor, Tyler, Colton, Payton, Mom, and me.

The first ride was from Champoeg to Willamette Mission Park.  Mom and Tay were going to go it alone, but then I barged in and said I wanted to go, and it soon turned into a big family ride!  See picture to the right.  Tyler, my husband and our resident bike enthusiast, took Kate (our 2 year old) in our bike trailer.  Tyler refers to the trailer as a parachute!  He couldn't quite go his normal 20-22 mph while pulling her behind.  I wish I would have had our camera on the trip to capture pictures of Kate riding along happy as a clam reading books and snacking on goldfish.  Colton (10) and Payton (8), cousins extraordinaire, did a great job for the first 10-12 miles, but then tuckered out and Poppa, (my dad), came and picked them up.


I haven't mentioned Poppa yet, and he is such a key player in this whole adventure I need to give him credit.  He has been the chauffeur on our journeys thus far, which enables us to complete these smaller rides without having to turn around and ride all the way home.  So, THANKS DAD!  He also has watched Kate on more than on ride so that I can come along and I appreciate that immensely.

Anyway, Tyler and Kate ended up not going all the way to Willamette Mission either and thus on our maiden ride we were down to the 3 of us, me, Tay and Mom.  Soon for some reason or another, through our laughter we came up with the nickname of the BLTs, the Bike Lady Trio! We like to ride on these beautifully scenic, rural roads where we are often able to ride 3 across and chat.  I guess the three of us make up a delicious sandwich?  Well, I didn't say it made any sense, but it's our nickname nonetheless.  At times, it is necessary to fall into "formation", as we call it and ride single file, like when a huge truck with hay stacked high goes flying by us.  Tay has a bell on her bike and we are learning to follow her signals of a certain number of rings to alert us of a "car back" or "car up" or sometimes she just likes to ring the bell for no other reason than the pure joy of flying down a steep hill.  We are having fun!

At Willamette Mission Park, the start of ride #2

Our second and third rides were from Willamette Mission Park to my parent's house in South Salem, and from their house to the Buena Vista Ferry.  I won't go into detail about these rides, except to say that the group now is officially the BLTs, me, Tay and Mom and we are having a wonderful time.

Tay, me and Mom at the start of ride #4

To find out how we did on ride #4 please read my next post!