Abby bikes and Amelia Rides Through the Streets of Delft

A bike box in Delft prioritizes bikes over right turning traffic.
In the Netherlands, right turn on red isn't allowed.

Abby and Amelia joined us on the third day of the class, which would end up 36 miles later going from Delft to the North Sea and back. It was all day trip with stops at a greenhouse control system company, a greenhouse, a central market along the way, and the beach. Leaving TU Delft (the University), we wound our way through the streets of Delft which are chaotic at times and really fascinating when you're able to wander through them. When you are on your bike, the facilities seem like a joy and you want to bring them back to the U.S. When you are on your bike beside your 8 year old, they seem too narrow, with scooters zipping by and cars that are still too close for comfort.

Since Abby is an accomplished rider, all in all they are pretty good facilities.  
On this trip to the beach we added a stowaway in the form of Amelia. Where is she in this picture you ask?
She's on a tag along rack, riding on a pillow. We saw the Dutch do this on so many occassions, we thought we would try it. It turned out it worked with some modifications. Later, we took Susan's backpack off which gave her a little more room to look around. It was also clear that we needed to slide up on the seat of the bike to make sure she wasn't leaning back, but that wasn't so difficult.

All in all, a good day and a nice way to get from the beach and back. 

2010 Civil War

Football in December had to mean Civil War! The 2010 edition featured the Beavers fighting to get to .500 on the year and the U of 0 trying to punch their ticket to the National Championship game. We were happy to have kept our tickets although I would be lying if I hadn't thought about selling out to a friendly Duck Fan or two. If the shoes were on the other feet, I would want to be in Eugene to see the Beavs extend their record to 12-0.
The start of our trip to Reser was to hit the Crowbar downtown and eat our pregame salad.
We paused to take photos outside Reser. The scene on the street was great, there were a ton of tailgaters and many that came fror the party without tickets.
Kurt and Monica were excited about the game and ready. Susan and I had to scramble a bit for help with the kids, so we were relieved to be there.
The pregame had started a long time before we got there as the Ducks record attracted the ESPN GameDay crew with Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, and Kirk Herbstreit. The pregame started at 6 AM, so there was a lot of fun to be had early on in Corvallis. Seeing the action from home, the Memorial Union Quad was packed and they had separated Duck fans from Beavers, which was probably a pretty good idea.

This was Susan's second game this year with the first being against the Washington State Cougars, where the Beavs mailed in a pretty bad performance. We were hoping for the best, but expecting the worst given that the Ducks were the #1 team in the nation. Yet, as true Beaver Believers you have to be happy that we do as well as we do and that we are competitive and have hope for the future.
So, into the stadium we go with just a bit of business to finish before we jump in to the vat of Potato Salad.

Cycling through Delft

  Delft was a beautiful town with a central square (Markt) that was really quaint and large for as small a city as it is. This particular shop is where we picked up a few pieces of Delftware for the grandparents as a thank you for watching the kids.
We had a nice day cycling through Delft with the Northeastern University class that was spending a month in the Netherlands completing a college course. I was speaking to the class about traffic signals in Portland and how we were learning from European practice.
The cycling through the countryside was fantastic. We were getting a lot of nice information from one of the local regional planners from the area as a part of the first classroom lecture.
 
This picture of Susan is not even behind the biggest landmarks in the square, but I enjoy it anyway because it provides perspective on the cafes, the shops, and the chruches in the background.
We came across this gentleman in the community just crusing through. I had a chuckle becuase we were in the man's way and the group stopped him on his everyday trip to the store.  
 

I loved all of the train station bike parking areas. The number of bicycles at these locations was beyond consideration and seemed like every possible rack was full to the point where it was futile to add more racks because additional bikes would be added. Amsterdam and The Hague have structures for bikes both three stories high, which is quite an expense for infrastructure.

Martin Luther King Jr. Final Resting Place

As a part of our visit to Atlanta, we got a chance to go see Dr. King's final resting place. The area is designated as a national park and the tribute to his life is nice. I thought there would be a little more to the facilities then what we saw, although we didn't have as much time as we would have liked to really take in the area. I am glad the kids got exposure to the area he grew up and the lessons of yesterday's society.

Wife breaks arm, Husband breaks wallet

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said: Republican Health Plan: Don't Get Sick! As Obama tries to get health care reform through the rigors of the political structure, we have our own first hand experience with the health care system. Susan broke her elbow and had to have surgery. if you think health care costs are too high, I have proof. We just got the bill from the hospital (this doesn't include the Dr. bill)... For a surgery that required six hours of time in the facility, we ended up with $17,348 in costs. She got four pins in her arm and will be recovering for the next 8 weeks. That doesn't include the Dr. invoice, which I am sure will be over $2,000. This also doesn't include the follow ups and the pre-surgery stuff.

So, imagine if you didn't have healthcare. I guess the Oregon Health Plan would help, but think about others...

Why does it cost so much?

In listening to the Geography of Bliss, one of the things the authors says makes Icelanders so happy is that they don't have a fear of failure because the social network is so strong. I wish we had a bit of that here in the U.S. This sort of bill makes me want to lock of my children and never let them have the remote chance of breaking a bone. Luckily we have good health care, but we're still going to pay a good chunk of change in our deductible.

Tour De Lab

 
This is the ride that got Susan excited about road riding. She participated last year and the terrain was challenging for anyone that hadn't prepared with some training rides. This year, she was ready with her Trek Madone and the training we did for Tour de Blast. Still, it was a good ride with effectively three 400' climbs in the 30 miles of the route. We also added the trip from home to the Lucky Lab's NW pub on 19th/Quimby.
 
The tour visits all three of Lucky Lab's three locations, hopefully they get a fourth pub so they can make the ride a little longer next year. In this economy, it might take for a few more years.
The view from Council Crest was especially sweet, considering that was the top spot on the route and it was mostly downhill from here. The route took us down SW Vista, which was past the school I went to prior to middle school (Ainsworth).
 
We did the ride with Tina Farley, her friend Chris (pictured), and Chris' friend. The ride was well attended and the Lucky Labs were'nt meant to hold that many people at one time, but they did okay and we weren't there that long.  

Portland Bridge Pedal

 
One of the best events in Portland because of the combination of local products (Widmer Root Beer, Nossa Familia coffee, and bike mechanics galore - too bad there wasn't Voodoo Doughnuts or Burgerville), bikes, and bridges. The Oregonian is one of the sponsors and calls the ride "Perfectly Portland".
It is a great ride and it is great to see that many families out on the streets. There was a great article about the event in the O this past week.
 
Marcy and her kids stayed the night at our place so we were on our way from Sellwood to downtown when Chris called saying they were at the meeting point! We met up with MK, Tym, Henry, Dad, Chris, Del, and Deb and we were off. It was a beautiful day for the ride and we were happy to have the opportunity to be carfree on the Interstate Freeway bridges. We completed the 6 Bridge Ride and I rode the bakfiets. Susan questioned whether I was going to have trouble and while I didn't think I would, her asking me a couple of times made me second guess myself. All told it was a 25-mile trip which makes me wonder what a bakfiet mile is equivalent to in road bike miles. The hill up from the Oaks Bottom to our house was a beast, I was really dragging because I hadn't eaten anything on the ride. Abby did great on the ride on the trail-a-bike and I was surprised that Ameila and Matthew didn't complain any during the ride about sitting too much in the bakfiets.
The ride went pretty smoothly, it has been customary in recent history to have something disrupting bicycle flow through key spots or turns and while there was reportedly a train near the end that disrupted folks considerably, we didn't experience any of the backups that has traditionally plagued the ride.
One mistake on my part was not charging the batteries to the cameras, I took some photos, but the cameras did not make it past the Marquam and I normally enjoy taking more throughout the event.
 

Oregon/Washington Bike Rides

Susan hasn't hit the streets on her bike this week because of the heat, so she took off this morning on the Lake Oswego Loop.

She wants to do a century this season, we just need to find one. If you have an idea, let me know!

I came across this list of rides and I was thinking the Vine Ride might be a good one.

The Harvest Century conflicts with a Beaver game (unless it is a night game) and there is one in Bend that isn't quite a century (Sunnyside Cycle), but appears to be a tough ride!