bike ride

Fall Bike Ride

Posted by Lisa Eirene

On Sunday, after about a week of needed rained, the sun was out. I decided to go for a bike ride since I feel like my time for biking is limited. Soon the weather will really turn and then I won’t be outside much at all.

I had some oatmeal for breakfast and then headed out. It was a little chilly out when I first started but I warmed up quickly.

I took the Trolley Trail. I figured it was the best bet since the leaves are falling all over the city now and it’s been rainy so I knew bike lanes would be covered in wet leaves (which would be kinda dangerous for biking). There were some leaves on the trail but not much.

The Trolley Trail goes from parts of Oregon City to the new-ish Max stop in Milwaukie, to Sellwood, then connects to the Springwater Trail into downtown Portland.

I’ve done the Trolley Trail a bunch of times before. It’s slightly uphill in one direction, so it’s a steady climb, which is not hard but it’s steady and doesn’t stop so you can’t just coast and take a breathe. The good part is on the way back is that you can basically coast most of it.

Anyways, I’ve never done the Trolley Trail into Sellwood, so I got to see the art around there this time.

The other downside of this trail is that there are a lot of stops for roads, so you can’t just go go go. It can also be pretty crowded. But other than that, it’s nice, new and doesn’t have the homeless camps like the East Springwater Trail does.

I turned around at Sellwood and then headed home. It was a nice bike ride. I was starving when I got home!!! I had a snack of BabyBel cheese, handful of cashews, 3 dried apricots and half of of one of Logan’s oatmeal fruit cookies. I was famished.

It was nice to be back on the bike after a long break. My hope is that I can still bike for another month or so since I am working from home and can now take bike rides during my lunch break–so I don’t have to worry about it being too dark in the morning or evenings. The only issue will be weather.

I kind of want to get an exercise bike for our gym and I’ve been casually looking at OfferUp and Craigslist for cheap ones but haven’t seen anything great yet. I think it’s a good option for the winter, especially since I’m not going into my gym during Covid-times.

Day 57, or something?

Posted by Lisa Eirene

Last week felt like a rough week, mentally. I think we were all struggling. And so many friends were, too. It was week 7 (I think??) of being home. I think, for me, it was starting to wear on me. The constant togetherness. The uncertainty of when things will open up again. The fear of things opening up too soon. The sad news from Georgia. The frustrating politics. The seeming disregard for public health and safety with the protests…

Friday I decided to take a half day off from work. I had a holiday day I needed to use some time from and the weather was nice. I needed a mental break.

So I worked for a few hours in the morning and then went for a bike ride by myself. It was 80 degrees here in Portland, sunny and beautiful. It was also windy, which was unfortunate on the bike! But I still enjoyed it!

I did part of the 205 bike trail and then the trail ended and I did some of the highway out towards Mount Hood (not ideal) and then picked up the trail again and did a loop on bike trails back home.

Despite the beautiful day, I didn’t see a lot of people out! Just a few other bikers. It was such a nice break. I felt really good on the bike, too. Going out for small rides once a week since this started has really helped. I didn’t have low back fatigue or shoulder/neck pain like I have had before, so that means I am getting back to conditioning!

The ride was hilly at times. And I was getting hungry and thirsty (I only brought 1 water bottle, next time I’ll bring more) so I didn’t end up doing 15 miles like I wanted to.

I’m still happy with my ride! I got home and then took a bath in the jacuzzi tub with some sparkling water, relaxing and decompressing, then Logan woke up from his nap and we went out to Lake Oswego for a nature walk as a family. It was a nice little afternoon.

(Not sure if I mentioned that Logan got a quarantine haircut a few weeks ago…that did not go well. So Michael had to fix it. LOL)

It felt silly to take a “vacation day” when we are in quarantine and can’t go anywhere but in the end it turned out to be just what I needed. A mental break, a break from responsibilities, some alone time, some sunshine…