p.o.d

A ride worth a blog

So, last weekend in Portland, I did the De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia ride in west Portland. This ride is set up to mimic the Tour of Flanders. It is not an organized ride, however. The website that was created for this ride states, "the De Ronde ride will not be happening this year, however an invitational ride with be happening at 10 am ..." So, I showed up at 10, and so did 700 others.

What I knew of the ride was that it was up and down all day long in the west hills of Portland. mapmyride said it was about 5400 feet of climbing over it's 47 mile course.

So, here goes. I road in from my house to the start about 8 miles away. It was looking like a great day for a great ride. Like I said earlier, I showed up to find a large group of riders looking the conquer De Ronde. Right at 10, we took off. This was a sight to be seen, looked like the beginning of a Tour stage. As soon as the legs started to warm, we hit the first hill. It was about 1000 feet of climbing up a dirt fire road. By the time, we hit the top, I was smokin hot. Vest was off and jersey was unzipped. Next few miles were just rollers, but fun and fast. Keep in mind I am just following the crowd as I have no idea where the route actually goes. As we were descending at a pretty decent clip, I noticed the group was turning up the road. A

s soon as we turned left, we hit a 12% grade little climb. Chains were popping and derailleurs were cracking as riders were trying to make the quick adjustment. I got to the top of the first section with little problem, turned the corner and realized the road keep going and the grade got steeper. All riders at this point, were in the granny gear standing up to a cadence of about 30. Half way up this section, I bailed onto a level driveway, road one little circle and then started climbing again. I hit one other driveway on my way up, but it was brutal. Never put a foot down though! After the ride I was told that section was 24% grade and about 1/4 to 1/2 mile long. It was nasty to say the least.

The next 20 miles or so, consisted of going up slowly and down very quickly....rinse, and repeat. I knew there was one climb that was on a single lane mossy road that hit 28

% grade...it now lay before me and I was ready. Well, I was ready for the first 20 feet. I found myself gasping for air, cadence I'm sure was in the 20's. Difference here is no real relief. As I was trying my best to just look forward, I noticed a driveway that was half way up the climb. As soon as I got there, I opted to take it. Did my own little circle and then headed back up the rest of the way. Again, no foot down, so that made me happy. It was a brutal climb. As soon as I got to the top, I realized our climbing was not over, the grade came down to 5 or 6, so it wasn't bad at all. The rest of the ride was more of the same, up and down, up and down. We finished the ride at the top of Council Crest park. This is the highest point in Portland (very fitting). Now, to just ride those 8 miles back home. Thankfully, 6 of those miles were all downhill.

All in all, it was a great ride. My buddy and I finished in just under 4 hours,

I did about 62 miles (according to my PowerTap), and 8500 feet of climbing.

Here is the garmin file - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30363467.

This was much deserved!

A little more Max

Ok, so it has been 5 days since Max was born...and they have flown by. We had a pediatrician appointment yesterday and he checked out pretty well. He was slightly jaundice, but what baby isn't right? Jackson however has strep throat and Margaret has an infection...both are doing much better today.

It is interesting how things are already pretty different with the addition of another child. It is going to take me a couple of weeks to decide what is actually different, so for now it is just a feeling. My mom has been out here as well to help out, so I'm sure it is going to feel even more different once she is gone. This saturday will be a true test.

Anyway, I appreciate all of the calls and emails that I've gotten. It is always nice to reconnect with folks. I have a few pictures that I wanted to share with you all. There were from the hospital, all taken off of my phone. I'll add some other photos from a real camera to a different post. Thanks for looking!

About an hour before Max arrived

Margaret laboring in the tub. She was a champ!

Max about 30 seconds old.

Jackson's first visit at the hospital.

Here is a quick little video I took from my phone at the hospital the day we left. Enjoy!

Margaret is going to write up a nice description of the birth of Max I'm sure. So, check out dtw2pdx.blogspot.com in the next few days. She is a much better writer than me.

Maxwell Steven Dale

Well, I haven't really had anything to write about as of late, but that all changed yesterday. Max, who was not named until today, came into our lives at 3:57 yesterday afternoon (4/9/10). He weighted 7 lbs 6 ozs and was 19 inches long. Margaret did an awesome job and took the pain like a champ. From our time of arrival to the time of delivery was a little under two hours. I will write more later and post a video or two, but here is a picture of Max and Jackson.