An orange glow filled the bedroom as I abandoned slumber; accompanying this clandestine light, I spied the even tone of a solid blue sky. The perfect day to accomplish my quest of creating a route for my first organized ride.
Recent inspiration solidified an idea to blend my long standing and fresh muses, motorcycles and tulips. The later being a recent obsession but no less quenchable. Shameless plug of my other blog, Guenevere’s Garden, where you can view my tulip paintings. The discovery of the tulip ride in Seattle, which I plan to attend, sparked my excitement for the merger. Being the avid Tulip enthusiast that I am, I thought of our two local tulip fields outside of Portland and wondered if Portland could have it’s own Tulips Ride.
The birth of this idea spread like a virus in my mind, conjuring new friends and riding buddies who also share my twin passions. The perfect weather day to test my route sparked this morning’s motivation so off Kevin and I rode. Since I now live in Happy Valley, the natural beginning to this ride is in SE Portland. I haven’t chosen the exact location yet, I am hoping to find just the right coffee/breakfast provider in this area. My best idea so far is Bob’s Red Mill, but since I haven’t eaten there yet, I’ll have to test that too. We started our test ride at New Seasons after returning a DVD from the previous night. From there we headed further southeast trying to add volume to the trip. The tulip field I have in mind is only a short hop from Portland and thus my ride needed a little more girth and, of course, the obligatory back roads. Our venture wound us past crops, forests and back to the flat valley where tulips flock. At one point we stopped to enjoy the stellar day and clear skies, Mount Hood posted bright white to the east, crystal clear, and from this vantage in the valley we could also see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams. On second view of Mt. St. Helens, I noticed another white mound behind and to the right, glorious clear atmosphere revealed Mt. Rainier to my surprise and astonishment! If only I could be so lucky to get a day such as this one for the date of my event, fingers crossed.
Even trying to add extra miles by taking an out of the way tour didn’t give us two hours of riding. So, OK perhaps my ride will be more of a social ride with time spent at the tulip field, or perhaps we can add another stop after the tulip field for lunch somewhere else, it is still a work in progress. The date is set no matter the route though, tulips have a short season of one month only, so I have to work fast to make this happen. Come ride with me and enjoy tulips and food along the way Sunday, April 20th, yes I know it’s Easter, so perhaps I am also bringing a bit of my Bay Area heritage and starting an Easter ride in Portland as well.
