I know you’ve all been waiting for my next post so you’ll know what I’ve been up to, and I’m not one to let you down so let me share.
Early in the week I really wanted to have a go at Forrest Park while there was a nice break in the weather, so I took my bike out on Wednesday after work. It was light going, 3mi down and back. I would have gone all the way down but I was racing the sun and wanted to make it back to the car before it got dark. I’ll probably go all the way this week/next weekend specially if I can find someone to join me. I’d really like to find some trails in there too, the park’s huge so I’m sure some have to exist, it’d be retarded if they didn’t. Either way, fireroads are fine for climbing but not much fun going down, gravel and switch-backs suck.
Fast forward to Friday, didn’t do much, took my bike out for a short ride around 1am just to make sure everything was functioning correctly. I’m glad I did cause my rear tire was flat. This is very suprising cause it seems like nearly everytime I take my bike off the blacktop I manage to get a flat. I checked my tube and it doesn’t appear somethings in there so I must just be getting bad luck.
The idea was that since I had no plans for Saturday, I was going to attempt riding from my house to the Zoo and into Portland on a singletrack if I could find one. Then maybe ride around the waterfront and see if I couldn’t find how to get to Willamette park from there, maybe have lunch with Josie and her roomie since I knew they were going to be shopping in the Pearl. Then give Paul a call since he was going to Stoneworks (a climbing gym) ~3 and see if I could join them. From there go where the current took me.
So I got up Saturday and was getting my gear organized when my plans were foiled. I got a call from my friends Adam and Anna. They were planning on going climbing at Broughton Bluff (out by Troutdale). Since I enjoy hanging out with friends more than biking alone, I went to join them. Plus it gave me an oportunity to break in my new climbing gear. I get there and they have two other friends with them, Adam and Jon. Since Adam and I don’t own our own pair of shoes yet, we were borrowing Adams loaner pair, so both of us couldn’t climb at the same time. This was fine since I could belay Adam while he climbed and vice versa. Things did get a little confusing though when Jon and I were climbing or when Adam and Adam were climbing, but we managed. Later we were joined by Jon’s girlfriend and her daughter for a bit.
The climbing was great, there were a few spot where I had some difficulty and a few that I couldn’t get around and a few more where I had to cheat to get past, but it was all good. I even did some repelling which was good to learn. There’re somethings I still need to work on (time to get my bouldering on), but I think I’m dedicated to getting where I want to be in this sport. I think having my own shoes, ones that fit properly, instead of always borrowing Adam’s would help.
Jon fell once and smacked his knee (and a bit more, we got it on tape too) but for the most part there weren’t any real injuries. I did slip on some mud though going back to the parking lot. I smacked my shin and jammed my thumb/wrist/arm/shoulder (I think I had my arm set when it hit the rock so the impact travelled all the way up) so I ‘m a little sore, but that’s what Advil’s for.
After climbing all day Jon’s gf hooked us up with some tickets to Harvey’s Comedy Club. We showed up a bit late since we stopped in Jantzen Beach for dinner but the show was pretty good, I think I’ll have to go again some other time, hopefully I get some free tickets from them :).
Since the weather was a bit wet on Sunday there was talk of going out to the east side of the Cascades but I think it wasn’t much drier there either. So I met back up with the group to do some gear shopping, mostly shoes for me I think. We went to the first place and got lunch across the street when we decided to go try some climbing on Rocky Butte in NE Portland. We’d do that while the weather was clear and go back shopping once it started getting wet again.
Rocky Butte was good but I think the paths we chose might have been a little out of my skill level, either that or I was a bit worn from the day before. Either way I was only making it up a bit before I couldn’t go any further. Definitely need more practice. I did get to try out some ascenders which is a real nice way to go up and area you can’t if your working a long climb and catching up, or at least that’s how I’d imagine them being used. I also got to try belaying a lead climber which is something I definitely need more practice at. Especcially before I’d trust myself with someone who I wasn’t very confident in their climbing skills. The rest of the day was nice so we just kept going till sunset.
All in all a bit busier weekend than expected but still awesome. Coming up next week, maybe some camping, definitely some biking, shopping for some shoes and a bit of gear, and who knows what else. My weekend is open so if you want to do something let me know.
Sorry for the long entry, maybe I should go into less detail?