Rapha Lunch Rides

Every Wednesday in Portland a solid crew departs from Rapha’s NA headquarters. You never know what you’re going to get but it’s a safe bet that it will hurt.

Recent Rides

The weather in PDX is perfect. We try not to talk about it because we’re all afriad it isn’t going to last. We’ve come to expect an amazing week-long spring that inevitably ushers in winter #2. The training continues either way, but those 200 mile weekends sure have been a lot more enjoyable recently. Fingers crossed the weather sticks… or better yet, I’ll just keep my mouth shut.

The Vanilla Workshop

We wouldn’t be able to make it across the country without the generous material, social and emotional support from our sponsors. So where possible we’d like to give you a look into these awesome companies that are full of caring & passionate people. At the core of LIOTR is a genuine desire to do some good in the world, and each of our sponsors shares the belief and passion that is driving us to cross the US on two wheels.

We’ve been spending a lot of time over at The Vanilla Workshop lately getting ready for the ride and working out the details of the custom Speedvagens that Andrew and I will pilot. We’ll have a few more Vanilla Workshop posts for you before the ride begins that dig into the details of the bikes, from fit to fabrication to finish. But in the meantime here are a few quiet shots that were captured on an early morning in the workshop.

Spring in PDX…

It lasts three days and falls between winter and second winter.

Paydirt.

Pumpkin Ridge riding with Andrew.

Multnomah Falls ride.

Andrew finally came to Portland to ride my Speedvagen and take pictures of me dropping him.

Wine country riding

Nine weeks left until our cross country adventure begins means the weekend rides have ramped up in duration and distance. Now it is is normal to ride up to five or six hours on Saturday and Sunday. This weekend I rode out to wine country which is about a 90 mile round trip from my home in Portland. It might look peaceful but the headwinds can be brutal. The reward for battling the three hour, head-down, battle (aside from the views and rolling hills) is a perfect tailwind all the way back to Portland.

Nehalem Bay Riding

One of the main challenges of planning for a 3500 mile ride is route