This weekend a friend invited us to ride a century from Portland to Astoria with a bunch of his pals. It was a fun ride through largely new-to-me territory. Not terribly hard, though tiring in that way that centuries tend to be. We had frequent stops to re-group, a sag wagon that refilled our waters, and rides back to Portland for us and our bikes. It was pretty sweet, except for the chafing my new bike shorts caused me.

It was interesting biking with a new crowd; the ride felt somewhere in between our usual weekend bike trips and the large organized rides we’ve been doing this summer. Folks were relaxed and looking out for everyone in the group, but certainly more hard-core into the cycling world than Knox or I. They seemed more interested in organized events like triathlons than the bike-touring we do, so I appreciated getting a different perspective on the sport.

Before we left Portland, we were underwhelmed at the St. Honoré Boulangerie, delighted in the visual and olfactory pleasures at the rose garden, and visited the well-stocked yet slightly pricey River City Bicycles.

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