Corvallis Biking - Evan And Erin have Embraced it
In the fall of 2000 we acquired two new bikes. Corvallis has an abundance of biking lanes along side major roads, and a lot of the population bikes. There are even a handful of independent walking/running/biking paths around town for exploring. Corvallis being a small town, almost any point can be ridden to, but the hills along the periphery of town can still make for an exhausting ride.

We bought our bikes from a downtown bike shop called Cyclotopia. The brand we chose was Garry Fisher - and the model we both chose was Tassajara, a very good balance of components and price.

Below is a picture of our new bikes and gear.

 

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To the Top of Chip Ross Park

On 8/20/00 (Sunday) we made our second venture to Chip Ross Park, about a mile or so north of town. This time though, we brought a camera. The park has two features that makes it worth visiting. Biking/hiking/horseback riding trails encircle the park and they are well maintained. Even better is that the park, although only perhaps a thousand acres, includes a great 800-900ft hill to climb.  The view of town is great, and below are some links to show it to you.  To date we have yet to make it to the top of this rather meager hill without having to stop and walk our bikes a bit - but we're getting there! We're sure that within a few months we'll cruse right on up (or just be dead tired of trying).  Either way we consider it a great workout and a ton of fun. (Riding back down-hill is especially fun.)

 

The view up from the bottom (this is about a mile from home, a mile to the top, about 600 feet up-hill.) A view of town, a bit closer up. We are told that nice sunny days like this are about to end with the rainy season(s) about to start.
A nice scenic view looking south toward town. (image is a bit large - minor warning) A view of our neighborhood. OK, so you can't see much. I labeled the tree which ate our air-powered toy airplane. Our house is just a bit above the wood tree in the picture. 
A nice inclusive view. The houses in this picture are part of a pretty new sub-division in the "North West" part of town. The north west is considered the nicer part to live in, and one will find larger homes there. Unfortunately, the neighborhood shown in the picture really packs the houses together. They're expensive too. A view of yet another section of trail heading up-hill. We're starting to figure out the gears on our bikes now.
Erin and I are taking a break on our way to the top (while Erin did not fall all day, Evan later did - very slightly)

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