Crash

I had my first real crash today, not a little fall while at a stop light when first riding with bike shoes or something a good road rash, bruised up crash!

My brother said "well at least now you have popped your crash cherry", I really hope it is out of my system for a while. I have seen some pretty intense crashes and I was lucky I didn't get banged up worse. I ended up cycling over a train track and slipping in the track and boom I am face down on the ground, that explains the gist of it . Chipped a tooth and my right side is pretty scratched up and I have some intense bruising to show for it all but otherwise I am OK!

I was riding with a group of women from "Sorella Forte" and they were really helpful! Got me some ice, waited til I was ok to move and drove me home. The rest of the day I spent lounging around and icing pretty much my whole body.

The bruising is getting some good colour to it now, but hopefully the swelling on my lip goes down a bit. I am sure going to look nice for the first day of class this Thursday!

I'm sure I won't be off my bike for too long, I mean I live in Portland now, how could I not go riding. Although from now on I am pretty sure I will be much more cautious on train tracks.

This was a few hours after the crash, the bruising is getting pretty ugly now :(

The City of Roses, City of Bridges... Portland

While I am sipping my peach strawberry protein smoothie (made from my new magic bullet- thanks bub!!) I thought this would be a perfect time to give everyone an update!

I have officially moved to PORTLAND OREGON!

Sarah and I left Calgary on Friday morning. Didn't get much of an early start but we were off at about 10:30 after filling up gas and last minute errands. Really without Sarah I don't know if I would have made it to Portland, first off it is a long drive I would have been lonely and I am not very good with directions so without Sarah figuring out the map I don't know where I would be right now. (Sarah if you're reading this, THANKS again). We made a few quick stops but once in Coeur D'alene we had a shopping trip to Target!! Then drove a little further and spent the night in Spokane.


Here is the one and only picture of the trip. I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the intense packing job of the van but it was pretty sweet, fit everything in, even my road bike!

Leaving Spokane, I just wanted to be in Portland but we still had 6ish hours to go. We ended up taking a slight detour for not being too observant and missing signs but oh well it was a really nice scenic route! As I have said before, you find some real cool things when you get a little lost. Once in Portland it was pretty much unload the van and get things figured out! I felt slightly bad because I had all these things I had to get done while Sarah wanted to check out Portland! We did get to see a bit, went down to the Pearl District, took the trolley on the whole loop to get an idea of downtown, went to Portland State University. We found a really awesome vegetarian restaurant/ yoga studio and had dinner there! It was sooo good!! It will be a regular I am sure!

Sarah left Monday afternoon and from then on I have pretty much been unpacking, organizing and doing some necessary grocery shopping and errands! Those first few grocery trips to stock up on things always seem so pricey and the fridge still looks empty. Oh well, I just have to give it time and will have it all figured out.

I have been exploring the bike paths a bit and love how there are bike lanes pretty much everywhere! Love how cycle friendly this city is!

Here is a picture from one of the pathways near my place, right beside the Columbia River with a view of Mt Hood.

The place I am living in with Sonia is pretty nice, decent size rooms a nice living room with french doors and it is only 10 blocks away from campus! I will get pictures up soon!

You can see Mount St. Helens (on the left ) from our balcony, you just have to ignore the big freeway right outside.

Classes don't start until Thursday so just going to do some exploring and I am going on a few group rides with a cycling team this weekend! I will keep you all posted!

Finishing things off

I am here at the office packing up little by little. I ended up taking on the same idea as my brother and leaving all my work clothes at the office and riding to work. It has been great except for now I have all this stuff I need to take home. I have 3 more days left so it's coming to an end!! Yay, I have gotten the office thing out of my system and am so ready to get back to school and start learning again!!

Sonia and I have found a place in Portland and have gotten things organized with that. Such a weight off the shoulders to have a place figured out. Although we still have yet to see it and have no idea what the floor plan is, but it is better than nothing at all! We aren't tied down to anything so if it isn't what we want we can move if need be.

I will keep you all posted on the official move, which is next Friday!! AHHHH so soon!