Today was a nice day so I decided to take a nice leisurely ride and knock off as much of the 40 mile loop as I felt like. My plan was to head out to Marine Drive, Out to Troutdale, cruise 257th out to the springwater corridor, go up to council crest and along skyline to Germantown road and home. Really that only seems ambitious, I figured it would take about 4 hours.
Now east-county is pretty much bandit country as far as us townies are concerned, and thus I was on my very best behavior. At the end of my southern traverse through Troutdale, I turn westbound onto 26 and I’m trying to merge to turn left onto Powell blvd. Since we were coming up to a red light and everyone was slowing down, I figured its as safe as it’s ever going to be, so I look over my shoulder, signal to make a left, look again and start pedaling across the traffic at about a 35 degree angle. Across 2 lanes, I look left again, see that it is clear, signal (again) and start to merge into the left turn lane. Remember we are coming up to a red light, so the driver of a Maroon Toyota Tacoma, with tires just big enough to say “I’m a conformist”, is apparently quite upset that I’m going to make him stop 8.5 feet back from his intended stopping point. Instead of slowing at a sensible rate he takes the opportunity to ride right up on my rear wheel. This cat is so close, that I can hear the fan of his engine.  When we start going again, he passes by me and shouts some unremarkable obscenities of the type you might expect from a truck driving Neanderthal with the sort of sense of entitlement people in jacked up trucks invariably seem to possess.  Anyway, remember I’m on my best behaviour out here cuz of the aforementioned banditry, so I say nothing; at the time.
And because I’m so big sitting here in the comfort and safety of my office, now is the time to speak. If you see a late model Maroon colored Toyota Tacoma with an Oregon License Plate LEW-1, give him a wide berth cuz he’s a menace, but absolutely do not surrender your rights to this pea-brain. If you are the owner of this vehicle, you’re an ass, you’re on record for reckless endangerment and your girlfriend thinks you have a small willy.Â
  All in all it was a great ride, I’ve never actually been out that far on the Springwater corridor and it is a particularly nice resource if you like to walk or cycle or ride horses (although the latter can be rather unpleasant for the first two). Very pretty, and I highly recommend it for anyone of any riding ability. Its flat wide, nice scenery (if you like quail, turkeys, horses and llamas). East of the 205 freeway, at least 95% of the stop signs have been aligned to provide uninterrupted travel along the cycle-path. The only bad part of the day was that I cut the ride short due to a chilly soaking I got when I rode into lents.Â