After 9+ years of Sunday morning biking and coffee shop check-ins – to 213 different independently-owned shops – we switched regimens in March as shop interiors were now off limits due to COVID-19.

Our COVID regimen ultimately consisted a group biking at 8:00 a.m. to outdoor places of interest (rather than shops,) followed at 9:30 by a virtual chat with every participant back in their own home.  A side benefit of this two-part biking/virtual chat morning is that it allowed alumni W in Mosier and C in Denver to join in on the chat.

MARCH 15— Today’s ride took place on a chilly but sunny morning along the Alameda Ridge leading eventually to the Petite Provence Cafe on NE Alberta St., where pastries bought to go.  We then rode over to DS’s home and enjoyed our hot beverages and pastry treats while remaining a safe distance from each other.

Conversation ran far and wide: why were so many elderly being struck hard by the Virus; DS’s and R’s recent discoveries in Arizona Pine Park, the Chiricahua National Monument and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument; and E’s weekly cross country ski lessons for kids and neighbors.

MARCH 22.  Today’s ride on a dry cool morning was to view the lovely flowering cherries blossoms downtown along Naito Parkway.  The colorful tunnel the trees created were alluring even with a grey sky.  We returned to buy treats and hot drinks from Miss Zumstein’s on NE 42nd and sit outside on picnic benches to cover recent events.

Discussion topics today included how our families were affected by the Virus: T’s wife L is being furloughed by the closed Library and will work with the homeless, and T is pushing the contractors he works with to follow social-distancing and handwashing regimens; meanwhile M and wife J’s planned trip to Arizona for political canvassing was canceled due to the Virus.

MARCH 29– Today’s hearty threesome braved the cool gray weather to bike up Rocky Butte.

Discussion topics on our first weekly virtual chat included B showing off the John Snow coffee cup he acquired while working in London, Snow being instrumental in stopping the spread of cholera; whether the proposed two trillion dollar relief package is the most effective way to aid health facilities, first responders and low-income workers; and why we can’t assist businesses in keeping employees paid as Denmark and Great Britain have done.

APRIL 5—  Two of us rode down/back from Swan Island; surprisingly the traffic was much heavier this Sunday morning at 8:30 during COVID than either of us expected, and much heavier than 20-25 years ago when M taught his two children to drive here.

Discussion topics for our chat included whether our culture – during and post Virus – can forsake many of the lifestyle pleasures that we’ve gotten used to such as tasty restaurants, cocktail lounges,  movie theaters, and cultural events; and how we feel about whether Bernie should drop out of the presidential race.

APRIL 12th– What a sublime spring we’re having, and today’s 8:00 start took place under a cloudless blue sky.  We biked north to the Columbia River then eastward toward the I-205 bikeway, getting off of it to follow Alderwood and the bikeway adjacent to the sometimes serene and sometimes unsightly Columbia Slough.

Today’s discussion topics began with the re-occurrence of Virus cases in S. Korea, and morphed into Korea’s strict tracking of its residents and how that likely wouldn’t fly in the U.S.; the rocky start schooling at home has had for Portland parents and students;  and the unusual Passover Zoom Seder (or Zeder) that M’s family took part in with 20 kin/seder participants from Oregon, Hawaii, southern Calif. and the east coast.

APRIL 19-  Today’s three riders biked happily toward St. Johns via Willamette Blvd. on an overcast morning, before turning around in time to join our 9:30 check-in.

A lot of today’s chat centered on the economy’s shaky future as DM related a New Yorker article about how troubling the next several years may be; DS said he has stayed away from the stock market due its casino-like feeling; and C said he’s felt comfortable  not wavering from the socially responsible principles of his Portfolio 21 fund.

APRIL 26-  It was back to the downtown Willamette River loop for today’s two bicyclists, on a dry overcast morning.

Today’s discussion centered on the vagaries of the COVID-19 Virus, for example why someone who seemingly survived leaves the hospital only to die two days later; and why tests are so erratic in terms of results and false negatives.

MAY 3-   Today we biked the same downtown route as last week, and took in some of the new murals being created around Ankeny Alley.

We started off today’s chat singing happy b-day to W for his 75th birthday  yesterday; moved on to how we felt when younger generations point fingers at we boomers re how far off track our nation is; moved to the upcoming City elections for mayor and council, and our frustrations with Wheeler and Eudaly, yet angst re their challengers’ lack of experience.

MAY 10-  We explored varying our routine because of Mother’s Day,  but ended up staying the course.  So three of us headed north to Whitaker Ponds hoping there was a bike trail along the Columbia Slough, but there wasn’t.  So we got back on Cornfoot Rd. and made the loop to Columbia Blvd, then to Cully, then home.

Topics today included our being confounded whether restaurants can ever survive if they lose half their seating, what the new normal will look like re watching movies in a theatre, and how easily we’ve become accustomed to enjoying good films at home.

MAY 17- The Agave Montana plant supposedly grows best in the mountains of Mexico, and is said to die after the one time it flowers, usually at 20-25 years.  Miraculously, a horticulturist and his partner on SE Gladstone nurtures one – and several other exotic looking cacti – at their home at SE 28th.

Chat topics today included immunologist Rick Bright’s damning Congressional testimony, how an epidemiologist  caught the Virus on an uncrowded airplane flight, the quandry C faces in terms of 12 days of isolation just for a short visit to Portland, and the preponderance of Covid deaths affecting populations of color.

MAY 24- Due to the Covid19-caused closure of several commercial spaces on SE Foster, civic-minded volunteers coordinated the painting of murals.   We don’t think this one was part of the recent paintings, but we hadn’t seen it before and it took our breath away.

Chat topics centered on the recent primary election and how a Quran follower in OR won the Republican nomination for US Senate; how there were so many seemingly qualified candidates for one City Council race and so few for another; and our pleasure and surprise that Sam Adams failed to finish in the top two.

MAY 31- On an overcast dry morning, five of us had a scintillating ride up Mt. Tabor to test our bikelegs, have an outlet for our George Floyd emotions, and catch a view of the City.

Discussion topics included why anti-racism/sensitivity trainings for the PDX police don’t seem to take; appreciation for Joanne Hardesty’s distinguishing between the protesters who march for social change, and the looters and fire-starters who come for violence and vandalism;  and appreciation for Trevor Noah’s 18 minute soliloquy on what it feels to be targeted by skin color.

JUNE 7-   We went back downtown today to see the new murals around Ankeny Alley since we last visited.

Todays’ chat topics included our pleasure/astonishment at the world-wide marches/protests  touched off by George Floyd’s horrendous murder; how so many corporations and the NFL were apologizing for not being more supportive of the Black Lives Matter campaign in the past; the problems with past efforts to reform the police; and the pop psychology theory for the two Americas: one subscribing to “you’re on your own” – the YOYOS –  the other “we’re all in this together.”

JUNE 14-   Multnomah County had been scheduled to begin its Phase 1 “re-opening” on June 12, so today was supposed to be our first interior visit to a coffee shop.  However, the Governor postponed that due to the recent spike in cases, so today’s outing was not to a coffee shop but to look at damages downtown.

Today’s discussion began with C telling us about Colorado’s sweeping new police reforms; That led to the aha of despite advances made in the 60s through civil rights actions and new laws, racism today in light of the George Floyd killing and the other monstrous killings of blacks feels as bad as it did before the civil rights advances of the 60s.

JUNE 21-   Under partial clouds – thankfully not the hard rains that rolled through yesterday – five of us headed out via side-roads to Sellwood and Eastmoreland.

Chat-wise, we’re concerned that there is still property damage taking place after midnight following peaceful protests;  it’s still bewildering to us as the marchers are honoring George Floyd but the post-midnight trashers don’t seem to be.  Then we discussed whether upzoning leads to a racist outcome, and concluded there’s a lot nuance in how one frames the question.

JUNE 28-– On this cloudy morning an amnesiac group of five headed to the Washington Park Rose Garden, amnesiac because we forgot how steep the climb to the Garden was from Jefferson Street.  After successfully visiting Rocky Butte and Mt. Tabor this spring, we didn’t give much thought to the grade here, and it kicked our butts.  On the way home we stopped at the moving Washington High Black Live Matters display.

JULY 5th–  On another cloudy day seven of us – a best in Covid and pre-Covid times – ventured out to look at a deeply affordable modular housing project – Argyle Gardens in Kenton owned/operated by Transition Projects.   Having last week visited Washington Park’s Rose Garden, we appreciated the chance on the way back to ooh/aah at Portland’s original Rose Garden in Peninsula Park.

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Chat-wise we talked about the operating challenges TPI might have at Argyle Gardens with 6 tenants sharing a kitchen, and the mechanics of providing services.  Personal-wise, W told us how his son E and new Bay Area romantic interest A met W+K at a southern Oregon campground, and how great it felt.

JULY 19th- Today’s ride was once again to downtown to check out post-protest vandalism.

Chat topics today included us shaking our heads at the downtown vandalism, the federal marshalls’ presence, and how everyone seemed impotent to get our city out of this swamp-like situation.

JULY 26TH- Willamette Park and lovely views of the River were today’s destination on a bright clear morning. It was a reminder of how pretty Portland can look.

Chat topics again centered on politics: Yes Biden is the Democratic Party candidate, but he comes with a lot of baggage and not much progressive accomplishments; how warm will he be to Bernie and Elizabeth’s platform ideas? And what will members be doing this vacation time with movements limited by COVID?

AUG 2-  With more than half of our cyclists away, DM was the only member able to ride and he toured downtown and the Steel Bridge.

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AUG 9-  On this sunny but cool morning, six of us started in NE at a modest Agave Montana plant just starting to spread, then rode south to look in on the Montavilla commercial strip, and then over to Franklin HS before heading home.

Chat topics today centered on our continued worry that PDX’s late-night vandalism and looting diminish the reputation of Black Lives Matter and all of its constructive platforms, and our frustration that no one – not the media or police – identifies who are those knuckleheads.

AUG 16–  On this sunny, relatively warm 72 degree morning, three of us headed back downtown, this time to the Salmon St. Fountain to view the Black Lives Matter Photography display.

Group chat discussion topics today included the four+ year journey of the Residential Infill Project which DS and E helped navigate and is now a national model; the multiple plusses of having Kamala Harris on the Biden ticket; W and wife K’s currently safe situation in Mosier given the brush fire a mile away, and the need to do a better job of under-brush clearance on the west coast.

AUG 23–  Today’s overcast outing took the five of us down SE Clinton – via the new eating area by Clinton St. Theater – to the improved SE 17th which we followed for 2 miles to McLaughlin Blvd., then  U-Turned home.

Chat topics today included PDX police’s hands-off strategy yesterday re the Antifa-Proud Boys face-off; the slate of new books which criticize both corporate Republicans and political Democrats for favoring corporations over workers since the 1970s, i.e. Kurt Andersen’s Evil Geniuses, The Unmaking of America; and second-guessing part of Biden’s strategy which seems to focus on certain constituencies and overlook others.

SEPT. 6- Tilikum Crossing was once again our destination, this time with our Denver compatriot C.

Chat topics included our thoughts whether the phrase “first justice then peace” is feasible; the U.S. Marshall’s killing of suspected murderer Michael Reinoehl; and what form of reparations might have a chance of being supported by a pluraility of Americans.

SEPT 13- NO BIKING– HAZARDOUS AIR QUALITY

Chat topics included PDX being rated as having the worst air quality in the world; the Atlantic Magazine’s claim that Trump thought of soldiers who lost their lives as losers, plus Bob Woodward’s account that Trump knew back in Feb. that COVID was such a devastating threat to our healths; and C’s daughter’s E’s plans to leave the Aspen Colorado area for the Croatian coast.

SEPT 20- Coffee shops with outside seating in the Pearl was today’s destination to help B and H with their Friday outings.

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Topics covered today included: The rationale for Democrats to pack the Supreme Court in case Republicans race through a SCOTUS nomination; Comparing Lyndon Johnson’s productive presidency in terms of civil rights legislation to Joe Biden’s possibilities; How the anti-communism boogie man upended Harry Truman re Korean War and JFK and LBJ in Vietnam; How the Defund Police phrasing is tragically inaccurate: And the fact that 96% of police calls don’t involve violent crime.

OCT. 4- Today’s autumn outing of three bicyclists followed a route that led to the Madison HS construction project, then crossed 82nd to take a look at the campus of the Dharma Rain Zen Center property which used to be a dump, and then headed back by the Rose City Golf Club before heading to our individual homes for the 9:30 chat.

Chat topics included President Trump’s hospitalization at Walter Reed Hospital for COVID; What looks like a superspreading event for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court as a host of non-masked attendees appear to have picked up the Corona Virus. Admittedly, our members were not particularly kind to the maskless attendees.

OCT. 11- With two bicyclists who were away last week, now interested in seeing last week’s route, we headed out Tillamook to essentially see last week’s route in reverse.

Chat topics included how the DC world is getting weirder and weirder as Trump’s doctors never said that their discharged patient tested negative or that he was no longer a transmission risk to others; the courts are being asked to it mediate on voter suppression actions now under consideration in multiple states just as early voting has begun in a few and are about to begin in many more; Trump advocating for indictments against Biden and Obama; and the discovery of a kidnapping plot by militia types of Gov. Whitmer in Mich. Oh My, what does the future hold.

OCT. 18- The iconic Tilikum Crossing Bridge was once more today’s bike destination.

Today’s chat topics included optimistic polling results both at the presidential and senate levels, and how the Sturgis Harley gathering is spreading COVID disease around the country.

OCT. 25- NO BIKING TODAY

Chat topics today included the strong early voter numbers in this pandemic year, and the promising Senate forecast; reactions to the last Pres debate, and whether Biden should have been less threatening to the fossil fuels economy in his response on energy policy; whether Trump’s continued assault on mail-in balloting may backfire on him; and dismay around increasing homelessness and the sad look of downtown.

NOV. 1- On this crisp cool first day of Pacific Daylight Time, five biked out to Thomas Cully Park, many for the first time and all mightily impressed. From here we headed South on 72nd, which is slated to be developed into a major bikeway, to Rose City Golf Course, and then to our homes for our chat.

On the chat H anticipated a bouyant mood over the favorable polls and what looks like a great turnout of first time early voters, but the group mood was more somber. Some were worried about new voter suppression activities and dirty tricks. T wasn’t convinced that the white supremacy tinge of our society would change at all after the election. And M cautioned we’d need to be equally active post-election to hold Biden’s administration accountable on climate change, equity, immigration, et.al.

NOV. 8- In this first post-election ride three members rode beside the always impressive Columbia River close to the airport. It was cold, brisk, and clear.

Chat topics included: How we spent election night and the next several days/evenings; lies being spewed forth by the President about the election; how can 70M+ people support him; why so many rural residents who are negatively affected by pollution trust the polluters more than the EPA, as captured in Arlie Hochschild’s Strangers in Their Own Land; and from that we wondered whether the Koch Bros. had a PR hand in rural residents’ brainwashing??

NOV. 15- Five riders went out on this dry brisk morning to Willamette Blvd and were lucky to see some still lovely colors. The maze-like route back home was not as straight as it might have been, going through Kenton and N. Interstate to arrive at N. Skidmore.

Chat topics today included: What’s Trump end-game in terms of his rants and false claims around fraud, maybe trying to save face?? How vaccines work and outstanding questions about the trial vaccines’ length of potency; Thanksgiving plans; investment options in this economy; and a recommendation for watching Broadway Theater on TV via Broadway HD.

NOV. 22- Today’s 5 riders switched our meeting location which to a minor snafu communication-wise, just proving it’s harder to teach the older dogs new tricks. Once reconnected we headed to Peninsula Park looking for startling colors only to discover we were a week too late.

Back on the chat we talked about the stresses that front-line workers are facing and the resulting retirements in many of their fields; spiking COVID numbers; Trump harping about voting fraud; and the Peacock documentary The Way I See It re presidential photographer Paul Souza.

NOV. 29- Today’s 6 riders this chilly dry morning took a circuitous route to downtown via Going, Williams, Russell, Interstate, Broadway Bridge, Naito Parkway, Hawthorne Bridge, Eastside Esplanade, and back to NE. Thankfully after an overcast ride down there, the sun put on quite a show downtown.

Chat topics included, once again why voters often vote against their own self-interest; our being pleased with Biden’s appointments of competent professionals; how to get legislation through the expected McConnell blockade; and scary police activity just a couple of blocks from M’s house.

DEC. 6- On this overcast day, two riders headed out onto Going toward NE 72nd, then south to the Golf course and NE Tillamook, before heading back to the hood.

Chat topics included whether Biden could make progress on his platform if Trump at the same time were being prosecuted for his crimes; the attractions of Croatia’s Adriatic Coast and some Serbian/Croatian history; why most of us stayed away from buying long term health insurance; and whether taking care of 4 acres is too much of a burden for our bodies.

DEC 13– RIDE TODAY –RAINED OUT

Chat topics today included: W’s e-mail interchange with a long-time Republican friend; maybe it’s better to make donations to what Georgia non-profits are doing on the ground rather than to candidates Ossof and Warnock who have sizable warchests; our group preference for public schools to re-open safely; how Atlanta’s suburbs grew blue due to large immigration from other parts of the country, and other countries; and reasons why Portland feels like a racist city to people of color: restrictive housing zoning; PDX was not part of the great migration other than Kaiser Shipyard, and then the Vanport flood destroyed that housing; there’s not a sizable Black middle class when compared to Seattle and other cities.

DEC 20– RAIN OUT #2

Today’s chat topics included: why rates of COVID testing in Oregon were so low, especially since testing early and isolation was considered an essential strategy; still, Oregon’s death rate/million was fourth lowest in the nation; what’s the implication of the new mutations found in the United Kingdom; why Trump was blaming China for the great cyber hack rather than Russia; the shell company that Kushner had set up with Lara Trump as CEO; and how Trump has checked out from being president.

DEC 27– On an overcast dry day that turned partly sunny downtown, today’s six bikers were rewarded with some shimmering views of the Willamette River.

Today’s chat topics included an update on Barry Lopez’s sad passing and a recommendation for his book Horizon – it captures what he’s seen in terms of climate damage in extremely remote places and learned from indigenous leaders; preferences between reading an actual book vs a Kindle vs an E-book vs an audio book; T’s visit from Uncle Arthur (aka arthritis,) and group suggestions from personal experience; and what a nut job the President is acting like in front of Georgia’s vote by attacking the conservative Supreme Court, Sen. McConnell, VP Pence, and other former allies.