is portland........????? have i died and gone to heaven?

so, the taylor clan spent 7 days in portland, oregon visiting heather's mom and step-dad. perfect excuse to take a bike with me and get some epic adventure riding in. perfect weather for the week, with mid 50's in the morning and maybe mid 70's by noon. jeez, is portland heaven?? no rain at all for the week either.
my only problem with the trip out their was 'what bike do i take?' road? did that last time in febuarary. cx bike? makes sense. some tame single trak and gravel mixed with some great pavemnt. but..............i cheked the state run race website. OBRA, and found a weekly run mtb short track race held on monday nites thru the summer. take the mountain bike ??
i started iliciting my cycling friends for their opinions as to what bike i should take. not a one said the mtb. 'take the cx bike', even when i told about the the weekly shot track racing. i thought about it, but it just did noy seem like it would be as much fun racing on that course with just a cx bike. hell, i do alot of riding on the road on the mntain bike when i amriding solo and putting in a base of training.
so i changed out my maxxis 2.1 crossmarks for some fast bontrager 1.85's. seemed like the perfect balance for the short trak race and a better tire to lo some base miles when on the road. i figured i might even scope out some urban singletrack or gravel. i decided i would not bother the in-laws for a car to use for my riding addiction. everything would be based out their garage.
needless to say, i wassuper psyched about the chance to race on the 03 & 04' u.s. cx nationals course at the portl international raceway. i have never raced in a mtb short track event. man i was pumped. the following pics are courtesy of the wife. and i'll post some more later.

but i am in the process of typing one fingered and feeding the little one.....and it about midnite and ive got to be up early to work at the firehouse...............................so, to be continued....portland is a cyclists dream, from the racing to the roads with bike lanes to the great weather and great scenery.