We got our new fenders today in the mail and spent some time putting on the front ones and my new rechargeable headlight before we headed off to North Portland this afternoon. The Iowa Hawkeyes were playing Michigan State today and we were riding up to the official Iowa Alumni bar, Tom's Pizza. Peter was dressed in his Iowa jersey and I brought my Iowa fleece. My fleece was purchased at the U of Iowa Bookstore in Iowa City when we were there on sabbatical in 2007.
Riding up to the University of Portland Area is fun because you start off by the river which is always so nice. Then you ride past the Rose Garden Arena. Then there is a pretty decent climb for about a mile that takes you past the Adidas campus. After that, we rode side by side through pretty neighborhood streets until we were at Tom's bar.
When we walked in we knew we were in the right place. The bar was filled with about a 100 Iowa fans. All the tables were filled so we asked a table if we could join them and they obliged. We are not heavy drinkers so we were planning on the ride up how we were going to make pub food last 3+ hours. The game had just started and we ordered a couple pints of Guinness and settled in for the first half.
The first half was slow. By the end it was 3-3 and I was feeling more entertained by the steam cleaning infomercial playing on the neighboring screen. I mean, really, what can't you clean with that thing? We were munching on a plate of fries when the half ended and contemplating pizza when the half ended.
In the second half, we ordered another Guinness and Michigan State scored a field goal after we did a nice goal-line stop. Midway through the third we ordered a pizza. Peter got pepperoni on his half and I got ham and pineapple to remind me of Finland.
The fourth quarter is when the action happened. We tied it with a field goal and then got another on to go up by three. And, then with a minute and a half left they scored a touchdown. They set up the drive with an incredibly tricky pitchback play that wowed and frustrated the Iowa crowd. Things looked bleak for the Hawkeyes, but they put together a great drive. At 30 seconds left, 9 seconds left and 5 seconds left we had incomplete passes near the goal line. And then, with 2 seconds, the pass was complete and the HAWKS SCORED!!!!! The crowd went wild. Everyone was on their feet and double high fiving. The guy next to Peter embraced him in a giant hug. It was fabulous! It was pandemonium! The crowd broke out in the In Heaven there is no Beer song and we sang along joyously.
We left the bar on a football high and rode through the streets admiring my new super bright headlight. We were particularly impressed with our timing. Peter had signed the check with seconds left and I took the last sip of my coffee right after our touchdown. And, we have another meal of pizza (possibly two) that we carried home in my basket.
We had the esplanade almost to ourselves as we rode home. It wasn't late (about 8pm) but Portland is a sleepy, sleepy town. It was a happy evening, a happy game and a happy ride.
Riding up to the University of Portland Area is fun because you start off by the river which is always so nice. Then you ride past the Rose Garden Arena. Then there is a pretty decent climb for about a mile that takes you past the Adidas campus. After that, we rode side by side through pretty neighborhood streets until we were at Tom's bar.
When we walked in we knew we were in the right place. The bar was filled with about a 100 Iowa fans. All the tables were filled so we asked a table if we could join them and they obliged. We are not heavy drinkers so we were planning on the ride up how we were going to make pub food last 3+ hours. The game had just started and we ordered a couple pints of Guinness and settled in for the first half.
The first half was slow. By the end it was 3-3 and I was feeling more entertained by the steam cleaning infomercial playing on the neighboring screen. I mean, really, what can't you clean with that thing? We were munching on a plate of fries when the half ended and contemplating pizza when the half ended.
In the second half, we ordered another Guinness and Michigan State scored a field goal after we did a nice goal-line stop. Midway through the third we ordered a pizza. Peter got pepperoni on his half and I got ham and pineapple to remind me of Finland.
The fourth quarter is when the action happened. We tied it with a field goal and then got another on to go up by three. And, then with a minute and a half left they scored a touchdown. They set up the drive with an incredibly tricky pitchback play that wowed and frustrated the Iowa crowd. Things looked bleak for the Hawkeyes, but they put together a great drive. At 30 seconds left, 9 seconds left and 5 seconds left we had incomplete passes near the goal line. And then, with 2 seconds, the pass was complete and the HAWKS SCORED!!!!! The crowd went wild. Everyone was on their feet and double high fiving. The guy next to Peter embraced him in a giant hug. It was fabulous! It was pandemonium! The crowd broke out in the In Heaven there is no Beer song and we sang along joyously.
We left the bar on a football high and rode through the streets admiring my new super bright headlight. We were particularly impressed with our timing. Peter had signed the check with seconds left and I took the last sip of my coffee right after our touchdown. And, we have another meal of pizza (possibly two) that we carried home in my basket.
We had the esplanade almost to ourselves as we rode home. It wasn't late (about 8pm) but Portland is a sleepy, sleepy town. It was a happy evening, a happy game and a happy ride.
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