Since the ride began at 10AM I had time to ride to the ride. I took the easy way down Queen Ann and rode to Red Hook Brewery via the Burke-Gilman Trail and the Sammamish River Trail. It made for a nice 25 mile warm up.
I arrived at the ride start respectably early. After a few words from our ride leader we were off. The first few miles where in the suburban streets. Our leader evidently hadn't ridden the route recently (and not navigating via gps) as we had a few missed turns and had to backtrack. There was even a short section of ridable gravel path. I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into. Once we got out into the rural roads I was beginning to wonder even more. The roads had no paved shoulder, and often no fog line. While legal to ride two abreast, it just frustrates drivers to do so as they approach. Despite calls of "car back" by the majority of our group, there were 3 riders in particular that would be out near the center line. I'm all for taking the lane when it's appropriate, but this wasn't one of those cases. It seemed to be just a case of "I don't care" by these members of our group.
Along with this behavior was a lot of "accordion action" by the group. I finally just found it easier to stay well back of the group.
We arrived in Snohomish, a quaint little town on the banks of the Snohomish River with a celebrated history. We came in via road, but I did notice a multi-use path along the river. I don't know how far, or where it goes.
After getting our instructions as to a re-meeting time, we scattered for lunch in a variety of local eateries.
Following our lunch stop our ride leader had a talk with the group concerning the side by side riding. She reminded all that a call of "car back" means to get into single file. 5 riders decided to add bonus miles by riding out to Monroe. The rest of us shoved off and rode back toward Red Hook.
Our little group now was composed of riders who rode single file when appropriate, they rode a good pace but they still braked on decents and granny geared up hills. Argh!
Our group still accordionned a bit so I was off the back. At one point, with a hill ahead of us, I could no longer force myself to brake as we descended toward it. I let the bike roll and let my momentum carry me up the hill. As my new found friends were inching up the hill, I roared past them. I waited for them at the top. There were some comments on me being a strong hill climber. Ha! Not so much. I just don't brake on the approach. Momentum is my friend.
We made it back to Red Hook in the early afternoon. The rest went in to have a post ride debriefing, I of course was not finished riding yet so said my good byes and pedaled on.
I picked up the pace and made my way back to Queen Anne. I finished up with 91 miles and normally would have gone for some bonus miles to bring me to 100, but did not today as I had an evening ride planned that would easily allow me to reach that goal.
At 6 PM Cascade Bicycle Club had a lights and reflector demonstration. I have been interested in this event since it's inception several years ago. I rode down from Queen Anne and made my way to the Cascade Bicycle Club headquarters.
Riding the Burke-Gilman Trail at night is an adventure. Despite good lights, I normally would be riding slower as it is hard to pick up trail irregularities and curb cut locations at speed. Tonight I was in luck. An obvious local commuter with knowledge of the trail whistled past me. I picked up the pace and followed him about 15 feet back as we traveled at 20-22 mph.
I arrived at CBC in plenty of time for the event. ;-)
It was a sparsely attended event, but fun and informative. Plus, local bike shops had donated some good bike bling I picked up some reflective arm bands, reflective buddy flaps, and some reflective stick ons.
Following the event I rode back up Queen Anne. The only problem was that I had inadvertently deleted the easy climb up route from my Garmin when I had loaded the route to Cascade headquarters. I knew I was not ready to navigate from memory, especially in the dark. I also knew that I did not want to ride up the 25%+ of 4th St. So I moved over the hill a bit and made my way up via the hunt and peck method. I just kept heading toward those lighted radio/tv towers.
I arrived just as my friend came home from a long day. Perfect timing. It was a long day on the bike, but not a drop of rain. It was nice to finally ride a 100 mile day again.
A good day on a bike.
............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........112..............0.............0..........0...........112 Jan..............105.............34............0..........0............139 Feb.............428............108...........0.........24...........536 March.........809..............0.............0.........22...........831 April.........1010..............0.............0...........0..........1010 May..........1000..............0............20........0............1020 June.........1500..............0.............0..........0............1500 July..........1558..............0.............0..........0............1558 Aug...........531..............0.............0...........0..............531 Sept..........730..............0.............0...........0..............730 Oct............844.............0.............0............0.............844 Nov...........256..............0..............0..........0.............256 YTD.........8757.........142...........20.........46...........8965
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