A Classic

A Kitsap Color Classic that is!

This event is billed as the season finale for Cascade Bicycle Club.  Those of us who ride year round chuckle at the concept of an "off season", but it was fun to get out and pedal with a lot of other cyclists.

The weather was superb. I have not been riding many miles the last couple of months, and certainly not riding them hard, but I was pleased today.  The Kitsap Color Classic route has just enough hills to make it interesting, and enough hills to weed out the weaker cyclists.  Today I pedaled well.  I put hundreds of riders behind me as I pedaled strongly along.  I was climbing 3% grades at 20 mph plus!  Woo Hoo!

Update:

I began my journey in Edmonds, WA where I boarded the ferry to Kitsap. It is always amazing to see an auto ferry taken over by bicycles.  Sort of a warm fuzzy feeling all over. ;-)

Kitsap Color Classic is three separate loops all intersecting at a common support stop. The Poulsbo Loop (35 miles) has an intermediate rest stop as well, right on the water in Poulsbo. There is also the Hansville Loop, and the Indianola Loop.

I started out riding the Poulsbo Loop by following the blue Dan Henry pavement markings. My plan was to ride hard since my more socially paced friends were going to forgo the first loop, and thus have a sizable head start on me. I was hoping to catch them somewhere along the course.   I started off strongly from the ferry and passed cyclists by the score as we made our way up the hill. It wasn't terribly steep, around 3-4% for most of it, but enough to slow many of the riders down. The traffic signals had grouped the riders together and I was putting one group behind me, putting the next group in my sights and catching them then putting them behind me as well.  I kept repeating as necessary. ;-)

I pedaled into Port Gamble, the site of the best display of Kitsap Color today.  It seems that the late season this year slowed the onset of maximum fall colors.

The beautiful blue sky made up for any lack of fall color.
There was a fall festival in Port Gamble, probably a lot of interesting things to do and see, but I pedaled right through in my quest to catch up with my friends.  I arrived in Poulsbo and stopped for food and refreshments. It was a very scenic location for a support stop and I spent a bit of time just soaking it all in.

I left Poulsbo and resumed pedaling along briskly.  I arrived back at the main support stop and the starting location for all three loops.  After a series of calls and text messages I decided to wait for my friends here. I bided my time visiting with some of the Cascade Bicycle Club staff whom I had met during this year's Ride Around Washington. Shortly my friends pedaled in and after considerable discussion it was decided that we'd all pedal together on a modified Poulsbo loop, which got morphed as we pedaled into a Port Gamble and back route.  We spent considerable time in Port Gamble eating ice cream and just plain visiting.  We also went to a pioneer cemetery, for reasons only fully understood by Eric. ;-)
After yet more discussion.......

we turned around and pedaled back to the starting point.  Some handled the ride today without much trouble, others felt the effects of a somewhat hilly route, and in some cases a hilly ride the day before.  No matter, we all made it back without incident.

The views continued as we rode the ferry back to Edmonds.

When we disembarked the ferry we rode just over a mile back to where my pickup was parked.
Mike, Julie, and I loaded up and made our way back to Seattle. After a good day of hilly riding on less than 4 hours sleep the night before it was a quick dinner and off to bed for this tired boy!

It was a great day, just perfect.
You might want to visit THIS BLOG POST by the freshly svelt Lisa Lawrence to catch her take on this day.

............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........54..............0.............0..........0...........54 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 YTD..........7657............142............20.........46.........7826 

1+1+1=?

It may be a simple arithmetic problem, but it is a more complicated answer than it appears.

I rode three different bike rides today.  All three totaled amounted to less than one normal ride. The first was an undulating 23 mile route on Vashon Island on our way to a Cascade Bicycle Club Ride Around Washington wrap up lunch/meeting.  I rode it slow and easy, staying back with some who were having issues with the hills. Following lunch I took the ferry back to the mainland and following the short commute back to my pickup ended up with 25 miles with just over 2500 ft of climbing.



Ride two started from Aaron's Bicycle Repair in West Seattle as it does on every full moon.  This too was a very leisurely pedal.  It was a short ride of only 10 miles. It was in a new area for me so it was okay.This group was a very casual group. Signals at turns were rare, helmets were not the norm, and lights were more festive than functional.

 The third ride of the day started at 10PM from UW and traversed a 14 mile figure eight in the Seattle area, taking in many of the city's high points for great views under the full moon. This ride was a Cascade Bicycle Club sanctioned event, and the riders were better reflectorized and lit, and all had helmets.  :-)

  We paused on the top of Queen Ann hill with a view of Seattle long enough to take a few photos and eat some snacks we had carried.  Not the powerbars and granola often found on rides, but cheese, crackers, and home baked cookies!

We had arrived at the top of Queen Anne without riding any steep grades, a marvel of routing by our ride leader.


We finished up late (or early depending on how you look at it) and it was going to be a short night before having to be on the way to Kitsap Color Classic.

It was a fun day despite the low miles, or maybe because of the low miles!

............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........49..............0.............0..........0...........49 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..........676..............0.............0..........0..........676 YTD..........7603............142............20.........46.........7772 

Oh Jerusalem!

We are in the midst of High Holy Days for my Jewish friends, it is then somewhat fitting that today I would ride Jerusalem Hill.

I had a last minute opportunity to team up with friend Joanne and ride some roads in the Keizer area.  We started out from Keizer and rode across the Wheatland Ferry then up the "big hill" of the day, Jerusalem Hill. After conquering the hill we rode out to and around Grand Island before returning back to Keizer.  It was a good ride, good weather, and great company.


(just a note that to view a better map click on "more" then on "Google maps")

The weather is very nice, this time of year that can't be counted on to last too long, so I think I'll head out yet tonight for a few more miles, maybe just enough to get 50 for the day.

EVENING UPDATE:
I did indeed get out for a short ride tonight.

Just enough to bring me over 50 miles for the day.

............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........53..............0.............0..........0...........53 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..........627..............0.............0..........0..........627 YTD..........7554............142............20.........46.........7723 

A Peach of a Day!

It was the first full day of Autumn, and what a perfect day it was! Some would call it peachy!
I celebrated it by riding the Salem Bicycle Club's Peach of a Century. It occurred to me that while I used to ride 100 miles every Saturday AND every Sunday, I haven't done a century in quite a long time. I was wondering just how that might affect this now social rider.

I was riding today with my brother in law Dave. Neither of us had preregistered :-( so the first order of business was to get signed up. Even as day of event registrants, the fee was very reasonable. I don't mind paying SBC's fees because I know it goes to a good cause, as opposed to some for profit outfits that charge exorbitant fees and don't do much other than fill payed staffers pockets.

Before we had a chance to pedal we ran into John Henry Maurice and the three of us decided to ride together.  The temperature was comfortable even at 8:30 AM as we started out. We were in heavy bike traffic for the first mile or so, but then got an opening as we climbed a small hill and started pedaling. I led our little entourage out in the low 20's for a few miles.  It was enough to get the blood pumping and set the pace for the rest of the day. We were stretched out a bit as we arrived at Jefferson, the site of our first support stop. Dave was focused on staying ahead of a group that was hot on his tail and missed the turn to the out and back leg to the support stop. He'd pay for that before reaching the second stop in Stayton. I pulled into the stop and John Henry was not too far behind.  We visited around a bit, snacked a bit, and then resumed our pedaling.

Before too long we crossed our first covered bridge of the day.

Hoffman Covered Bridge

In a few more miles we got close to the Richardson Gap Covered Bridge, but made a turn about a 3/4 mile before crossing it.

At times there were a lot of bikes around.

Other times there wasn't another cyclist to be seen. We arrived in Stayton, the site of our second support stop and found Dave there waiting for us. Here cyclists take over the Jordan Covered Bridge, no longer on a road.

The Peach is pretty flat 75 miles, with a hilly 25 miles tossed in about the middle third. My Garmin showed 3200 ft of climbing,  That amount of climbing is not a lot for our area. There are some century routes that have 10,000 ft, and 5000 is common. The Garmin showed a couple of places where grades reached 10%.  I saw quite a few bikes being walked up those hills. I just shifted down and pedaled up.




 I finished up the ride and had a piece of peach pie that the ride is noted for...... right after having a piece of Marion Berry pie.  :-)

I have not been riding much lately, and certainly not hard. It showed a bit today.  I had a 17 mph average at the end of the day, not shabby, but really felt it post ride.  I'll be going to bed early tonight!

............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.........101..............0.............0..........0..........101 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..........574..............0.............0..........0..........574 YTD..........7501............142............20.........46.........7670

Premium Rush

There is a movie out entitled "Premium Rush" about bike messengers.  It is not going to be one of the big blockbusters of our times, but it seemed like a good enough bet to schedule a bike ride to go watch it.

The weather was perfect so I decided to take the long way. :-)  I kept it easy and stayed to roads/paths I had been on before.  I rolled down from Queen Ann to the Fremont Bridge and accessed the Burke-Gilman Trail. I stayed on the B-G Trail all the way out to the Sammamish Trail and took that to Marymoor Park where I retraced Sunday's ride.  When I got to I-90 I got back on trails.  Unlike the Burke-Gilman Trail where I can usually keep a reasonable pace, this was slow going. The straight run across the bridge was fine, but on land there were many trail intersections/options, often laid out as only slight changes in direction rather than sharp turns as a road would do.  I had to zoom my Garmin display in to be able to show more detail to be able to ascertain the route.  By doing so I get much less warning of turns so I had to keep slowing down at intersections to not overshoot before I was given my turn direction.  It was okay, I had time to burn today, but it would have been a bit of a concern had I been in a hurry.  Today however, I was just out for a ride and had plenty of time to look around before I had to be at the theater.

Very near my destination I crossed over Mercer Slough and thought this sight was worth a photo stop.

The leaf debris was a reminder that the rains will be returning soon and I should be cherishing this nice weather.  I certainly did so today.

I arrived at my destination early enough that I had time to stop for a cheeseburger before meeting a friend to watch the movie.  The movie was better than I expected it to be, the day on the bike was much better than I deserved!




............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today..........74..............0.............0..........0...........74 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..........473..............0.............0..........0..........473 YTD..........7400............142............20.........46.........7569

2 Lakes and a Metric Century

Today my friend Julie was riding Cycle the Wave, a  ride beginning in  Issaquah that raised funds and awareness to combat  violence. Since the organizers decided that only women could pay a fee and do the ride, I decided to save my money and do my own ride. I noted that Cascade Bicycle Club had done a metric century the day before from Issaquah, so I decided follow that route while my friend went for a ride with the other women.


( I didn't get the recorder started until I was about .5 mile in. I had started at Issaquah High School)

It was a cold morning. I had leg warmers, arm warmers, and a tyvek jacket on but still shivered for the first 9 miles. I would have waited for it to warm up a bit but my friend and her cohorts had decided to ride the 42 mile "Middle Sister" course rather than the 62 mile "Burly Girl" route and I was going to need the time to finish about the same time as they did.

Within just a few miles I made a turn onto May Valley Rd and noted how similar the countryside was to areas of home. This area easily could have passed as Diary Creek Rd or the Mountaindale area west of Portland.  I continued to pedal west and arrived at Lake Washington near Coulon Park, an area that I recognized since I had been here just two weeks before.

I continued to work my way around the south end of Lake Washington, stopping to play tourist near the Renton Airport.

I finally took off the tyvek jacket and arm warmers as I climbed a short hill as I approached I-90. I accessed a bike path that took me across the bridge onto Mercer Island.

I had eaten a couple of granola bars I had been carrying when I stopped to take off the jacket and armwarmers, but found myself running low on fuel. As I pedaled into Medina I stopped at a small market to have a bite to eat and a chocolate milk.  I should have made sure to have combed my hair since after reading the wikipedia article (linked to "Medina" above) I presume I'm probably on some police video!

About this time I got a phone call from Julie, saying they had about 20 miles to go.  I noted that I had about 30 to pedal yet so decided to get a bit more diligent in pedaling. I skirted the southern edge of Kirkland and turned east to Redmond and Marymoor Park.  I recognized the area again since I had been here several times before.  Today I rode through the park for the first time. It is an extensive park and there was a lot of activity going on today.

From Redmond I rode along the eastern shore of Lake Sammamish. I noted as a rode along the highway that there was a rails to trail closer to the lake shore, but it was gravel.  Friendly for hikers, joggers, and horses, not so much for skinny tires of road bikes. I  kept a 18-20 mph pace as I pedaled along.  I did stop to take a photo of the lake:

I did not stop while I  posted an audio update: ;-)



I made it back to Issaquah after Julie had finished pedaling, but while she was still enjoying the finishline festivities.  It was all good.


............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today..........65..............0.............0..........0...........65 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..........399..............0.............0..........0..........399 YTD..........7326............142............20.........46.........7495

Riding to Red Hook

I joined 6 others today for a ride from Gasworks Park in Seattle for a ride to the Red Hook Brewery. The route was 20 miles along the Burke-Gilman Trail. We would have lunch there then most were planning to take a bus back to Gasworks. We rode at a slow social pace to accommodate a few of the riders. It was a nice day to just pedal along and enjoy the company and scenery.

We eventually arrived at Red Hook. It was a rather imposing building.

 

It was a nice day and a lot of other folks also decided to enjoy the sunny weather by having lunch on the deck.

 

                                    

My friend and I had always planned on riding back rather than taking the bus. After having lunch we talked two others into joining us on a pedal back. We had a good ride back at a slightly faster pace than we had pedaling out there. It was an enjoyable day with bikes, friends, and food.

............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today..........41..............0.............0..........0...........41 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..........334..............0.............0..........0..........334 YTD..........7261............142............20.........46.........7430

Went out for a ride

Going out for a ride shouldn't be news, but given my lack of riding lately, I guess it qualifies.

I contacted Ken, a long time riding buddy who was always up for long hard miles. He accepted the offer to ride, but qualified it by adding that he hasn't biked much lately and was really out of shape.  I assured him that we be perfectly matched in that case!

He had family commitments until 5 PM so we arranged to start from his house at 5.  I went out for a little preride.  I had planned to ride a 53 mile route to Multnomah Falls and back, but remembered that the Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway was closed for upgrades.  Instead I jumped on Portland's 40 mile loop, a favorite of mine during the dark winter months.  Today I chose it because it was handy. Ken lives near Mall 205, which is very near the I-205 bike path, that is part of the 40 mile loop.   Off I went on a beautiful sunny day with a temperature that reached 86.

After riding the 40 mile loop I arrived at Ken's with about 10 minutes to spare.  I used my time to chow down a few oatmeal-date cookies that I was carrying.  I didn't know Ken's route, but he did.  I followed.
The season's are changing, and while just a few weeks ago it was daylight to well past 9:30PM, we are 2 hours shorter than that now.  The shadows were quite long as we pedaled out just after 5PM.

 I was really traveling light today.  I didn't have my heart rate monitor on, or the Garmin GPS.  Good thing Ken knew the route, because I sure didn't! I can tell you that we headed south from the Mall 205 area and connected with the Springwater Corridor trail.  After taking that east for a bit, we took a series of roads heading south, and eventually got out onto rural roads in the Damascus area.  We played around in some hilly areas and worked our way east of the end of pavement on the Springwater Corridor.  We connected with the trail and put the hammer down.  Well, hammer down as hard as two out of shape riders could muster.

The bell on my bike got a good workout as we scampered down the path into a rapidly descending sun. If we didn't make good time the sun would set before we'd wrap this ride up.

We did make it back to Mall 205 and my waiting pickup before the sun set, but barely.  It was down before we finished our post ride debriefing.

It was good to get out today, good to get a good brisk ride in.  I should do this more often!

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today..........76..............0.............0..........0...........76 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...........293...............0.............0...........0..........293 YTD..........7220............142............20.........46.........7389

Another sunny day

Today was another sunny day in north central Oregon. I took advantage of some free time (and the reports of cloudy cool weather at home) and went for a bike ride.  I took off from Maupin and rode an 84 mile loop up Bakeoven Rd to Shaniko, then north on US 97 to Grass Valley, then down to Shearer's Falls and back to Maupin.  Though I've ridden this route many times, it was the first time I did it in the counter-clockwise direction. I did it that way because I noted gravel in the turns on Bakeoven Rd yesterday as I followed Mick Walsh as he biked the Ring of Fire 24 hrTime Trial. I'd rather be pedaling slowly up the hill with gravel than streaking 45mph down the hill with gravel!

The wind today was a bit gusty, probably in the 20-25 mph range at times.  It was generally out of the southwest.  An unexpected benefit of a counter-clockwise ride was that I had a tail wind on the run northward on US 97 to Grass Valley, add that to the already slightly downhill slope, and I was having fun!

I was getting blown around a bit by the swirling winds as I rode down the hill to Shearer's Falls but not so much as to make me feel unsafe.

 When I got to the Deschutes River I took a little detour to get a closer look at Shearer's Falls.

 I closed the loop by riding back to the Imperial River Company where I loaded my bike into my pickup, changed out of my bike clothes, and grabbed a bite to eat before driving back to the Willamette Valley.  I was met with cloudy skies that almost looked like they might produce some rain. I was glad I had a chance to ride in the sun today!

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today..........84..............0.............0..........0...........84 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...........217...............0.............0...........0..........217
YTD..........7144............142............20.........46.........7313

Ring of Fire 24 hr Time Trial

Mick Walsh  -Photo by L. Caton

Martha, Jay, and Mick preparing to race

 I am honored to have been asked to join Jay Rideout as support for Mick Walsh as he rode through the night during the 24 hour Ring of Fire Time Trial. Mick was racing as a two person team with his wife, Martha, but was riding the ~185 mile night loop solo. We started at 7PM from Maupin, Oregon, on the beautiful Deschutes River.

 The course began with a climb out of the Deschutes River Canyon toward Tygh Valley.

 With a 7PM start time Mick was very soon riding in darkness.  One thing that surprised me was that as we traveled through this arid open countryside we could see entire hillsides covered with wind turbines. I expected to see them, and knew that during night hours we were likely to see them with red lights to warn aircraft. What I did not expect to see was that wind turbines covering thousands of acres would all blink in unison. It was just amazing to see. Unfortunately, the slow shutter speed required for night photography and a moving vehicle as a base just is not conducive to a useable photo or video clip.

(These audio clips will open in a new window, just close the window when finished listening to return here. Some technical issues required that I post them this way this time, sorry.)

audio clip 1

 We saw many deer as we traveled along through the night. Luckily, neither the rider nor the support crew had any collisions with wildlife. Mick is a strong rider and made it look easy as he picked off one rider after another, and soon found himself in first place.

 audio clip 2


We saw a lot of wildlife during the night, along with the previously mentioned deer, we had many owls. We suspected that they were hanging around us to snag the mice that would scamper across the road in our headlights from time to time. We saw several rabbits also.

audio clip 3

By the time we finished the night loop Mick had opened up a 15 minute lead over his nearest competitor. Martha had a good buffer as she now entered the mix and would alternate the shorter day loop with Mick.


audio clip 4

By the time 24 hours had elapsed, Mick and Martha had logged 399 miles, good enough for first place, and about 40 miles more than the next closest rider. Mick was less than 100 yds away from getting that magic 400 miles. He only got off the bike once during the long night, for a nature break, but we stopped once briefly to trade driving duties. Probably long enough to have cost Mick and Martha that 400 mile mark. :-(

It was a fun event.  I enjoyed supporting Mick as he rode through the night. He made it look so easy.

Visiting Pete

As the day was ending I decided that I just needed to get out on the bike.  I haven't been riding very much in the last 5 or 6 weeks, and when I have been it has certainly not been riding hard.  I've become a bit concerned about achieving 10,000 miles for the year.  It would be my 4th year in a row to do that if I can pull it off. I keep watching all this nice warm and dry weather go by, knowing that if I am to reach 10k, and I am not riding now, I will have to be riding when it's wet and cold.

To add to the urgency, I will be supporting Mick Walsh during his  Ring of Fire 24hr time trial this weekend and unable to get a ride in.

So,  tonight just after 6:30 PM I started out on my bike with the goal of visiting Pete.  Pete's Mountain that is. 



With the days becoming noticeably shorter I didn't have much time before darkness.  I suppose with the inevitably approaching weather, I should note that dark, warm, and dry is far better than dark, wet, and cold, and just keep riding.   I can't get my head around that right now, so I planned to be back before dark.

With my lack of serious riding lately I noted with disdain the effort it took to pedal up the little hills today. I really noticed it as I climbed up Pete's Mountain!
I reached the top just as the sun was going down. The view to Mt Hood was difficult today, maybe a bit of haze in the air, or maybe some smoke in the Cascade Range from forest fires? At any rate, I stopped to catch my breath and snap an obligatory photo.

I had climbed just over 1600 ft in 12 miles.  I was ready for some downhill! I followed the twist and turns down the south side of Pete's Mountain then the fun roller coaster ride of Advance Rd before finally calling it a night.  I had my rear red blinky on, but hadn't felt the need to put the front blinky on yet.

Nice weather, glad I got a ride in.

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today..........16..............0.............0..........0...........16 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...........133...............0.............0...........0..........133
YTD..........7060............142............20.........46.........7229

24 Hours to Hagg Lake

A friend recently celebrated a birthday by inviting friends to join him on a 12 hour ride where participants tracked how many laps of Hagg Lake they could make in 12 hours.  Today's ride was not that kind of event.  Today I started at 24 Hour Fitness in Hillsboro.........so I could end up there with an opportunity to shower before having to attend a meeting in Forest Grove this evening.

I decided to ride to Hagg Lake because while I used to ride there often, I hadn't ridden there in  quite some time. It was a warm day but not unmanageable.  It was 93 in Forest Grove by the time I finished. There were plenty of opportunities to refill with water, and I had enough snacks along that I didn't need to resupply, though those opportunities were plentiful as well.



It was a good day to be on the bike.

Today..........64..............0.............0..........0...........64 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...........117...............0.............0...........0..........117
YTD..........6994............142............20.........46.........7213

Today's ride

Today's ride was around Lake Washington in Seattle. The plan was to spend the day, take in the sights, have lunch along the route, and just generally have two wheeled fun.  An invitation was posted for folks to join in the fun, but it seemed they wanted to ride a different route, or something shorter, or something faster. No matter, Two of us rode the entire route, one joined us 12 miles into the ride, and two more commuted to and from, plus joined us for about 12 miles near the end.

We started off from Gasworks Park and began our loop counter clockwise.  Here you can see the Hwy 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington in the distance.

We were soon on the STP route and followed it as far as Renton.
 We got a good view of the I-90 floating bridge also.

Before we reached Renton however we detoured slightly to pick up our third rider. Our first social interlude involved a tour of her new home, and a rather lengthy stop at a local coffee shop.  After getting that all out of the way we continued on.

We had a small issue with a "driver" at the intersection of Seward Park Avenue and Rainier Avenue. At this intersection we make a left turn and were riding in the left turn lane as we should.  The two girls were riding ahead of me at this point and Julie, our lead rider, signaled her intention to turn left. A driver was in "must pass bikes" mode and straddled the yellow center line to squeeze around.

 There is a center curb at this location and the driver found herself being forced to make a choice between being caught on the wrong side of the curb, or force the bike over. (or just slow down and wait her turn!) Julie was using her mirror and saw the driver being stupid and moved back over to the right to allow the car back in.  Being a bit more "stand my ground" type of rider I would have figured the chance of getting run over from the back was less than getting run over from the side and would have held my ground in the lane. I would have loved to see the driver caught on the wrong side of the curb and experience a reality check.  As it was, the car got around and proceeded up a few feet to the red light and stopped.  I rode around to the driver side and proceeded to discuss the situation with the driver, a woman likely in her early 40's.  I interspersed questions on why she needed to do that with comments that I hoped she had a nice day.  She looked puzzled and clueless, and never opened her window. We all positioned our bikes ahead of her car and when the light turned green proceeded around the turn and continued our ride without incident.

At the Renton Airport we stopped to take a look at pioneering aviator Clayton Scott's statue.

The three of us continued around Lake Washington, now in a northerly direction.  We arrived at Gene Coulon Park and were enticed by the sunny weather and available seafood to stop for awhile.Here we enjoy some fish and chips from Ivars.

Though an official bike route that is supposedly signed, many of the signs were not to be found.  I would have not been able to follow the route without the services of my local tour guides, especially in this southern segment where much of the route follows streets.

We did keep moving northward however. We arrived in Bothel, on the northern end of Lake Washington, and back on familiar ground for me, since I had ridden this area several times in the last month.  We were now on the Burke-Gilman trail and heading south.

When we reached Log Boom Park we met up with our final two riders. They had ridden in from home and would join us for the last 12 miles or so along the B-G. Steve was on a nice Cervelo TT bike. I understand he does Ironman Triathlons. Today he would have to slow it down a bit and ride at our "social pace".  He did stay out in front most of the time  however. ;-)

We covered the last few miles back to Gasworks and decided on yet another food stop, this time at an Italian place.  I think it was one of the few rides where I ate more calories than I burned. :-)

There is about 4000 ft of climbing on this route but no real hills of note.  We rode today at a relaxed pace and the sun was out, so it was all good.





Today..........53..............0.............0..........0...........53 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............53...............0.............0...........0...........53
YTD..........6930............142............20.........46.........7149