(s)He who hesitates

There was some talk about riding from Renton to the Black Diamond Bakery and back today. The weather forecast called for a blustery but mostly dry morning followed by a blustery and very wet afternoon.  The ride was planned for a very late morning start.  By early morning I could hear the drumming, and knew that my riding partners, despite good intentions and verbal assurances, were not going to ride today.

I NEED to ride, so that I CAN ride.  I hopped on the rain bike and pedaled toward Alki.  It was windy but there was a lot of blue sky as I pedaled along the ship canal.

I crossed the "Industrialized" Duwamish River.

I noted that all this "industrial progress" has a price.

I continued on toward Alki Beach fighting against a brisk wind, though I didn't fight too hard.  I wasn't in a race and had no strict time table. The clouds were beginning to build and darken, though there was enough sun peeking through yet to give a nice photo of downtown Seattle across Elliot Bay.

As I neared my planned turn around point, near the Alki Lighthouse, I could see a rain shower approaching.  With the weather forecast, I didn't think of it as merely a "passing shower". I ducked into Tulley's Coffee Shop because I knew they had some goodies calling my name.  I had a piece of nut bread while watching the wind blow raindrops against the windows.  After a bit I noted that the passing cars were only running intermittent wipers, so I put my helmet and gloves back on and headed out.  Riding into the wind all the way out was good as I now had a good tailwind. If you have to ride in rain, a tailwind is far better than a headwind for many reasons.

The rain tapered off, but the wind was consistent.  I made it back to the Fremont Bridge without issue.  As I got there it was not raining.  I decided to ride a few more miles since I was already out there.  I continued on the Burke-Gilman Trail to the Samammish River Trail and took it to Red Hook Brewery.  I used that as a nice location for a turn around, and pedaled back toward Seattle.  I stopped at McDonalds in Kenmore for a small burger and fries. (need to keep fueled you know!)  As I pedaled back toward the Fremont Bridge it was raining lightly again.  I climbed back up Queen Ann via the circuitous "easy way".

It was a nice ride.  I was right, the others had decided it was too nasty to ride.  Glad I got out there for a few miles today.


 ............road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today..........75................0..............0...............0............75 Jan.............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 346...............0..............0...............0............346 Total..........1056...............0..............0...............0...........1056