Golden Gardens

It was raining this morning in Seattle and predicted to be quite wet until mid morning then changing to showers. To my surprise it stopped raining about 10 AM, and the wind had the roads dried off by 11 AM. With mostly blue skies with a splattering of white puffy clouds it was time to get on the bike. I've only got the fixie with me this time around, so bike choice was easy.

I rode down from Queen Ann via 3rd Ave N. I was spinning pedals just as fast as I could and moving along at 25 mph. I hit a bump in the pavement and lost my footing on the pedals. No way could I catch back up with the pedals so I curled my legs up and rode it down to Dravus St where I could take a slight right and level out a bit. Once the speed slowed a bit I got back on the pedals. I was pedaling along about 20-21 mph when a car came up behind me and honked. There were cars coming toward me and this guy wanted around me. I held my position in the middle of the lane for safety, as there was no room for both of us to be in the same lane side by side, and pavement imperfections made room to maneuver mandatory. Within 2 blocks we came to a backlog of vehicles waiting for a light on Nickerson. I took my position in the line of cars, the impatient driver quietly cued up behind me. As the light turned green I accelerated hard and kept my place within the line of cars in the center lane, being the right lane as it turned across the Fremont Bridge. As I made my way onto the bridge I veered right and took the MUT on the bridge deck. The impatient driver watched from his backed up lane as I took the signal and crossed in front of him. Point made.

I rode out along the Burke-Gilman Trail toward Golden Gardens. I stopped at Jack-in-the-Box for some health food. ;-)
Having taken on calories and hydration I continued on to Golden Gardens. It was pretty out there today, but alas, no camera along, and also forgot to bring my phone. Take my word for it, the view across the Sound was glorious today.

After taking in the view for a few minutes I turned around and started back, all the while pondering the climb back up Queen Ann.

I started off on the "Easy Way" up Queen Ann. When I got about half way up I took a left where we'd normally go right, just because it was a sunny afternoon and I felt like exploring. It ended up being a bit steeper, but ridable on the fixie, barely.

I came in just below a cemetery and finally recognized the normal route ahead. I mostly followed it the rest of the way back.

Only 15 miles, but the weather was nice, and with the hill, it was a good workout.

............road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today..........15................0..............0...............0............15 Jan.............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March .........28................0..............0...............0.............28
Total..........1316...............0..............0...............0.........1316