Day 30 of #30daysofbiking-Coasting to completion

Today was the last day of my pledge to ride bike 30 consecutive days in April.  The weather was perfect for biking, temperatures in the upper 70's, even pockets into the low 80's beckoned me to spin pedals.  I considered riding 62 miles to reach 800 miles for the month but just couldn't muster the required energy.

Instead I just coasted to closure by hopping on the fixed gear bike and riding down from Queen Anne to Ballard.  I had a fast food lunch and visited Fred Meyer to pick up some garden seeds. I rode back up Queen Anne and stopped to take in the view.

Lake Washington in the foreground, Lake Samammish beyond

 I continued a few blocks down the south side to the Queen Anne P-Patch at Trolley Hill Park where I planted the beans, zuchinni, and yellow crook neck seeds that I had picked up.

I didn't do many miles, but I did complete my #30daysofbiking pledge.  During those 30 days I rode over 100 miles once for my highest mileage day this month, and less than 5 miles several times with a ride of 3 miles being my lowest mileage day. While my 749 miles for the month is my high so far this year, it is far from my highest month.

It was a fun goal.

Now we go into May, designated as Bike Month and celebrated with many bike related events throughout the country.



...........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today.........11................0..............0...............0............11 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749 Total..........2738...............0..............0...............0.........2738

Day 29 of #30daysofbiking-A self guided tourist

 It was a nice day in Seattle, sunny, warm (mid 70's!) and just a slight breeze.  AKA a perfect day to take the fixie out for a spin.

I rode down Queen Anne then jumped on the Ship Canal Trail and rode west. I ducked in and out of various waterfront parks and scenic overlooks.

I was mindful of needing 28 miles to reach the 700 monthly mile marker.  I figured I'd head out toward Alki.
I got on the Elliot Bay Trail and pedaled toward downtown.

 I was in tourist mode, so stopped at Ivar's for jumbo shrimp and chips.

Following the lunch stop I continued southward along a new section of trail.

As I merged onto the West Seattle Bridge I noted that I was the 601st bike there today. I thought that was a surprisingly low number, but maybe this isn't a major bike commute route?

I crossed over the Duwamish Waterway under the careful watch of Mt Rainier.

I got to Jack Block Park and noted that I had nearly 15 miles, turning around and retracing my route at this point would insure getting enough miles to reach 700.  I pedaled out to the overlook and sat in the sunshine for a bit.

 I saw a sign stating rules to abide by.  I chuckled a bit at the "as in any park" wording. I found them unnecessary for their purpose, and untrue in some cases.  I know many public parks that allow alcohol, fires, and camping, but I got their point, and would be doing none of those things today.

I turned around and began my return trip.

When I got back to the downtown waterfront I noted that the Olympic Mountains were in full view today. As mountains go, they are not all that tall, the highest peak being under 8000 ft, but they are still snow covered as we near the month of May.

I made my last stop at Pier 86.  Yesterday I pedaled by this grain loading facility and noted the aroma of wheat.  I was surprised at the lack of wheat dust as the ship was being loaded.  I presumed dust abatement equipment, but today learned that it is shown by the EPA to be the cleanest tidewater loading facility in the world.

I turned onto the Ship Canal Trail, and when I got to Seattle Pacific University I turned right and powered the fixed gear bike UP Queen Anne.

30 miles, got my 700 for the month, plus a couple.

A fun day to check day 29 of #30daysofbiking off the list, but there is more riding to do yet today. In an hour I'll be riding with Arsen on one of his twice weekly evening rides.


Evening update:
  I did indeed join 5 others for an evening ride.    We met at Gasworks Park.

What some see as a rusting hulk further defiled by graffiti others see as a "progressive example of adaptive reuse ", no matter, I arrived early and had a few minutes to look around.

Our ride leader was a bit late, after determining a destination we finally shoved off at 6:30 pm, and promptly were stopped by a raised Fremont Bridge.

This bridge has a counter too, I was bike number 5641 on this crossing.  We pedaled up Dexter.  It is not steep, but my partners hardly slowed as they pedaled up.  I was happy to keep pace with another rider taking up the rear.  We weren't that far off the back, but we definitely weren't in the front!   We pedaled though the downtown Seattle area.

We made our way over to the Elliot Bay Trail, but the trail along the waterfront is a mess of construction, tourists, and detours.  We teamed up side by side and took the lane.  We were fast enough that cars didn't have to wait for us as we sprinted from red light to red light.

We crossed the West Seattle Bridge, and lo and behold, had to wait briefly for it to close after letting a larger boat through.  We finally got across the bridge then turned left and went up Avon to Faunterloy making our way to Lincoln Park.  It was almost the reverse of a route that Julie and I rode on Saturday.

We reached the trail along the water just as the sun was getting low in the sky.

We stopped along Alki Beach and I put on my headlight and ate a bar, The others turned on lights, ate a snack, put on jackets, etc.  It was a quick stop, probably less than 5 minutes.  We crossed back over the West Seattle Bridge and took the lane under the viaduct. We were moving quickly and vehicles weren't having to wait.

One of our riders peeled off since he lived nearby.  The remaining 5 continued onto the Elliot Bay Trail and made the turn onto the Ship Canal Trail.

As we got to Drayvus I bid my farewells and pedaled up Queen Anne, the remaining riders had plans to finish up the evening at The Dock with a cold beverage in their hand.  As for me, I was riding back up Queen Anne for the second time today.

I added 36 miles to the daily total.

 ...........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today.........66................0..............0...............0............66 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........738.................0..............0...............0..........738 Total..........2727...............0..............0...............0.........2727

Day 28 of #30daysofbiking-shopping

I was hoping to go for a ride of sufficient miles to reach 700 miles for the month today, but alas.  I performed a few household chores this morning, then frittered away the rest of the morning.  Finally at noon decided I'd better get on the fixie and go for a ride. As I walked out the door Julie suggested that I be back by 3pm for a potential kayak adventure.  My time to ride the route for attaining 700 monthly miles had just evaporated, so I changed plans.

I rode down the south side of Queen Anne and soon was glad that I have brakes on my fixie.  There was a steep block with rough bricks as surface.  As I neared the end of the block the chain jumped off.  I was going to be free falling through the intersection, but  grabbed the brakes and brought everything to a halt. 

I put the chain back on, adjusted tension, and continued down the hill to Kidd Valley for a burger and chocolate milkshake.

Part of my new plan was to get some fizzy denture cleaner.  No, I don't have dentures, but the product does wonders for cleaning the gunk out of bike bottles. I continued down Queen Anne Ave to Elliot Ave then 15th to Nickerson. I knew that I could find the fizzy stuff at Fred Meyer so I rode across ship canal on the Fremont Bridge.

I used my "latte lock", ran into Freddy's, made my purchase, and was back out on the bike in a flash.

From here all I had to do was ride back along the ship canal, cross the Fremont Bridge again, then climb back up Queen Anne on a fixie.  ;-)

I didn't make 700 monthly miles today, but there is always tomorrow. 

Day 28 of #30daysofbiking is in the bag.


 ...........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today.........13................0..............0...............0............13 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........672.................0..............0...............0..........672 Total..........2661...............0..............0...............0.........2661

Day 27 of #30daysofbiking-Edmonds

Another rarity.Seattle had better weather than Portland.  I was wanting to ride a "double cookie" today.   Salem Bicycle Club sponsors the Monster Cookie Metric Century.  For many years I've bike 35 miles to Salem, rode the metric century, then rode back home.  It's a fun ride, but today it was raining there.  It was supposed to rain in Seattle today too, even thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon, but it stayed dry.

I wore my Goretex jacket, just to be prepared, and rode the rain bike.  There was no need as the weather was nice all day.

I rode the rain bike down Queen Anne to Gasworks Park, the starting location for a ride to Edmonds that Arsen had posted for Cascade Bicycle Club.  20 of us met there, 18 of us pedaled out, two others decided that they wanted to do an easier ride so went their own way.

We had a brisk tailwind most of the way to Edmonds.  There were a few hills that slowed us a bit, including one early in the ride up to the zoo.  I did fairly well today keeping with the front of the group most of the time.

As we neared Edmonds there were some really great views across the water toward the Olympic Mountains, but I wasn't about to intentionally drop off the back, and the leader wasn't stopping so no photos today.

As is the norm on Cascade rides, we stopped for lunch/snacks about halfway through the ride in Edmonds.

Joe G photo

 I had a Rice Krispy square.

Edmonds marked the northern end of the ride, so we started back toward Seattle.  That also meant we'd now be riding into the wind.  Wind is a relative thing.  We still pedaled along at 14+ mph. I could gain a few more mph by getting on my aerobars, but there was no need as I was right with the front group anyway.  It wasn't all that bad, but our group did spread out a bit.

We eventually made it back to Gasworks Park, with most of us continuing on to The Dock where adult beverages, jello shots, and bar food kept us occupied for a couple of hours.

It was a fun day, good folks, and not a drop of rain.  Not a  much better way to put a check in the box in front of Day 27 of #30daysofbiking


 ...........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today.........44................0..............0...............0............44 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........659.................0..............0...............0..........659 Total..........2648...............0..............0...............0.........2648

Day 26 of #30daysofbiking-Will ride for frozen yogurt!

Yesterday I started a ride off with a stop for a Bismark pastry.  Today I finished a ride off with frozen yogurt!

But before I could partake in that treat I had to ride a few miles.  I joke with my friend Julie, that no matter how long her ride, it always takes all day.  Today was no exception.

We started of with a ride to the Fremont neighborhood for breakfast.  Having taken in a few calories we pedaled off to Golden Gardens.  We arrived there and spent a bit of time pedaling around the area.
It was a beautiful day.

We had enjoyed a bit of a tail wind on the way out there so on the way back we had to work a bit harder. The views were still nice as we pedaled back toward the Chittenden Locks.

We arrived at the locks and wandered through the grounds, not that we planned to do too much sight seeing, but rather that it makes a good way to get across the ship canal. Being a federal facility, there are more rules regarding entry than one really has time to read.

But one of the rules is that bikes must be walked, so walk our bikes we did.

We got to the locks and played tourist for a bit, watching a few vessels pass.  Sailors piloting craft ranging from 100 ft barges with cranes mounted, to kayaks were using the locks today.

After a bit of lollygagging around we continued on to the Elliot Bay Trail.

We worked our way toward Alki Beach.   We stopped at Jack Block Park to take a look around.

We had a bit of headwind as we pedaled the last stretch toward Alki Beach. Unlike most Cascade Bicycle Club rides out this way, we did not stop at Tully's Coffee Shop, but kept right on riding.  We passed the Alki Point Lighthouse.  An interesting historical tidbit is that the first light keeper at Alki Point was Harry Mahler, who was the light keeper at Cape Meares Lighthouse in Oregon seven years earlier. Readers of this blog may have noted that Seattle was founded by a party who had sailed from Portland and landed on Alki Point. Seems that Oregon was always a step ahead of Seattle. ;-)

We continued on southward toward Lincoln Park.

We followed a path along the shoreline to access the park, then made a short but steep climb up to Faunterloy Street.  We followed Faunterloy St back into West Seattle and followed bike directional signs for Alaska Junction.

We got back to the West Seattle Low Bridge, reportedly a one-of-a-kind bridge. We crossed the Duwamish Waterway

From there we pedaled back along the Elliot Bay Trail then the Ship Canal Trail, then to Seattle Pacific College and back up Queen Anne via "Kralik Way", named for Steve Kralik who showed us the easier route up the hill a couple of years ago.

Just as we crested the hill we detoured to Menchies Frozen Yogurt.

As I was eating my frozen treat I noted that the bike odometer showed 46.5 miles.  I tried to talk my biking partner to ride an additional 3.5 miles with me to make a nice even 50 miles for the day, but I couldn't convince her that this was a worthwhile endeavor.  We pedaled back home, she turned in, I made a lap around the top of Queen Anne.

I ended up with 50.4 miles.

A good way to check the box for day 26 of #30daysofbiking.



 ...........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total
Today.........50................0..............0...............0............50 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........615.................0..............0...............0..........615 Total..........2604...............0..............0...............0.........2604