The Last Day in January

It was the last day in January, and my 92nd consecutive day on the bike. Julie joined me for most of the ride today, it was her first day on her bike in 2015.

It was a foggy morning.  We started from Gasworks Park because Julie wanted to avoid the climb back up Queen Anne.  We pedaled out the Burke-Gilman Trail with a plan for 10 out and 10 back.

We got to UofW, where the path is closed for construction.  As I mentioned a couple of days ago, every time I go through here the route is detoured differently.  Today the outbound route more closely matched the trail, but ended up directing us up a flight of stairs..........when there was a perfectly suitable road going the same direction within 75 ft.  Julie and I used our road bikes.  Why UofW goes to such great lengths to keep cyclists segregated is beyond me.

As we rolled past the 10 mile mark Julie reminded me that we were planning to turn around here. She also said she was hungry.  I convinced her to ride an additional long mile to get to a place where we could snag some food.  We stopped at a bakery and had a tuna sandwich and soda.

We turned around and pedaled back toward Seattle.  Julie was losing her mojo, not surprising since it was her first time on the bike in over a month.  About half way back she told me to ride on.  I hesitated for a bit, but finally I told her she could stop when she got back to Gasworks and I'd go for some bonus miles and a climb back up Queen Anne.

I picked up the speed a bit and in short order she was off the back.

I powered the fixie up Queen Anne, then rode around the top a bit just for a cool down.  I still managed to beat Julie back by 45 minutes.

The 92nd consecutive day on the bike was pretty darn good, especially considering it is January!


...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total
Today.............29...............0..............0...............0..................29 Jan...............765...............0...............0...............0...............765
Total............765...............0...............0...............0...............765

Two Bike Rides

One under blue sky, the other was foggy, damp, and cold............and they were both the same ride!

The morning was thick with fog. I attended to other details while waiting for the fog to clear, and finally got on the bike at 2PM.
I started off under blue skies rolling down the south side of Queen Anne.

 As downtown Seattle came into view I could see remnants of the morning's fog still hanging on.

I worked my way back to the Ship Canal Trail, then back south along the Elliot Bay Trail.  It was a pretty day along the water.

 

As I moved farther south I could again see fog.

 

As I continued, I was soon under that bank of fog.

There was a slight north wind, and when it was a tailwind, I felt comfortable. As I turned back I felt the chill of the moist cool air. I took the pedestrian/cyclist bridge over the railroad tracks and onto 3rd Ave then jogged over to 2nd Ave and continued northward until the street disappeared and morphed into stairs.  I shouldered the bike and made my way up the stairs. 

It wasn't many miles, but it was fun to be on the bike.  91onderful consecutive days so far!


...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total
Today.............14...............0..............0...............0..................14 Jan...............736...............0...............0...............0...............736
Total............736...............0...............0...............0...............736

Finally

I had been wanting to ride to Red Hook Brewery for the last week.  I finally got there today.  No, not for a sampling of their famous brews, but as a turn around spot for a 50 mile ride.

I frittered away most of the morning, finally getting on the bike at 11:30 AM.

It was nice weather, blue sky and temperatures in the high 40's as I started out. 

The Burke-Gilman Trail continues to be closed in the University of Washington area.  It seems that every time I ride through there a different detour route is set up through campus.

 

Seattle Parks crews were taking advantage of the nice weather by doing some trail surface maintenance. 

I stopped in Kenmore for junk food replenishment then continued on to the end of the Burke-Gilman Trail. Just before entering the Sammamish River Trail I passed through the Wayne Tunnel.

I continued along the Sammamish River, looking for a photo opportunity that I had not yet utilized in previous trips. 

Today was my 90th consecutive day on the bike.  Early in December a friend jokingly said I should go for 100 days.  I had no plans to do that, but now that seems like a reasonable goal.  Day 100 will be the day after a 60 mile Birthday Ride. If I survive that I should be able to get on the bike for a few miles to bring it to 100 days.

...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total
Today.............50...............0..............0...............0..................50 Jan...............722...............0...............0...............0...............722
Total............722...............0...............0...............0...............722

A bonus day

 Earlier this week today was predicted to be wet.  Yesterday the forecast had morphed into "nice morning, rain later in the day".  It ended up being nice all day.  I started down Queen Anne toward Fred Meyer in Ballard to check on availability of some items. As I rode along the Burke-Gilman Trail I passed by this sign posted by a homeowner.

 The Seahawks are of course playing in the Superbowl this weekend, while the Supersonics did indeed leave town!

 As I neared Fred Meyer I decided to continue on to Golden Gardens and do my shopping on the return since the weather was so good and the view there is so nice.

 On the north end of Golden Gardens the ducks were having a great time and creating quite the racket.

After some time taking in the view I pedaled back toward the Hiram Chittenden Locks. I arrived at the seaward side of the locks just as two ocean going tugs where heading out.

I crossed over the ship canal at the locks and continued back toward Fremont on the Ship Canal Trail. (forgetting that I had planned to stop at Fred Meyer on my return!)
It was a beautiful afternoon.

I had some time before the sun set, and used it to ride around Queen Anne a bit.

The 89th consecutive day on the bike ended up being a pretty nice day!



...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total
Today.............26...............0..............0...............0..................26 Jan...............672...............0...............0...............0...............672
Total............672...............0...............0...............0...............672

A change in the weather

After a couple of days of Spring like conditions, the weather changed a bit.  I suppose that it is still like Spring since temperatures were in the 50's as opposed to ice and snow that is possible in normal Januarys.  Today a light drizzle fell most of the day. (but by 6PM had only amounted to 0.02")

I had a couple of errands to run and chose to do them by bike.  I rode to the library to pick up some books that were on reserve, then rode to the grocery store to make sure I had adequate breakfast this week. ;-)

After unloading from the errands, I went for a "recreational" ride.  I started off with some exploration of neighborhood features.  I found myself at the head of Wolf Creek Ravine. There were signs posted telling of a restoration in progress, but on the ground it looked a lot like the information to be found about this Seattle natural area.......ie, a blank slate. The community garden located there was more developed.

I rode along the crown of Queen Anne, being too lazy to go down the steep hill, or climb back up!

The clouds were low and heavy with moisture.

It was typical Pacific Northwest weather though.  Not raining hard enough to put on a raincoat or carry an umbrella, but not dry enough for shorts and t-shirt.

It was a nice bike ride though!

...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total
Today............. 9...............0..............0...............0...................9 Jan...............646...............0...............0...............0...............646
Total............646...............0...............0...............0...............646

A Tourist

Today was going to be another gorgeous day.  I decided to ride to Alki Beach, one of the more scenic routes in the area, IMHO.

I rode down 3rd Ave W then along the Ship Canal Trail.  The sun was shining on Seattle today!

I turned onto the Elliot Bay Trail where to the right were views of Puget Sound,

and to the left were the tall buildings of downtown Seattle.

I continued south along the waterfront where I went past the site where Bertha is either being rescued, or buried, depending on who you talk to.

All the red apparatus is involved with the Bertha rescue.

I crossed the Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site where looking downstream I had this view:

Turning around and looking upstream gave this view:

As I made my way along Alki Point the views were across Elliot Bay toward downtown Seattle.

It looked every bit like a Summer afternoon as I rode along Alki Beach, it was nearly 70 degrees.

I stopped by the monument commemorating where in 1851 a group of Portlanders came north and founded Seattle.

 

I stopped for lunch at Pepperdocks

After lunch I continued around the point.

Mt Rainier peeks over the top of the ridge

When I reached Oregon street it was time to turn around.  I had played a tourist today, taking nearly 4 hours to make it out here. Now I turned around and retraced my route back, except that I took the Kralik Way up Queen Anne rather than the steady grind up 3rd Ave W making the trip in just over an hour.

It was a stupendous way to spend my 87th consecutive day on the bike.

...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total Today.............37...............0..............0...............0..................37 Jan...............637...............0...............0...............0...............637
Total............637...............0...............0...............0...............637

January or April?

It is a beautiful Spring like day all up and down the Oregon and Washington coast. If there had been leaves on the trees and more blooms around it would have been easy to think it might have been April.

Julie and I rode to breakfast then she returned home and I rolled down 3rd Ave W.  I stopped at the Hiram Chittenden Locks to watch the activity for a short time.

I continued on around the peninsula looking over Puget Sound as I went.

I rode into West Lawton, a community of rather nice homes in a somewhat closed community.

I made my way down one very smooth street that came to an end in a cul-de-sac.  I was moving about 2 mph getting ready to turn when the wheels went out from under me.  I hit the deck hard.  As I tried to get up I noted why I had gone down.  The surface was literally as smooth as glass, and being under cover of trees, there was a covering of green slime that was a slick as ice.  It took me several efforts to finally get back on my feet rather than just sliding around on all fours.

I nursed my sore hip and continued on my way.  I rode to the end of another street that had a nice view of the Olympic Mountains across Puget Sound.

I continued by the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center and into Discovery Park, where evidently the have been  reports of scofflaw cyclists.

"The roads within the park are NOT to be used for criterium training." There was no mention of prohibiting hill repeat training.  ;-)

I made it through the park and went out along the Magnolia bluff.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

 I detoured through Magnolia Center to explore a bit. It was a day suited well for ice cream and lemonade.

Even Mt Rainier was doing its best to enjoy the day too.

The ride was shorter than might have been because there was a trip to a bike shop in  Bellevue in the plans.

...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total Today.............27...............0..............0...............0..................27 Jan...............600...............0...............0...............0...............600
Total............600...............0...............0...............0...............600

Day 85's High lights

I have a full day of helping a friend move her mother from one living situation to another.  I took off early on the fixed gear bike in search of Seattle's high points.  I found a few.

20 construction cranes are visible in this photo

...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total Today.............6...............0..............0...............0...................6 Jan...............573...............0...............0...............0...............573
Total............573...............0...............0...............0...............573