Wet but not wild

 Today 5 of us went out for a 50 mile ride around Lake Washington on what was predicted to be a wet and blustery day. We got the first 15 miles in before it started to rain.  It never rained hard, and was never very windy. We pedaled a relatively social pace, we even stopped for a 45 minute lunch.  Two of the riders had flats, but both on locations far from bad.  In fact, one of them right in front of a bike shop, that allowed us to come in out of the rain and use their work stand and floor pump.  :-)

We came prepared for rain, so it wasn't too bad.  It wasn't cold.

Ya, another good day on a bike! ;-)



............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today...........50..............0.............0..........0............50 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 Oct............844.............0.............0............0.............844 Nov...........431..............0..............0..........0.............431 YTD.........8942.........142...........20.........46...........9150

Deja Vu

The Seattle forecast today was for rain beginning by afternoon, with hard rain and wind on tap for the weekend.  Yuk, just knew it was going to happen before I would get off my duff and ride my 10,000th mile this year.  Oh well, it's not so bad once you get your head around setting foot out the door.

I figured I might be able to get some miles in this morning before the weather turned.  I took a look at my list of recent routes and decided to re-ride the recent trip to Edmonds.

Today I rode it solo.

Once again it was a case of racing the rain. 

There was a bit of fog this morning, but by the time I got out the door it was beginning to clear. The chill in the air reminded me that it is no longer summer. I put my goretex jacket on, not for protection from rain, but rather from windchill.  I pedaled hard enough to generate a little warmth and just kept up a nice effort.

I didn't take the time for a social lunch, riding solo there wasn't much social to be had, and I figured if I just kept riding I'd have a better chance of beating the rain and staying dry.

Yes, today was another case of racing the rain, and today I won that race!


............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today...........51..............0.............0..........0............51 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 Oct............844.............0.............0............0.............844 Nov...........381..............0..............0..........0.............381 YTD.........8892.........142...........20.........46...........9100

3 Strikes

 I had a few errands to run today, they could be done by bike, and the sun was shining.  I left the rain bike in the garage and took the carbon bike! My errands could be done rather closely to home base, but that wouldn't be as much fun.  I was looking for party supplies, so googled "party supplies" in Woodinville. I figured I'd get at least a nice 50+ mile ride out of it.  I mapped the three locations for party supplies that google supplied and took off.  There was some traces of morning fog as I took off, and a chill in the air.  That soon disappeared and left gorgeous blue skies.

I got to the first location and found nothing fitting the bill.  It seemed they no longer occupied the space in the little strip mall.  No problem, location number two was close by.  Alas, that location also had no such business.  I now pedaled toward location three.  I guess I should learn my lesson about mapping routes without looking at the elevation profile.   I Pedaled up a significant hill, only to find a neighborhood of palatial homes, and no party supplies.  Maybe they had good parties, but no supplies!

Having struck out on all three options, I headed back to downtown Woodinville on the verbal "there's got to be a party supply place in that mall".  Sure enough, despite google not knowing about it, there it was.  I picked up my supplies and continued on. In fairness to technology, this might have been user error.  The actual location was VERY close to the first location I rode to.

I followed a previous route to Issaquah, then over the I-90 Path across Mercer Island and toward Seattle.
Back on the mainland, I turned north toward UW and the familiar Burke-Gilman Trail.  I made my way back up Queen Anne and could not resist taking a photo of the view from there. Here looking E-NE

(Just a note for those not familiar with gpsies.com embedded maps, You can click "more" in the upper right corner and go to a fully functional map, in a separate tab, with varied views, ability to zoom, etc)

Once again, another good day on a bike!

............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..........730..............0.............0...........0..............730 Oct............844.............0.............0............0.............844 Nov...........330..............0..............0..........0.............330 YTD.........8841.........142...........20.........46...........9049

A day of riding

I joined 12 members of the Cascade Bicycle Club for a ride from Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville to Snohomish and back.  Having not looked at a map, and  no cue sheet available I didn't have a clue where we were going.  I was going to be at the mercy of the group today. ;-)

Since the ride began at 10AM I had time to ride to the ride.  I took the easy way down Queen Ann and rode to Red Hook Brewery via the Burke-Gilman Trail and the Sammamish River Trail. It made for a nice 25 mile warm up.

I arrived at the ride start respectably early.  After a few words from our ride leader we were off.  The first few miles where in the suburban streets. Our leader evidently hadn't ridden the route recently (and not navigating via gps) as we had a few missed turns and had to backtrack.  There was even a short section of ridable gravel path.  I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into. Once we got out into the rural roads I was beginning to wonder even more. The roads had no paved shoulder, and often no fog line.  While legal to ride two abreast, it just frustrates drivers to do so as they approach.  Despite calls of "car back" by the majority of our group, there were 3 riders in particular that would be out near the center line.  I'm all for taking the lane when it's appropriate, but this wasn't one of those cases.  It seemed to be just a case of  "I don't care" by these members of our group.

Along with this behavior was a lot of "accordion action" by the group.  I finally just found it easier to stay well back of the group.

We arrived in Snohomish, a quaint little town on the banks of the Snohomish River with a celebrated history. We came in via road, but I did notice a multi-use path along the river.  I don't know how far, or where it goes.

After getting our instructions as to a re-meeting time, we scattered for lunch in a variety of local eateries.

 Following our lunch stop our ride leader had a talk with the group concerning the side by side riding. She reminded all that a call of "car back" means to get into single file.  5 riders decided to add bonus miles by riding out to Monroe. The rest of us shoved off and rode back toward Red Hook.

Our little group now was composed of riders who rode single file when appropriate, they rode a good pace but they still braked on decents and granny geared up hills.  Argh!

Our group still accordionned  a bit so I was off the back.  At one point, with a hill ahead of us, I could no longer force myself to brake as we descended toward it.  I let the bike roll and let my momentum carry me up the hill.  As my new found friends were inching up the hill, I roared past them.  I waited for them at the top.  There were some comments on me being a strong hill climber. Ha!  Not so much.  I just don't brake on the approach. Momentum is my friend.

We made it back to Red Hook in the early afternoon. The rest went in to have a post ride debriefing, I of course was  not finished riding yet so said my good byes and pedaled on.

I picked up the pace and made my way back to Queen Anne.  I finished up with 91 miles and normally would have gone for some bonus miles to bring me to 100, but did not today as I had an evening ride planned that would easily allow me to reach that goal.

At 6 PM Cascade Bicycle Club had a lights and reflector demonstration.  I have been interested in this event since it's inception several years ago. I rode down from Queen Anne and made my way to the Cascade Bicycle Club headquarters.

Riding the Burke-Gilman Trail at night is an adventure.  Despite good lights, I normally would be riding slower as it is hard to pick up trail irregularities and curb cut locations at speed.  Tonight I was in luck.  An obvious local commuter with knowledge of the trail whistled past me.  I picked up the pace and followed him about 15 feet back as we traveled at 20-22 mph.

I arrived at CBC in plenty of time for the event. ;-)

It was a sparsely attended event, but fun and informative.  Plus, local bike shops had donated some good bike bling  I picked up some reflective arm bands, reflective buddy flaps, and some reflective stick ons.

Following the event I rode back up Queen Anne.  The only problem was that I had inadvertently deleted the easy climb up route from my Garmin when I had loaded the route to Cascade headquarters.  I knew I was not ready to navigate from memory, especially in the dark.  I also knew that I did not want to ride up the 25%+ of 4th St.  So I moved over the hill a bit and made my way up via the hunt and peck method. I just kept heading toward those lighted radio/tv towers.

I arrived just as my friend came home from a long day.  Perfect timing. It was a long day on the bike, but not a drop of rain. It was nice to finally ride a 100 mile day again.

A good day on a bike.
 
............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........112..............0.............0..........0...........112 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 Oct............844.............0.............0............0.............844 Nov...........256..............0..............0..........0.............256 YTD.........8757.........142...........20.........46...........8965

racing rain

I am still in Seattle. I took a look at the Cascade Bicycle Club's well populated daily ride list and noted that there was a ride beginning near me and riding out to Edmonds for lunch and back.  The forecast called for an increasing chance of rain as the day progressed, and though grey skies prevailed, it was not currently raining.  Looked like a perfect fit.  I rode a gently descending route down from Queen Anne.

Once off the hill I crossed the Fremont bridge and headed toward Gasworks Park, the starting point of today's ride.

I arrived just in time for the ride, though not as early as I had hoped. (hey, taking video of the view takes time!

12 of us made our way out west on the Burke-Gilman Trail.  We jumped off the trail before too long and from then on I was on a route I had never been on before.  It is always nice to ride in a new area.  The
pace was true to the posting, generally about 14 mph.  Even that rather slow pace proved to be a little fast for one of the riders and about 5 miles into the ride that person turned back.

The rest of us continued on our way to Edmonds.  The roads were wet, and in some stretches they were littered with leaf debris making them slick.  We all managed to navigate safely, in large part because the ride leader did a good job of advising the group when we were about to enter a section of potential problems.

We arrived in Edmonds and spent 45 minutes having a tasty lunch at The Red Twig Cafe.  While there we lost our race with the predicted rain as the sky began to drip.  I took a cue from the locals and took the raingear out of my pack and put it on.  Good thing I did.  We had rain falling for the remainder of the ride.  I was comfortable, good clothing options always make it easier. We pedaled along the shores of Lake Washington on the Burke-Gilman and came back to Gasworks.  The rest of the group loaded bikes in vehicles and took off toward warmer and drier locations. I wanted to get a few more miles, mostly because I have not been riding enough given that the year end is closing in, and I still have a few miles to go! I turned around and backtracked on the Burke-Gilman to the University of Washington just to add a few miles  I turned around and followed the B-G to the Fremont Bridge then made my way back up Queen Anne via that gentle route I had taken down earlier in the day.

Despite the rain it was a good day on the bike.



   ............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today...........51..............0.............0..........0..............51  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 Oct............844.............0.............0..........0.............844
Nov...........144..............0..............0..........0.............144
 YTD..........8645.........142...........20.........46............8853 

tourist

I guess that's a fancy word for just riding around looking at things.

My mom was leading a group of seniors from Hillsboro on a field trip to see the King Tut exhibit in Seattle.
I'm still here three weeks into a little west coast adventure.
It all aligned into a perfect excuse to meet mom for lunch.
I rode down Queen Ann to Seattle Center and had lunch with mom.  :-)

I arrived a bit early, so I rode around Seattle Center a bit and around the neighboring streets too.

After lunch I rode down to the waterfront and made my way out to Alki, then turned around and rode random bike friendly streets northward.  I ended up at the Hiram  M Chittenden Locks. The larger lock was closed for it's annual maintenance.

Note the workers in the lower left.

I crossed the pedestrian way over the ship canal and worked my way along Shilshole Ave.  I was riding without a route on the gps and got a bit twisted. Luckily I soon saw the antennas on top of Queen Anne and kept making my way toward them.  Along the way I rode by a train that was carrying several small airliners.

 I have never seen trains carrying planes before.  I don't know if they were being shipped from, or being shipped back to Boeing, but suspect they might be heading for scrap/salvage?

I finally got on familiar ground and began following the Burke-Gilman trail, though farther west than I've been on it before. When I got to the Fremont Bridge I crossed back over the ship canal.  Instead of climbing the challenging 4th Street, I made my way to 3rd Ave W.  It provided a 10-12% climb up Queen Anne instead of the 24% of 4th Ave N.  I was trying to find the circuitous but scenic route that a few of us rode a month or so ago, but didn't quite do that right. No matter, it was still a good ride.

No rain, surprisingly.



   ............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today...........36..............0.............0..........0..............36  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 Oct............844.............0.............0..........0.............844
Nov............93..............0..............0..........0..............93
 YTD..........8594.........142...........20.........46............8753 

snowflakes

Last weekend I was riding in 80 degrees and sunshine, today 35 degrees and snowflakes.  What a wakeup call!

I am at a conference in Bend and needed to move my pickup to the Redmond Airport. I drove to Redmond, parked my pickup, then biked back to Bend.  There was about a half inch of snow on the ground in Bend this morning but it mostly melted away by mid-afternoon. I waited until 3PM to make my move.  A time and temperature display indicated it was 35 degrees.

Wind was calm, and I was dressed for cold weather, so it wasn't too bad.  There were a couple of light snow showers but no accumulation as I made my way back. iT came as no surprise that it was slightly uphill back this way.  I've cycled to LaPine several times and though there is no serious climbing between Bend and LaPine, by the time you get there you are at nearly 4300 ft, only 500 ft lower than Santiam Pass.

Not quite as fun as pedaling around palm trees in warm weather, but it sure beats riding in cold rain.



I continue my low mileage ways.  I wonder if I will ever get my 10,000 mile year in before I run out of year?
I'll have to up the output if I am to reach that goal.

   ............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..........730..............0.............0..........0............730 Oct............844.............0.............0..........0.............844
Nov............57..............0..............0..........0..............57
 YTD..........8558.........142...........20.........46............8717 

The sun is shining!

California is noted for sunshine, but the San Francisco area is often more noted for fog and cooler weather. Luck was upon us today as San Francisco is experiencing record warm temperatures.  The expected high is near 80 degrees, and not a cloud in the sky.

The day got off to a bit of a rough start.  I had spent many hours researching a route to ride that would give us a nice overview of the city and it's sights while keeping us off some of the steeper hills.  I had mapped a route that looked like it would fit the bill and stored it.  Upon arrival last night I made sure phones, cameras, and GPS were all charged.  As I went to load the route the Garmin would not work.  It seemed to be completely dead. The computer wouldn't see it, no screen display, no nothing. The GoPro was not powering up. It's been acting up a bit lately and decided to really start causing problems today.  My friend's phone wasn't charging, and mine always has 4g connection problems and internet access is spotty at best.

We had planned to start our 38 mile pedal at 8:30 AM.  It was 10:30 before we finally got on the road, handwritten cue sheet for a last minute modified course, and a portable battery charging device with assorted connection cables in hand.

Within the first mile the Garmin finally decided to start functioning. Sure was glad about that.  I haven't had to navigate via a paper cue sheet in years, and wasn't looking forward to the prospect.

As we pedaled out there were many things to see.

We did far more sight seeing than biking. Never planning a LONG ride, our late start meant we shortened it up even more.


We made our way to the Embarcadero, and followed that to Fisherman's Wharf were we had an early lunch. We spent a little time there playing tourist.

One of our "must do's" was to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, and after a stop at Ghirardelli Square, a ride through Marina Green Park, and passing through Crissy Field we made our approach.

We spent a long time on and around the bridge There were a lot of other people enjoying a ride or walk across the bridge.  To minimize conflicts today bikes were limited to the west side while pedestrians were relegated to the east side.

 It is the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge and before we left we got jerseys to commemorate the visit.

We continued on to The Presidio and looked around briefly.  It reminded me a lot of Oregon's Fort Stevens.

We had thought that riding to China Beach would be a good goal today before turning back around.  However, we turned toward Frankenart Mart, in the mistaken idea that today was "free hotdog day".  We were one week early, but enjoyed riding through the neighborhoods.

With the day approaching and end, we decided to start working our way back to the bike rental facility where our bikes we due back by 6PM.  We knew which direction we needed to go, if not the best route. We headed east staying on designated bike routes.

 We saw many interesting things as we pedaled along.

We made pretty good time on our cross city pedal.  We determined that we had a little time to spare and pulling out the map we carried we decided that we could take in the famed Lombard Street on our way back.
We arrived at the top of Lombard Street as the shadows began to get long.

It took a bit of arm twisting, but I finally got my friend to join me on a roll down this famously twisted road.

 After riding down the hill we visited with the gardener a bit.  Surprisingly, this is not a public park, but a labor of love tended to by a local resident using personal funds.  While there, we heard many stories of unusual occurrences, and even had a chance to witness one.

As we pedaled our last few miles it was clear that we didn't get to see everything on our list.

Those things will have to wait for next time.

 As is nearly always the case, it was a great day to be on a bike!



   ............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today...........21..............0.............0..........0..............21  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 Oct............844.............0.............0..........0.............844
Nov............41..............0..............0..........0..............41
 YTD..........8542.........142...........20.........46............8701 

Staged

As the sun rose I found myself well on my way southward.

 I wasn't bringing my bike, but had a plan to take care of that.

I rented bikes for my friend and I online prior to arrival at Bay City Bikes.  The bike, while not quite what I would want for riding a long distance, would be serviceable for the planned sight seeing.

 It was described as:

"ALUXX SL-Grade Aluminum. Advanced-Grade Composite fork, Alloy OverDrive Steerer. Shimano Tiagra, 10 speed shifters - Shimano Tiagra 12x30, 10-Speed cassete. FSA Omega, 34/50 crankset. FSA Omega, 34/50 Crankset.
	Bikes comes with: cyclecomputer, extra tube, pump and choice of pedals."

The choices for pedals weren't going to work for me, so I arranged to have my pedals, and my friend's pedals installed on the rental bikes so that we could wear our bike shoes.

Upon arrival, I was surprised to see both bikes set up with Sora shifters rather than Tiagra.  Triple cranks instead of the FSA double, Sora deraileur, not Tiagra, and an aluminum fork instead of composite.

I commented to the counter help that they probably needed to update their descriptions on the website. He acknowledged that but did not offer a discount. I didn't press him for one as the bikes would work for our purpose, and they were very patient with our fussiness with saddle position.

The bikes will be adequate for the planned ride tomorrow.

Just a few miles back to the hotel.

   ............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today............3..............0.............0..........0...............3  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 Oct............844.............0.............0..........0.............844
Nov............20..............0..............0..........0..............20
 YTD..........8521.........142...........20.........46............8680 

Anothet short mileage day

I am busy with last minute preparations for a road trip. (expect a ride report from a warmer climate on Sunday) I did however take a short ride late this afternoon. Just a little ramble around the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. 17 miles is all, but it was dry. Photo posted tomorrow.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE too smartphone

UPDATE:

Alas, internet access had been limited. 

The ride was just a ramble around Queen Anne, much like my state of mind.  I didn't have much time and couldn't figure out a good destination to ride to, so I just puttered around, and over, the Queen Anne hill of Seattle. After several days of rain it was nice to just pedal around without raingear. The sky was heavy and grey, but kept the drips to itself.

   ............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........17..............0.............0..........0..............17  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 Oct............844.............0.............0..........0.............844
Nov............17..............0..............0..........0..............17
 YTD..........8518.........142...........20.........46............8677