Riding with Leo

My friend Leo had a heart attack last week. Scary stuff. But Leo is nothing if not a tough old coot. He survived and the doctor told him he could still bike. 8 of us joined him today on a celebratory bike ride around his neighborhood.

For most of us the ride began with a ferry ride across the Sound to Bremerton.
I rode the fixie down Queen Ann to meet Robin at a coffee shop on the waterfront.

 It's a long story, but Leo rides with a squid on his helmet.  Robin and I couldn't resist stopping for this photo as we made our way toward the ferry terminal.

She also made squids for us all to attach to our helmets.

We arrived at the ferry and found 4 others waiting there.
We boarded the ferry and visited while taking our 1 hour cruise.

We arrived in Bremerton and found Leo waiting along with a couple of other folks.
Leo led us on a short tour of his stomping grounds. We started off with a tour of the Berry Festival.

We rode across the Manette Bridge, but instead of taking the lane we rode the sidewalk, in deference to Leo's fragile post heart attack state. It was okay, we were just glad that we still had the opportunity to ride with him.

Yes, it rains in the Puget Sound area!

We spotted a watering hole that was open, and descended upon it with gusto!

 

 

The proprietors didn't complain a bit about a horde of wet and dripping cyclists stopping in.

"The Mayor of Kitsap", Leo holding court.

 We rode back to the waterfront and Leo, a navy man, took us on a tour of naval points of interest.  We finished up with a water sculpture reminiscent of submarine sails.

We took one last stroll through the berry festival.

 
 I was amused to find "vegan soap". All sorts of visions of washing out a vegan's mouth with soap ensued.

We called it a day and said our farewells, then boarded the ferry for a return trip to Seattle.  I decided to join Robin as she pedaled back to the northside of Queen Ann to her car, then made my way back up Queen Ann via the "Kralik Way".

The total trip today was 53 miles, but 33 mile of that was on the ferry.  Bike trip was 20 miles with 1547 feet of climbing.  Not bad for riding with a fixed gear.


..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today.........20...............0..............0...............0............20 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
 August.........359................0..............0...............0.............359 Total..........4542...............0..............0...............0..........4542

No Time Like (for) the Present

I am still unloading and storing Hoodoo 500 paraphernalia and doing preliminary research on the upcoming Silver State 508. There's no time for a bike ride but a guy's gotta eat!  I hopped on the fixed gear bike and dropped a digital camera off at UPS to ship away for warranty work, and stopped in for the teriyaki lunch special.

..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today..........5...............0..............0...............0.............5 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
 August.........339................0..............0...............0.............339 Total..........4522...............0..............0...............0..........4522

Just a short ride

I've been gone to Southern California, Arizona, and Utah doing crew chief duties for the last week.  In between unpacking and catching up on home chores I hopped on the fixed gear bike for a few short miles. (Okay, full disclosure...I rode to McDonalds for lunch)  It was 93 degrees in Wilsonville, surprisingly this was the warmest temperature by 10 degrees that I've seen in the last week.

..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today..........7...............0..............0...............0.............7 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
 August.........334................0..............0...............0.............334 Total..........4517...............0..............0...............0..........4517

Following the Desert Coyote - 224th phonecast

Steven Burns finished the 2014 Hoodoo 500 in 45 hrs and 14 minutes. His son Jasper put together a short video of the adventure during the long drive home.

Following the Desert Coyote - 223rd phonecast

Following the Desert Coyote - 222nd phonecast

RSVP, gettng home

(Wednesday update)

I am crew chief for Steven Burns as he races the Hoodoo 500 this coming weekend. I am leaving within the hour to fly down to Southern California to prepare the support vehicle. I was hoping to get this blog updated with an account of last weekend's bike adventure, but alas..... I've been busy.

When I return I'll get the story and photos posted.

In the meantime, expect an Ipadio audio update here from time to time as Steven races around the red rock canyons of Utah and Arizona.



..........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..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
 August.........327................0..............0...............0.............327
Total..........4510...............0..............0...............0..........4510

RSVP day 2, Border Crossing Blues

As I am compiling my year end report, I note that I never got back here to post the photos and story. So sorry!  I'll work on it in the next few weeks and post an update when it is complete.

..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today..........77...............0..............0...............0............77 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
 August.........314................0..............0...............0.............314
Total..........4497...............0..............0...............0..........4497

RSVP day 1

..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today.........114...............0..............0...............0...........114 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
 August.........237................0..............0...............0.............237
Total..........4420...............0..............0...............0..........4420

Seattle

I am in Seattle in preparation for tomorrow's Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party (RSVP).  My friend Julie drove to Menchies Frozen Yogurt to meet with Cascade staff member Robin.

 Yet another registration snafu meant that ride registrations did not arrive. Robin managed to pick up the pieces and hand deliver ride registrations to us.

Robin biked to Menchies, Julie's and my bikes were on her car.  Following a frozen yogurt treat, Robin rode home, I rode back up Queen Ann, and Julie drove 70 miles up the RSVP route to a friend's house where she will start her ride in the morning. I'll start from Queen Ann, adding 6 miles to the 108 mile day.

As I rode back it was 65 degrees and raining lightly.  I noted that it was 77 and sunny at home. :-(

My little ride back up the hill took 8 miles, since I take an easier more circuitous route up. Tomorrow morning I take a direct route straight down the hill.... in the predawn darkness.

..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today...........8...............0..............0...............0.............8 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
 August.........123................0..............0...............0.............123
Total..........4306...............0..............0...............0..........4306