July Rides

[emily_in_nc]

I've been to a number of places--like Vashon Island, Sunrise on Mt Rainier, Hurricane Ridge, etc--that I had never been before, despite being born and raised in Seattle!

khg, how difficult is the cycling on Vashon Island? A friend recommended it to me, but we only had two good riding days while staying in the greater Seattle Metro area and ended up not getting to do it. From the little bit of research I did online, it looked really pretty but quite hilly. Thanks!

[khg]

khg, how difficult is the cycling on Vashon Island? A friend recommended it to me, but we only had two good riding days while staying in the greater Seattle Metro area and ended up not getting to do it. From the little bit of research I did online, it looked really pretty but quite hilly. Thanks!

It is very pretty. If you love hills, you'll be quite happy--if not...not.

Here's the map and elevation profile from the ride I did there (click to see larger size):



The Vashon part starts 16 miles in--the first big hill on the elevation profile Note that this route did include a couple gratuitous hills, and it would be possible to do a nice, much flatter than this ride on Vashon, but it would still be hilly. Some of the best parts are cycling along the water, which tends to mean continually going up and down from sea level as the road goes down to the water and then back up a bluff or ridge.

Here's what I wrote about it: http://mebikedolomitesoneday.wordpre...place-of-pain/

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks khg! It sounds and looks gorgeous, but that many hills are not really my cup of tea. DH would love it, though. When we did a metric last Sunday that involved 2400' of climbing, I felt that was plenty. About half the ride was pretty flat, and the other half hilly. The equivalent to Vashon would probably be the entire ride being as hilly as the "bad" half of our ride, and I would not have cared for that, especially in the intense heat we were riding in. I expect Vashon would be cooler most of the time, which would help a little.

I don't mind a few hills, but I am not a great hill climber and just don't really enjoy them, especially the steep ones. My lowest gear on my roadie (30x25t) just doesn't cut it on some the hills we have to climb for me, though I know it's plenty low for some riders who are better on hills. On my Bike Friday I have mountain gears, but it's a slower bike overall, so the hills (and all of it, really) take a little longer. If we ever do Vashon, I'll take the Bike Friday!

[Crankin]

I didn't ride yesterday, went on a 3 mile walk with DH. I feel really badly for him, watching me ride while he heals, soI'm trying not be gone all day riding on the weekends, although I was for the last 3 weeks, at least one day. This morning I went out for a 15 mile "2 hill" ride, that I usually do before work. My legs were actually kind of sore from walking! Anyway, it's cool and damp out today, was 60 when I left, so I had my arm warmers and vest on, which I did need going down the hill for the first 1.5 miles. It started sprinkling as I was turning onto the street with the other hill in town. Normally, I would have taken the arm warmers off then, but I was worried I might get wet. The rain stayed at the sprinkle level, though. As I was riding through town, for the second part of the ride, I almost turned toward home, but instead, I stopped, took the arm warmers off, and ate a bite of my Lara Bar, which resulted in feeling better. After that, I had a PR on a hill heading back into town (not a big one), and it started raining lightly, so I took the most direct route home, climbing the steeper side of my street for only the second time this year.
My average was really low, but the 2 bigger hills, combined with not having had coffee contributed, I am sure.
Both DH and I have realized how much time in our lives we spend cycling, as a result of his injury. A lot of women I know, mostly from the gym, go out and do their riding early in the AM on the weekends, and then go on with the rest of their lives. For us, riding *is* the rest of our lives. I much prefer it this way. Before I started riding, DH would go out and ride, I would go to the gym, and then we would go shopping or do stuff with the kids, although they were already on their way out when I started riding. Anyway, I should get to 2K miles by Labor Day, it would be earlier, but I will be away for 5 days this month, so I'm giving myself an extra week. Since I only rode 2,000 all of last season, I definitely will will get to 2,500, which is my minimum goal, with 3K being what I really want.

[emily_in_nc]

Great 50-mile ride today. Finally a break from the relentless heat...it was 75 when we started out, and 85 when we finished up. On Friday it was 86 starting out and 95 at the end, riding at the same time as today and nearly the same route. I felt SO much better and my water didn't get HOT as it did Fri. (started out with tons of ice cubes in it both times).

The only negative was a light headwind on the way out, followed by a bit of tailwind, which then died 1/2 way through the ride, so we didn't get the tailwind to push us back at the end that we were counting on after dealing with headwind on the way out. Oh, and my mirrcycle mirror broke. We ride a lot of bumpy roads here and go over frequent train tracks. I was just riding along, and the plastic post just sheared off. No repairs possible. Good thing I have a Take-a-Look as a backup, because I have to have a mirror!

[khg]

Thanks khg! It sounds and looks gorgeous, but that many hills are not really my cup of tea. DH would love it, though. When we did a metric last Sunday that involved 2400' of climbing, I felt that was plenty. About half the ride was pretty flat, and the other half hilly. The equivalent to Vashon would probably be the entire ride being as hilly as the "bad" half of our ride, and I would not have cared for that, especially in the intense heat we were riding in. I expect Vashon would be cooler most of the time, which would help a little.

I don't mind a few hills, but I am not a great hill climber and just don't really enjoy them, especially the steep ones. My lowest gear on my roadie (30x25t) just doesn't cut it on some the hills we have to climb for me, though I know it's plenty low for some riders who are better on hills. On my Bike Friday I have mountain gears, but it's a slower bike overall, so the hills (and all of it, really) take a little longer. If we ever do Vashon, I'll take the Bike Friday!

If you guys do end up on Vashon, it sounds like your DH would enjoy some variation of the Passport2Pain routes--and if you went over the top of the island on the main road you could go from one ferry terminal to the other ferry terminal--scenic and kinda cool--and then on the way back stop in the "downtown" which has some nice shops and eateries. I think that would be not too hilly, comparatively speaking, and if you're interested in doing a bit more, I have some ideas for that too. Anyway, if you're going that way and want some ideas, feel free to drop me a line

[shootingstar]

For reasons I haven't fully figured out, but this summer so far, I haven't done longer distance rides like I do every summer. Oh well, I just on keep on riding anyway. Today I cycled 46 kms. which included a grocery shopping stop and dim sum on the northern suburban edges of city. Route mostly through a park path system.

So hauled home a Dungeness crab as a holiday supper treat for dinner.

Yesterday was a series of short rides.. to a Middleastern bakery for snack, then elsewhere for shopping at farmers' market, bank, then dropping by for a heritage tour of an older local church where permanent stained glass artwork depicted the fallen soldiers for WW I. (since it is the anniversary for start of WW I). Probably did the same total distance as today, but yesterday it was all broken up.

It never ceases to amaze me how under-utilized our bike-ped park pathway system is. I attribute part of the problem is lack of enough washroom facilities. One could cycle 20 km. for a segment and not encounter any washrooms. Now in the open prairie parks, with hardly trees.... that makes long distance jogging, cycling or walking with newbies, children, a tad difficult.

[emily_in_nc]

If you guys do end up on Vashon, it sounds like your DH would enjoy some variation of the Passport2Pain routes--and if you went over the top of the island on the main road you could go from one ferry terminal to the other ferry terminal--scenic and kinda cool--and then on the way back stop in the "downtown" which has some nice shops and eateries. I think that would be not too hilly, comparatively speaking, and if you're interested in doing a bit more, I have some ideas for that too. Anyway, if you're going that way and want some ideas, feel free to drop me a line

Thanks! We're not going to be back in western WA this time, I don't think, but I'll keep it in mind for a future trip.

[emily_in_nc]

Today I awoke to yet another puncturevine (aka goathead) induced flat. All of a sudden, they must be at the right state of germination, because both DH and I have gotten multiple flats in the past week (and we've been here since July 1). Tire liners have now been ordered.

While DH was fixing my flat (on my Trek), I hopped onto the Bike Friday and rode to the post office to pick up a package (ironically, from Tree Fort Bikes, containing two new QuikStiks (the BEST tire irons we've found) and a shifter cable (for backup stores). That was a little 2.8 mile ride.

Back to the house and hopped on the now-fixed Trek and rode with DH. 44 miles on a moderately hilly rural route. A good ride is now a ride with no flats. Today was a good ride.