December rides

[AppleTree]

Oh my, what a miserable ride! Forecast did call for rain, but it was sunny and dry at home. Went to the Centennial trail and there were signs that rain was imminent. I thought I'd just cruise on down the trail until it did actually rain, then I'd turn around. The rain held off until I reached the very end of the trail and then it started dumping down in buckets! The seat angle on the recumbent is just perfect for rain to pound down directly into the eyes. That was the worst thing; it was raining so hard that it hurt my eyes. I was also horrified to notice that a large stretch of land along the trail has been clear cut. The whole hillside has been devistated! It's horrible. Oh well.

I am seriously happy to be warm and dry now.

Oh, no! Where did they clear cut, was it north of the Arlington area? I'm so sad about that... I haven't been out there for a while now, between work and holidays... Your ride sounds like an endurance test all right, but you did it! It feels amazing after you get done and really makes you feel "hard core", ha ha.

[rebeccaC]

marie, from the times i've been in the pnw i know it can be beautiful!!!!...golden gardens looks like a great place to ride!!

well, it's not always ideal here......some of that pnw rain came south today on my ride up topanga canyon drive.....in the 50's, 56miles with a wet final descent. when i got back to santa monica i was wet enough so riding through puddles was carefree and fun.

any water from the sky is welcome with the drought we're going through

from the top of topanga canyon looking over the san fernando valley

[shootingstar]

During the day we did 14 km. Then later on we went out last night for an additional 15 km. ride around a neighbourhood to see some Christmas lights. By a separated bike lane (newish) in a wealthy Vancouver neighbourhood (Point Grey) along the waterfront that faces rises north shore mountains.

[cosc]

Shootingstar love the joyous look on your face. May we all find something that puts a big smile on our face this new year.

[azfiddle]

I rode almost every day during my Christmas break - over 200 miles altogether in bits and pieces (15-32 miles). The weather turned from warmer than average to cooler than average so I definitely enjoyed some later start times (11 am, 1 pm- unthinkable here in summer!). Finished the year with over 5100 miles (almost 5200).

And now the odometer turns over once again.

[lauraelmore1033]

Oh, no! Where did they clear cut, was it north of the Arlington area? I'm so sad about that... I haven't been out there for a while now, between work and holidays... Your ride sounds like an endurance test all right, but you did it! It feels amazing after you get done and really makes you feel "hard core", ha ha.

It's actually south of Arlington. You know the kinda big (but not really) downhill where you go under two bridges? I think it was after the second bridge (or maybe just before it). Not only was the area clear cut, but there are some Mcmansions on top of the hill and it looks like there are new driveways apparently crossing the trail.

[khg]

December was almost all commuting for me. But after a Thanksgiving cold snap, my husband couldn't take it any more and redeemed a bunch of frequent flyer miles for a post-Christmas trip to Maui. While there we biked up Mt Haleakala (we got bikes and some ride support from Maui Cyclery). It was one of the most difficult, and most fabulous things I've done. We lucked out on the weather--it was warm, sunny, and almost windless, even at the summit. And with that ride, I went over 4,000 logged miles on the year--my best year yet!

A couple photos:

Looking out towards West Maui


At the summit with the Big Island in the background


The obligatory elevation shot


The moonscape of the Haleakala crater (well, technically, it's an erosion valley...)


my blog (address in sig) has a way-too-long write up, with a few more photos.

And now, we're back home, hunkered down for warmth in another cold snap. Oh well--it was fun while it lasted!

Here's to another year of fabulous riding to everyone--it's so inspiring to see what people are doing!

[salsabike]

Great photographs, khg! Looks wonderful. And actually, your blog write-up of it is REALLY interesting.

[rebeccaC]

khg...great photos and congrats on doing it!!!!!!!.....and you look great in those photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember having to use just about every psychological strategy I had at the time to make that climb ....it's a special climb/descent in so many ways. looking forward to reading your blog tonight.

[khg]

Thanks, salsabike and rebeccaC After a couple months of Seattle winter damp, it was so nice to ride in the warmth (even if it was cold at the summit, and the first 1/2 of the descent). Though I have to chime in on the PNW winter discussion above, and say that what I LOVE about the winter here is how it encourages you to curl up under a blanket with chocolate and a book My cats love that too!

But I will be bundling up for my commute to work tomorrow. Sigh.

I was super-nervous leading up to the ride (hard to get breakfast down, the whole works) so it was almost a relief to start the climb--and as hard as it was, I never felt awful. A few times I started to feel discouraged about how long I had been climbing and how much further I still had to go, but then I would make myself look around a bit, take in the view, and try to tell myself that the longer it took, the better, since it was so beautiful out. That sometimes worked... But the gorgeous setting of the climb definitely made it psychologically easier. Physically... Well, this was one of the few rides I actually had sore muscles from the next day. Fatigued muscles, sure--but bike rides hardly ever leave my muscles actually hurting. It was hard. The elevation--especially for someone living at sea level--is just overwhelming. You can't fight it, you just have to slow down and accept that you can't breathe, and can't put effort into the pedals. Getting back to sea level felt so good!

[salsabike]

Yeah, it's the length of the ascent coupled with the altitude you reached that is amazing--really, a huge ride.

By the way, khg, I think we may have met! My husband read your blog report on this ride (I TOLD you it was really interesting!) and said, "Hey! That's Ian B.! Don't you remember--he sat next to us at the 2011 post-PBP dinner and was telling lots of funny stories!" And I did remember. Weren't you also there?