June 21st Ride Reports

[KnottedYet]

I also met up with the gnats. Mmmmm. Decided to take an easy ride since it's the first ride since I got this flu bug or whatever it is. Discovered exactly how long it takes me to get from bookstore to "Margaritaville" (1 hour on the dot) which is down the block from my LBS. Took the bike in and made boo-boo faces about the derailleur, they fixed it. Made more boo-boo faces about a sqeak in my rear wheel, they lubed it. I loooooove Recycled Cycles.

Rode home with a happier bike, enjoyed the gorgeous weather and the beautiful views of Lake Washington. All told 2 hrs, and 22 miles.

[uk elephant]

Did another group ride, this time with the local group of Cyclist Touring Club. Basically they meet every Wednesday evening for a leisurely ride around the countryside, ending at a pub near town. Was a nice, slow social ride. But I was surprised to see that nobody wears a helmet! Not in this group and not in the group I went with the day before. What's up with that?! I might join them again in the future anyway though. It was nice to have a bit of social interaction while cycling. Can get a bit lonely when I'm always out on my own. We ended up doing about 15 miles, at 10mph average. And stopped at a very nice pub at the end.

[Geonz]

In the 8 months I was in W. Columbia I had my legs and feet completely devoured by the fleas in my apartment when I moved in, my car stolen a couple weeks later, a gunshot through my bedroom ceiling (the neighbor was cleaning his gun), a strange man in my bedroom at 3 a.m. (I convinced him to leave), and a woman who had found *my* outgoing credit card payment in her mailbox - some four or five miles away from me - with her husband's (and hers) return address on it (I didn't know her *or* her husband, she just appeared at my door with her mother, thinking her hubby might be having an affair with me). Let's not even talk about the too-hot weather or the palmetto bugs :-)
(Ah, but there was George, the angel, who appeared when I arrived with my car in tow behind the rental van, my buddy-with-a-bad-back, and my cars brakes *gone* because somehow I'd left the emergency brake on. George just appeared and hauled box after box after box ("more books?!") , and told me a guy who could fix my brakes... and I was a grad student and hadn't even switched bank accounts yet ... )
Ride-wise, yes, we charged into the headwind and rode to Monticello and the solstice bonfire. Fortunately the winds died down a tad halfway there - it was about 25 miles and it was getting tedious :-) (we also had to walk a mile where the road was totally torn up, which was a nice break). Brings the month to 771... 9 days to do 229 miles...

[hibiscus09]

Thank goodness for George!

I've had good experiences here, but my sister -- the police officer -- tells me some crazy stories.

[Duck on Wheels]

No ride for me, but RubySlipperz got one. I picked her up, all neatly boxed, at the LBS. Balanced the box vertically on the rack of a little wheeled luggage cart (the kind we used to have before all suitcases had their own wheels ..? well, I still have mine), strapped her in and towed her about 2 miles to the bus stop. First one mile, but because of roadwork the bus route had been moved. Found a young woman sitting in the bus shelter who hadn't studied the sign saying that no buses stopped there. She was glad I pointed it out. It explained why her bus was so "late".
Anyway ... found the moved bus stop, and the driver put down the handicap ramp so I could wheel Ruby on for the ride, and off again at my corner. Finished the rest of my packing around midnight, slept pretty well in spite of moving nerves and aching arm from vaccinations. Now we're just waiting for the moving van to arrive.
There's no place like home. There's no place like home. ... Unless maybe it's the Alameda trail. Trek420 mentioned a ride there July 8 ...?

[SouthernBelle]

I got a decent ride in yesterday, about 12 miles. Temps were mid-90's, lots of humidity.

But today I got in my new polar bottles and will give one a trial run tonight!