April rides

[ny biker]

Fantastic!!! Yay Pax.

Looks like I've gotten lucky with the weather -- the best day to ride this week is today, just in time for this week's post-work hill ride. A polar vortex is headed here this weekend so I need to get in some good miles tonight.

[Crankin]

The weather here over the next week is horrible until next Wednesday....

[rebeccaC]

We went for a short ride with the dog this Sunday; he's getting on toward 11, so going at dog speed is not fast. But he's not bad, paces really well for short bursts. We were in the middle of the island, on some Crown lands, pretty rough in spots. It was lovely weather; almost summery. Stopped to listen to some wrens, and then to nibble chocolate while lying about on moss in the sun.

that sounds like a wonderful use of a bicycle

Did a ride into downtown L.A. for a long work meeting yesterday. Low 70’s and 46 miles of easy gliding through the day mostly on bike paths and ending with a sunset at the beach and dinner with Ellie. Cooling down to the low to high 60’s the next few days. Looking forward to kayaking the sea caves in the Channel Islands National Park for a relaxing weekend.

[Catrin]

Pericat - that really sounds like fun!

Here? Meh...cold and miserable for April. If I had known spring was only going to last a couple days then I would have paid more attention to it.

[khg]

On Sunday my husband and I did the Emerald City Bike Ride here in Seattle--it was a sold-out event of 7,000 cyclists. We got to bike a newly-constructed highway bridge across Lake Washington that is not yet open, and then a section of I-5 that was closed to traffic for the event. We got to play on the freeway!

As one might expect with a ride of 7,000 people, there were some madhouse moments, but the whole thing was so much fun! Biking on the closed interstate was the best part--4 freeway lanes worth of space makes one heck of an awesome bike lane! It ranks up there with some of the coolest things I've done on a bike.

The new lake bridge:


Now THIS is what I call a bike lane!


Obligatory selfie to prove we were there:

[rebeccaC]

As one might expect with a ride of 7,000 people, there were some madhouse moments, but the whole thing was so much fun! Biking on the closed interstate was the best part--4 freeway lanes worth of space makes one heck of an awesome bike lane! It ranks up there with some of the coolest things I've done on a bike.

cool indeed

in the second photo is that a reversible lane like downtown seattle to the U of W area? When I drove that express lane I though how great it would be to be closed for a bike event. Gotta luv the cascade bike club for all they do for bicycling!!!!!!

[Pax]

... It ranks up there with some of the coolest things I've done on a bike.

That is so fun!! I got to do Bike The Drive in Chicago one time, not an interstate but they do shut down Lake Shore Drive (six lanes) and you get to pedal along the lake in that wonderful quiet!

[Crankin]

Weather looks like I may be able to get rides in on Friday and Sunday. Saturday is my club's workshop, so I have to prepare my voice for 4 one hour sessions... and standing up for 4 hours.

[khg]

cool indeed

in the second photo is that a reversible lane like downtown seattle to the U of W area? When I drove that express lane I though how great it would be to be closed for a bike event. Gotta luv the cascade bike club for all they do for bicycling!!!!!!

Yes, we rode the reversible express lane section--we got on at the U District and exited at the south end of downtown. It really would make an amazing bike route--people have been clamoring for a bike path alongside it or something. But getting the whole road was way better than some silly little bike path!

The freeway hadn't been closed down for bikes to ride on since some road race event in the 90's I believe. Some of the post-ride emails that have gone out have had a tone like Cascade is thinking of making this an annual event--I hope I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, as I would do this every year. I had a blast.

[ny biker]

I had a bit of an adventure last night. Managed to get started a bit earlier than the past couple of weeks, not as early as I would have liked but at least I would be done before 10 pm. Riding along a bit concerned by how tired my legs felt on the uphills. But in general enjoying the ride. The extra layers that were too warm last week were just right for last night's cooler temps.

So I'm pedaling down a hill and wondering why I'm bouncing. That was weird. But it stopped and now it's uphill again. Pedal pedal pedal, cross the intersection, pedal pedal... oh, my tire is flat. Rear tire, if course.

At this point it's somewhere around 9 pm. Totally dark. Residential neighborhood with nice ($$$$) houses. I had to ride a bit further to get under a street light. I can't remember the last time I had a flat. I know how to change a tire but am not good at it.

So I had a snack (priorities!) and got all the tools and spare tube out of my seat bag. Checked the garmin -- I'd ridden almost 14 miles with 4-5 to go. I thought about calling a friend who lives nearby to ask her to pick me up, but earlier in the day she had said she wasn't feeling well. Either I call a cab or I fix the tire.

I turned the bike over and inspected the tire. There was no sign of a puncture. I decided to try to pump the tire up and see if it would hold air.

I rarely use my frame pump. It's super light. It's also hard to get onto the valve stem. I had to try several times before I was able to get any air into the tire. Finally I got the tire back to a non-bouncy psi. While doing this I considered the best route to take back to the community center where I had started the ride. My normal route is on dark, quiet, hilly residential roads. I decided to head out to the main road (a couple of blocks away). It's not flat but there are bike lanes on it and it's well-lit. After a couple of miles I stopped again under another street light and pumped up the tire, then continued riding. Most of the time I rode standing up, trying to lean my weight more on the front than the rear. It was pretty tiring.

The bike started feeling bouncy again but I was only a few blocks from my car, so I kept riding. I made it back around 10:00. Ha ha.

I already have new tires since the ones on the bike were looking worn. I was planning to put them on after my ride this weekend. Instead I will change them both tonight or tomorrow. So that will be a good refresher course for my tire-changing skills.

I think maybe I want a new frame pump...

[khg]

That is so fun!! I got to do Bike The Drive in Chicago one time, not an interstate but they do shut down Lake Shore Drive (six lanes) and you get to pedal along the lake in that wonderful quiet!

Yes, isn't the quiet amazing! A ride event motorcycle went by at one point, and it was astonishing how much noise it made.

[Pax]

Wow NY, some fun. LOL

Yes, isn't the quiet amazing! A ride event motorcycle went by at one point, and it was astonishing how much noise it made.

I was amazed. Chicago has a pretty high and steady ambient noise level (as I'd guess most cities do), so riding along and actually hearing your tires on the pavement, birds singing, and the waves on the lake, was just awe inspiring. It would be so cool to live someplace where the cars were electric, and the majority of people rode bikes or took electric public transport... very peaceful.

[lauraelmore1033]

Yes, we rode the reversible express lane section--we got on at the U District and exited at the south end of downtown. It really would make an amazing bike route--people have been clamoring for a bike path alongside it or something. But getting the whole road was way better than some silly little bike path!

The freeway hadn't been closed down for bikes to ride on since some road race event in the 90's I believe. Some of the post-ride emails that have gone out have had a tone like Cascade is thinking of making this an annual event--I hope I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, as I would do this every year. I had a blast.

We did this ride as well! Dh rode the tadpole trike, since he is still feeling a little delicate and 7000 people jostling and being squirrelly sounded a little dangerous. I thought it was a great opportunity to see parts of the city you'd never see otherwise. Don't know if I need to do it again, but it was pretty cool.

[pericat]

Not how you want your evening ride to go, NY, that's for sure.

I should practice with my frame pump more; if nothing else, would probably be good for my biceps. I have been making a point of not doing any adjustments on my bike with tools other than the ones I normally carry; I've found some gaps that way. But frame pumps are a step too far; they're light, they telescope, they're practically little transformer pipes and my gadgetbrain adores them but I dread having to use one again. Once was enough. I've got skookum tires on the wheels, heavy as sin, may they never go flat! Our roads are pretty crap, though.

[ny biker]

Okay I just changed both tires. It took more than an hour. As mentioned they were both looking worn so I had already bought new ones and was planning to put the new ones on after this weekend's ride. Luckily the big club ride planned for tomorrow was cancelled tonight. I didn't get home from work/running errands until 9:30 tonight and now it's almost 12:30. If I'd had to do other ride prep tonight (starting with digging out my Amfib tights for tomorrow's cold weather) and then wake up early just to get official notice that the ride was cancelled, I would have been cranky to say the least.

I also changed both inner tubes just to be safe. One of the new ones has a ridiculously short stem which I'm sure will drive me crazy so I might end up changing it again. Also I had a really hard time getting the rear wheel on and off the bike. But now it's all back together with new inflated tires. They're Continental Grand Prix 4000s II. I've used Conti Gatorskins before but this is my first set of GPs. I hope I like them! I folded up the unpunctured tube and am keeping it to use as a spare.

As for the cause of the flat, I had to inflate the bad tube and put it in water to find the tiny hole. Then I found the tiny piece of glass in the tire. There was a small hole on the outside of the tire which I had found on the road under the streetlight. But the glass was pushed in enough that I didn't feel anything sharp at the time. There's an old, larger cut in the tire that never led to a punctured tube, so my guess is that the tire is now just too worn and thin to be as puncture resistant as it was before. Btw they're Mavic Yksion Comp tires. I'd use them again.

So. It won't be spring-like on Sunday but it should be sunny and not too cold -- well, we'll have a hard freeze overnight but it should get above 50 later in the day. It will definitely be the better day for being outdoors this weekend. I don't know yet where and when I'll be riding my bike, but I'll be out there somewhere.