Saturday, June 30, 2012
Cassandra: (Sat June 30) Lisa and I finished our bike/road trip yesterday with a beautiful 45 mile bike ride through Yakima Canyon in Ellensburg. It was one of, if not my very favorite, ride of the whole trip. The route was recommended to us by Karen, one of our hosts from the previous night, and it did not disappoint.
We started our ride at the parking lot of the Flying J truck stop on Canyon Road in Ellensburg. From there we biked south on Canyon Road towards Selah. Although the road was longer than we had time for, we did cover 20 miles of it each way. Or rather, I did. Lisa was a couple of miles behind me so I doubled back to meet her and save her some mileage.
I can't speak highly enough of the scenery on Canyon Road. After we passed the outskirts of Ellensburg and some farm land, we swooped down into the Yakima Canyon with a smooth downhill. From there, the road pretty much flattened out, although there were several rolling hills and a couple of good, steep climbs. The highway wound along like a snake, following the Yakima River. We could see people rafting and floating down the river and it looked so peaceful. We had gotten an early start to our ride; it was right about 10:00 am when we left the car, so it wasn't too hot yet. At first, I stopped about every 5 miles to reconnect with Lisa; she was behind me, again on the mountain bike. No more road bike for her. I could tell she was tired, so I went along at my own pace and would wait for her at regular intervals, encouraging her to drink water. It was really starting to heat up.
The road was so pretty I took a ton of pictures while riding. I admired the cliff-like canyon walls and the sparrows that were flying in and out of their little mud homes (at least, I think they were sparrows). I even stopped at a placard to read about the geology of the area. But mostly, I just got caught up in the sun and the river and the smooth, fun road and got lost in my own thoughts. It was perfect.
At 20.11 miles, I stopped and decided I should turn back and meet Lisa, that way she wouldn't have to go quite as far. I passed a rest area about 2 miles back towards Ellensburg and was careful to scan for her mountain bike outside of the bathrooms. I didn't see anything, so I continued on. A couple of more miles down the road, I still didn't see her. I flagged down a car of elderly people to ask if they had passed a cyclist in a white shirt. They said they hadn't passed any cyclist, but if they saw her they would let her know I was looking for her. I started to get concerned. I couldn't understand why this car full of people hadn't seen her. I started to worry about her being hurt. I flagged down another car, but the guy inside said he hadn't seen her, either. At that point, I was really worried. I didn't know what to do if I couldn't find her. My cell phone didn't have any service, so I couldn't call her. I was starting to kick myself for breaking our routine and turning back to meet her, instead of staying in one spot. I continued down the road towards Ellensburg, looking for Lisa. I heard a car behind me, and when I turned around I saw the car of elderly people. They said they had passed her coming out of the rest area, and that they told her I was headed back to Ellensburg looking for her. I was so, so grateful to know where Lisa was. I thanked the people profusely and headed back towards the rest area.
I met Lisa part way there. She said she had decided to go into the rest area because they had civilized bathrooms (I had been peeing on the side of the road). I told her I had looked for her bike, and she sheepishly said she had taken her bike in the bathroom with her. I let out a great big sigh, just happy that we had found each other. I don't know what we would have done without the elderly people. Lisa would have been biking towards Selah and I would have been biking in the opposite direction, both of us without cell phone service. It would have been great to have walkie-talkies!
We decided to eat lunch at the rest area Lisa had previously stopped at, partly because we thought it was our best shot at getting water to refill our waterbottles. It was getting really hot out and both of us were sweating. I had already gone through almost all of my 2 bottles of water. I biked up to a some campers and asked where the water spigot was, and they said there wasn't one. Apparently, you have to pack your own water into the canyon area. None of the recreational areas have water. I was starting to have visions of dehydration when the man offered to let us fill our waterbottles from his own water supply that he had brought. Yet again, we were saved by the kindness of strangers.
Our ride back was easier than we thought it would be. On the way into the canyon it had looked like the way back would be significantly more up-hill, but it didn't turn out to be that way. We were also helped on the way back by a tail-wind. I rendezvoused with Lisa once, about 5 miles in, but after that I cruised at my own pace, once again lost in my thoughts, and figured we could meet back at the car. That was easy enough; we both knew where it was and I certainly wasn't going to turn back and look for her and get us separated again.
The canyon ended before I expected it to; for some reason, the way back seemed a lot shorter than the way there. Almost before I knew it, I climbed the hill and disappeared around a cliff, where I found farm land and Ellensburg once again. This is definitely a ride I would repeat again, and one I hope to introduce mom to. The next time, though, I will be smarter about water and I will (hopefully) bike all the way to the end of the canyon.
Our ride in numbers:
Total miles: 43.32 miles
Average speed: 14.9 mph
Max speed: 29.5 mph
Total pedaling time: 2:54:11
Once Lisa and I met back at the car, we loaded everything up and drove north-west to Lake Easton. We had hoped to camp and bike there, but the weather forecast was calling for rain and the nice bike trail that I remembered turned out to be gravel. So, we walked around the state park and talked a bunch and then made the call to turn back towards home. No sense camping in the rain when we were so close to Seattle.
Closing Thoughts: It is kind of depressing to be back in Seattle now, with the rain and people who don't wave at you (or smile for that matter). Lisa and I had such a great time in Eastern Washington. I got to know my bike so much better and discovered that I love bike travel. It is a really great way to see the countryside and get to know its people. You are forced to slow down, to really absorb the landscape. You notice every hill, every vineyard. Through biking Lisa and I met some amazing people, from the Allegro bike shop folks to the people who hosted us overnight. We joke that we could truly dedicate our trip to the kindness of strangers. It seemed every time we needed something, the travel fairy blessed up with people who could help us along. It was a humbling experience.
I would encourage anyone and everyone to see Washington (and Idaho and Oregon) by bike as we did. It is extremely affordable. All said, the trip cost less than $300 total per person, and that included lodging, food, gas, and even a pair of semi-expensive bike gloves. If I hadn't bought the gloves and so much wine in Walla Walla, I could have done the trip for about $240. And that was for 10 days of fun.
The trick with vacation is getting as much of it as you can in your daily life. I can't wait for my next free weekend, to find some sun and bike somewhere cool. And the STP is in only two weeks; I suppose it will be a very intense version of what I just did for the last 10 days. I can't wait!
We started our ride at the parking lot of the Flying J truck stop on Canyon Road in Ellensburg. From there we biked south on Canyon Road towards Selah. Although the road was longer than we had time for, we did cover 20 miles of it each way. Or rather, I did. Lisa was a couple of miles behind me so I doubled back to meet her and save her some mileage.
I can't speak highly enough of the scenery on Canyon Road. After we passed the outskirts of Ellensburg and some farm land, we swooped down into the Yakima Canyon with a smooth downhill. From there, the road pretty much flattened out, although there were several rolling hills and a couple of good, steep climbs. The highway wound along like a snake, following the Yakima River. We could see people rafting and floating down the river and it looked so peaceful. We had gotten an early start to our ride; it was right about 10:00 am when we left the car, so it wasn't too hot yet. At first, I stopped about every 5 miles to reconnect with Lisa; she was behind me, again on the mountain bike. No more road bike for her. I could tell she was tired, so I went along at my own pace and would wait for her at regular intervals, encouraging her to drink water. It was really starting to heat up.
The road was so pretty I took a ton of pictures while riding. I admired the cliff-like canyon walls and the sparrows that were flying in and out of their little mud homes (at least, I think they were sparrows). I even stopped at a placard to read about the geology of the area. But mostly, I just got caught up in the sun and the river and the smooth, fun road and got lost in my own thoughts. It was perfect.
At 20.11 miles, I stopped and decided I should turn back and meet Lisa, that way she wouldn't have to go quite as far. I passed a rest area about 2 miles back towards Ellensburg and was careful to scan for her mountain bike outside of the bathrooms. I didn't see anything, so I continued on. A couple of more miles down the road, I still didn't see her. I flagged down a car of elderly people to ask if they had passed a cyclist in a white shirt. They said they hadn't passed any cyclist, but if they saw her they would let her know I was looking for her. I started to get concerned. I couldn't understand why this car full of people hadn't seen her. I started to worry about her being hurt. I flagged down another car, but the guy inside said he hadn't seen her, either. At that point, I was really worried. I didn't know what to do if I couldn't find her. My cell phone didn't have any service, so I couldn't call her. I was starting to kick myself for breaking our routine and turning back to meet her, instead of staying in one spot. I continued down the road towards Ellensburg, looking for Lisa. I heard a car behind me, and when I turned around I saw the car of elderly people. They said they had passed her coming out of the rest area, and that they told her I was headed back to Ellensburg looking for her. I was so, so grateful to know where Lisa was. I thanked the people profusely and headed back towards the rest area.
I met Lisa part way there. She said she had decided to go into the rest area because they had civilized bathrooms (I had been peeing on the side of the road). I told her I had looked for her bike, and she sheepishly said she had taken her bike in the bathroom with her. I let out a great big sigh, just happy that we had found each other. I don't know what we would have done without the elderly people. Lisa would have been biking towards Selah and I would have been biking in the opposite direction, both of us without cell phone service. It would have been great to have walkie-talkies!
We decided to eat lunch at the rest area Lisa had previously stopped at, partly because we thought it was our best shot at getting water to refill our waterbottles. It was getting really hot out and both of us were sweating. I had already gone through almost all of my 2 bottles of water. I biked up to a some campers and asked where the water spigot was, and they said there wasn't one. Apparently, you have to pack your own water into the canyon area. None of the recreational areas have water. I was starting to have visions of dehydration when the man offered to let us fill our waterbottles from his own water supply that he had brought. Yet again, we were saved by the kindness of strangers.
Our ride back was easier than we thought it would be. On the way into the canyon it had looked like the way back would be significantly more up-hill, but it didn't turn out to be that way. We were also helped on the way back by a tail-wind. I rendezvoused with Lisa once, about 5 miles in, but after that I cruised at my own pace, once again lost in my thoughts, and figured we could meet back at the car. That was easy enough; we both knew where it was and I certainly wasn't going to turn back and look for her and get us separated again.
The canyon ended before I expected it to; for some reason, the way back seemed a lot shorter than the way there. Almost before I knew it, I climbed the hill and disappeared around a cliff, where I found farm land and Ellensburg once again. This is definitely a ride I would repeat again, and one I hope to introduce mom to. The next time, though, I will be smarter about water and I will (hopefully) bike all the way to the end of the canyon.
Our ride in numbers:
Total miles: 43.32 miles
Average speed: 14.9 mph
Max speed: 29.5 mph
Total pedaling time: 2:54:11
Once Lisa and I met back at the car, we loaded everything up and drove north-west to Lake Easton. We had hoped to camp and bike there, but the weather forecast was calling for rain and the nice bike trail that I remembered turned out to be gravel. So, we walked around the state park and talked a bunch and then made the call to turn back towards home. No sense camping in the rain when we were so close to Seattle.
Closing Thoughts: It is kind of depressing to be back in Seattle now, with the rain and people who don't wave at you (or smile for that matter). Lisa and I had such a great time in Eastern Washington. I got to know my bike so much better and discovered that I love bike travel. It is a really great way to see the countryside and get to know its people. You are forced to slow down, to really absorb the landscape. You notice every hill, every vineyard. Through biking Lisa and I met some amazing people, from the Allegro bike shop folks to the people who hosted us overnight. We joke that we could truly dedicate our trip to the kindness of strangers. It seemed every time we needed something, the travel fairy blessed up with people who could help us along. It was a humbling experience.
I would encourage anyone and everyone to see Washington (and Idaho and Oregon) by bike as we did. It is extremely affordable. All said, the trip cost less than $300 total per person, and that included lodging, food, gas, and even a pair of semi-expensive bike gloves. If I hadn't bought the gloves and so much wine in Walla Walla, I could have done the trip for about $240. And that was for 10 days of fun.
The trick with vacation is getting as much of it as you can in your daily life. I can't wait for my next free weekend, to find some sun and bike somewhere cool. And the STP is in only two weeks; I suppose it will be a very intense version of what I just did for the last 10 days. I can't wait!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Cassandra: (Thurs June 28) Today Lisa and I planned to ride, but it was obvious when we woke up that a rest day was in order. Lisa was having trouble climbing stairs because of sore muscles, and we wanted to save some strength for a good Friday ride in Ellensburg. So we ambled around Walla Walla with a couple more cross-training walks :-) After touring the aviary at Pioneer Park, we followed a brochure we had gotten at Tourist Information and toured many of the historic homes in the area. I really liked that. After a picnic lunch in the sun we hit the road for Ellensburg. Our drive was sunny for the most part and we did take a very fun detour at a u-pick berry place in Grandview. After stuffing our faces with cherries and blueberries (and buying a bunch) we continued on our drive. Tonight we are staying with Pedro and Karen, a couple we found through Couchsurfing. Karen was able to recommend a good road ride for tomorrow through the canyon areas, which we are excited about. We just need to get to bed soon and get a good night's sleep, and we should be ready for a great ride tomorrow. It's crazy to think that our trip is almost over. I really am trying not to think about it. We will be camping tomorrow in Lake Easton (hopefully with good weather) and riding there on Saturday. And then sometime that afternoon/evening we will head home. I can't wait to find more fun bike rides in Seattle again after this. My enjoyment of biking has been greatly revived. It's a good thing, too, since the STP is only three weeks away.
Cassandra: (Wed June 27) Lisa and I crashed hard last night after our fast-paced bike ride with the Allegro people. Even still, I had a difficult time staying asleep in the early morning hours for some reason. My sleeping bag was bugging me and the light coming in the window shone in my eyes. But the light was a good thing, because that meant sun. We set the alarms a little later this morning: 8:30 am. After a quick breakfast and packing our stuff up, we loaded everything in the car and unloaded the bikes.
Our first stop this morning was the Allegro bike shop, to get our tires pumped up and ask directions to our mid-point for last night’s ride. Lisa had lost her sunglasses and wanted to go back and get them. She also wanted to try a road bike for today’s ride, so after giving them her mountain bike for storage, she rented one of their Giant bikes.
It took some work for her to feel good on the bike. The shifting and the power cages were very different from what she was used to. We took it slow through town as she got used to the new bike and then speeded up as we headed toward the Walla Walla Mission Historical Site. The Mission was about 7 miles from town, along a route that could have been easy had the map not tried to simplify things so much. We ended up winging it when it came to several turns but miraculously made it to the front entrance without too much of a hiccup.
We locked our bikes and headed off on the trails around the Mission by foot, exploring the Great Grave and the markings of where the old Mission used to be. We even walked a little portion of the Oregon Trail, which was quite exciting. The whole area was very neat. The Mission was set up at the very beginning of the time period when people were traveling west on the Oregon Trail. It originally served to educate the Cayuse Indians and teach them religion. When people started moving west on the Oregon Trail, the Mission also served as a resting point and somewhere that people could resupply their food and medicine. The Whitman family ran the place until they were massacred by the Cayuse Indians. You see, Mr. Whitman was a doctor and the Cayuse Indians had a tradition of killing medicine men who couldn’t heal their patients. When a measles outbreak killed three Indian children, Dr. Whitman attended the funeral, not knowing the Indians were planning on killing him. They found him later in his home and attacked him and his wife, killing both of them, two of their adopted children, and 9 other people. What sadness. The area we walked around was so beautiful; without reading the placards and hearing the story we would never have imagined such tragedy taking place there.
After we walked around and ate lunch in the grass, we headed south to find Lisa’s sunglasses at a convenience store in Umapine. To get there, we retraced part of our route from last night. Now, we had been warned at the bike shop about two big things to watch out for in Walla Walla. One was biting bees that hung out near the alfalfa. We were told to keep our jerseys zipped up as high as they could go as a precaution. The other thing we were warned about was something called a Goat Head, a hard little thorn that was notorious for popping bike tires, especially on local bike paths, which aren’t adequately maintained. So we were on our guard. I kept a close watch on the road ahead of me, looking for Goat Heads. But I was not keeping a watch out for dogs. In fact, I had left my taser and my air horn in the car because we hadn’t seen any dogs the entire trip. Today, unfortunately, I wasn’t on guard against dogs, and one actually came after us on the way to Umapine.
We were riding along when the medium sized dog approached, barking loudly. It was fast, and clung close to Lisa’s leg. We had been riding two-abreast with Lisa closer to the center of the road and the dog came from across the way, near her. I think we both kind of panicked. We were screaming, “Go Home!!” as loudly as we could, but the dog was not deterred. It kept up with us and was so close I thought it was going to bite Lisa. I yelled to Lisa, “Go Faster!” but it didn’t make much of a difference. The dog wasn’t fazed. Finally, though, it got its fill of terrorizing us and turned back. My heart was pounding nearly out of my chest.
We weren’t far from the convenience store at Umapine at that point, but we couldn’t find Lisa’s sunglasses.; they weren’t on the ground and no one had turned them in. So we headed east for a jaunt and another dog came after us. I screamed at it and then at the people in the front yard who didn’t even call their dog when it started barking and running after us. I was so mad. I yelled, “Call your dog!” as loudly and angrily as I could. It was the best I could do, since I didn’t have any pepper spray for the dog or the owners.
Luckily, no other dogs came after us. We headed further south along fields of alfalfa, finally pedaling past vineyards and orchards on our way down towards Milton-Freewater. We followed a creek for a while, going up and down with the gently (and not so gently) rolling hills. Lisa started to slow down, tired from last night’s wall. After dipping down below Milton-Freewater we finally came north and rode through it, stopping to pick up some fresh apricots and cherries from a local farmer.
The ride back from Milton-Freewater was hard for both of us. I kept eating and drinking (we were very well hydrated today and spent a lot of time peeing on the side of the road) but my legs were still tired. Lisa simply hit a wall. She said she was dying, and that no amount of food or water was going to revive her body. It was just done. Unfortunately, we still had about 7 miles to go at that point, so we had to continue. We got a little lost coming back into Walla Walla (maps can be so confusing), but found the bike shop without much trouble. All in all, we had ridden almost 46 miles today.
Hot from the sun (yay!) and tired from pedaling, we did the best thing we could think of to unwind from our ride and that was to listen to live music and drink chocolate-infused wine at a local bar. Tonight we are staying with another girl we met at the bike ride last night. People have been so crazy nice to us, it is amazing. Kindness is most definitely still alive in America.
Tomorrow our plan is to ride easy, maybe stop at some wineries. We also would like to do a walking tour of the local historic homes. How’s that for cross-training? :-) And then tomorrow night we head to Ellensburg.
Our ride today in numbers:
Total miles: 45.65 miles
Average speed: 12.6 mph
Max speed: 27.2 mph
Total riding time: 3:36:44
Our first stop this morning was the Allegro bike shop, to get our tires pumped up and ask directions to our mid-point for last night’s ride. Lisa had lost her sunglasses and wanted to go back and get them. She also wanted to try a road bike for today’s ride, so after giving them her mountain bike for storage, she rented one of their Giant bikes.
It took some work for her to feel good on the bike. The shifting and the power cages were very different from what she was used to. We took it slow through town as she got used to the new bike and then speeded up as we headed toward the Walla Walla Mission Historical Site. The Mission was about 7 miles from town, along a route that could have been easy had the map not tried to simplify things so much. We ended up winging it when it came to several turns but miraculously made it to the front entrance without too much of a hiccup.
We locked our bikes and headed off on the trails around the Mission by foot, exploring the Great Grave and the markings of where the old Mission used to be. We even walked a little portion of the Oregon Trail, which was quite exciting. The whole area was very neat. The Mission was set up at the very beginning of the time period when people were traveling west on the Oregon Trail. It originally served to educate the Cayuse Indians and teach them religion. When people started moving west on the Oregon Trail, the Mission also served as a resting point and somewhere that people could resupply their food and medicine. The Whitman family ran the place until they were massacred by the Cayuse Indians. You see, Mr. Whitman was a doctor and the Cayuse Indians had a tradition of killing medicine men who couldn’t heal their patients. When a measles outbreak killed three Indian children, Dr. Whitman attended the funeral, not knowing the Indians were planning on killing him. They found him later in his home and attacked him and his wife, killing both of them, two of their adopted children, and 9 other people. What sadness. The area we walked around was so beautiful; without reading the placards and hearing the story we would never have imagined such tragedy taking place there.
After we walked around and ate lunch in the grass, we headed south to find Lisa’s sunglasses at a convenience store in Umapine. To get there, we retraced part of our route from last night. Now, we had been warned at the bike shop about two big things to watch out for in Walla Walla. One was biting bees that hung out near the alfalfa. We were told to keep our jerseys zipped up as high as they could go as a precaution. The other thing we were warned about was something called a Goat Head, a hard little thorn that was notorious for popping bike tires, especially on local bike paths, which aren’t adequately maintained. So we were on our guard. I kept a close watch on the road ahead of me, looking for Goat Heads. But I was not keeping a watch out for dogs. In fact, I had left my taser and my air horn in the car because we hadn’t seen any dogs the entire trip. Today, unfortunately, I wasn’t on guard against dogs, and one actually came after us on the way to Umapine.
We were riding along when the medium sized dog approached, barking loudly. It was fast, and clung close to Lisa’s leg. We had been riding two-abreast with Lisa closer to the center of the road and the dog came from across the way, near her. I think we both kind of panicked. We were screaming, “Go Home!!” as loudly as we could, but the dog was not deterred. It kept up with us and was so close I thought it was going to bite Lisa. I yelled to Lisa, “Go Faster!” but it didn’t make much of a difference. The dog wasn’t fazed. Finally, though, it got its fill of terrorizing us and turned back. My heart was pounding nearly out of my chest.
We weren’t far from the convenience store at Umapine at that point, but we couldn’t find Lisa’s sunglasses.; they weren’t on the ground and no one had turned them in. So we headed east for a jaunt and another dog came after us. I screamed at it and then at the people in the front yard who didn’t even call their dog when it started barking and running after us. I was so mad. I yelled, “Call your dog!” as loudly and angrily as I could. It was the best I could do, since I didn’t have any pepper spray for the dog or the owners.
Luckily, no other dogs came after us. We headed further south along fields of alfalfa, finally pedaling past vineyards and orchards on our way down towards Milton-Freewater. We followed a creek for a while, going up and down with the gently (and not so gently) rolling hills. Lisa started to slow down, tired from last night’s wall. After dipping down below Milton-Freewater we finally came north and rode through it, stopping to pick up some fresh apricots and cherries from a local farmer.
The ride back from Milton-Freewater was hard for both of us. I kept eating and drinking (we were very well hydrated today and spent a lot of time peeing on the side of the road) but my legs were still tired. Lisa simply hit a wall. She said she was dying, and that no amount of food or water was going to revive her body. It was just done. Unfortunately, we still had about 7 miles to go at that point, so we had to continue. We got a little lost coming back into Walla Walla (maps can be so confusing), but found the bike shop without much trouble. All in all, we had ridden almost 46 miles today.
Hot from the sun (yay!) and tired from pedaling, we did the best thing we could think of to unwind from our ride and that was to listen to live music and drink chocolate-infused wine at a local bar. Tonight we are staying with another girl we met at the bike ride last night. People have been so crazy nice to us, it is amazing. Kindness is most definitely still alive in America.
Tomorrow our plan is to ride easy, maybe stop at some wineries. We also would like to do a walking tour of the local historic homes. How’s that for cross-training? :-) And then tomorrow night we head to Ellensburg.
Our ride today in numbers:
Total miles: 45.65 miles
Average speed: 12.6 mph
Max speed: 27.2 mph
Total riding time: 3:36:44
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Carol - Wednesday. Al and Karen were over last night and we hadn't seen them for about two weeks. Of course this called for some wine to be consumed. While catching up we decided a golf game would be in order for Wednesday. The weather was forecast to be nice so we decided to call for a tee time about 1 pm. This meant that I would have to get my ride in early. I woke up about eight oclock and ate a couple of pieces of toast and some chocolate milk while I got my bike ready. I was able to get out of the house about nine and headed down to Marine Drive. I love this stretch of road because it has such a pretty view of the bay. Traffic was light and I had good speed heading out even with a fair head wind. I ended up riding through part of the reservation, out past the casino and on to Hovander Park in Ferndale. My favorite part of the ride was riding through the farm land and raspberry fields. It was such a pretty time of day and not too warm yet. Very little traffic if any on the rural roads. I even found a different road to bypass Marrietta. Today's ride was so nice...it really reminded me why I enjoy riding so much.
Miles 30
Average speed 14.5
I felt great even after drinking last night. By the way, I got home from my ride and had a half hour to get cleaned up and ready for golf. Yes I made it and was looking good.
Miles 30
Average speed 14.5
I felt great even after drinking last night. By the way, I got home from my ride and had a half hour to get cleaned up and ready for golf. Yes I made it and was looking good.
Carol - This past weekend I rode on my trainer Saturday since the weather was so poor. Saturday's ride was 25 miles in the morning. I had intended to ride another 25 in the evening but, alas, it didn't happen. All I can say is "it's boring riding in the house for that amount of time". When I'm on the road at least distractions and pretty scenery make the time and miles go by faster.
Sunday, I again was going to go for a long ride. The weather was marginal all day and I was afraid another big storm like Saturday's would blow through so I didn't get on my bike until about eight pm. We had just finished dinner and I decided I needed to ride and I needed to ride now. I didn't even think about the hour I usually wait after a big meal. I just knew I wanted to ride now, in the sun, and on the road. So I took off. I decided since I wouldn't be getting the miles I wanted because of the late start I would do hill work. So I rode up Lakeway and decided to try Cable Street which is very steep. I made it to the top but could tell my dinner was sitting very heavy in my stomach. I changed my plans a bit because of the stomach issue and so I could look at the pretty houses and yards by the lake. I rode down all the side roads to the lake shore and than rode back up to the main road which was also a hill. I did this the whole way back.
My biggest issue with some of my rides is my impatience. Had I waited tonight I would have felt a lot better on my ride and my performance would be much better. I hope someday I learn to slow down a bit and prepare properly.
Miles 10
Average speed 12.5 (all hills though)
Stomach was upset when I got home because I didn't wait long enough after eating to ride.
Sunday, I again was going to go for a long ride. The weather was marginal all day and I was afraid another big storm like Saturday's would blow through so I didn't get on my bike until about eight pm. We had just finished dinner and I decided I needed to ride and I needed to ride now. I didn't even think about the hour I usually wait after a big meal. I just knew I wanted to ride now, in the sun, and on the road. So I took off. I decided since I wouldn't be getting the miles I wanted because of the late start I would do hill work. So I rode up Lakeway and decided to try Cable Street which is very steep. I made it to the top but could tell my dinner was sitting very heavy in my stomach. I changed my plans a bit because of the stomach issue and so I could look at the pretty houses and yards by the lake. I rode down all the side roads to the lake shore and than rode back up to the main road which was also a hill. I did this the whole way back.
My biggest issue with some of my rides is my impatience. Had I waited tonight I would have felt a lot better on my ride and my performance would be much better. I hope someday I learn to slow down a bit and prepare properly.
Miles 10
Average speed 12.5 (all hills though)
Stomach was upset when I got home because I didn't wait long enough after eating to ride.
Carol - (Wednesday June 20) - I woke up to sunshine today and decided to call my good friend and fellow biker, Penney, to ride with me, however, I had appointments earlier in the morning so I didn't actually call Penney until about 2:00. I was able to talk her into putting down her current project and go for a ride in the sunshine with me. I was still a little bit tentative about riding in traffic since I had my incident a couple of weeks earlier so I really appreciated her coming with me not only for companionship but also for support. We met up at my office in downtown Bellingham and took off from there. It was really warm (or should I say warmer than normal) about 75 degrees. Now, I have to admit I didn't give Penney much time to prepare. She barely had time to eat an apple and get her riding clothes on plus she hadn't been on a ride for a month and the one thing that was missed was pumping up her tires. We were out about ten miles when it became apparent that my good friend was having some issues. We stopped for a minute so she could take off her sweatshirt and I gave her some of my raisens and some nuun for her water bottle. This seemed to help for a while. Our route took us into Ferndale via a way I had never been before. The roads in Ferndale were extremely congested so we were careful to stay together and watch for traffic. We were lucky that a bus stopped to let us cross by Pioneer Park were we turned and headed back to Bellingham. It was nice to be away from traffic and back on rural roads for a while and we were actually able to visit for a time. We finally made it back to Marine Drive and I had ridden ahead a ways when I pulled over and noticed I couldn't see Penney. I waited for a reasonable amount of time and decided to ride back to see if she was okay. It was obvious when I got there that she was done. We rode a little bit further before she called her husband and had him come pick her up. I felt really bad that she didn't enjoy the ride that much and especially that I didn't give her time to prepare adequately before we left. It turns out that when her time pressure was checked she was basically riding on flat tires. I still can't believe that she rode as far as she did under the challenging conditions. All I can say is "Penney you are a true friend".
Total Miles 28
Weather 75
Average speed.....Doesn't really matter as we had a good time under the circumstances.
Total Miles 28
Weather 75
Average speed.....Doesn't really matter as we had a good time under the circumstances.
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