The "7 Hills of Kirkland" ride was today, and I did the century option - gotta keep the legs fresh for the 600km brevet in June!
The century route went like this, in a figure-eight of sorts:
And the elevation profile - just look at all those ups n' downs! Max elevation was only 600 feet or so, nothing major. But of course the shorter the climb, the steeper it usually is.
Long story short, I accidentally skipped part of the route (the Winery Hill portion) for a grand total of 145 km (~85 mi), but the 27 km (~17 mi) journey to the ride via I-90, and the 10km (~6 mi) ride back over 520 made it a century day nonetheless.
It was a great ride, and I held a good pace the whole time - averaged 27.1 km/h (~16.9 mph) over the entire course. While I had my cue sheet taped to my handlebars, a rando habit, I soon realized that all the "Dan Henry" marks on the ground meant I didn't need it! What a difference those make; brevets would be lots easier with them, but at the same time they'd take away from the challenge rando's are looking for.
I tried a new approach on this ride, which was to stay on the bike as much as possible. To that end, I skipped the first two rest/food stops, and only stopped twice, for maybe 15 minutes off the bike the whole time. (One pee break in Carnation, and a food/water stop at the 50mi point).
By staying on the bike I was being passed by pacelines, then passing them as they rested. Then they'd pass me again. Not sure how it all turned out - I mean it wasn't a race, but these are the things I pay attention to.
Photos from the ride to the ride, and the ride itself
The view east before heading out - you can barely see the base of the Space Needle, but not the rest of it. Just fog though, no rain, and I'm gambling that it won't (e.g. not bringing a rain jacket).
My Ciocc, ready to take me where I want to go - Kirkland. Land of the SUV and latte-in-hand.
Rolling through the Central District, this is more or less my commute route too (Jefferson St).
Only a cyclist could love a shot like this - everyone else probably thinks this shot is pointless.
Now on the I-90 bridge/bike path, about to be in Bellevue. Don't be fooled by the serenity of the scene - there's 10+ lanes of Interstate traffic behind me, it's really loud!
Downtown Bellevue - I'm really glad I don't work here anymore, it's generally a Boring Place.
I had Bellevue Way more or less to myself - which is nice because in a few hours there'll be a sea of cars on this road!
Arriving in Kirkland at the start of the ride - lots of bikes, nobody I know though. But we're all on the same tighly-clothed team!
Now on one of those backroads in Carnation - it kind of looks like it's raining in this pic, but I think that was sweat on the camera lens.
Again I'm not sure where this one was, but doesn't that look familiar?! Seems like the roads in the Kirkland-Carnation-Duvall-PNW area all look the same - lovely. Who needs a shoulder when there's barely any traffic anyway?
Now back in Seattle, a few blocks from home.
Total Distance: 27 km to K'land, 145 km on the ride, 10 km back = 182 km (113 mi)
Total Time on the 7 Hills Course: 7:50 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. = 5 hours, 40 minutes (5:25 rolling time)
Average Speed: 27.1 km/h (16.8 mph)
Food eaten: Two Payday bars, one snickers, two "Sweet & Salty" bars from Kellogg, some fig newtons, two cookies, two bananas (not a lot, but enough)
2 comments:
no fair! winery hill is the steepest part of the ride, as steep at the turn to go up falles road from high bridge, but winery is longer...ok ok, you rode there, ill let this one go.
i was there too, we started about the same time, but i did some stopping, so you finished earlier than i did.
no wonder the hills "didn't seem so bad!"
next year i'll know the route, and will do the whole thing, i promise.
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