Back In Business

After being hit last weekend, I've been off the bike for a week.

Some softball-sized bruises have developed on my legs, and while my back hasn't bruised, it has annoyed me with some pain here and there this week. Flexibility has suffered a little, but luckily that can be repaired over time. Not too much pain, but enough to notice.

Today I finally straddled the velo again, and went for a little spin. 83 km around Lake Washington, one of my favorite rides. The weather was great for this time of year, in the mid-50's. I wore my short-sleeve SIR wool jersey, and arm warmers (at least initially). Everyone else out on bikes seemed to be dressed for colder weather.. gotta love it when you're the only one out in a jersey!

It must be the perfect thickness of the SIR jersey that made it a great thing to wear today. And my wool Ibex arm-warmers are good for the colder days. They actually get too hot pretty quick, unless it's really cold out.

Finished the loop with ~3:30 rolling time, which is my usual - meaning, I can ride pretty much like I did before! I was worried that my favorite hobby would ruined for a while, but all indications are that it's not!

Bring on the winter.

My Fastest Lake Wa Loop To Date

Yesterday I set out to do a classic route for Seattle roadies - the 80k/50mi Lake Washington Loop. This was the first "big" route I started doing years ago, and once you start doing it enough you (at least I) begin to record just how fast or slow you did it, of course!

When I set out, I wanted to see just how high I could keep my average speed, which usually when doing the "hilly" version of the route (skipping the BG trail in favor of the climb through Lake Forest Park) is in the 22-25 km/h range (13.6mph -15.5mph).

Starting on Capitol Hill, I took off up the hill towards 15th Ave, climbing at 20-25 km/h, pushing it from the get-go. By the time I got to Renton (16km/10mi away) my average was 30.5 km/h. And this was with a 7-10 mph headwind out of the south! I was pretty happy with this, although a 32 km/h (20 mph) avg would've been extra-nice.

The rolling hills through Newcastle, Bellevue, and Kirkland didn't really affect the average (even the Market Street climb) as I kept up the pace on hills to at least 20 km/h (12.4 mph), if not more.

Then there was Juanita Road, with its associated two-mile climb! A light drizzle was already falling, and towards the top it turned into light snow/hail! I got over the hump with a ride-low average of 29.0 km/h, so it was still pretty decent considering the climbing.

Once on the Burke-Gilman Trail, I kept up a pace of 32-36 km/h, passing up even a few racer-types. The rain was coming down hard at this point, and without fenders on my bike (I'm an optimist) my ass was getting soaked. This was all the more motivation to get home quick! After a few miles on the Burke-Gilman Trail, I turned off towards Sand Point Way & The NOAA complex.

Then I rode through some nasty traffic in the U-Village area, past Husky Stadium, and back up Capitol Hill via 23rd Ave & Crescent Way. Starting the climb my average was at 29.3 km/h, but when I got to the top (300 feet higher) it was down to 28.2 km/h.

Start Time: 11:05 A.M.

End Time: 2:05 P.M.

Total Distance: 81 km (50 mi)

Rolling Time: 2 hours 50 minutes

Average Speed: 28.2 km/h (17.5 mph)

Bicycle: Ciocc

Cold And Wet Lake Washington Loop!

Today I did an 82-km solo ride, the Hilly Lake Washington Loop. As you can see, it starts out pretty tame, but gets more & more hilly as the ride goes on. The group of hills towards the end of the ride is going south on 5th Ave E., right next to I-5. The big hill just before that is Juanita Drive.


Here's a Google Map of the route (the green line):


There were pretty strong winds out of the south, and with the temperature at about 37 when I started, the 'warm up' to 45 degrees F by 1 P.M. didn't really help, it was still damn cold! My extremities were really cold/numb, but the wool jersey & rain-proof jacket were plenty to keep the rest of me warm.

My feet were wet/freezing/basically numb by Renton, only 10 miles into the ride! With just light booties & wool socks on my feet for warmth, once the water soaked through, the only thing I could do to warm them up was wiggle my toes & do round pedaling. It sorta works. But dammit, I should've worn plastic QFC bags under the booties..

The rain let up at about 1 PM or so, but by that time my gloves (& liners) were soaked. For the first 65 kilometers or so my hands were warm enough to compensate. But when I stopped for snacks at a corner-store on 165th and took of the gloves, that's when my hands really started to freeze! They didn't get warmed back up until I was back on top of Capitol Hill, those last 10 km were really rough.

No wonder I didn't see but eight or so other riders the whole time! I almost bailed (e.g. took I-90 back to Seattle, cut the ride in half) when I got to I-90 in Eastgate/Bellevue, but I decided that this ride would be one to remember, and hopefully one that'll make me enjoy Spring & Summer that much more!