Ride Report: Capitol Hill To Everett & Back

I ventured out with the goal of riding North, and with light rain and temps around 45 or so, it was a perfect day for it! Since I was on the Bianchi, w/ a handle-bar bag, I could carry more food than usual, a rain jacket, and my camera! I wasn't out to break any personal speed records, just to get some miles in, Randonneur style.

Distance: 109 km
Rolling time: 4 hrs 48 minutes
Avg Speed: 22.5 km/h
Start Time: 11:55 AM
End Time: 5:30 PM

Here's a series of photos, starting with me on Capitol Hill at about 3 km into the ride: (I-5 is the big road in the center)


15 km into the ride, at 5th Ave NE & 130th St

Not as fast as the Ciocc, but the full fenders & handlebar-bag make for a comfortable ride! I slapped the Brooks on it, since the original Bianchi seat is horrible, just horrible. This is at a little quickie-mart at 5th Ave NE & 165th St, 25 km into the ride:


Once I hit 76th Ave just North of Shoreline, I started seeing signs for the Interurban Trail. It goes about 20 km from Lynnwood to Everett more or less, but I've always had problems finding it. Well eventually the signs stopped, and there I was, in the middle of Lynnwood without a map. What I do at that point is to find the nearest Ave (North-South) that isn't a "dead end" and just take it. I did that for 5 km or so, and eventually ran into the trail!



This creepy drive-up movie theater looks abandoned, but was apparently working as recently as 10 years ago. Interurban Trail is on the left:

Eventually some construction ended my joyride on the Interurban, and it was back to the streets. I knew at that point that Aurora was my best bet, so I headed towards it, and eventually found it.

Aurora Ave/Highway 99 (called Pacific Highway at this point) - this is where the traffic really gets crazy, but there's at least a turn-only lane that allows bikes! But a painted bike lane? Check back in 20 years, maybe then.


Rolling into downtown Everett, about 55 km into the ride:


Finally, some rest! This was at the little park off of Grand Ave in Everett, with Marysville in the background.


Looking North-East into the Cascades - looks chilly!

Looking West over the bluff:


Heading back towards Seattle, this is "downtown" Everett, WA:


Now back on Aurora, at about 75 km into the ride:


Ahh, Seattle! This was from the top of Capitol Hill looking West towards Queen Anne. Crappy pic but you get the idea:

Next time I'll probably bring some actual maps to avoid getting thrown off-course, but then again, getting lost is entertaining! And educational, I'm really getting to know the backroads of the Puget Sound!

A Ride North To Marysville & Back, Just For The Hell Of It

I start back at work on Monday, so today's my last day as an unemployed cyclist for quite a while. I threw my Brooks saddle & handlebar bag on my newly fendered Bianchi, my new rando bike. Where to?

Today I'm gonna see how far North I can get - I know I can at least hit Marysville, which is about 40 miles away. I did it this summer on my fixie, but it doesn't have an odometer, so I don't know exactly how far it was. The question is how much night riding do I want to do?

Check the map on veloroutes here.

The route, roughly:

1) Head north on Broadway Ave
2) Keep heading north through the U-Dist, on 12th Ave N
3) Left on 75th St, quick Right on 5th Ave N (next to I-5)
4) Left on 185th St, another quick right on 5th Ave (now on the West side of I-5)
5) Left on Highway 104/Ballinger Way
6) Right on 76th Ave W
7) Intersect with Highway 99, Aurora Ave/Pacific Highway/Evergreen Highway, if you're feeling adventurous, and don't mind lots of traffic. (But the right lane is turn-only, except for bikes, so it's actually not that bad once you're outside of Seattle proper)
8) Follow 99 ~16km to Everett, turns to Broadway Ave
9) Left on 20th Ave
10) Right on Grand Ave (next to the waterfront, nice views)
11) get on Highway 529 (there's a tiny sidewalk on the bridge, the rest has large shoulders. Use caution!)
12) After a few scary miles on 529, you're in Marysville! Kind of a let-down to arrive there, yeah..
13) Possibly take a left on 4th/Marine Drive, a rolling road that I've done once in the dark
14) Reverse!

I've got these directions scribbled down on a piece of paper, screw a map! Hopefully I can do this one again from memory, and at worst I'll be asking for directions.

But dammit, it's 11:30 A.M.. I'm not an early-riser, oh well. There'll be some night-riding involved, but I've got a camera along this time so the next post should be fun.

Getting Ready for Randoneuring in Seattle

My riding buddy reminded me that the Seattle Intl. Randonneurs are having a "meet the team" ride this Saturday, and it looks like we'll be there! We already do unsupported long distance rides, but this is basically taking it to the next level.

What the hell is this randoneer crap, you say? Basically it's all training for an insane ride called the Paris-Brest-Paris, that just happens to be 1,200 km (745 mi) long.. Oh, and did I mention you have to complete those 1,200 km's in 90 hours?!

But before you're even allowed to ride the PBP, you have to complete a series of 'brevets' - up to 600 km I believe.

And interestingly, it's supposed to snow on Saturday - I might be showing up on the miyata fixie complete with zipties on the rear wheel for traction, we'll see.

Anyway, I'm really excited to check out the SiR crowd and see what their rides are like. I just hope they aren't too anal, e.g. saying, "that's not a rando bike," or, "you won't/can't do PBP on that bike." Hopefully they'll be laid back, positive, and open to all types of bikes, including my fixie and my ciocc race bike. (And yes, I've got full fucking fenders on the fixie, thank you very much)

2007 STP Photos

Just ordered some photos from this year's STP double-century! Once I get the larger versions I'll throw 'em up here, but for now here are some tiny versions.

Here's Dennis and I a few miles into the ride:


Not sure exactly where these were taken:





Here I am finishing (and finished) in Portland:


Here's me (on left) and Dennis in Portland, proudly holding our STP one-day patches!



Can't wait 'till next year!