Diversity in 60 miles.

Auri was just back from traveling and wanted to get some miles in. She wanted to visit Kent's bike shop and we'd been talking about a ride to Issaquah for awhile.

AND she had a new bike she wanted to try out, so we started off by taking some time fitting her on her new-to-her Terry road bike.

We got a late start and didn't really have much of a plan. In the end had a wonderful wandering 13 hour ride.



Since it was almost noon by the time we started, we had to have lunch and decided to stop in the Central District for lunch at Catfish Corner -- a favorite or mine. It's yummy and very authentic. Run by couple from Greenwood Mississippi. Catfish, hush puppies and fried okra! It was great. You'd think you were in the Mississippi Delta! But Seattle has far more hills and we needed the fuel!


On the floating bridge leaving Seattle


My Bianchi on the trail.


Auri on her new bike on the trail on Mercer Island.


on the trail on Mercer Island

We spent an hour or so at Kent's bike shop. They were very busy, but in the end we got to visit with him for a while.


Kent & Auri at Bicycle Center of Issaquah

We had many options of routes, but we all three (Kent weighed in) agreed that the route home would go via the Cedar River Trail. We grabbed a quick buffet lunch at the grocery store in downtown Issaquah and headed south past the skatepark that the bears like, into the forest.

Issaquah Hobart road from downtown Issaquah down to Landsburg is mostly rural, forest, with a few small villages. It's also quite hilly. I had predicted 8 or 9 miles, it was 12, but felt much longer because we gained almost 1000 feet! Auri's new bike is obviously a good fit, she was dropping me on the hills!

My good friend Nadine lives in this area so i sent her a text message saying hi. Her response said that she was at a picnic with friends. They had been hoping for a warm sunny Saturday, but were enjoying the picnic despite the chill.

Finally we noticed that the streams were flowing south, not north. We'd topped the hill and the trail was close by. We stopped for a quick photo at a bit of roadside artwork.

At the Yellow Submarine in Hobart Washington.


Auri at the Yellow Submarine

From Landsburg, which is a river crossing, a park, and the entrance (on the east) to the City of Seattle watershed, we turned west and got on the Cedar River Trail. The first few miles of this trail are crushed gravel and head through gorgeous rainforest beside the rushing river. It's one of the most wonderful places to ride that i know.

We stopped for a snack and a couple of photos

timer shot photo along the Cedar River


Auri along the Cedar River


Cedar River

In Issaquah Auri had bought a new bell for her new bike and now she found that it dinged all the time, not just when she wanted it to. It was kind of a proximity alert that she was there: ding, ding, ding. It was driving her nuts, so we rigged up a small fix with a little twig.


The effective road fix for the dinging bell.

About this time i got a text from Nadine asking where we were. When i told her, she said their picnic was only a few miles down the trail. In fact she rode out to meet us!

Now this ride, as so many do, was turning into a very diverse experience. That's one of the things i really like about cycling, is that you go through, and interact with, experience, a lot of very different places, often in quick succession.

We had started off in our urban neighborhood of apartment buildings, pedaled through (and had lunch) in an older neighborhood of affordable houses (an area that some people who don't understand it are actually afraid of) -- then we were on the trail along the freeway, with a detour through a wildlife refuge. A climb through sprawling suburban stripmalls, then through a quaint 1950s subdivision, down a forested mountainside to the charming small downtown of Issaquah. Rural farms, and the Cedar River rain forest followed that. Now as we were riding across a crumbling red brick bridge watching someone do donuts in the mud in an SUV in the field next to us Aurilee asked Nadine where we were. Nadine said, "Redneck Country!!"

We went to the picnic, ate some 'smores (fuel for the rest of the ride) and visited. It was very nice. It was a good rest, we were flattered to be invited and we had a good time. But it was about sunset and we needed to get on the road.

We rode an hour or so down the Cedar River Trail in the dark. I have not installed the generator light on my bike yet. That light gives a great cone of light that allows me to ride anywhere. My little LED battery light was ok for riding the trail, Auri's was brighter. It was fun riding along the trail in the dark, and this part of the trail is usually not as much fun, being as it's right beside a busy highway. Very little traffic at that hour though.

Neither of us drank enough water on this ride and were constantly looking to pee as we got more dehydrated and what water we did drink went right through us. I've got to do something about my drinking problem.

Once the trail ended in Renton we pedaled past the skatepark, this was the second or third one of the day, but in this one there were no skateboards. In Issaquah the skate park seemed to be mostly BMX bikes. Here it was all razor scooters.

Some back alleys took us through the city to the airport we had ridden around back in Feburary and up on to Rainier Ave. We felt strong and were going fast as we headed to Rainier Beach. Now we rode through a neighborhood that is active, busy and certainly doesn't have the best reputation. It's considered Seattle's ghetto (we weren't uncomfortable). It was lively in the glow of the neon on a Saturday night when we stopped at a Mexican restaurant to, once again, pee.

We arrived at the light rail station only moments before a train came.


My bike on light rail.


Ok, maybe that's more like it.

Off light rail at Beacon Hill we flew down the hill and climbed the last few blocks to home. It was a great ride, and we saw so much from an active urban ghetto, suburbia, a redneck picnic to a rain forest!

triple loop

I received the new wheels! It was pretty quick to put them on. I spent most of the day fighting with the front derailleur! It was frustrating.

My friend Joe came by and we spent several hours adjusting the brakes and the front derailleur. We got things pretty well set up and took it for a spin, a loop around the neighborhood ending at Joe's friend's apartment where he stopped and i continued on for a bigger loop of the neighborhood enjoying my 'new' bike. When i got back home, that wasn't enough so i rode another couple of mile loop. And lots of progress on the rebuild!



Eight miles on April 8th. Pretty cool.

Along The Lake

The Volunteer Repair Party at Bike Works was bigger than anyone could remember. Lots of people. A group of us, 4 or 5, often ride back to Capitol Hill together. Tonight there were 13 of us! It was a a great bike gang.

There are a variety of routes, most often we ride a route which takes us up the ridge to a wonderful view of above Lake Washington on 30th Ave S. But today we turned right and went down along Lake Washington. I was a little nervous about this dark route because i'm still riding with LED lights while i make change in generators; i haven't re-installed my halogen light yet.

We rode along Genesee park and into the darkness of Lake Washington boulevard. It was fine. It was in fact, amazing to be there in the night along the lake. Cruising fast in a group of friends. I felt lucky.

We swept uphill on the Olmsted Curves far faster than seemed possible, and then doubled back through the bicycle/pedestrian tunnel to Judkins park on the other side of which we picked up our normal zig zag up the spine of the hill towards home.

I love these group rides after events, because it's fun to ride together and it's really cool the way people slowly peal off along the route, the core of the group getting smaller and smaller. I'd love to have a graphic of that, i'm told that's really geeky. Anyone surprised? Didn't think so.

A gorgeous ride along the lake and good company really take the stress out of a day. I felt so much better afterwards.

There were none of the aggressive drivers i had to navigate around on the way south at 5pm. Riding at night makes you feel that the city belongs to you, it's quiet and spreads out under your wheels. The sliver of moon was beautiful, with earthshine on the dark section. I love earthshine!

The night was cold and clear and when the group had whittled down to just two of us and we got near our respective homes, we both wanted to ride some more, so we added a loop around Volunteer park.

The Octocog goes home.

Took time out of a busy, stressful day for a great talk with Kent .

He had lent me his legendary Octocog for a few weeks while my bike was disasembled. It was extremely helpful (and fun). I owed him a profuse thank you.

He came to Seattle by bus and retrieved his bike to ride home to Issaquah, so i figured i'd pedal down to the bridge with him. We stopped for photos of course. I had hooked up the trailer both to test how it worked with the new fenders and so i could stop by the food co-op and load up on a few weeks worth of groceries on the way home.

Five miles on April Fifth

All day i sat at my desk working and, in the background trying to find calmness, to center myself. Working at home i really miss the bike commute. Finally in the evening i grabbed the bike. Not my bike, my beloved Sparkle Burgundy Bianchi Volpe. I grapped the customized Redline Monocog flight 29er that Kent has generously loaned me for the last month during my bike rebuild project. He's coming to pickup his Octocog tomorrow so i figured i'd take it on one last spin. It's a REALLY fun bike.

I had an errand to run. I headed out along the edge of the hill, got a peek-a-boo view of Lake Union and Queen Anne and then up around Volunteer Park. The north end of Capitol Hill was deserted at 10pm. The only movement i saw was the little white terrier, which of course waddled right in front of me. I happily stopped and waited while she crossed.

The Octocog has 29er wheels and it just rolls over anything and everything. Curbs are not a problem. You almost want to AIM for potholes. It's a very zippy bike, corners fast and feels quick. It's no longer the single speed that Kent took on the Great Divide; i was thankful for the 8 speed freewheel. I've missed friction shifting. Like i said, it's a really fun bike.

It was a cold, mostly clear night. The wind had mostly died down and the streets were mostly dry although you could feel a little rain in the air. I snuck up Grandview for, well, a Grand View of Lake Washington, Kirkland, Windermere and the poor folks in cars on the 520 floating bridge. I swung up through the park past the Black Sun and it's tourist perfect view of the Space Needle.

Fourteenth Avenue is interesting. As it leaves the park there are tree shaded multi-million dollar mansions lining the street, really astonishingly big houses. The street was quiet except for the wide 29er tiers crunching on the pavement. But about 4 blocks along, in the middle of a block, it suddenly changes to much more pedestrian apartment buildings. As the density increased so did the activity, more cars, pedestrians, activity.

I zipped through the Seattle University Campus and up to the ever wonderful Cal Anderson park. I took a 2 minute breather to watch the Bike Polo, and then up by the fountain i rolled past a fire juggler spinning in the dark. Moving back north the streets were deserted again and i pulled up to my errand at Kinkos.

I rode 5 miles to run an errand 3 blocks from home. It was the best part of the day.

After the rain.

It was a long day and i was tired. I was ready to be home.

All day i looked out the window at the heavy rain pounding down while i was inside working. It rains in Seattle. I love the rain. Lots of people have been complaining about it lately, trying to find a way to see it as unusual, or wrong. It's not wrong. I watched the rain out the window all day as i worked. It was wonderful.

When it finally came time to leave, i pulled out my rain legs (the best rain pants i've every used) and put them on over my wool knickers.

About two blocks after i rolled out the door, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. While rain is wonderful, there can be little that is more perfect than an evening ride right after the rain stops. The air is so clear and clean and everything seems to be more alive than usual. As i pedaled north, Seattle's hills hid the mountains on the horizon, but the clouds turned deep pink and purple.

A glorious sunset after the rain. Rides like this are good for the soul.

neighborhood scramble

The guy down the hall from me has a birthday today.

I hopped on my bike and scooted out the door. I love just jumping on the bike, not needing any preparation. (Yes i have clipless, can't live without them, so i had my Keene bike shoes on.) The bike is finally starting to work pretty well. Every day i make a few more adjustments. Today i took apart the crankset, cleaned it, put the spacers in the right place and carefully put it back together, making sure every bolt was tight. I wanted to test it.

It rode really nice! The front shifting is almost dialed in. It's finally feeling good. I'm happy about that.

Riding through the neighborhood was fun. It's an active urban neighborhood and there were lots of people out. Some unfortunately in cars, but many happy people on the sidewalks and plenty of bikes.

I stopped at Cupcake Royale, i'd never been there, and bought a few cupcakes while chatting with the very pretty young woman behind the counter. Back out to the bike (it really does look good!) i couldn't just head home, so i went up towards the Park. The light rain was getting a little harder. It felt so good on my head, in my hair and on my face, but wasn't so great on my glasses.

I scampered through park, down a little hiking trail and out into the rich "Harvard-Belmont" neighborhood.

It felt great. Three miles on April third!

The Air Horn

I have this air horn for my bicycle. It was given to me -- it was kind of a joke, kind of an award. I don't think it was a comment on how i ride -- I hope not.

The horn mounts on the handlebars. It's connected to a bottle that fits into a water bottle cage, you pump air into it with a bike pump, pump to a really high pressure. It's loud. It's REALLY loud. I don't like to be close to it.

About a week ago i mounted it on the newly painted bike. Mounting it was also kind of a joke -- i was going to be riding with the folks who gave it to me. They laughed when they saw it. I honked it a few times for fun, in industrial areas away from homes or people. The cyclists with me didn't want to be in front of me when i honked it.

I rode with it for a week. I never once used it for it's intended purpose. But i thought about it a lot. I didn't actually ever think about using it, but i thought about the horn.

There are lots of minor conflicts daily with motorists who are distracted, aggressive or clueless. But all of those, even the frustrating ones, i handle without the need for sounding like an 18 wheeler. Sometimes i get annoyed, mostly i just stay alert and take action. I rarely, if ever, get into a verbal conflict.

So riding along i started thinking about how this thing might be used. There are really only two ways: prophylactic or punitive.

It could be used as a prophylactic measure -- to prevent something. If something was about to happen i might use it to try to prevent a conflict. A loud burst on the horn might, perhaps, alert a driver who was doing something crazy, like the Taxi cab last week that was baring down on me on a one lane residential street. But in those situations i'm more concerned with taking evasive action, my finger does not naturally go looking for the horn button while i'm getting out of the way.

Or it could be used as a punitive measure -- in anger, after someone threatened me and the danger had passed. Punishment. The other night a Cadillac switched to my side of the street flipped their bright lights and drove straight at me. I could've blasted the horn as i squeezed by them. But my being a jerk because they were a jerk would not make it better. That's not who i want to be.

Today a car ran a stop sign in front of me, didn't slow down, didn't even pretend to stop. THIS. This was the only situation where it might make sense to use the horn. But i didn't. I yelled, but my natural reaction was to take evasive action and keep both hands on the bars.

It's a fun thing but there really is no good time to use it. I removed it from the bike today. If i'm ever in a parade maybe i'll put it back on.

Cricket World Cup

I got my riding in awfully early today. I was up well before dawn for the final of the Cricket World cup. It's being played in India, meaning that the game was overnight here in Seattle. I was up at 3. I zipped over to a friend's house and we watched together. Sri Lanka couldn't quite hold off India, and a billion people celebrated the glorious victory. I had a couple of nice rides on the quite streets of Seattle.

riding in the rain.

I didn't have bad clothes. So it wasn't bad weather.

It rained very hard today. I love it so much, i love watching it, i love hearing it. Really the sound of rain is the most wonderful sound in the world, it's comforting, cozy, safe.

My wool knickers, wool shirt and sweater, wool socks, rainlegs and custom bike wizard jacket kept me warm and dry enough on the ride south in the morning. The ride north in the evening was quite the same.

The feeling of the rain on my face makes me happy, it feels so good, so real! It's weather that reaches out and touches you. I revel in it.

First day of April, fifteen wonderful, wet miles.