Lake Washington Loop

Today I rode the Lake Washington Loop with Russell. He started in Gas Works Park and rode around to Kirkland and I joined him there. Russell had a bit of an incident with his Lightning Phantom so he was riding his Salsa today. The ride was great for me, Russell did 21 miles before reaching me and about 1200 ft of climbing, this had the nice effect of putting me in the lead for most of the ride. This was both of our first time riding the Lake Washington Loop, so there was a bit of navigating and exploration. The ride itself is not too hilly, probably the worst part is Juanita Dr and I got to ride that alone. It is a very nice route for a 40 degree day in the sun. The views are excellent, the traffic light and there were quite a few cyclists out there. One of the high points for me was running into an group ride of novices on the SW side of the lake. There were about 15 or so of them struggling up a hill. I had the distinct pleasure of passing the entire group while climbing up this hill. Quite the ego boost though they were obviously novices. Recumbents don't get to pass uprights (normal) bikes on hills very often. It was about a 6% grade if my Garmin is to be trusted. The ride was a great experience and I felt great throughout, my left leg was a little tight but I had no problems completing the ride. Overall 54 miles, 2600 ft of climbing and my heartrate stayed in Zone 3 almost the entire ride.