Velodog tryouts

Today was a rest day for training on the STP. So we had an impromptu Velodog tryout session. Here are some of the photos.


Casey was calmer inside the velomobile but he didn't want to put his feet down on the side. Lucy was a wee bit more excitable but she was happy to put her feet down. Once she was set she didn't want to get out. She loved it and wanted to nap in the sun while I rode around with her. I think with a little work I have a Velodog!

Of the pictures taken though, I think this one is my favorite:

Lucy

I love this picture of Lucy rolling around in the dirt. It really conveys her playfulness. I find Lucy so cute and fun. She has such wide range of behavior, and really is a doggy dog. She goes from Fashionista:

to Playful:

to Intent:

to Competitive:

to lounging:

she digs:

And she always is part of our pack with Casey:

Sunday Dog park visit

Kristin and I headed to the dog park on Sunday. We ran into a number of friends and had a great time.

Commute Pictures over time.

I love commuting by bike. It is fun, it keeps me in shape and I get to decompress after work with a beautiful ride and workout. I thought it would be fun to show a number of the pictures I have taken commuting over the Spring and Summer. So here goes:

The Recumbent Point of View.


Raptobike Commuting in the Rain.


The View from behind me.


Me and My Steed.


The Raptobike at the Office.


The traffic I avoid


The view behind me on the Sammamish River Trail.

Great fun at the Dog park today

We went to Magnuson "Small Dog" Dog park today early in the morning. We saw Uno and his family (Aden and Mark) as well as Lola and her family. We also met the cutest Italian Greyhounds. 3 in one family and 1 in another, the stars were Blaze and Neville, both very cute and unusually dog friendly Italian Greyhounds. There was also an unknown black dog who played fetch with Casey and hung out. Lots of very cute pictures with the two of them hanging out and playing fetch.

This was one of the best days we have had for Casey playing with other dogs and Lucy had a ton of fun with the Italian Greyhounds and the French Bulldogs (no pictures of that unfortunately).

Sunday Dog park pictures

On Sunday, Kristin and I met some friends at Magnuson Park for some fun. We tried to schedule it later in the day to avoid the heat but it was still very hot. Though not as hot as it is today in Kirkland, 110.5 F right now.

Marymoor Park with the dogs

We went to Marymoor park today instead of our previous plans. It worked out well as both Casey and Lucy love the dog park. It is hot today so Lucy spent a lot of time lounging around.

and Casey played fetch the whole time.

We did see a number of other dogs, including this beautiful German Shepard


All in all a great day. Click through on the pictures to see all 130 photos from today.

My Commute - a photo essay

My morning commutes in the summer are beautiful and a great way to start the day. Hopefully this gives you an idea of why I like it.

DKW arrives at my house to start the ride. We head out from here N on Market. That route quickly gets us to Juanita Dr. Since there is a downhill section on Market I wait for DKW after the left turn on Juanita.

Here I am.

Here is DKW.

DKW snaps a picture of me as we start up the hill on Juanita. After the 2 or so miles uphill there is a long downhill section, I normally hit 38 mph in traffic, 43 mph if there is space. I generally lose DKW on the downhill. Today I made both lights and had a bit of time to wait.

Here I am.

Here is DKW (hiding in my helmet). We now get on the BG trail and take it to the Sammamish River trail.

Here is the river.

The headwinds give me the advantage on this part of the ride


DKW is a machine though and rides alone with me even when I push it on the SRT.

The trail always has such nice views.

Check out my entire photoset for more pictures of the commute. I love this ride. It always makes me feel good in the morning.

Alice in Wonderland - Red Queen

Something about this picture reminded me of that classic picture of Alice painting bushes red for the Red Queen.

Random thought and progress on goals.

Today I noticed that I am now wearing at least one medium shirt. I am finally starting to shed the large sized clothes. I am still XL in athletic fit cycle jerseys but cyclists are the most weight obsessed athletes anyway. The last few days I overate but it is nice to see that my belly at least seems to be shrinking.

I haven't made any real progress on my randonneuring goals but there are some summer 200k routes coming up and I will schedule one of them. I needed more time than I thought to get into century shape and wasn't ready for the March 200k run by SIR. This weekend DKW and I will be doing 120 miles. Our plan is 2 laps around the Lake Washington Loop route both with an extension over to Marymoor and using the 520 trail to get back to the loop trail. Our estimate is 120 miles but we haven't ridden it this way and I suspect that our estimate of 60miles/lap is high. I'll bet it drops down to 110 miles give or take.

Miles and miles of riding has been helping my weight, it provides a nice buffer zone when I go off my diet. I haven't had any real swings in my weight and I attribute that to the riding. I also want to remember to do a bit of maintenance to the bike tonight, I had the chain slip off since it is a bit loose after the switch to a 13T cog. I am going to remove a link which should tighten it up a bit, I might remove two but if I do, it will be one at a time.

I also updated the blog to have links to my Flickr photostream. I have been taking more pictures and Kristin and I just ordered a new camera since the old canon we have is starting to fail. I have completely made the switch to Flickr and now use Picasa only for derivative or copied photos.

Moon over Kirkland

A nice shot from near my house.