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:
Casey is Kristin and my first dog together. He is 4 years old now and the greatest little rat terrier. He loves fetch and loves to run. I assembled a slideshow of pictures of Casey here to share.
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).
I am pretty tired today, just a bit overloaded at work and trying to juggle too many things. So I thought it would be a good day for some doggy pictures. They always make me feel better.
I want to see how the Flickr version of the Chilly Hilly slideshow looks. I am considering a switch over.
The ride was great, Cascade Bicycle Club knows how to organize a ride. It was well supported and there was a lot of people providing snacks, food, cider and encouragement. Riding over on the ferry was a treat. Seeing all the bikes in the ferry really makes you wonder what it would be like if every day people rode their to work. The forecast was horrible, wet and cold, instead we got a light sprinkle for the 8am starting riders and mid-40s weather all day. The sun was out and it was beautiful.
I was on the first ferry out and weeble-wobbled out with the mass of cyclists in the start. My initial speed was 5mph out of the ferry and it didn't get much better until 4 miles in. It was just too crowded. Everyone was cheerful though and a lot of the riders were experienced with group rides so there was a lot of calls of "Car up, Car Back, and on your left". The first 10 miles are a joy, the hills are small and it lures you in. Later on the hills started getting steep, I have heard various stories about how steep they were. Supposedly the hills are only 8% grade, but my garmin edge doesn't agree with them. Three of the hills were longing and about 11-12%, some of the middle third were short and steep. The crowd pushed me along and I averaged a decent clip. I did see a trike at the beginning but the rider was faster than I and I only caught a glimpse of him once in the 33 miles around.
I did stop at the famous cider stop at the 18 mile mark, but I didn't get any cider, I was too concerned with pushing onward. Overly concerned it turns out, I neglected my nutrition and hydration. Nearing the end of the ride I had my left calf cramp up, I couldn't move my leg and crashed down. I was able to get my right leg out and catch myself so it was a controlled crash. Lucky for me someone stopped right away and massaged my leg and helped me stretch it out. I drank a bit of my propel (water) and finished the ride. At the end my calf stiffened up again but it was at least walkable. Everyone on this ride was great. I talked to a Giro rider (another recumbent) and kept pace with him for a bit, until he and his wife left me in the dust. I believe I saw five recumbents on the ride; A Giro 26, a Terratrike Tour, a yellow Haz (sic), a tandem Rans Screamer, and a tandem with a recumbent captain and upright stoker.
I rode the Chilly Hilly today. I had a ton of fun though I did have some nutrition issues that caused my left leg to cramp up. All my fault but it was and is painful. My asthma is annoying me and it caused me some concern as well. But the ride is great, 33 miles around the edge of scenic Bainbridge Island. I recommend it. The people and the scenery were wonderful.
I discovered that my terratrike happily fits on my Ultimate Pro Elite repair stand. It made working on the brakes and cleaning the drivetrain much easier. I also discovered my chain is at about 50% wear, so I need to start looking into a new chain before it wears too much more. But the trike is much better adjusted now. I can't wait to ride it tomorrow.
This is last week December 22. Snow everywhere, we were basically snowed in.
Here is today's winter ride.
As you can see there is much less snow after the 40 degree weather returned and we got a bit of rain. But we still have a lot of snow and the ponds are still frozen as the temperatures are only above freezing for short periods of time. On the other hand it was nice to go for a bike ride again. Kiley (the corsa) treated me very well and even with the snow I didn't do badly for speed. My cough got ugly near the latter half of the ride as it got darker and colder. The ride was about 12 miles so it was just a short little thing but it made me feel good.
The snow this week has paralyzed Kirkland and Seattle. They aren't plowing the roads as they have almost no plows. Even those they do plow they don't put the blade all the way down so it skims over the packed snow/ice. No rock salt here, they use sand instead. This means the roads are horrible, even today 3 days after the last snowfall it is icy and cars are stuck on hills everywhere. It is snowing now and there is snow forecast for the next 5 days with some frozen rain mixed in for tomorrow.
The drivers are terrible, I see people spinning out, trucks weaving in and out of other drivers being more careful and skidding while doing it. It is nasty. My hatred of turning right on red is in full force. Tons of near accidents caused by people trying to turn right on red while cars skid toward them on ice. As a cyclist I already hate "right turn on red", but this week gives me even more reason to hate it. Hopefully we can avoid driving until this mess is over.
This is our second bit of snow this week, but today we got significant snow not just a dusting. The roads are not good because everything is hilly here and there is limited snow clearing. Everything will freeze tonight so it will be worse tomorrow. Today though it is very pretty.
Casey and Lucy had quite a bit of fun so far in the snow. No pictures but Lucy loves it and romps around while Casey shivers and wants to go inside quickly.
I was getting annoyed by clipping my bladder hose to my shirt/jacket. Being attached to my Corsa is much more annoying than it was on the trike. Every light or stop sign stressed the connection and I had trouble if I needed to get off. I was inspired by Jim's VK2 blog and the way he routed his water bottle hoses and bladder hoses. I used one of those office badge holders that has a spring loaded extension on a clip. I zipped it to my bottle holder as a test and took it for a test ride.
As you can see from the slideshow, the hose fits nicely next to my seat and doesn't catch on anything. It is easy to grab and drink, and when I release it snaps back into place. I can probably get something a little stronger but this works for now. I am thinking of doing something similar to my water bottles. If I can get hose assemblies that fit on the water bottle I can then route the hose similarly. By using tubes that feel and look different I can tell the water tube apart from a water bottle tube with NUNN or some form of liquid nutrition. That would work well for long rides.
Kristin used to try to get me to clean the garage. I am a slacker and didn't do it for years at a time. Now with the bikes and the work area I go and do it for myself. Luckily Kristin is happy that it is cleaned and not bitter my years of slackerdom.
We bought a lot of bins and labeled and binned a most of the garage a few weeks ago. What I did today was clean off the work desk, rack the tools, clean off a table, and move all the bikes around to save space. This created a work area for the new bicycle stand (Ultimate pro elite repair stand). I threw an old sheet down for the work area since we have an infestation of drywall dust in our garage. I mop and sweep and it never goes away.
I used the opportunity to add reflective tape and stickers to the Corsa (Kiley). She is all bright now, it will make a difference commuting and randonneuring. I am also putting reflective tape on my helmet.
Kristin also got me to repair the broken drawer in her bathroom and hang a picture in the Living room. We also tested a new dog seat for Lucy to cut down on her whining and did a lot of grocery shopping.
Here is the Corsa, Kiley. I didn't take a picture with full kit on her. When I rode this morning it was raining pretty hard. Now of course it is sunny and nice. Silly weather.
I am still waiting on the lighting system but my current setup is good enough to commute with. Kiley is a sweet ride. I had a small fall at 10 miles, scraped my left brake handle and shifter. Superficial damage only. The water bottles, panniers and seat bag are wonderful. I have calibrated my cycle computer so I will have an accurate odometer for her as well.
My ride was 20 miles at an average of 13.7 mph. The average speed doesn't tell the full tale. I took it really easy on the way back after the fall. The leaves and the fall really sapped my confidence. I was cruising at 18mph for a good bit on the trail. An upright passed me and I automatically followed. It felt good, I kept it up for 2 miles and then stopped to adjust the seat. My ride on the Burke Gilman was just a break in ride so I expected it to be slow. Once I get used to Kiley she will be like the wind.
I also rode to work, at least all the uphill portions of that ride. Kiley makes me work on the hills but I can do it. My speed on the hills is 30-50% better than my trike. I didn't wear the heart rate monitor but I suspect my HR was up. I was nervous and working. I will commute with Kiley, so this hill will soon become routine. I don't care if I have to walk her up, I will make it through the hills. I will continue to commute at 7am to keep the traffic down.
I made it down to Angle Lake Cyclery on Friday to test ride some Bacchetta recumbents. My goals were to test ride the Giro 20TT, the Corsa-24 and the regular Corsa. When I got there Dale told me he sold the Giro 20TT on Thursday to a Canadian who really needed it right now! No worries, he had a Corsa-24 built up and ready for a go.
The first thing I noticed about the Corsa-24 is that my feet were flat on the ground. The bike seemed a little small to me in that regard but the pedal position was perfect. I took it out for a ride, Kristin captured the test rides in the slideshow above. The aero bars on the Corsa-24 were a bit tight. My legs are beefy and wide, the bar hit my legs when turning even small angles. Dale added a few spacers and moved the bar up and also changed the angle. It worked but I was definitely considering a different bar.
The ride was great, stable at low speeds, solid power transfer, light, responsive, a great bike. I rode it up and down the street enjoying every second. I headed back thinking that if the Corsa-24 was this easy, what about the regular Corsa in a medium frame. So I asked Dale about the Corsa with the 650c rims. He had a Corsa S/S there in medium so I took it out next. At this point, Dale had more people in the shop so it wasn't adjusted as much for me, it also had a recurve seat on it, which wasn't what I wanted. I gave it a spin though and really loved it.
After I came back Dale and I chatted a bit about options and what modifications he could do and what would be a good idea. I asked about the a Dynohub for lighting and he said it would be no problem and he has the Schmidt Hub in stock. He also said that he has a really nice fender solution for the Corsa. That excited me as I thought I was going to have to use SKS race blades for fenders, the opportunity for real fenders sounds great for someone in the Pac NW. We also chatted about Q-Rings. I told Dale I needed to chat with Kristin and work out the finances but I would be giving him a call. I think I found my STP and randoneuring bike. This will be my dream bike. I will be selling the trike and keeping the Vivo as a backup ride and guest ride.
My Corsa build plans:
2008 Corsa, Black, Medium frame
155mm Cranks (possibly 153mm, I may have to get Ultegra cranks cut down)
Q-Rings (53,40,30)
Euromesh Seat (standard)
Rans B-38 Bar (recommended by Dale, good idea for my beefy self)
I recently got my Garmin Edge 305. This is a cycle computer + GPS combo designed for training. It has a heart rate monitor, cadence sensor, altimeter and all the trimmings including a virtual trainer. You can race yourself on courses you have done before. It only lacks a base map and mapping software. But the mapping stuff is in the 705 and was $400 more. I went with the cheaper option but very nice.
I mounted it on my Rans Vivo and my Terratrike Tour. I love it, it is easy to use on the Trike and the Vivo. I get wonderful trip reports and data out of the Edge and on the motionbased web site. I will be able to improve my pedal stroke, and my fitness level quite nicely with my new toy. Since I don't have even a basic cycle computer on any of my rides right now this is extremely welcome. One of the fun things is being able to view the ride in Google Earth. Tomorrow I will take the Vivo out and ride on the trails by Marymoor. I hope to log twenty or thirty miles tomorrow, but it depends on how much I have left in my legs.
Yesterday marked three weeks of commuting by bike. Feels a bit weak since my previous record was 5 years of commuting but it sure is better than not riding. I am enjoying the ride quite a bit. My new route is simple, safe and nearly traffic free. It is also quite scenic.
I love riding though communities where there is a ton of greenery. Trees that are older than the houses is very common. I hate modern development with its tear down the whole lot to dirt then build methodology. Such a waste. All the trees and green make my ride very nice, everything smells good and it is so quiet. Even though I cross the I405, I can't hear it just 1 block away.
Here is a slideshow to illustrate my commute. This is a bit of a mashup of October commutes. As you can see in pictures, it has gotten significantly darker on my ride in. I now leave in the pre-dawn light.
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