Route to Edmonds

Today I rode up to Edmonds with one of my teammates. It was only 30 miles but my legs really felt the climbing! I looked up some routes on Bikely and then tried to piece a couple together. We got lost a couple of times but it was fun. I might try a different return route, next time though.

It was fun to try a new ride without the pressure of "leading" it. My teammate was fine with the prospect of getting lost. I had my GPS with me but when I pulled it out to find out where we went wrong I found out I had the wrong maps loaded! It did work as a compass and my teammate was right, we almost went in a complete circle at one point. Got turned around in time and headed back home though.

Good thing it wasn't raining. It was actually a nice day, but a little cold. Good day for a climbing route.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Seattle-Edmonds-Figure-8

Seattle Edmonds Figure 8

http://www.bikely.com/

Fall leaves

There were a ton of leaves on our ride today. The whole trail was covered. It's a good thing I know how wide the trail is because you couldn't see the edges.

I had a nice ride today up the Hollywood hill. I was really surprised when I went past the wineries in Woodinville, there are two new traffic circles that have replaced the light at the bottom of the hill. It was great because you no longer have to wait for the light.

I threw in an extra hill (Perkins) at the end of the ride. My teammates commented that it wasn't in my advertised "ride description" on our email group. I told them that it was a bonus hill at no extra cost. They did great though and are really good hill climbers.

Epic Rain!

Today's ride was one of the most rainy rides I have done. It was really coming down. There was lots of debris in the road and some roads you couldn't see under all the water, which made it tough to avoid pot holes. I rode under I-5 and there was a waterfall coming down from where a downspout used to be.

I saw a huge raccoon running for cover and later heard the parrots down by Seward Park.

I started off the ride solo, knowing that I would run into other riders. Days like that are fun because everybody is more friendly. Even runners were giving me "the nod". I chatted with some old friends at the Leschi starbucks but I kept going because nobody was leaving yet. As I started across the bridge in torrential rain I found a blinky tail light. I put in on my bike. If it was yours let me know but it has a good home now.

I was circling Mercer Island and saw our men's team heading the opposite way! We all stopped and I finished the ride with them. Despite the heavy rain it was warm and comfortable. The fall leaves were spectacular and made it seem bright out.

The rain had formed a small river in front of my house when I got home.

I went to Hot Yoga later on in the day. I've been doing hot yoga for a month now and it's really helped me loosen up. I'm ready for another ride tomorrow now.

Route up to Maltby

I rode up to Maltby twice. Once on Saturday and once on Sunday. It's a really nice route. I take Ravenna Avenue instead of the burke gilman trail. Ravenna Avenue is a funny street and a little tricky to follow. One of the guys called it "jimmy jogging".

It's been awhile since I've done two days of riding that weren't commuting. It was unseasonably cold this morning - low 30's but the sun came out and felt really good. I was glad to have some company for the ride. It's fun to show new people my secret routes.

Fall Riding

I've been training on the weekends with the new teammates. Many of them are new to racing so we are working on cornering and good riding form. It is fun to see them progress.

I watched the track nationals on the computer and saw that one of the riders who just started this year on the track got a 6th place in the final points race. It was very impressive!