Snow!

Woke up at 3am to see it was snowing! Later on when I was putting on my bike shorts at 5:45 am my husband thought I was crazy. He said "you know those are your bike shorts don't you?" But I was just going to the bus stop to put my bike on the bus so I could ride home after work. It was 38 on the way home and very cold but nice. I'm just happy not to be on the stinky bus.

It looks like it might freeze again tonight and more snow is predicted...we'll see.

Cold Weekend

I rode inside this weekend. Most of my friends rode outside but I just don't feel like going out if there is ice. Everyone says there is no ice and then I hear the stories later. I heard that 4 out of 21 riders on the Zoka team crashed on ice today. I'll stick with my Computrainer, thanks.

I watched 4 movies: East of Eden, Danny Deckchair, Swimming with Sharks, and the Corporation (a documentary). I love getting to watch so many movies and not feeling like I'm wasting time. It's a consistent workout too because you have to pedal the entire time.

I really liked Danny Deckchair - it was hilarious!

Cougar Mountain Ride

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Cougar-Mountain-Doubleback

I went down to Leschi at 9:30 to meet the group and there were about 50 cyclist out front from the various teams; O Boy Oberto, Wines of Washington, Second Ascent, Group Health. Groups of 5-10 cyclists would head out together or ride by and it reminded me of flocks of birds going on their way.

Today was the first ride up Cougar (the easy side) this year. There was snow on the lawns at the top and it was pretty cold so we opted to head back down the less steep side instead of going down the steep switchbacks. There was a lot of gravel on the road too from recent sanding.

I wore three pairs of gloves on one hand and two pairs on the other hand. It didn't seem to make any difference in warmth. I think I will just go with two next time because that makes it way easier to drink! My feet were warm with the new insoles though.

May Valley in the Sun

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/May-Valley-with-SR900-Shortcut

It was sunny today and it seemed like everybody was out. Today was a co-ed ride so we had a big group leaving from Zokas. The sun was low in the sky and was blinding! It was tricky to see all of the potholes with the sun peeking through. I asked somebody if there was special gear people wore for this sunshine.

I finally got the toasty feet inserts recommended by Stoked. Of course it was the warmest day of the year so far too - 50 degrees so my feet were not cold. More testing to come. I love the astornaut on the package!

I had Chinese food the night before and it didn't agree with me. I was not feeling that great so I opted for the shortcut of the valley instead of going the whole way. As I shot between Cougar and Squawk mountains the temperature dipped quite a bit and it felt like winter again. But sunshine was waiting on the other side. So much sun after so many rainy days makes people a bit giddy.

The group caught me just before the sprint through the arboretum. My legs muscles were searing after that and I needed a nap when I got home.

Snohomish Fales Woodiville Ride

Went up to the church and then towards snohomish and back up Fales Road. One of the riders Clay, wore out his tire and got a bunch of flats. I had a massive boot patch that I gave him - it's really just an old tire cut up for patches. While we were standing around waiting and I caught myself looking down at the clover. I made an effort not to look for a 4-leaf clover but then as I was putting away my pump I couldn't help seeing one. I picked it and the group insisted he had to take it on his bike to help with the flats. It almost worked - he had one more but we were almost home by then.

As we were heading back down the Woodinville Snohomish road I got hit but a big gust of wind and almost ended up in the other lane. Overall the weather wasn't bad, just a little rain.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Snohomish-fales-Road-Woodinville

I saw the yellow cat out on the trail today too!

Lucky Socks

I did hill repeats on Queen Anne after work and decided to stop by our sponser's store on the way home, Speedy Reedy/

and what did I see - Lucky Socks! I had to buy them of course.

Windy and Rainy Ride

I think the forecast for today was isolated thunderstorms, high winds 20-25 with gusts of 50 and 100 percent chance of rain. The weather forecasters exaggerate a bit but it was still a pretty blustery day. Definitely a plastic jacket day. I started at Zokas and then stopped by Leschi to meet the girls and when I went in Starbucks almost all of the Wines riders were wearing the plastic jackets.

It was pretty rainy at the start and I looked at the sky and there was this huge grey cloud in the sky extending along the horizon. The sun was just below it and still rising up behind the cloud. It looked like an inverted sunset - very foreboding.

We headed down to the Maple Valley trail and we saw what looked like a boulder in the middle of the trail. I figured it was one of those wet spots in the road that looks like something else but I called a "heads up" just in case. It was a boulder about 4' high and it was split in two, so it must have fallen hard. It was too big to try and move out of the way for others. I hope no one smashes into it!

We had three flats on the ride which is a lot when you only have four people to start with. The last one was right in front of Liz's house so she gave us a ride to the other girl's car and I finished up the last few miles.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Cedar-River-Trail-Lollypop

New Track Bike!!!!

This is my new track bike! I'm going for the industrial look. I was looking for an entry level track bike for my first year of real racing. I did a few races last year but now I'm hooked and I'm ready to race.

The guys at the store didn't notice me at first and then they looked up and saw me riding a bike with no brakes around the store. Apparently that's not allowed. :) I was thinking about changing out the 165 cranks for 170s but there was a bike racer in the store that I recognized from seeing around and he said that 90% of people can't tell the difference. I did change out the seat post for the two bolt kind. I've broken three different seat posts on three different bikes so I need at least two bolts instead of the post that only comes with one. I've been very lucky three times but I don't really need to break another bolt.

Happy New Year!

It's New Year's Day and time for the traditional ride around Bellevue with Jerry Baker. We had awesome weather; it felt like spring! The turnout was great too. Saw some old timers out there that I hadn't seen in a while. There were a bunch of the juniors from O-Boy-Oberto that led the group in the front. Part of the route is on trails that are really overgrown and bumpy. Some of the riders went for the shortcut at that point and rejoined the group after the paths but I stayed on the traditional route so I could record the route with my GPS. The route also includes an intentional dog leg with a turnaround. There was the usual confusion about the route but I waited for Jerry to make sure I took the right turns.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Jerry-Baker-s-New-Year-s-Ride-2008