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!

Season Wrap Up

The ferry ride over to the Blackberry crit. It's fun to ride over with the other racers.

Race bikes on their way to the crit.

I missed a bunch of posts and now I'm forgetting what all happened. I got really busy and had a hard time keeping up with everything.

I raced a final Friday night track and a criterium in Bremerton. I rode down to the Blackberry crit in Bremerton. It poured rain all morning but let up just enough for me to get to the ferry. The ferry ride was 1 hour. Then I raced for 50 minutes, rode back to the ferry for another 1-hour boat ride, then a 30 minute ride home. I brought three changes of clothes in my bag so I wouldn't have to sit around in wet clothes. The racing was fun and hard. I really like the blackberry course.

The last night of track we finished with a Madison race. We had six women's teams. I talked to one of my friends in the crowd afterwards and she said she had never seen a women's madison on a friday night. She didn't realize she was seeing the very first one ever! My partner Michelle and I were very happy - we stayed close and didn't get lapped and didn't miss any exchanges. Yea! We also had a tempo race where I got some points on the first sprint. It was hard with so many fast racers in the field.

I'm looking forward to more fast racing next year.

Last week we had our "meet the team ride" where new riders ride with us to see if they want to join the team. I'll be losing some key teammates next season so I"m really looking for new riders to join the team and train with. It's fun to ride with new racers because they have the excitement for racing. Maybe some of them will do track.... Any other track riders out there want to join me?

Rain Out! Marymoor Velodrome :(

Free hot dogs!

We tried to race on Friday. We went out to the track and waited until they called the race due to rain. For a while it seemed like it was letting up and the track would dry but it was not to be. The racers all sat around the edge and watched the track but it didn't help it dry.

I finally got to have a hot dog that I had been craving all season. It is always too late after we are done racing to get one from the hot-dog-mobile aka "carameas' sweet treats".
Then they opened the beer garden and gave out free drinks to the racers. I hope it doesn't rain next week!

Devon is not 18 so could not come inside the protective fencing.


The racers hung out to socialize.

Our loyal fans taking shelter in the bike storage area while eating a hot dog.