John’s Ramblings

Thursday night’s edition of Use It or Lose It was not quite as precipitation-rich as Tuesday. As we headed north on the Interurban, the pavement started to get damp as we crossed about So. 196th Street. A few sprinkles fell on us but the dampness wasn’t that bad at all. This time of year we’re fighting winds, so it’s guaranteed that at least 50% of your ride is hammering.

Saturday we did our Newcomers ride for Cascade Bike Club, the first we’ve offered for a couple of months. Although technically it’s a “rain cancels” ride, we had three enthusiastic folks that showed up, so we did a greatly abbreviated loop. It was raining hard enough to even cut out the detour for pastry and espresso, so you know it had to be bad. Terri dislikes riding in the rain, and while I am pretty well used to it after riding all winter it is no fun at all when you have to hold a pace of 10-11 mph. I was glad the group voted to head back to the start line after 9 miles.

Sunday I headed out to do my long ride of the week. The plan was to meet up with the Green River Riders at Noon for a ride down to Sumner. I needed more miles than that, so I started early, rode from home and headed north, to Tukwila again. There was a strong wind from the south this day, standing the flags straight out from their poles. It felt like it took me 5 minutes to get up to Tukwila, and 90 to get back. After a quick rest at Mountain Bike Outfitters the group launched themselves into the headwinds. The destination was the little coffee shop next to The Cannery furniture store, with a small detour to ride the hill known as “Little Italy”. It is a nice climb on a one-way road with little traffic, although there is no shoulder to speak of so you must keep an eye on the rear-view to avoid getting surprised by a SUV mirror. If there was any indecision in the group about whether to do this optional climb, it went out the window when Ms. Lee was the first to dive right and start up the grade. All but two of our group made the turn upwards, and I hesitated long enough that I immediately had a gap to the next rider, which your good buddy the Lanterne Rouge wasn’t about to close. It was a nice day, sunny and not too hot, so I can’t complain. I even had 1 bpm to spare before I hit my maximum at the top. Woo-hoo, talk about headroom!

This group is pretty amazing, as they can ride about the same pace into an 18 mph headwind as I usually ride with the same amount of tailwind. Still, it was fun to hang with these fine folks for an afternoon.

Solo intervals tonight in Green Valley. Afterward I stopped in to the gym to say hey to the folks in spin class. I hopped up on a bike for the last 10 minutes and pedaled in my Crocs (soft rubber clogs). After being outside so much, it is a little strange being inside.

All totaled, about 100 miles since we chatted last, 1,032 year-to-date.

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