here’s the route i took.

http://mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/wa/seattle/565437194

i deviated from the map a little bit because i made a couple wrong turns.á specifically i didn’t go far enough west around mile 25 to get to the trail there, so i just went through town.á all told it was 43.5 miles.á there are a couple mean hills over in west seattle.á it is also very quiet over there.

when i got to the I-90 trail it was rather warm.á i found a park that had a faucet where i could soak my head.á i gave my helmet a good washin.á when i got home i was rather tired.á i was in the saddle for about 3 hours and surprisingly i could still feel everything.á gg specialized toupe.á i now understand the reason behind carbon bikes, and now want one very badly.á because lemme tell ya, aluminum, not so good for vibration dampening.á i was very glad for it in the climbs, but on rougher roads it transmits the whole road right to my butt and my arms.á next bike…

there is a flickr set of my ride today located here

tahuya tomorrow!á whee!á it’s tahuya day!á that means hot dogs, beer, boating, beer, and now a skidoo!á did i mention beer?

sunday, ride with a local club around seattle to yarn stores and bars!

this is how fast i was going down the north side of dexter on the way home today. because of a 15mph SW wind i was also able to do about 20mph most of the way up the hill. once i got down into fremont i was not pooped so was able to maintain 20+ most of the way home. around UW i picked up on a line of 3 other cyclists and we kept together all the way to my stop cruising at a steady 20mph. i was on the back the whole time for a couple reasons. the two middle riders looked stronger, i wasn’t sure why either one of them didn’t pull ahead. and second i’m not sure how long i could have maintained that speed without the aid of drafting.

i should look into some group rides for us because riding with a group is fun. it allows you to go longer because you can draft off the group, and it gets you in great shape because eventually you’ll have to be in the front

and now for the obligatory bike jabber. today i washed my bike. i completely degreased the drivetrain, actually washed the frame with hot soapy water, and re-lubed the chain. i did it properly this time, taking care to wipe the excess. i realized that proper lubing happens inside the individual chain rollers and that it’s actually bad to have a wet lubed drivetrain. i also got a new helmet today. performance was having a sale that brought the Bell Sweep R down to the price i missed at the REI sale. it’s white/ti; i almost decided to get a green one at the last second but it only matches one jersey, doesn’t match my bike, and white reflects the sun better when it gets hot. it’ll be nice for summer; i hardly notice it’s on my head and it’s well ventilated. which is awesome because my hair is thick. right now when it’s 55 degrees on my morning commute my head is damp by the time i get to work: not good. so hopefully that will make me more comfortable.

i’d hung up the fix for the winter since i really like that bike and i didn’t want to ride steel in the rain and ruin it (yes i treated it but that didn’t make me feel better). spring broke early and my cousin had been telling me i should get a road bike for quite a while. i decided it was time for gears and it’s been a little over a month since i got my first real road bike, 2006 Felt F65, and i’ve been riding the hell out of it all month. the first week i rode it every day as hard as i could until i just couldn’t ride anymore. i gave it a rest for a day or two then got back on and felt a lot better. it’s hard to quantify what “better” means so i’ll leave it there for now. i ride it to and from work 3-4 times a week, 20mi round trip and 20-ish mile rec rides on weekends with the girlfriend. after doing this for three weeks i’ve noticed a few things.

1. first and foremost, water bottles are awesome. i’d been doing my commute for two weeks without a bottle since it would have had to go in the backpack and that’s just inconvenient.

2. i can hold a higher pace a lot longer and with less effort. being out of shape from winter it was kind of a struggle to hold 15mph over the 10 miles. now i’m holding about 17mph on flats and rollers (more on hills in a minute) without getting winded too bad.

3. i am not a climber, not at all, not yet anyway. here’s the big hill i have to deal with every day.

http://www.toporoute.com/cgi-bin/getSavedRoute.cgi?routeKey=KUJLYVHQGLYKUMM

(hit the elevation button. i tried to get the elevation image but it was giving me something else)
i know this may not be a big deal to some cyclists but really, i’m not a climber. when i first started my commute this hill kicked my ass. i’d be huffin in my granny gear thinking i could walk up it faster. now i’m able to get up it fairly quickly and i’m not completely beat at the top. and man is it fun to go down either way my top down the long side (southbound) is only 31, i just can’t pedal any harder. it’s fun to keep up with cars.

4. fit is everything. right from the shop, eyeball adjustments, this thing feels good. after a few weeks with little adjustments here and there it’s feeling a lot better. this morning made a slight adjustment in the tilt of my bars and i was a heck of a lot more comfortable. it’s not perfect but we’re getting there. it’s really convincing me that i need to go get it fitted sooner rather than later (no the purchase didn’t come with a fit )

5. i’m starting to feel circles. after reading a bunch of threads on bikeforums about pedal technique i’ve been trying to do a few of the exercises on my way to work and i think they’re starting to take hold. i don’t know if this will make sense to anyone else but i really felt it in my quads, knees, and ankles. these three parts seemed to be all aligned right or something, but my pedal stroke was feeling a lot smoother and less hammery/jerky.

my only complaint so far seems to be my saddle. it’s not horrible but i don’t have that “i hardly notice” it feeling. after a fit and a better ventilated helmet that’s my next purchase. all of this is coming together for a very good cycling experience for me. i didn’t get into it for racing, though i may try that one of these days. there’s just something about cycling that clicks with me. my girlfriend got into it because of me and now it’s something we do together, which is awesome. seattle is a great town to do this in as well. in and around the city there are tons of places you can go, as well as places you can drive to that aren’t terribly far away. it’s just nice to have a hobby that has great tangible benefits. ok i’m done rambling now, just thought i’d share .

really not feeling like being at work today. it feels like friday, but tomorrow is friday. and i have meetings in the morning. i’m contemplating taking the afternoon off. not sure if that’s a very good use of vacation time though. we’ll see. i might take monday since it’s supposed to be the warmest day next week.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=908589

note the 130ft climb that starts gently at mile 6, then ramps up real hard at 6.75. that’s dexter ave. it’s really fun to go down the other side; cars are barely passing you when you hit top speed. my bike computer stopped working a mile from my house so i don’t really know how fast i got going . it’s only 10mi one way, so it’s not too terrible. it’s a nice way to start and end the day. i’m also team captain for my company’s group health commuter challenge team. all that really means is i bug people about entering their miles and i get to pick up a free jersey on thursday.

i also forgot to bring underpants. i wrote a haiku about it on my twitter. tessa went and got me underpants at macy’s, we’re meeting for lunch for the handoff.

• there are some really nice houses along the water from here to kenmore
• the sammamish river goes a long way
• my saddle is kind of uncomfortable after 20 miles

the last one is strange because it’s been fine for the last 800 odd miles, which tells me i still have some adjusting to do. or an excuse to get a new one ^.^

went to see my grandparents today. that was nice. helped pop cut down some limbs from the tree outside that were hanging too low over the road. it cost me way too much to get gas. i’m seriously considering trading in my car for something a little more fuel efficient. but i’m really not. that would just be silly. although smart cars are making their way officially to the US market. you can get them now through gray market import but you have to have them worked on to be made legal here. supposedly the models coming here are going to have a bit more pep, be that in a better tuned engine or a slightly bigger one. either way, i’m riding my bike to work now.

i’ve started training to commute every day and my butt is sore. i pulled the saddle off my other bike because the one that came with the Felt is really uncomfortable. so again i’m going through the whole saddle adjustment thing. go out for a ride, find something that hurts or doesn’t feel right, adjust it, repeat. i’ll get it again eventually but it’s a pain in the ass… HA! i never thought i’d actually be comfortable on a saddle like this. it’s 198g of molded carbon fiber with a thin layer of gel wrapped with fake leather on titanium rails. i’ll find the sweet spot again eventually. it was really comfortable once it was adjusted properly on the other bike.
i’ve also got my computer set up on the new bike, it will be much more useful than on the fix. for some reason i always like to know stats about what i’m doing. it tracks various kinds of speed and distance but i have to keep track of performance myself since the computer doesn’t really have anything to export data. a Garmin Edge305 would be nice but it’s completely unnecessary. guess i’ll just have to be satisfied with basic data and record keeping.

also, since i can’t seem to post without talking about bikes, i bought a road bike over the weekend.

it’s a 2006 Felt F65. Aluminum frame with carbon fiber wishbone seat stays and a carbon fiber fork. all ultegra components except the crank/bb which is a FSA Omega compact carbon crankset. i was originally going to get a 2007 F55 from my cousin, but their distributor was out until early May. it was a tossup between these two bikes but since they didn’t carry over the F65 to this year i went for the F55 since i could get a deal. but since they were out i called a LBS to see if they had any F65 left and sure enough they did. so instead of dura-ace and spending a lot more money, i got ultegra and saved a bunch.