| Course: | Leschi, Seward, Renton, May Valley, Issaquah, Newport, across Mercer Island, home |
| Results: | |
| Comments: | Nice! A great day, my new favorite bike, good company and so of course I bit off way more than I cold chew on this ride and did not take along enough food. :)
After installing fenders and my Franken fork on my new fixed gear bike last night I rolled down to Leschi to meet the team. Today 'team' meant three people but it was all good. Cathy V, Lyle(sp?), Olivier(sp?) and I rolled out to enjoy the still amazing fall colors and mild weather.
What fun! The pace was mellow so we chatted all the way down to Renton. The speed on Rainier did get a tad brisk for me but hey, today was my first day on the fixie so no complaints.
Lyle and Olivier had an agenda of riding 3.5+ hours and Cathy was going shorter for sure and by the time we got to 405 I had somehow talked myself into going long so headed over the freeway and up the McDonald's hill.
The hill was actually not that bad. A 'tension interval' Lyle called it. :) Since the pace was reasonable I just stayed seated and was fine. Since I had expressed some concern about the distance both of these guys were very mindful of keeping me in front and each time the road would level off they would kind of scoot ahead and try to give me a draft. Usually it would help but some of the times they would also up the pace and it was actually better for me to ride my own pace than go faster and try to hold a wheel… whatever. This pattern repeated itself on May Valley. I was behind Olivier and and when he would pull off Lyle would come to the front. Then when Lyle would pull off there was Olivier. Let's just say I did not pull much today. Especially on this flatter road, each time one of these guys would accelerate to get into the lead it was accompanied by an up shift and I had to struggle. :)
The last descent to Issaquah-Hobart was a challenge. I have done better in the past but today being my first day on this bike it was rough. I got to the front and promptly heard the CLICK, CLICK of the chain working it's way down the cassette and then I could no longer keep up. See ya.
Really it was fine, I expected nothing different and these guys were a blast to ride with and talk to. And going up Newport, although I was already starting to bonk, was actually better than going downhill. They kept the pace easy and I was able to stick with. As we neared Factoria I finally mumbled something about not packing enough food and Lyle gave me half of an Odwalla bar. Bless his heart.
Once on Mercer Island the predictable happened, they turned left for a lap around the island and I went straight home! Yikes, I was bushed. But not so seeing-double-shattered that I couldn't still enjoy the scenery which is what I did. Man the leaves were still SO vibrant and the lengthy cool down probably did me some good. |
| Equipment: | Kona Paddy Wagon, 42x18
I just installed my fork after having the steerer lengthened by 5 cm! This bike is awesome but the head tube was not long enough for me so the nice folks at the R+E Cycles frame shop fixed me up. Now my Kona looks like all the other retarded bikes I have in my garage but it fits me… |
| Clothing: | shorts, short sleeve Craft undershirt, short sleeve jersey, knee & arm warmers, Sugoi shoe covers, cap, NO GLOVES |