Coffeeneuring Ride Week 5 - 31 Oct 2015

Coffeeneuring Week 5 The weather finally changed from "good" to "awful" this morning for the ride this week. The effect was to dramatically reduce the number of riders this week (from about 11 to 2)! Thanks to Wendy for joining as otherwise this would have become a solo ride.  We shortened the planned 30 mile / 1800 feet ride route to about 10 miles and negligible elevation although we still had heavy rain and big winds during the ride! [We are also filing for Rule #9 Style Points]. Double espressos hit the spot today. Stayed on the Sammamish River Trail to avoid cars, slippery downhills, etc. - we did notice that the few trail users out and about in this muck were a) very dedicated to their activity (running, biking, dog walking, etc); and, b) generally pretty cheerful to be out and about in this stuff. We went to the Starbucks at 15738 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA. 

1. where you went, 

Starbucks
15738 Redmond Way, 
Redmond, WA 98052
 

2. the date you went there:  Oct 31, 2015

3.  what you drank - Double Espresso

4. a detail or two about your coffeeneuring ride, including your assessment of the “bike friendliness” of the location:  Steady rain all ride with big winds!  Good day to throttle back on the distance and difficulty given the tough conditions

5. total mileage.   10 miles

Ready for a Rain Ride

 Weather is pretty grim - lots of rain and high winds

Wendy and moi getting ready to ride!

Wendy with her espresso  - nice fairy in the background!

Al with his espresso

It sure is dark this morning!

Coffeeneuring Ride Week 4 2015 Oct 24

Another fine Saturday ride for the 4th week of the Coffeeneuring Challenge on our Eastside Coffee Ride! 11 of us went up Education Hill, Novelty Hill (Bear Creek Country Club side), and Hollywood Hill for a great hill climbing ride. About 30 miles and 1800 feet elevation. Started cool and dry, ending up damp and cool....but it is mid-late October and it can be much worse! A truly fine group of riders. Special thanks to Scott for sweeping today on short notice. Bruce joined us today and his cycling come back is going really well after the incident he was in this last summer! Great to see Tom, Heather, Philippe, Alfred (joined us in route), and Michelle again this week. Welcome to John, Dayle, and Jerry on this little set of rides. Hopefully you all will be join us next week....Kirkland with a little less climbing...maybe. :>) My only rant was about the loosely organized group of unknown cyclists who chose to blow through our group as we stopped at a stop sign on the descent on Hollywood Hill...they didn't even really slow down......not a good thing for cyclists in my opinion as they reinforce a negative image of all the rest of cyclists. I should add that our group was very understanding of how to keep themselves happily occupied while the Ride Leader changed his rear tire.......just some bad karma I guess.

Here are the vital stats for the Challenge:
Per the Coffeeneuring "Rules" 

1. where you went (address and website, if possible) -

Starbucks located at Redmond Ridge:

• 23515 Novelty Hill Rd
• D312
• Redmond, WA 980531996 

425-868-4831

2. the date you went there - 2015 Oct 24

3. what you drank - I had a double espresso....very nice - just the right touch for a fall ride

4. a detail or two about your coffeeneuring ride, including your assessment of the “bike friendliness” of the location - there are great trails and road routes in the area - we threw in a couple of good hills to warm everyone up! - today's ride incorporated Education Hill, Novelty Hill (from the Bear Creek Country Club side), and Hollywood Hill.  We incorporated several residential sections into our route today including Tuscany, Redmond Ridge, and Lake of the Woods - very nice homes with wide pleasant riding streets.  Fall leaf colors were in full swing today!

5. total mileage - circa 30 miles round trip with about 1800 feet of elevation gain

Our Team Today

Double Espresso

Scott (also our Sweep today)

Could he be in the Witness Protection Program?

Philippe and Alfred

And while we were out biking on our local hills, my Bride continued her work on the Tiger Project - here she is working on the painting (cue music: Eye of the Tiger )

Uh-oh! Could this be the "last" sunny weekend?.......

Just read the Cliff Mass Weather Blog (he's a meteorologist at the University of Washington) suggesting that the "summer" switch for weather is about to be flipped to the "winter" position (ie wet!)  While we need the rain, maybe it can find a timing that matches my biking and hiking needs? 

Here's his weather map for the next 15 days (after the sunny weekend) - orange is very heavy rain (maybe over 5 inches?)




For details see: http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-atmospheric-rain-switch-is-about-be.html

Now for something a little different......no bike!

I had the opportunity to take a delightful 5 mile hike up to Wallace Falls in same named Washington State Park. Vanessa was my hiking companion today and it was truly a fabulous day for a fall hike for both of us - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/934442082 . While I suspect this trail is busy on weekends, mid-day, mid-week we had only a few other hikers on the route. Looks like a hike that can be taken pretty much all winter so this goes into the book as a potential repeater as weather and schedules permit. In the winter on a cold clear day, the Olympic mountains to the west should be quite spectacular as one overlooks the Skykomish River valley. Got to love the warning signs about falling....a great example of the art of the obvious!

The Hiking Team

Moi at the Falls

Ms V at the Falls

Talk about the obvious....a true d'oh moment!

A reasonable hike back to the car...but not a sign I would expect to see up here!

Overlooking the Skykomish River Valley

At the Falls

And yet, even more Falls!

Coffeeneuring Ride Week 3 2015 Oct 17

Our Coffeeneuring Challenge 2015 ride today was per my Eastside Coffee Ride Week #3 ride through Cascade Bicycle Club.  Depending upon whose Garmin you use, it was about 30 miles +/- with a couple of local hills (Juanita, Norway, and Kingsgate hills) to spice it up.  We had 10 riders (including me) at the start and Kimberly S. joined us during the ride to do the middle section and two of hills with our little group.    Here we are at the start:

After about 17 miles, we stopped at the Lake Forest Park Starbucks (our destination for today's ride) for some coffee and treats.  Here is my obligatory Coffeeneuring Challenge photo for today's ride!

We had fabulous riding conditions as the somewhat predicted rain never materialized and we ended riding in the sunshine!  Woot!  Great day for mid October.

Here are the vital stats for the Challenge:
Per the Coffeeneuring "Rules" 

1. where you went (address and website, if possible) -

Starbucks located in: Lake Forest Park Town Centre

Address: 17039 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155

Phone:(206) 367-3811

2. the date you went there - 2015 Oct 17

3. what you drank - I had a double espresso....very nice - just the right touch for a fall ride
4. a detail or two about your coffeeneuring ride, including your assessment of the “bike friendliness” of the location - there are great trails and road routes in the area - we threw in a couple of good hills to warm everyone up! - today's ride was the first time about 4 of our riders had ever done Juanita (from the south) or Norway Hill (from the north) - they got a huge kick after going up those hills - I hope they come back next week when we'll do a few different hills.  Hopefully we might initiate the next generation of hill climbing loving riders!  One thing about our area, we do have lots of quality climbing hills!; and
5. total mileage - circa 30 miles round trip

Scouting Ride on Wednesday 14 Oct (getting ready for Coffeeneuring)

One of the characteristics of a good group ride is a solid route that works well for a group of cyclists.  And there is no better way to confirm that than actually riding the route ahead of time!   So Wednesday was a ride day where the weather and time available came together to provide that window for this week.  The route (now updated) we plan to use for the Saturday Coffeeneuring Ride (Eastside Coffee Ride - http://www.meetup.com/cascaderides/events/225660573/) is at http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10579825   Based on the  pre-ride, I modified a right turn by a few blocks to better integrate the ride and identified a left turn issue which we will address when we see a) how many riders we have to manage; and, b) what the traffic volumes will be on Saturday.   If the latter conditions are like Wednesday, we'll do a right turn, u-turn, to make the corner in order to get cyclists out of a busy and congested intersection.   After all, we aren't commuting, we are just heading to a coffee shop!!   We'll also see how our new riders like the hills (which we have advertised!) - they aren't wild hills but they are real hills.  :>)    As long as the rain holds off for Saturday morning (which is the forecast currently), this should be a great Saturday ride.

 

Coffeeneuring Week 2 and Another Bride Ride

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to join the Cascade Bicycle Club Walla Walla Weekend Rides.  I only rode on Saturday and Monday as sweep for our groups but both days had great ride routes in the rural farmland around Walla Walla, WA (and into northern Oregon).   On the Saturday ride (circa 46 miles), we took a break at the halfway point and got a nice cup of coffee at the rest stop.  Both the Ride Leader Joni and I were doing the Coffeeneuring Challenge so we made a point of documenting our stop.  Interestingly enough, we didn't have any other takers from the other 16 riders in our group!    Here's the photo of myself and of Joni at our Coffeeneuring stop.  It was a Walmart but they had a great deli inside along with a coffee shop so we called it good...although I think Walmart is not the typical "coffee shop" motif one thinks about!

Location: College Place Walmart Supercenter    1700 SE Meadowbrook Blvd, College Place, WA 99324
2. Saturday Oct 10, 2015
3.  A great dark drip coffee....my personal fave!
4. Walla Walla area (including Milton-Freewater Oregon) offers fabulous rural riding opportunities  The only downside is the ubiquitous presence of goathead thorns....they guarantee a lot of flat tires!  But still a great ride!
5. Total Mileage of ride about 46+ miles.

And here is the rest of our group at the start on Saturday morning:

Returning to the west dreary side of the mountains after a great Monday ride, I planned a short ride with The Bride on Tuesday since she didn't get to join in this last weekend.   Also she is rebuilding after a short setback to her training so having me along for company enhances her riding right now.  Always glad to help her!   Here she is by the footbridge over the Sammamish River Slough near Bothell, WA.  Great to ride with her...we always have such a good time!

First Coffeeneuring Ride in 2015 Oct 03, 2015!

Time to restart the blog!

Today we began our series of 2015 Coffeeneuring Challenge bicycle rides..  Our first Coffeeneuring Challenge ride is in the books - 28 miles with a couple of pleasant Puget Sound hills added in for a fun ride with 3 other brave souls this morning. A double shot espresso seemed just about right. Thanks to Scott Blachowicz, Debbie Campbell, and Alfred for a great ride together....Deb even showed us her "secret" route up Education Hill!

In the photo - from left to right - Scott Blachowicz, Al Miller, Alfred, and Debbie Campbell

Per the Coffeeneuring "Rules" 

1. where you went (address and website, if possible) - Starbuck's Coffee Redmond Town Center

7425 166th Ave NE ·Redmond, WA  (425) 861-9198

2. the date you went there - 2015 Oct 03
3. what you drank - I had a double espresso....very nice
4. a detail or two about your coffeeneuring ride, including your assessment of the “bike friendliness” of the location - there are great trails and road routes in the area - we threw in a couple of good hills to warm everyone up! ; and
5. total mileage - 28 miles round trip