Rainy Day Intervals Indoors - Apr 06, 2023

 Light rain all day....pretty much without stop as far I could determine.  Indoors it was.

Watched Top Gun Maverick on the tube - a good workout movie!!

Cascade Group Ride, April 2, 2023

 16 of us defied the early morning rain/snow mix to ride our Sunday free group ride for coffee out of Woodinville. Despite the dire conditions earlier in the morning, we sandwiched in a rain-free ride with sunshine today......and got back before the big hail fall this afternoon. I suspect Spring conditions like this will be common for April. We used a revised route due to the closure of the SR520 Bike Trail this weekend but still had our coffee/snack stop at the Metropolitan Market on Mercer Island. 

 

 

 About halfway through the ride, my rear derailleur stopped working!  On a hill.....  So I walked about a half mile to Greg's Cycles in Bellevue. Their mechanics diagnosed the problem as a bent bolt on the B adjustment.  They thought it was something likely at time of installation and not something I did....I was being very careful about the shifting on the maiden run of the new gearing on the green bike.  As the derailleur ended up being damaged. we went ahead and replaced it...fortunately they had one in stock!  I rode the remaining 17 miles back to the start...with some trepidation....but all worked well for that leg of riding. More to come this week as we try to understand better what happened. 

The Walk:

 

The Repair: 

On the return today, I had my first sighting of 2023 of an eagle in the nest along the Sammamish River just across from Redmond City Hall. In the photo, you can just make out the white head of the bird....which moved around while I was watching. 

The Nest:

 

The Route Back:

Scout Ride, March 30, 2023

 The Scout ride was to confirm some parts of the routes we planned to use on April 9 and 16 as well as familiarize Ed H., another ride leader, on the route issues since he would be leading a different paced group on those days on the same routes.

Lee S. took us off the base route and we did some unplanned exploration of Seattle Center and the waterfront area in Seattle up to Pike Place Market. Some fun riding but the latter was definitely not a route which we would want to take a big group due to the pedestrian traffic and the ever changing construction obstacles.  However, it was a fun route to keep in mind for the future.

We had our coffee/snack stop at Fisherman's Terminal which on a sunny day would be a pretty good place for a group.  They have a deli now open on Sundays with pretty good treats and coffee as well as a fish-n-chips place for takeout.

 We stopped by the fire fighting ship demo area on the Ship Canal Trail to talk with a guy inside the fence. Apparently they are still using it actively to train people on how to fight ship board fires. Very cool to see and learn about.

On the way back, we stopped by the University of Washington campus to see the cherry trees in bloom....lots of blooms and they aren't at peak intensity yet!  However, it was mid week and there were lots of people.....I suspect it will be a real zoo on the weekend! 

I used the ebike today as I lacked motivation to want to do the work needed on the Roubaix.....my Bride thought it was a riding hangover from earlier rides.....she might be right....she is usually right.....she is right.  I will have to deal with that in the future as my recovery from hard rides is often slower than what I want! 

Coffee Ride to Newcastle, March 26, 2023

 17 of us joined the weekly Sunday Free Group Ride for coffee ride out of Woodinville. Our route headed toward Newcastle for a big loop returning via Bellevue and Kirkland. While largely overcast, we never encountered any rain...so that automatically makes it a great ride! We tested our hill climbing skills coming up SE Newport Way and 164th Ave SE...and enjoyed the swooping downhills on Lakemont Blvd SE and continuing roads. Our coffee/snack stop was on top of Rose Hill (Snyder's Corner). One of our riders discovered a tire pressure leak at our coffee stop - so Allan assisted and we had a short clinic on changing the tube on a tire.....we tried to figure out how many CEU's could be given for that "class"! While there were clouds around, our return route was modified to keep us off of what looked like a busy afternoon on the Sammamish River Trail. All in all, a solid ride for all of us!

 

 

Mentoring Ride for Anita, March 25, 2023

 On Saturday morning, a dozen of us gathered at Magnuson Park for a ride to Mercer Island using our two Lake Washington Floating Bridges. The morning seemed colder than the temperatures, perhaps due to a stiff wind, but since everyone came to ride, we did the ride! Crossing the Montlake Bridge we found that there was a rowing club regatta going on so we got see a very short bit of some race. After crossing the SR-520 Floating Bridge we found sunshine on the east side which stayed with us for the rest of the ride! Our coffee/snack stop was at the Metropolitan Market on Mercer Island which had a wide range of attractive options (note the picture of the chocolate chip cookies). Returning in the sun, we found that the day became quite a bit warmer than what we had experienced at the start. This ride was also a first mentoring ride for Anita to meet the requirements to become a ride leader for future rides.

 

 

TREATS Group Ride, March 21, 2023

 15 of us left Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA for a hilly ride over the Sammamish Plateau to the Snoqualmie Valley (Carnation for coffee) and returning via Union Hill Road over Novelty Hill.  This was the second mentoring ride for Karil who did a great job in turn leading and sweeping. Despite the 0% predicted chance of rain, we got pretty wet for a short while traversing the Plateau. I was glad I elected to wear my light rain jacket rather than go without.  I don't think it really warmed up as much as predicted today as well so having the extra layer made the ride more enjoyable.

I had the singing bike again as even with new pads the front inside caliper was lightly rubbing on the rotor. I know it was sucking watts out of me but I wondered if I could ever correlate the tone pitch with the number of watts I was losing? I rode at the back of the pack in consideration of the others but it was a long 38 miles of whining bike!  Fortunately I was at the far back when one of the ebike riders ran into a problem with a cable and was unable to ride up the last big hill. I told him to stay on the route (he was walking at that point) and I would bridge up to the group and see what help we could generate. Turned out a couple of riders had a similar bike and they went back and help him sort out the cable problem. I waited for them as I did know the course route so someone had to be there to lead them back the last 7 miles or so!  Always an adventure on every ride!

After the ride, another ride leader helped me (ie he actually did the steps) to realign the front brake. We'll see if it holds on our Thursday ride this week! 

Woodinville to Ballard Locks, March 19, 2023

 On this last Sunday of winter 2023, 15 of us left Woodinville on our weekly ride for coffee with this week's route taking us to Golden Gardens, Ballard Locks, Fisherman's Terminal, and back through Bellevue and Redmond. Although the skies were generally overcast but with temperatures in the 60's by ride end, many of us had our first ride of the year without jackets! It was wonderful! This ride was memorable also because it was the second (& final) mentored ride for Jeff who has now completed the requirements to become a Ride Leader! 

 And in a sure sign of spring, a bald eagle was in the tree with the big nest by Redmond City Hall.....probably they are house hunting as that nest has been used the last couple of years by a pair of eagles!