Playing With My New Toys

It's mid-November, the skies are clear, and the temp is not half bad. Looks like a good day for a bike ride! That, and the fact that I'm doing a Strava Challenge (40 hours in 3 weeks), means I did a long one today.

This was also the perfect opportunity to try out my new toys--my GoPro camera, and my Garmin Edge Touring. Today I mounted the camera on the handlebar. With that, the Garmin, and my regular bike computer, there was pretty much no real estate left on the bar (or the stem).

Before leaving the house, I put a route into the Garmin. I wanted to do Bordeaux, but in the reverse from the other two times I've done it. I put in a waypoint of Mima Rd. first. Then I added the other points for the route I wanted to go. That worked out pretty good, except that I didn't look to see what route it gave to the first waypoint. Due to some settings I may have changed, the Garmin did not take me onto Yelm Hwy. In fact, it took me on roads that I would not normally go on because they don't have shoulders. Yelm Hwy is actually safer (in my opinion, anyway) because it, at least, has a bike lane. I changed the settings. We'll see if that works. 

With the exception of somehow not putting in the waypoint to take me on School Land Rd to Littlerock Rd (for the entire length of School Land Rd it kept telling me to make a U-Turn), the device was spot-on in the turn-by-turn directions. The beeping before a turn startled me at first, but I came to anticipate it.

I discovered something important with my other toy, the GoPro camera. If I am riding on rough chip seal roads, it would be better to utilize the helmet mount versus the handlebar mount (I just think I would look a little funny with the camera on my helmet--much like a California Quail bird!). Here's a video that illustrates my point. This was not even the roughest part of the route. Notice near the end, when I hit the smooth pavement, how much less bouncy it is.

http://youtu.be/Kauzl3b2aZU

It was a great day for a ride. I'll continue to practice and learn about what my new toys can do.

Total miles: 66.5

Hedwig Lives!

I'm referring, of course, to Harry Potter's owl. 

Tonight, 11 of us gathered for the first official Night Ride of the dark season. The Night Rides will continue, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from now until we change back to Daylight Savings Time. I really like these rides. They are not terribly long (under 40 miles), they make me work, and, well, they're fun! They also help with my bike handling skills, which is great come race season.

Chip gave a nice speech about safety, and how the Night Rides are not for sprint intervals and high heart rates. The pace is not at all fast. I felt compelled to make a comment that they might not experience high heart rates, or a fast pace, but that I would certainly experience both in just keeping up with them. But, that's okay. It makes me stronger and faster.

With the speech-ifying done, we headed up the trail. Not long after starting, Brad and I were on the front when a Snowy Owl flew right over our heads! Hedwig lives! At the same time, I glanced to my right just as a possum went scurrying into the brush. You don't see that on a daylight ride!

We went north to the end of the trail and out onto the road. Because there is currently a lot of debris on the trail, I much prefer the road--particularly the roads with no shoulders. That may seem counterintuitive, but the shoulders also have a lot of debris, yet cars expect us to ride on the shoulder.

Coming back into town on Eastbay Dr., I ran over a stick (some of that debris I mentioned). Even though I was riding my rain bike with a Schwalbe Durano Plus rear tire, I flatted. Fortunately, there was a street light nearby. The group stopped, and Dave pretty much changed the tire for me. I inflated the tire and put it back on. With a couple of adjustments, things were good to go. I had a brief moment where I couldn't find my glove. Dave found that too. The beauty of having teammates!

We rode the rest of the way back into town and back to the trailhead. I topped off the tire pressure with Maria's floor pump at her car, and headed home. 

The Inaugural Night Ride was just under 40 miles for me. Average speed was 16.2--still pretty peppy for the dark.

At the Mercy of Circumstances

...But, not always in a bad way.

Not counting yesterday's Meet the Team Ride, which was purposely slow and casual, my last three rides have, very much, been at the mercy of circumstances. Last Saturday, I broke a spoke (see previous post), which ended my ride for the day. Then, on Sunday, since I was unable to replace the broken spoke right away, I had to ride my rain bike. That's usually okay, if everyone else is also on rain bikes. Not only was everyone not on rain bikes, but a couple of the guys, when on the front, were quite speedy. For me, it became a bit of a drop-fest. I'd fall behind, they would wait at the next turn, I'd fall behind again (usually due to a hill), and they would be waiting, again. This happened several times until I finally told them not to wait for me anymore (they would have been fine continuing to do that, but I felt bad). 

Today, it was almost as if the planets aligned to make for favorable circumstances on the ride. First of all, there was 0% chance of rain. It was foggy, but that would later burn off to a gloriously sunny October day. Secondly, I had fixed the spoke on Tessa, so I would be able to go somewhat faster--and, therefore, a better chance of keeping up. Thirdly, one of the speedy guys did not come, and the other speedster was kind enough to not go so blistering fast when he was on the front. 

It doesn't mean the ride was easy. We still had about 2400 feet of elevation gain. During the bulk of that elevation gain, I was my usual slow-as-a-slug self but, they only had to wait for me at the top of the D-Line in Capitol Forest. This time, I was able to keep up after coming down Bordeaux. In fact, I was third to the stop sign at Mima Rd. Last time we did this route, I was completely dropped (as in, never saw them again--only Maria waited for me--but, there were many speedy guys that day).

I had a few more times of falling off the back, but I was able to catch back on. This ride was longer than last week's ride, with more elevation gain, yet I managed to finish with the group. It's all about the circumstances.

Total miles: 72.4

Average speed: 17.5 mph

Unplanned Multi-Modal Transportation

The day started out great. Met up with the group at Tumwater Falls Park. There were about 11 of us. A little over 19 miles into the ride, we were going up the hill out of Littlerock heading to Mima Rd. I was out of the saddle climbing when I heard a twang sound, and it suddenly got much harder to pedal. I thought I had a flat, but no. I had broken a spoke. 

Back in September as I was riding to the start of the RSS ride, while going over some train tracks, one of my water bottles bounced out of the cage and wedged itself between the drive side chainstay and the rear wheel. Except for the destroyed water bottle, everything seemed okay. It was only later that I noticed a spoke was slightly bent. I had been meaning to take the wheel in, but just hadn't had time. I had also done a few rides (in addition to the 100+ RSS ride) on it with no problems. I guess I pushed that too far.

Notice the broken spoke.

The wheel was free from the brake, but it was rubbing on the frame at the bottom bracket end of the chainstay. The guys tried to adjust the opposite spoke so I could slowly ride home, but no one had the right spoke tool (turns out it requires a special size spoke tool). It was deemed unrideable. Melody flagged down a car, and I hitched a ride. Shirl, little Jason, and Jason's mom were on their way to a birthday party. They brought me back into Tumwater where I would be able to catch the bus. 

I've been telling myself I need to take my bike on the bus. I've flown, and taken the train with various bikes, but never the bus (we did take a bus twice in New Zealand, but not a city bus with a bike rack). I carry a single-ride bus pass when I'm riding in case I get stranded. The problem was that I would have to change busses to get home, therefore requiring a day pass. I had cash, but not correct change. I had time before the bus came to run over to a coffee shack and get correct change so I could get a day pass.

The bus pulled up. I got Tessa on the rack without any problems (it's not rocket science--the directions are on the rack). As we pulled up to another stop, a guy put another bike on the rack (they hold two bikes). As the bus was pretty full (surprisingly for a Saturday), the guy ended up sitting with me. His name was Johnny. I asked him if it was possible to get my bike off without disturbing his. He said it was easy. I just needed to release the retention arm and pull the bike straight out. It was easy, and soon I was waiting at Tumwater Square for my next bus. I had about a 40 minute wait because the 13 and the 68 time schedules don't sync together very well. 

Waiting for the 68.

Finally, I was on the 68 and headed home. 

Tessa rides the bus!

Once I got off at my stop, I had to "cyclocross-style" carry Tessa home. The rear wheel wasn't doing a lot of moving.

So, a few lessons learned here. 1) Don't wait to replace a spoke. It's gonna eventually fail. 2) Either carry correct change for a day pass, or carry a single-ride ticket and a day pass ticket. 3) Taking your bike on the bus is a piece of cake.

I took the wheel in to Joy Ride to get a replacement spoke. The spokes for Tessa are around $8.00 (she's special that way--spokes are usually around $1.00)! They also have to order it (again, such a special girl). Since I want to take a crack at replacing it myself, they also have to order the correct size spoke wrench. I'll be riding my rain bike for tomorrow's ride.

I'm So Jealous!

Day before yesterday, I got a call from a couple who found me through Warmshowers. They needed a place to stay. They are from Minneapolis, and are riding a tandem from Seattle to Mexico City. I said sure, and waited for them to arrive the next day. They made it, and I'm so glad. What a great couple! 

Paul has just finished grad school, and Alexa just graduated from Med school. Before they get too tied down (and before Alexa starts her internship), they are taking a few months to do this tour. This is their first foray into long-distance touring. They are doing great, figuring things out, learning as they go along. They are asking questions when they're not sure (and, no, Alexa, being sure about your route is not being anal) and are willing to change their plans when necessary.

After a good night's sleep, they loaded everything back on their tandem. I told them I would ride with them out of town. They wanted to stop at the Olympia Food Co-op on the way out of town. I was happy with that, because I wanted to see if they had unsweetened coconut (Yay! They did!). We rode through downtown, and up to the Westside Co-op. Paul and Alexa got a little taste of some hill climbing to get up to the Westside. They managed just fine (no small feat on a heavily loaded tandem).

After the Co-op, we worked our way up Old Hwy 410 to Hwy 8. I had planned to turn around at that point as they would have no problem finding their way from there. But, it was such a beautiful day that I continued on until the Summit Lake turnoff. From there I left them to it, and turned back. They were planning to go as far as Lake Sylvia in Montesano. I'm sure they made it (even though there is a nasty climb to get up to the park).

Although they are new to this whole touring thing, I know they are going to have a fantastic adventure. I'm totally jealous, and wish I was going with them!

Good luck Alexa and Paul!

This Has Never Happened Before

I'm home a day early! We were supposed to stay in Bellingham tonight, but we got there at about 2:00 and Dad was fine with going the rest of the way home. That was okay with me, but I only had 3 more hours. Kim and Dad had an additional 1:45 from Olympia. It took a bit longer than 3 hours due to the torrential rainfall we experienced on the way. It was absolutely nasty! Kim and Dad didn't stay too long at the house.

Overall, it was a great trip. Would have been nice to see more wildlife, but the scenery was fabulous. It was really great to spend some extended time with my sister. Even though we weren't raised together, we have much in common. Not only is she my sister, but I consider her a cherished friend.

Dad was a trooper. He put up with us girls maybe trying to help him too much at times. It's a bit of a fine line to walk.

Tomorrow, it's back on the bike. If the rain continues as predicted, it might be the trainer in the garage.

Ahhhh, We Had to Come to the City

We have been in three major National Parks in the last week. We have seen a few deer, a few grouse, and two mountain goats. We have not seen a single bighorn sheep, caribou, moose, or bear. Today we left Jasper National Park, headed for Kamloops. It is the biggest city we have been to since Spokane. All along the way today we saw countless road signs telling us to watch for moose and deer. We didn't see a single one.

We came to Kamloops. We saw this sign.

Sure enough, just after the sign, we saw a few on the hillside.

We continued on to our hotel. After we got settled, Kim and I decided to go see if we could find more sheep. We went back to where we had seen them first. Of course, they weren't there. At the next opportunity, we turned right onto a side road. We were able to slow down and look up the hillside. Kim spotted a couple, so we pulled over. Dad had given us his camera. The bighorns were quite high on the hillside. Dad's humongous lens (50-500 meters) was still in the car. I pulled the beast out and put it on the camera. Kim got out the tripod. 

At first it wouldn't take the photo. The screen said at the 500 meter distance, the f-stop had to be on the biggest number. Okay, I could do that! Then, it took the photos just fine. Here's a few that I have cropped.

A female?

After we put the big camera away, we followed the road up to Lake Paul. We didn't see any more sheep (apparently, we got too far away from town). The Provincial Park at the lake was nice.

After Kim and I came back into town, we scoped out a restaurant for dinner (Mexican). When we arrived at the restaurant, there were a couple of guys playing guitar and singing in the restaurant. There were envelopes on each of the tables telling the musicians' story. They were two cyclists (Santiago Sarmiento and Gustavo Nemitz) from Brazil, riding from Ushuaia, Argentina to Alaska. Their ride is called the Ecovuelta Project Tour. I should have asked to take their photo, but I didn't think about it. They were nice guys. I told them I want to do the Pan-Am Hwy. They said I should do it for sure!

Outside the restaurant, the tree trunks were wrapped with sweaters.

We head back into the US tomorrow. At least we finally saw some bighorn sheep. We just had to come to the city!