Friday's Fine Ride

An exceptional Friday ride down to see the bridge and revel in the
lack of traffic because it's closed for a few weeks. What a joy! 50
miles with Al and Gary, with a stop at the Port Ludlow Friday Market
for home baked cookies. What stellar weather this weekend...maybe
summer has arrived.

In Shine overlooking the Olympics.

Riding west on Hwy. 104 with the road all to ourselves!

The sign seems to contradict the purpose...

Freedom Returns

Back on two wheels after three months. All I can say is thanks to some good folks in the medical community, I'm feeling better than I have in 4 years. It'll take some time to get back to normal, but having two sunny rides in the past four days feels so good!!

A huge thanks to all who've sent encouragement along - I feel lucky - when I hear of my other friends and their far more challenging issues. Thinking pure thoughts for healing all around.

NW Crank Brief

Still recovering from surgery, but in the meantime, I had the pleasure of helping support riders at NW Crank in Wenatchee and enjoyed some sunshine, good friends and a good dose of positive energy from everyone. I needed it. Here's a few pics from the week:

The Saturday adventure riders tackle Rock Island Grade on a windy, cool, but beautiful day!

Another view of the first few miles climbing the grade, everyone was riding strong and having done this climb, I know it's a bit of work.

Tiny riders in the distance making their way up from the river.

A little break by the Church of Pain off Joe Miller and Stemilt Hill Rd. More climbing through the fruit trees ahead.

Every morning started out with a gathering at the Inn at the River as Mike McHale gave everyone the 411 of the days activities. It was a wonderful event in my observation and brings out a really stellar group of riders! After meeting with the surgeon I got the green light to start riding on May 1st. No long rides, but at least I can start the process of getting back...to be ready for NW Crank in 2010.

Now for Something Completely Different

Well, maybe it was due to not riding for the last couple months, but somehow I have decided to try something a little different. Needless to say, my appreciation of the turn of the century cyclist has increased tenfold since I started riding a penny farthing. Figured I'd try it before surgery tomorrow...in the event something happened, I'd already be in the hospital anyway. No injuries were reported and it is the most challenging cycle I've ever ridden!

Now Surgery...

Nearly 8 weeks of no riding and surgery (foraminotomy) scheduled for April 14th, so being off the bike will continue for a few more weeks. I'll be in Wenatchee at NW Crank though, if only to help where I can and maybe take a few short rides along the Apple Loop Trail...it's not much, but if all goes well I still plan on making it to Last Chance in CO this September (but not GRR in June sadly).

Hard to see all my great plans for this early season go by unfulfilled, but thankfully it's not PBP 2011 either. I've so missed riding with SIR and all my friends! See you in eastern WA.

It's Baaaack...

The nightmare condition of neck/shoulder pain I dealt with in 2004 is back. Riding was going well and a big year was planned, but now I am off the bike till I can hold the bars again. Chronic pain is not the way to go and after a couple weeks it seems to be getting worse. It's like Shermer's neck times ten. Less than one mile today was excruciating. An all out assault of massage, chiropractics, stretching, ice, ibuprofen, hot baths and anything else has been not working, but I stick with it for one more week...

Taking Out The Big Guns

Nice ride out to Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island. Weather was cool
and damp, but little wind and no rain. Roads are in bad shape with
sand, tree limbs and debris everywhere; happy the Pereira is more than
adequate for the task. Even without rain, wet surfaces were abundant
and you never know what surprises lie beneath! Saw blue skies for a
brief moment, but never caught them. Eagles over Indian Island,
divers out in the bay off Marrowstone. Fairly quiet on the roads traffic-wise.
Great time trial back from the bunker above to home, a good 65
minutes of hard effort and a pleasant ride all around!

More Shop Goodies!

My Dad arrived this week and brought me a few goodies for the shop!

Two directional machine vice with a little one to mount to it. This will be used with the drill press when it comes.

Huge, heavy weight vice that will be bolted to the shop bench. Have extra jaws coming, including a round one to hold fork tubes and the like.

A real Park shop stand...I've wanted one of these for over 20 years and finally it's here.

My brother Todd's old Kennedy tool chest...now I just need the top chest and I'll be set. He got an awesome stainless steel one that's huge. I'm more than happy to get the cast-off!

More on the way: drill press, bench mount grinder, TIG and heliarc welders with tanks. Maybe a cutoff saw too. Life is getting better every day.

2008 Review - 2009 Thoughts

All in all this was not a year of big accomplishments, but lots of little fun ones.

Outside

Got to spend 7 weeks in CO and enjoyed many days of telemark, backcountry and XC skate/traditional skiing. Glorious trip to Meadow Creek/Chief Mountain and a banner day on Tucker Mountain. Never did much skate skiing before but it was a blast with one day of 25 km. Got some new Karhu 10th Mountain skis and Switchback bindings, perfect for my Garmont Veloce boots. Old tele boards out and new K2 World Piste skis and Hammerheads in. Now I need some new tele boots...

Cycling was erratic but I had a slew of great club rides, a Fleche, some 200km brevets and a few centuries thrown in. Best of all was going to the NAHMBS in Portland, meeting Tony Pereira and taking home my new 650b Hetre randonneur. Yay! Finally got to do a S24hO with Kent and Matt, though the weather was dampish, spirits were not. A few nice family rides were had. Need more of those.

Camping in the Bus: Needless to say, we did very little this year...that should change for 2009.

Maui-Wowie. Spent two weeks in Maui for my parents 50th anniversary and had an absolute blast. In the ocean every day, swimming, surfing and boogie boarding...followed by copious beverages and piles of food. Really fabulous.

Inside

15th year in business...back to the beginning with just me as Carrie moved on to work in school administration/management. It was odd, but I'm getting to like having a home office again and no employees. So far, so good. I have some great long-time clients and it gives me some freedom to be outside when I want.

Organized my shop, office and cleared out years worth of maps, magazines and papers from art school 15 years ago. Whew. Sold some bikes, got twice as many again, so I've given up on reducing. My only goal now is to build a bigger space for them, some machine tools and whatever else comes my way! (For instance, going from zero bike trailers to now having 4).

Life

My wife's father is dying, so there's been frequent trips to MN. That's been a lesson in many ways. My dear kitty died after 20 years. No more felines for me for awhile, I'm not ready yet.

2009 Goals

Taking my daughter on a backpack trip and a bike tour
Family camping in the Bus
Full brevet series or two starting in March
Gold Rush 1200 km (Davis, CA) July
Last Chance 1200 km (Boulder, CO) September
Some S24HOs - summer
Good ski days, especially backcountry - winter/spring
Less wine, more sleep, better food, more nights under the stars.

Memories of Snow

Sad to see it all gone...for those of us who were born and raised in
real snow country, this was a glorious time.

Ridus Interruptus

Well, after a couple months of regular riding, I've not ridden for 10 days! The mix of family, holiday, work and now snow and ice have really crimped time in the saddle. Yes, I can ride the rollers in the basement, but I've avoided that for now. Did the Jingle Bell Run in Seattle on Sunday, but it was only 5k. Not quite enough snow for skiing. Um...guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - Looks like another rum and eggnog for me!

Today's Awesome Find

So Carrie calls and tells me she saw an old Burley trailer in
someone's yard uptown. I scoot over on the fixed and there it is in
great condition with a $15 price tag. Get to the door and a really
cool woman comes out and says she'll take $10. Sold! Four blocks later
and it's at our home and all set for dog hauling - Yeah!

A Nice Sunday Ride

Leaves falling like snow. Solo ride along the quiet roads on the
Quimper Peninsula. Sunshine for over three hours, no rain and a
delicious lunch at the fabulous On Common Grounds in Chimacum.
Couldn't have wished for a better day!

Hurricane Ridge Ride

The road to Hurricane Ridge was finally opened to bicycles this weekend after many months of road construction. A small group of Port Townsend and Camano island folks made their way to the Heart of the Hills Visitor Center to start the pilgrimage. Weather was brisk, slightly cloudy and the road was perfectly smooth from the gate entrance to the top. What a day!

Park at the Heart of the Hills Visitor Center (bathrooms and water) and ride 5 miles (chipseal and loose road edges) to the entrance gate. It costs $5 for a bike and rider unless you have a annual park pass. From there it's about 13 miles to the Ridge on perfect pavement. The Hurricane Ridge shop and store are closed this time of year, but there's bathrooms and water at the top. The road surface is brand spanking new...hopefully it survives the winter!

Permanent Debut

Don Boothby urged a few fools to "usher in a great welcome to the autumn season by playing hooky on "Hump Day" and going out to play in the rain." Sounded innocent enough and I really needed to get out and grab a 200 km to keep my R-12 dreams afloat for month number two.

Of all the days this week, Wednesday was the only one predicting rain. Don picked the day a month ago to ride with Joe Keenan. Once the vacation time was booked, Joe had to have surgery that morning. So, I joined the "few brave souls," Steve Davis, Mark Thomas and Don Boothby for the Hood Canal South #84.

I learned immediately that it was imperative to get a receipt at each control - having never ridden a permanent before, I was glad to have some experienced companions. As we rolled out through morning rush hour I had the distinct feeling that I'd be the caboose on this train. Steve was on his 11th month of R-12, Don has only taken 28 days off the bike for the whole year and Mark rides more brevets than anyone I know. I barely have ridden 28 days this year!

It was nice riding through the morning and we didn't start getting rain until we neared the Canal about 11:30 a.m. This is a pretty simple route and with stops in Hoodsport and Brinnon, gave us the opportunity for some coffee and pastries along the way. I felt pretty good until Brinnon at the half-way point and then realized my seat post had sunk down and had to readjust. Unfortunately with the new bike I had not yet marked it, so I guessed. Not a good thing.

Minding the store in Brinnon

Don and Mark were off the front in minutes on the return and Steve stayed near for company. I urged him to hang with the fast boys, but we enjoyed some great conversations about the economy and freight hopping, among other things. It made the miles go by easier! At Twanoh State Park I needed to get off the bike as I knew the seat was too high and when I put weight on my leg I thought my pelvis was broken it hurt so much. A quick adjustment and a few uncomfortable miles later all was well again.

The rain increased immensely through Belfair, and we took a few wrong turns till we found the correct one, but by the time we got to Bremerton it eased up and we came in "relatively dry". Don and Mark were there about 40 minutes earlier but waited and we all had dinner together at the Fry House. Nothing like a German sausage and fries to refuel! I highly recommend the Thai peanut dipping sauce with the Belgian fries.

Thanks to these three guys who assisted the rite of passage out of permanent virginity. They were true gentlemen! Now I want to ride permanents all the time!!

Rekindled Fixedness

I have always been a fan of simple bikes and recently watched a few of the urban fixie videos that are floating around. I ran fixed during 2002 and other times for brevets and club riding, but this time I merely wanted something to scoot around town with. There sat the faithful Heron Road frame and so in a brief Saturday afternoon it was transformed into a nice light fixed gear.

I had some little riser bars that my daughter used on our tandem and I flipped them forward and mounted a bell and single DiaCompe front brake ( I tried once going with no brakes, but then I came to my senses). A mix of 167.5 Shimano 600 cranks with 40t/16t rear make it perfect for Port Townsend hills.

So far I've had a great time riding and remembering what basic fun this can be!

Olympic S24O

With little more than an inquiry from Kent about taking a little spin for a couple days, I was in from the start, knowing that the summer was rapidly coming to a close. Matt jumped on board while the others had commitments preventing a foray into the woods (I've been on that side enough times). The weather was cloudy and warm Sunday morning, though the NOAA forecast was less positive:

Sunday: Rain likely after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. South wind between 8 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Sunday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 54. South wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 65. Calm wind becoming north northeast around 6 mph.

On the edge of being potentially epic-miserable, lesser fools might have had the sense to cancel said plan. With divine foresight, Matt said "I'll also bring a big tarp in case we're hanging out in the drizzle." Yep.

I had sort of a plan, that wasn't really a plan, to camp higher up in the Olympic Mountains and so on Sunday morning we all met up on the west side of the Hood Canal Bridge for a quick jaunt to Quilcene. The weather was good with a stiff southern wind. We met up and there was a general consensus for no hurrying - calm progress would be the order of the day.

We arrived at Logger's Landing restaurant for breakfast - tasty home-made corned beef hash and eggs, and by the time we left it was raining. We started our route up on Penny Creek Rd. to FS Rd. 27, a fairly nice old paved road which gains about 4000 ft to our overnight spot. For the next 4 hours plus we clawed our way up, "thinking pure thoughts" (ala Frank Zappa) about that next sunny morning we'd be appreciating. My idea was to get to Sink Lake below Mt. Townsend, which would require a short hike, but as adventures don't occur without a healthy dose of error, I choose the wrong trailhead turn and we ended up in basically an overgrown parking area at the dead end of a long gravel road. Oh well.

Now near 4PM and unlikely the rain would stop, we made camp. That tarp came in real handy - otherwise we'd be trapped in our bivy sacks for the next 12-14 hours. With the tarp, we had some moderate shelter from the drenching rain for heating water, eating and chatting, all very civilized. We decided two things could change this from merely miserable to horrid. Wind or cold. Either would have tipped the balance toward the less pleasant end of the outdoor experience. By 8PM we'd eaten enough, bear-bagged the food and gone to sleep. Three distinct snores were the only sounds for miles around. I woke up a few times, waiting till the last possible moment to put on my soggy cold shoes to go take a leak. (Hadn't considered the value of a few plastic bread bags until then). It stayed calm and foggy all night and kept on raining.

Sometime after 5:30AM everyone was up and the immediate decision was made to bail on the "up and over route" for the direct descent back to the Logger's Landing for hot food! There was no squabbling. I love a good fast drop in crappy conditions, so it wasn't long before we were packed and flying down. Wet road, slippery with moss and cracked pavement made it a good skill building exercise and twice Matt headed for the woods on a curve, but stayed upright! Kent was on a 60" fixed with a single front brake so he was more controlled. The Pereira did well with it's loaded lowriders and handlebar bag and I could take my hands off the bars and stretch my arms on the straight-aways. No shimmy at all.

About an hour later, we were down and biscuits and gravy hit the spot along with a few cups of coffee. The rain continued. We headed up Center Rd. north to Hwy 104 where Kent and Matt would head east, while I would continue north to PT. All in all a good effort, but much like spending 24 hours inside of Tupperware. We said our goodbyes at the bridge and I stated that without a doubt the sun would be shining in PT, and by golly, just 4 miles from my house I saw my shadow and felt the warmth. I should have brought sunglasses.

Photos by Kent here >>
Kent's blog post here >>

SIRs RUSA 10th Anniversary 200 km

What a fine day for a ride! Beautiful sunshine to start the day and very alert volunteers were out in force for the once-in-a-lifetime RUSA 10th Anniversary brevet. There were nearly 50 riders ready to go and despite the previous week of hesitation on my part, I was really glad to be there. Test rides the week before took the Pereira out of the mix as an incessant creak from the front wheel was driving me crazy and I couldn't resolve it. Eddy O was the backup as there would be little need for fenders.

Eric asked me to lead out folks to the first turn but that lasted all of 10 seconds as I was swamped by the first half of the pack. With a number of friends back from bike tours and 1200s, I was out-gunned from the start. A couple of us, Al, Trudy and Lyn formed a little chase group and motored our way to the Bad Carb Control. It was a quick in and out, but I somehow got a few cookies and was conscripted into poem writing for the newsletter by the irascible Maggie...Peter Leikio and I got some time to chat before heading onto the shaded roads to Banner Forest. He flatted and that was the end of our conversation unfortunately; little did I know then I would be experiencing the same many times later on. Met up with James McKee and swapped tales of parenting...he's got a way more ambitious plan than I!

Rode too with Cindi who I met at PBP 2003 - nice to reminisce about an evening of pure adrenaline as we raced across France in the dark with a couple of BC women (which also did in my Achilles for the remainder of the ride). After the info control our group formed up again and we cruised into Belfair and the Good Carb Control at Twanoh State Park. I consumed a few potatoes, orange slices, an egg and V8 for extra go power. Started out a little slower this time and had to keep reminding myself that there was still 120 km to go and the day was getting hot already.

There was constant banter about the relative flatness of the ride. I must have been hallucinating because it sure seemed like a fair amount of climbing to me! I did enjoy going down Newberry Hill Rd and the generally rolling terrain though. Crossing north of Poulsbo I stopped to see the caveman at Valley Nursery who did not complain while I soaked my head under the water can. The mist was cold and very refreshing - it also amused the people in their cars who gave me a thumbs up. Hopping onto Bond Rd. and then Big Valley brought on more heat and a good headwind, plus the start of flats. None were blowouts, just a constant stream of leaks that kept me on the side of the road more often then I like. Made it to the Liquid Carb Control at Hood Canal Brewery and enjoyed some delicious brats and spuds with a handful of chips. What a perfect location! A regular outdoor BBQ with a shady spot to sit for tire changing too.

Even making it to the Liquid Carb Control was no respite as my tire went flat soon after leaving the control. This time I was out of tubes and then an angel on a Colnago landed nearby and graciously gave me a new tube - thank you Dan Turner!! That made all the difference and heading back into Bremerton on Central Valley Rd. and Tracyton Beach Rd was a joy. I didn't even know Bremerton had a bridge until I rode over Manette Bridge. What a spectacular end to the ride and I was good and tired.

Big thanks to all the volunteers: Peter Beeson, Catherine Monro, Eric Vigoren & Maggie Williams for organizing and providing such cheery support! I will try to write a poem...really....

Handling Adversity

Watched the very riveting women's gymnastics last night and thought about a few randonneuring challenges as the US hopes for gold turned to silver. As I saw Alicia Sacramone teeter off on the beam at the very start of her routine, you could see every bit of anguish at what that meant for her, the team and the country. The look on her face was of such contained emotion I thought she would burst. Amazingly, she held it together as millions of people were watching her every move with cameras from all angles. She didn't break, and even after falling on the floor routine, kept it pretty together emotionally. That is the part that really stuck with me, her ability to maintain composure, however tenuous, despite what I would consider to be the most pressure a human could stand outside of combat. Bravo.

I thought back on what effects a problem or challenge in randonneuring seem to have on different folks, when numerous flats, physical ailments or simply the tiring efforts a long ride take on your mental control. Before I got to Mortagne au Perche in PBP and was beyond the time cut, I felt like I was done, but unlike Alicia I didn't have hundreds of cameras and viewers all over the world focused on my agony. I can't imagine what that was like and would rather not. What I did feel was that whatever it takes to keep focused on the goal is what matters, you can't do anything about some of the circumstances, but you do have control over how you handle the adversity. May I continue to have the fortitude to maintain when the going gets rough. There are some role models out there.

Goodbye Sweet Kitty

Our dear sweet cat died this morning after over 20 years of letting us share her life.

Ariadne Saduri Sunflower, aka "Schmoo", was a mercurial kitten from the animal shelter, who reached out of her cage and grabbed C's sleeve as if to say, "hey, over here, your search has ended!" As a kitten she was prone to extreme activity once the lights went out. This lead to episodes in a large box with dictionaries stacked on top, but she would still escape frequently. Schmoo spent many nights wrapped around the top of my head until she was large enough to start taking the whole pillow, causing many stiff necks. She always smelled like perfume and I thought that was somehow magical until I found that she was sleeping in C's sweater drawer during the day. She ignored two other cats that came into our lives and eventually a dog. She was always the first - the pretty princess always made sure that was not forgotten.

It's a sad day here and the universe must have understood something was not right as it started raining when she finally let out her last breath. I miss her more than I imagined and life will never be the same without her.