So here we are a bit into May which means this report is a bit late. In fact one can see the blog activity has been lacking of late, I’ve even gotten behind on my commute pic of the week posts. Never fear though, I’ve still been cycling and commuting. In fact I’ve got a backlog of posts to make, I did several interesting rides in April, which I’ll be writing about soon.. About the lack of activity here well I can only offer the following. I have a lot of interests and which of these dominates my free time is always in flux. I’ve been heavily involved in a project at work and not been as motivated for blogging. My weekends of late have also been dedicated to other things so while I did a lot of recreation cycling in the first 2/3rds of April even those declined a bit. But things always swing around and I have to say with the turn in weather a lot of more of my time will be devoted to cycling and hopefully writing about it.
So to get down to brass tacks how’d the commute go for April? Of twenty available commuting days I rode thirteen of them, with seven days being missed. Most of those missed days were straight up slack only one or two days the results of other activities or not feeling well. In general I can live with missing a day a week, though of course I’d rather not, but two or three is not good in my mind. There is of course the fact that as the weather improves I’ll often do rides both Saturday and Sunday and for recovery I’ll skip the commute on Monday. That was the case for one of these missed days this month and will be an increasing trend.
As for other cycling I did a big ride the first weekend of April and then the following weekend I spent both days riding up in the San Juan islands (a report on this weekend forthcoming, I promise). But after that I had a string of weekend activities and projects and didn’t do any non commuting rides at all. Oh I’ve begun doing longer rides home a couple of days a week as is my wont on nice days but I really didn’t rack up major miles this April. While I do feel like I’ve not been doing as much riding as I should I did hit 1000 miles for the year somewhere at the tail end of April. According to my records for the last couple of years I’ve hit this milestone early to mid May, so my mileage is up. I think that these conflicting notions are both true: I’m doing less rides but more miles per ride. The rec rides are always less frequent prior to May anyway so perhaps its all about the same as usual.
I feel that the weather for this month deserves its own paragraph. On my ride home on April 18th I was pelted by hail for the entire ride home! This hail turned to snow (!) and there was some slush the next day. I have never in all my years seen snow this late in the year on the lowlands (this is a true recollection as the last time it snowed mid April in the Seattle area was 1972 - the year before I was born). What makes this even more dramatic is that it was the weekend before this that I went on my little weekend trips to the the islands. I did that trip spur of the moment on the weather forecast being 78 (f) for that Saturday. Which is was and I was riding in t-shirt and shorts up in the Islands. The mix of spring sun and rain is totally typical for April, but a lot of cold, colder then average days as well and then of course that snow. Its been a pretty wild month, which I have to say has been the trend this year - every month seems to be an outlier this year.
So looking ahead to May there are a couple of major factors. The first is that this is Commute to Work Month and as I have for five years now I’m parciticpating in the Cascade Cycling Clubs Commute Challenge. In years past I’ve ridden every single day in May and I really kick into the summer commute mode where I trend toward cycling 9 out of 10 days. However I will not be riding every day this month as I’m taking off for a vacation to the Southwest. I’ll be missing 7 days of work and thus 7 days of commuting. I will however be doing some hikes around the Grand Canyon and other Arizona sties so its all good as far as I’m concerned. I’ll put up a trip report on that upon my return.
Commute pic of the week 2008, Week 16 (04.18.2008)
A continuous hail storm was the main feature of my ride home this day. This turned to snow and actually accumulated a bit just a dozen or so miles north of me. For mid-April this was unprecedented weather.
Commute pic of the week 2008, Week 15 (04.11.2008)
It was a beautiful evening this Friday so I took a longer route home. The sun was setting as I approached Kirkland painting the scattered clouds in glorious shades. See a couple more pictures from this ride here and here.
So at the democratic caucus on February 9th I’d volunteered to be an alternate delegate for Obama. Well last Saturday, April 5th, was the next step in the process. The location was only about 6 miles from me and all of the mailings were going on about parking issues so I swore I’d ride in. The weather was forecasted for rain and the sky was gray with large black clouds. Still it wasn’t raining at that actual moment so I kept my word. There was some wind blowing those clouds around but they also kept the heat in so it was a fairly pleasant ride to the school in Bellevue where the caucus was. There were a couple of hills and as I entered the suburbia where the school was the bicycle lanes disappeared and the traffic picked up a bit. I made it over there about ten minutes early and as I was locking up my bicycle I saw a couple of other people had ridden in as well.
There was a good stream of people coming into the caucus and as I went through registration and then to the gym where my district was meeting I was happy to see that the excitement over this election was continuing on. There is nothing like 8 years of failure and horror to get people motivated. Gives one a little bit of hope. I ended up not being needed as an alternate, which is good you ask me as it means that all of the delegates from my district showed up. So I got to see some speeches from supporters of the two remaining candidates and witness a bit of democracy in action. Around noon I was free to go and with the weather still holding up I decided to ride up to Snoqualmie Falls and get lunch at the Snoqualmie Falls Brewery.
I headed out from the school toward Lake Sammamish on a road I hadn’t ridden before. It had a nice bicycle lane all the way down to the lake and featured a massive hill where I hit nearly 40 miles per hour. It’d be a pretty serious climb up, I’ll have to try that sometime. Once I intersected with Lake Sammamish Parkway I was on a familiar route - around the lake to Issaquah and hop onto the East Lake Sammamish Trail. Only about a half a mile on this gravel trail there is a new trail segment that parallels I-90 before it joins the old dirt path that is the Issaquah-Preston Trail. This is one of my favorite routes, one that I had worked out several years ago and is a fantastic mixed terrain route. It utilizes three or four rail trails (depending on where I’m going) and numerous country roads connecting it all together. This was the earliest in the year I’ve ridden this trail and being dirt there was a decent amount of puddles and mud on the trail. Really nice though, the trees a mix of buds, new leaves and bare branches and the river running full and furious. The weather was classic spring- occasional sun breaks, occasional raindrops, wind and ever present big clouds rolling through. The wind was coming from the northeast, which was my direction so riding these trails through he woods helped diminish the headwind.
From the Issaquah-Preston trail there is a nice connector on country roads to Preston where the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail begins. I stopped at a cafe there for a bottle of water, a truly perfect cappuccino and a peanut butter cookie that had an entire Reeces Peanut Butter Cup in the middle. Somewhat refreshed I hit what is probably my favorite trail I’ve ever ridden on. This trail is paved and in the woods and as it veers away from I-90 is relatively quiet. Really a nice ride on this well maintained tree lined path. This time I only rode half of it and where it crossed the Preston-Fall City road, I took that road down to Fall City. This is a decent road with a good shoulder but also a pretty steady stream of fast traffic. Still I had no issues and as it was all downhill from where I started was quickly in Fall City.
Which I just as quickly rode through and after crossing the Snoqualmie River took a little road that dead-ends at dirt road you can take up to the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. My fourth trail of the day, this long gravel surfaced trail is another favorite. It runs through the Snoqualmie Valley with its open vistas, and then climbs through the woods all the way up to Snoqaulmie Falls at a gentle, rail friendly grade. The surface was hard packed dirt at first and then there was a section of new fairly loose packed gravel. Right around the point where the surface changed I began to hear gunfire. Clearly down the valley but always a nerve wracking situation. I’d hear shots on and off for the next half hour or so, but luckily there was no stray bullets in my direction. I was only on this trail for about 5 miles and then I was at the end and back on the road.
The trail ends at this little tunnel under Tokul road and you have to climb this steep stairway up to the road. Once there its a nice road through a heavily wooded route down io Snoqaulmie Falls. A car came up behind me as I rode this section and it held off passing me as there was a lot of blind curves in this section. As I came around one of these I startled a deer crossing the road toward a pair of fawns on the other side. They looked at me and then bounded away into the woods. Shortly thereafter I reached the end of the road and then I rode into the quaint little town of Snoqualmie. I was quite hungry at this point so I rode straight to the Snoqualmie Brewery Taproom, my first ever visit to this brewpub. I’ve enjoyed their beers in bottle form and was
excited to have a chance to have them on tap. The brewpub was fairly small and fairly full of people but I got a seat and soon had a porter in front of me. I had sandwich and an Oatmeal Stout (more on this in another post!) and spent some time resting and checking my email. Then it was back into town where I walked around a bit bought a bottle of water and checked out the main drag.
I couldn’t pass the Falls without stopping for a quick look and as
always it was well worth it. Not usually up here in early spring I
found the falls with a lot more water than I’m used to and spent some time
hypnotized by them. As I ducked into the gift shop to see what they had, I noticed a couple of people checking out my locked up Atlantis. They were gone by the time I got back out there, so I didn’t have to explain that it wasn’t an old bicycle like I so often have to do :)
Snoqualmie Falls.
A light dusting of snow on the Cascade Foothills
This is a heavily trafficked, fairly flat, mostly wide shouldered road. It is one that I can just grind through keeping an eye on my mirror for the traffic.I was definitely feeling beat and about out of water I stopped at the Shell station that I also always seemed to stop at. Refilled my bottles and picked up some quick energy and calories in the form of a fruit pie and a Starbucks Double Shot. This kept me going ’til I hit Redmond and then the usual route home over the Sammamish Valley walls. The two mile climb definitely was a grind but a familiar one and then it was all down hill and home. A great ride on routes new and old favorites through beautiful scenery and with a great new pub as a destination. Almost exactly 71 miles for this ride
Check out my full picture set of this ride on Flickr.
Commute pic of the week 2008, Week 14 (04.02.2008)
Dubious public art at the Redmond Town Center. This may be the most dubious yet.
I actually had two pubs in mind as I rode my spring “populaire” a couple of weekends back, but as I recount in that report I was mistaken about where my route was going. The route that I was following began and ended at the Redhook Brewery and I have to say this is a pub that is almost never my destination. Lets step back into the mists of time when I first began to drink beer. I’d dabbled with a few mass market American crap beers in high school, but really never enjoyed them enough to drink more then a few. My first year in college I tried a wide variety of alcoholic substances and still couldn’t get too into it. I ended up staying at college that summer taking a few courses to prep me for the next year and that summer was one of the hottest I’ve experienced in my many years in Washington State. This heat along with a couple of new friends led to a lot more beer drinking and I vividly recall one day sitting out in the stands in an out of the way outdoor soccer field drinking a Henry Weinhards Red (which they don’t seem to make anymore) and realizing that I actually liked the way it tasted.
Henry’s of course is just a step up from mass market crap American beer, the lightest of ales with pretty low body, hops and alcohol. It got me started though from from Hanks I moved on pretty fast. Redhook was pretty much the next step, their ESB having a bit more body and flavor and their Blackhook Porter being probably the gentlest route to these rich and complex beers. Redhook though is pretty much only a step up from Hanks there are plenty of readily available brews in all of their styles that are considerably better. The upshot of this long winded trip down memory lane is that I don’t really care too much for Redhook and thus even though I lived a mile and a half from the brewery for five years I almost never went there.
Redhook Brewery
Forecasters bar at the Redhook Brewery
(sorry about the blurriness)
Forecasters is the name of the pub attached to the Redhook Brewery and I have to say it is much more focused on the eating part then the drinking. The bar is a crammed little corner of the much larger restaurant and it all seems designed in such a way that you have no inclination to linger. Of course you get enough beer in you it doesn’t matter, but I for one have never spent a real long time here. The place also was packed and considering that it was 5pm on the nicest Saturday of 2008 to date I guess that isn’t too shocking. There is a park just across the way and the long Sammamish River Trail runs right by it, so it is a popular place to end cycling or outdoor activities. There was one little table free in the bar area so I headed over that way and immediately ordered a Blackhook (and a glass of water to drink while I waited for it to warm up).
The food at Forecasters is in that kind of kicked up bar food: “gourmet burgers”, blacked chicken salads, salmon burgers and so on. I’m mostly vegetarian but will eat fish on occasion so I usually can find something to eat at most PNW pubs. I wasn’t in the mood for a burger-y type thing so I ended up getting Snow Crab Ravioli in a Gorgonzola cream sauce. Not bad, though they ravioli were clearly frozen and just whipped up on demand. Also considering how hungry I was after the days ride I could have eaten about four times as much, but as I still had to ride about nine more miles this was probably for the best. I didn’t linger long after eating and didn’t even get another beer. The Blackhook was the only thing I was interested in and after the one I was done.
Forecasters will never be a frequent destination but as a rare one it’s not too bad. The occasional nitro Blackhook and decent bar food means I’m never unhappy when I go there, but there are a lot better options.
March is an odd duck with the transition from Winter to Spring. Here in the PNW spring definitely begins in March as far as the flora and fauna is concerned but for a cyclist the weather is still pretty lousy. This month was no exception with everything from 65 degree sunny days to snow. In fact it snowed just last weekend the latest I can ever recall seeing snow in the lowlands. Of course it didn’t stick at all or around and now it is just cold and rainy. I more or less completely transitioned to leg warmers and the cardigan though a few colder days demanded more drastic measures. It definitely is harder to be comfortable the whole ride, especially as mine climbs for the first half and descends for the second. I warm right up with all that climbing but the fast descents can be cold.
I did a lot better this month commute wise, I missed five days, but two of those were due to a bad head cold. So only three days where I just bailed, which isn’t too bad. I rode 16 days total including my first 5 day week in a while. There was precipitation on 6 rides including sleet last Friday. One rarity that I’ve experienced a number of days is the tailwind in both directions. The wind often blows south to north in the morning and north to south in the evening (directions are “roughly”) and back in my old commute that would translate to headwinds both ways. Now that I live south of my workplace that situation has reversed which I have to say kicks ass.
My Atlantis at Sandy’s Espresso
I’d replaced my usual Panaracer Pasela’s with a Vittera Randoneaur on my rear wheel as it needed replacing and that was the widest tire I could find at a local store. I can safely say that having used that tire in 26″ form on my Safari and now after a few hundred miles on my Atlantis that I just don’t care for the tire much. Perhaps it’s just that it’s narrower then I’m used to, or that it’s higher pressure but it just rode rougher and felt squirrelly. I’d gotten a replacement Pasela from Rivendell last week and I decided to put that on before I left. While the wheel was off I noted how wore down my brake pads were so I decided to replace them as well. I’ve never been very satisfied with my pad replacements in the past - they never felt responsive enough. I vowed this time I’d fiddle with them till I had it down. It really is the last basic procedure I don’t have wired. So with a bunch of adjusted and short little rides I’m happy to say I got them pretty well adjusted. Perhaps a bit aggressive on the front and a bit loose on the rear but overall a lot better then the old worn pads were feeling.
So now its about eleven, a bit warmer and I’m finally ready to head out. I had done some research during the week on what route to take which I had several criteria. I wanted to ride someplace new or that I hadn’t been on for a while and I wanted to do at least 50 miles but knew I wasn’t ready for anything more then say 65-75. These two constraints of course were at odds - I’ve ridden extensively in a 50 mile radius and these days for new rides I usually end up with more epic rides. One place I’ve turned to a lot for ride ideas is the archive of the Seattle International Randonneurs. While randonneuring is a bit out of my current level of fitness and ability (their rides start at 200km which is the furtherest I’ve ridden to date) I share a lot of their style. I like to do unsupported rides, on the roads and am prepared for pretty much any weather and day and night riding. A lot of the SIR rides start not too far from me and weave through the valleys and mountain passes. Their routes try to avoid majorly trafficked areas but don’t shy away from roads or ghettoize the cyclist onto trails or roads with bicycle lanes. So I often take bits and pieces of their rides and connect them up with my own routes. For todays ride I choose to ride one of their “populaires” which are an easy 100km ride that they use to sucker people into randonneauring.
I did amend the route a tiny bit to as I’m about 8 miles from the start/finish point but was able to intersect with the route about 9 miles into it’s route. As I so often have to do I had to climb up the Sammamish valley wall, ride along this for a bit and then descend into Redmond. I immediately felt a bit warm in my cardigan and unbuttoned a few of it’s buttons. For the first hour or so of this ride this would be a pattern; unbuttoning on the climbs button back down again as I descended or entered shade. It felt really nice out though, perfect cycling weather with sun, some high thin clouds and temps in the upper forties at this point. I rode into Redmond and took East Lake Sammamish Parkway into Marymoor Park. At the west side of the park I was on todays route. I was a bit unhappy with the level of squishiness in my rear brakes so I stopped and did a bit of roadside adjustment. I got them a bit better and set off. I was now on West Lake Sammamish Parkway and my “populaire” had begun.
All things considered this was pretty early for me to be out ride, I often don’t start till after lunch.
This, combined with it being such a nice day brought out the cyclists in droves. Off the well documented club rides I rarely see other riders. I was pretty surprised then to see riders all along my route today. Primarily going the other direction but not always. The first part of this ride was the same as the Cascade Cycling Clubs Flying Wheels century ride (though mostly in reverse) and that I think explains a lot of the riders I saw - they were using a well known route. I’ve ridden a good chunk of that route myself but this one varied enough that there was a lot of new routes if not regions. The first big hill of the ride was up Inglewood hill to the Sammamish Plateau. A stiff climb but not one that goes on so long as to be come a grind. Once I got to the top of the hill I was greeted with a stiff headwind. Where the Flying Wheels route goes straight, my route took a right onto a fairly busy shoulderless arterial. This was probably the least fun section of the route and I had some serious “close passers”, one guy in a van giving me less then a foot clearance. Annoying on a tow lane road which was not anywhere busy enough to warrant such behavior. Needless to say I was happy when the route turned off this road and onto more bicycle friendly streets. This point would have been the first control if this was really a rando event.
I was back on the Flying Wheels route that I’d done before, though I was riding the end of it reverse. It was kind of fun to do this route I’d done before going the other direction. Always worth doing a good ride both directions, lets you get the best feel for an area. It was on this part that I saw a bunch of be-jerseyed riders whom I definitely suspect were following the Cascade route. The route was mostly through wooded suburbia at this point, past schools and single family houses. After a couple of miles it took a turn NE onto a winding descent from the plateau. This road had been a pretty good climb coming the other direction and it was good fun to bomb down it the other way. It had its own bit of a climb in the middle, but it was definitely more descending in this direction. Almost at the bottom the route took a right into the woods a nice stretch of pure country riding that I hadn’t done before. This was a great stretch, no traffic just a narrow road winding through the woods. I was pushing against a headwind that got quite severe at points at this time but the road wound around enough that it wasn’t too bad. Eventually I came out of the woods, rode through some suburbia and then turned into the small town of Fall City.
Fall City
Pretty much just a small little dairy town Carnation has tried to pretty itself up as a bit of a tourist burg. But it doesn’t seem to
have much by way of eateries. So I ended up at the next control spot, Sandy’s Cafe. An espresso stand much beloved by the local randonneuring community, it is a place I’ve often stopped at myself. I stripped off my cycling gear and at this point removed my leg warmers and cardigan. For the first time this year I was going to ride in shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt. Inside as I waited for a chance to order there was a bit of a to do at the drive through windows. A guy waiting on his drink, shouted to the guy behind him that he should shut off his engine as it was loud and stank. That guy then jumped out of his car ran to the first guys car window an proceeded to spew an incredible range of expletives and threats at him. Apparently the guy in the car said something along the lines of “You must be from Carnation” to which he was informed that yes he was and proud of it. With a lot more expletives of course. He was then advised to get out of his town. Anyway his drinks came up and he took them and drove off. The townie then pulled up and was all sweetness and light apologizing for “scaring the customers” but made it clear that he had no choice. Ah humans.
Anyway I got my double tall cappuccino, a bottle of water and some sort of berry scone. 
Alas my cappuccino wasn’t very good, I like them dry and this was pretty much a latte. I think though the barista was stressed about the incident and she was trying to squeeze me in before the obnoxious townie. I give her a pass. I rested for a bit, ate my scone (which was pretty decadent) and also some gorp. Feeling energized I set out in warm weather my bare white legs free for the first time in a long time. The next 15 miles or so were up the flat Snoqualmie valley and was just prime country riding. The sun was warm but never hot, the wind was at my back and the road was mostly flat with gentle hills now and again. The route took a few side roads through farmland, derelict houses and one unpleasantly aromatic feedlot-esque place. Mostly the route was on W. Snoqualmie Valley Road which I’ve ridden a number of times in the past, though always the other direction. This time though at the road that I’ve often first joined this route I continued on W. Snoqualmie valley road and some genuinely new territory.
Snoqualmie River and the Cascade mountains
other cyclists, though not so often and motorcyclists. It seems that only motorcyclists enjoy going on drives in the country and honestly I’d say that’s for the best. Automobiles just have too much of an impact for too many people to be just driving recreationally. On this stretch of road I saw a couple other cyclists going the other direction which was nice to see. A lot more friendly waving out in the country then you see closer to the city where the humorless roadies are out “training”. Many motorcycles usually in little gangs out there winding them up on these narrow country roads. I knew that eventually I’d have to climb out of the valley and it’d been a long stretch of easy going roads. Beautiful sights of snow tinged Cascade mountains, green farmland and the muddy Snoqualmaie river had been my companions for over an hour. But now the road began to wind up the valley wall and into the woods. The sights were that much more scenic when there were openings and I crossed several bridges over little streams that had carved deep cuts into the valley wall.
At last this road ended and I took a turn up the valley on Welch Road. This would have been another co
ntrol on the populaire but being just a wide spot in the road there was nothing there. Nothing but an epic hill that is. This hill went on for nearly two miles and had some decently steep sections on it. This was the only hill of the day that hit that grind point where it really wasn’t too much fun. At this point I’d ridden about 45 miles and was definitely not as spry as earlier in the day. I also was feeling not having had lunch. Though I was keeping the calories going with nuts, candy bars and the like I tend to need a bit of real food over the course of a long ride. Eventually Welch Road flattened out and I came onto Lost Lake. A tiny little lake out in the countryside it of course was completely surrounded by houses. The road was now pleasantly flat with a bit of rolling hills and it worked it’s way past Lost Lake and then Echo Lake. After a short time on Echo Lake road was a fun little segment on first a gravel road and then a dirt path through the woods. Well more of a muddy path through the woods that had me dodging huge mud puddles throughout its short length. I always love little connectors and paths though the woods so this little route had me grinning.
The dirt path ended in a cul-de-sac for some big housing community. I wound through that and 
ended up on the Woodinville-Duvall road. This is a pretty heavily trafficked road that I’ve done many times - it is the route I’ve often taken to West Snoqualmie Valley road. Luckily today’s route was only on it for a couple of miles and then turn off into less trafficked roads. There are a number of roads that cut behind the Samamimish valley wall and the route took a nice selection of these to avoid busier roads and much climbing. This was familiar territory for me as we were just over the valley from Woodinville where I lived for years, so I’ve ridden these roads a lot. Eventually I came to the point where the route decided to cross the valley wall and I was off for one last climb. This hill wasn’t too bad though I was definitely feeling it at about 60 miles now. It also was getting cold enough that I was about ready to don my leg warmers and cardigan again, but as the route ended just a couple of miles ahead I figured I’d just wait till then. After climbing up the valley there was a bit of a plateau and then a fast descent into the Sammamish valley. A short couple of miles on the Woodinville/Redmond Road and I was at the Redhook Brewery, the official beginning and end of the ride. Hooray!
Now obviously this wasn’t the beginning or end of my ride but I was hungry, tired and cold now so I figured I’d stop for dinner,
put on my warmer clothes and then complete my ride. Forecasters (the Redhook brewpub) was packed but I got a little table in the bar and soon enough was enjoying a Blackhook Porter. I rarely come to Forecasters as I think Redhook is kind of a mediocre beer, but Blackhook, especially on the Nitro is definitely drinkable. I ordered some snow crab ravioli in a Gorgonzola sauce and pretty much inhaled it. So without having spent too much time there I put on my warmer clothes and headed back out. Only about 6pm and still plenty of sun left in the day. I was out of water so I figured I’d ride up to a local Creamery and get and ice cream cone and refill my bottles there. This creamery was on the first part of the official route so I was able to stick with my route for now.
At Theno’s Dairy I got a bottle of water and a coffee ice cream cone. I just got the st
andard cone but man was it a huge scoop of ice cream on there. I don’t eat ice cream too often, but of late when I do I’ve been rather obsessed with coffee ice cream. Very few are really good as they often use inferior coffee. Well I’m happy to report that Theno’s Dairy, who I knew made good Ice Cream from previous visits, makes a great coffee ice cream. I sat outside and savored my cone as the sun began to sink over the valley wall. One last climb up that valley and I was on my normal commute route. I was able to mindlessly take that route, choosing the shortest option as I was definitely done for the day. Soon enough I was back home done with ride as the sun was sinking over Lake Washington. A beautiful day and a beautiful country ride with a nice mix of hills, flats and always great scenery.
Headin’ home.
Commute pic of the week 2008, Week 12 (03.21.2008)
A wooden sculpture in a park in Redmond. Part of my Dubious Public Art series.
At last it is spring. Not that today was much different then yesterday but lets face it - there is a level in which its all mental. The real big change as far as I’m concerned was the shift to daylight savings time a couple weeks back. I commute year round and a certain percentage of my rides home are in the darkness. I’ve gone to great lengths to be able to ride comfortably and safely in the dark and there are aspects of it I enjoy a lot. But I can’t deny that I prefer to ride in the light. Things had been lightening up, there was a trace of dusk if I left work at a normal time, a bit of light if I left a bit early. But the daylight savings time switch kicked it into pretty much full light on my ride home.
In the last week or two the flora has burst into brilliant life. Only the most reticent trees still raise
unadorned limbs to the sky. everything else has woken from their winter slumber. Of course the cherry trees and the dogwoods have been blooming for nearly a month now and many of the cherries are heading toward dropping their flowers as the leaves are pretty dominant now. The flowers are coming up, pretty little blue wildflowers ion the side of the highway, various flowering shrubs. The colors are stunning and the frequent rains only serve to wash away the dust and put a brilliant sheen on things.
Speaking of the rains, the persistent drizzle of winter has begun to transmute into the showers of spring. The morning will be partially cloudy, maybe a bit breezy, and then a series of showers will come and go throughout the day making any sort of anticipation of the conditions for the ride home impossible. Sprinkles come and go on those ride and sure even a full evening of rain. Dressing is always tricky this time of year and as the temperatures warm this increases. One might need to wear a wool stocking hat on the ride in and a cycle cap on the ride home. Fingerless gloves on direction, full gloves the other. A sweater when it’s dry, but just a shirt under a rain jacket when its raining. Of course with the wool I 
primarily wear I can almost always just go for it and change clothes at either end.
The clothing thing is always toughest in the transition months and I find that it it overheating that is my biggest challenge. This year I’m more on the ball I picked up some wool arm warmers and knee warmers. I run through a pattern every year from t-shirt, shorts and bare feet in sandals in the summer to wool, tights, two layers of wool socks, a wool undershirt, a wool sweater and a wool hat in the winter. As I move from winter to summer, I replace the sweater with a light tweed cardigan and then the tights with leg warmers. The next step is always the hard one, from there to t-shirt and shorts. So I’m hoping that the arm warmers and knee warmers will fill that gap. I’ve been trying to get these for years but every year Rivendell sells out of them right when I decide I need them. So I got them this week probably a month before I need them. Trying to think ahead.
I keep riding all winter but there is not denying that it is mostly commuting miles. And even those reach a low point in the winter as I missed days for severely inclement weather, sickness and general malaise. What really suffers are the longer recreational rides. Sure I got some in this winter, a couple a month, but it definitely a lesser affair. The longer days really help, especially as I’m not much of a morning person. Riding has already picked up a bit and should only continue. So here’s to spring!
Touring is my favorite cycling activity but in all honesty one I rarely get to do. It requires a pretty serious block of time and in this era of “increased productivity” time is in short supply. Time must also be divided between one’s interests and while cycling and touring are a great love it is not my only love. Touring in many ways is a mindset and I work to cultivate that mindset in my non-touring rides. Day trips can feel like a day of touring where you get to stay in your home at the end. Or adding a series of day rides into another trip can be a great experience that significantly widens ones perspective on an area. This can be like touring and always returning to the same place. S24O-ers can give you that feel of exploration, self-sufficiency and pared down living. These are all valuable, rewarding experiences that can capture some of the magic of touring and fit into 21st century life in America. But it is for this very reason that nothing quite compares to actual multi-day touring.
It takes a few days on the road to get into the swing of things. You need to get used to the difference in your bicycles handling, the effort require to start from a dead stop, to get used to riding many hours day after day and to let your mind slow down to the pace of the tour. Once you are there then the real magic of touring opens up. It isn’t the bicycle, or sight seeing, or even the people that is the real magic; it is the change in pace, the slowing down of ones actions, a sort of detached focus. Touring is a routine combined with novelty; every day you get up, make breakfast, break down camp, load the bicycle, ride, eat lunch, ride, find a campsite, setup camp, cook dinner, explore the campsite, journal, read, sleep. A routine that once you fall into feels natural and mindless, you can just do the same things day in and day out. But every day you ride through new territory, the terrain slowly changing as you pedal through the miles. The campsites are all different, the sights to see change, the weather is a constant puzzle. The routine is just a familiar activity that propels you through the constant change.
For me it is all about this changing of perception and attitude of letting go of things. I slow down a lot on tour. I don’t worry about how much time an individual activity takes, I don’t try to optimize things, I let things take the time that they need. For instance if I stop to take a picture, or refill my water bottles or whatever I don’t push it to get to that activity. I don’t mind spending the time to lock up my bicycle, to remove my gloves and helmet maybe even put on or take off other clothing. There is no rush, you are moving through the day and that is your only obligation.
The pace of the bicycle, especially loaded for touring, opens up the land you are cycling through, but it’s still only in a narrow strip along your route. Stopping often, taking interesting looking side roads, wandering around the little towns you ride through opens it up a lot more. The impulse to explore is strong in me and I never can pass up a bicycle path, an interesting looking trail, a scenic road or a novel route. On tour these are constant and if you take the time to explore you widen the ribbon of your route and the opportunities to learn the region and for adventure expand dramatically. Of course there are always limits, the amount of time one has for the tour being the most constricting one. Working within limits can be very revealing and rewarding in its own right. Loose daily goals that can be changed, updated or altered as the situation develops allows for the flexibility demanded for these experiences but also keeps you within your limits. You can’t see it all and knowing when to let go is just as important as taking a chance, exploring and knowing when to change your plans.
Sometimes I think there is an overemphasis in the touring world to focus on epic undertakings. Perspective is important and with the right perspective anywhere you tour is open to endlessly rewarding experiences. Obviously there is nothing wrong with touring around the world, across the Tibetan plateau or to the north pole - whatever constitutes an adventure to you. But with a touring mindset a tour around the county you live in can bring you just as much. There can be a tendency to equate “adventure” with pushing yourself to the limit, or with an epic undertaking. Even more limiting is the notion that anything less isn’t “really touring”. These sorts of calculations push touring further away - how often can one do epic journeys? how far do you have to push yourself to top each adventure? At what point do you lose sight of what touring is really about in pursuit of some ephemeral notion of adventure?
There is pretty much unlimited information available to all with a computer and an internet connection these days. This presents a double edged sword for the tourer. Yes is is very easy to plan a trip, to find the best routes, attractions, places to stay, things not to miss. At the same time you run the risk of over planing, of leaving less up to chance, of eliminating too many variables. And then there’s the sense that it’s all been done before, that you are just doing a typical tour that everyone has done. Or that it’s insignificant that your little tour around your state is nothing next to some guys tour across central Asia. You can become bogged down in the minutia of equipment, gear ratios, frame material, waterproofing and so on. In the end you have to get out there, make your own trip and learn. Learning is always an adventure and experience the only real way to learn on a topic like touring.
In between tours you can document your past experiences, read about others experiences, plan the next tour. These are all fun, rewarding activities and something I’ve spent plenty of time on. Over the years, as I’ve toured some and read a lot more, I’ve gradually changed my perspective toward between tour activities. I’ve reached a point where I’m set with the basic gear and have the experience of what to expect on the road that I don’t need to spend much time when I’m not touring thinking about those aspects of it. If the opportunity presents itself I can just up and go with a pretty short amount of preparation. Physically I may not be fully ready, but there’s nothing quite like touring to get you into shape. I think about how to use my time off, what works in those time frames and the logistics involved. But I’ve let goof a lot of the obsessing over details, I’ve got gear that works, I’ll try out new things if they seem useful but I don’t spend much time seeking them out. What I’m really interested in cultivating now is what I began this piece with: that sense of touring in everyday riding. And then get out there and do that riding.
