Friday, June 22, 2007
I showed up for coffee at 6:45am at the essential to meet up with Seujan for a ride. I enjoyed connecting with the lake people (not to mention an americano and some toast). Seujan and I rode the south end of Lake Washington. It felt really good to be on the Seven. I'm always amazed at how great the Seven rides. I was a little apprehensive due to being sick a couple a days before...but I felt great on the bike. I realized early in the ride that the Seven needs some maintenance. The cranks/bottom bracket were making some noise when I pushed hard or climbed (that can't be good). So after an absolutely incredible ride (have I mentioned how lucky I feel to live in the Seattle area...I'd come here for vacation!) I took the bike home for some TLC. I pulled the pedals off, removed the cranks and bottom bracket (cleaned and lubed the bottom bracket, and cranks and re-installed them). I then put my Shimano Road pedals on. I cleaned the bike, wheels and chain (and oiled the chain). So the bike is ready to go. I'm still riding the back tire from the Arizona trip...not sure if this is good...it could really use a new tire. I have the Arizona tire I took off the front (and removed at least 20 goat heads out of...my theory is that the tire is now rideable (I just can't throw away a $50 tire)...so it might go on the back.

I'm also contemplating swapping my wheels out for my race wheels. I'm currently riding the wheels I built for winter riding...which ride incredibly well...my Mavic Ksyrium ES's are faster but not as comfortable...but it is probably time to put the fast wheels on...and to see what kind of difference they make.


My ankle is really sore after today's ride (it was sore before the ride...but now it is screaming) so I'm back on 5 aleve/day and lots of ice trying to get the swelling down. This is to say that the Shimano pedals might be great (they should give me more stability) or awful (not sure if my left foot is back to its original size...meaning no swelling). My road shoes fit a bit snugger...so we will see. I'm looking forward to getting the Seven out and see how it rides with the minor maintenance done.

Thursday, June 21, 2007
stayed home sick from work. Actually I didn't feel too bad in the morning...but having been up all night with a headache and stomach issues...I decided it was wise to lay low. I iced my ankle which was complaining mightily.


Wednesday, June 20, 2007
There was a leisurely ride a Beaver posted...so I showed up... I knew is was in trouble even before we began to ride. I spent an hour and 20 minutes chasing Walter and Susie. We split off from the main group (which was the faster group). Susie is a road rider and was struggling a bit with the technical (lucky for me). I made several errors. 1) water (instead of Gatorade) 2) not eating on the bike (I spent my time just trying to catch Walter). 3) keeping my heart rate well over 90% of Max heart rate the whole time. finally after an hour and 20 minutes, I drop and took a nutrition break and limped back to the car. I spent a lot of time standing on my pedals, and my ankle blew up. When I got home I immediately got sick (not sure if it was a bug in my system or my system complaining about the ride).

Thursday, June 14, 2007
Rode Tapeworm with Joseph. Tapeworm is pretty tough. I can tell I haven't been pushing on mountain bike...because I was pushing (up hill) at Tapeworm. We did DNA and Tapeworm in 1.5 hours. My heart rate was consistently over 90% of MHR. It was very fun. I want to ride it every week. I need to learn the area...we got lost a couple of times getting from DNA to Tapeworm.

Tuesday and Wednesday, June 12-13, 2007
I spent Tuesday and Wednesday showing the Trek...it is sold! First caller purchased it. The great thing is it fit the new owner (a budding Triathlete) perfectly. It was tough selling my first Road bike...but I knew that I'll never ride it again...even in the rain...I ride the Seven.

Monday, June 11, 2007
I spent my recovery evening at the Dahlia Lounge eating crab cakes...and washing them down with a nice glass of Riesling. Life if good.

Sunday, June 10, 2007
Went mountain biking with Julie at Tolt. We rode some great trails. I was a bit tired from my Saturday ride. Julie showed me how to find MLR. Total time out was 3 hours.

Saturday, June 9, 2007
Rode Tolt by myself with a map. I didn't get lost, but I had a tough time finding MLR...actually I never found MLR. Rode for about 3 hours (in the rain). I had fun. I'm looking forward to doing more exploring out there. I rode Dead snake, Oxbow, Schaefer, the bypass and then took a right turn from the bypass...never found MLR but rode two loops on the right and an out and back on the left. Great ride even though I wasn't finding the trails I was looking for.

Mountains....

Spent the early part of Sunday out mountain biking...man is it ever fun. Sometimes I forget how fun biking is....got to get more of this! Was out for a couple of hours. I still don't have my courage up for some of the bigger logs etc...but give me time.