The Worm

Saturday, July 26, 2008

There was a leisurely paced ride (at the worm) posted on the bbtc calendar to I signed up.  Leisurely is a bit misleading; what leisurely means is that at a minimum you ride hard to make it up all the steep little hills and over all the technical terrain and most likely you ride hard to try to keep up with the person in front of you, and the group stops from time to time to regroup.  I've ridden the worm twice this year.  The first time was with Joseph and we rode a bit of parasite and all of the worm and were wasted when we finished.  I then rode the worm in late June with the Luna's beginner ride.  We only rode the Worm and we stopped a lot.  So today we rode DNA, Tape Worm and Parasite which I couldn't have done in June.  I road hard but I also waited for the rider behind me (who was a newer rider) so I got to rest a bit. My skills were much better than they have been since before I broke my leg.  I couldn't have ridden the worm non stop.  I'm riding the Thrilla on Thursdays (weather permitting) so I should see my endurance and strength increase.

The famous Thrilla

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Yesterday,  I met Jennifer at the Redmond QFC to do the Thrilla route.  Jennifer was great to ride with...she stopped often to point out the route (so I could learn it enough to do it on my own).  The route is 20 miles of non-technical trail and road with many climbs.  There are short steep climbs, long arduous climbs and everything in between.  Our actual ride time was 2.91 hours but we were out on the bikes a long time.  We left the parking lot about 5:45 I'd guess and got back about 9:30pm.  I rode well and felt good until Lonesome hill (which is the last major hill).  It was long and it was lonesome.  I grannied it all the way...by the end I had a nice headache and had a little trouble getting recouped to feel good on the rest of the ride.  Note to self: finish before dark.  I was wearing sunglasses and could barely see on the ride back to the car (on the Burke Gillman trail); but there were so many bugs I couldn't take my sunglasses off even through it was dark out.  This was a great ride.  There is a club ride there every Thursday night.  I think starting between 5:00 and 5:30 would be great at least until I can get my ride time down to 2 hours.  I'm planning on making the Thrilla a weekly ride.  It definitely will make me strong.  I rode the Nomad and didn't mind the extra weight because it climbs so good.  Once I ride it a couple of times it would be interesting to take the Juliana (it is 4 lbls lighter) and compare times.

I also am over the hump with this quarter's classes.  There are only 3 weeks left with the last week being finals (at least in one class).  My hope is to get all my reading and most of my homework done this weekend so that I can concentrate on studying for the final in Macroeconomics which I'm finding to be pretty darn tough.  Taking it in an 8 week summer quarter instead of an 11 week regular quarter wasn't necessarily a good idea....but since my 2nd summer class had been cancelled, it was the only class left for me to take (that wasn't filled up by then and that I needed to take). The good news is that I don't have any really hard classes left!  I'm taking my synthesis class and Real-estate Law (an elective) in the fall and an international class and an elective in the winter. 

I also decided that my Personal Finance class and my Investments class (on top of two required finance classes) are enough finance for me.  I don't think I need anymore and so unless I decide to take Entrepreneurial finance, I don't see my last elective being in finance.  The Winter quarter class schedule comes out next week...so I will know soon enough.

Tokul west

The Luna Chix posted a ride at Tiger, but the NW Tiger Trail is closed so they decided to move the ride to Tokul West.  Tokul is only about a 15 minute drive for me.  I was hesitant to go because I know Tokul has a lot of climbing and I'm a slow climber.  I like climbing, I just don't like being the last person or holding up the group.  Nice thing is, I wasn't the last person and there were several people climbing close to my speed.  The ride was posted as a 3-4 hour ride.  Because I've never ridden at Tokul I decided to try to keep track of our turns, so I could start learning the area and I think there is a loop I could do.  We were out for 3.5 hours.  Actual ride time was 2 hours.  We got lost on the way up, and spent about 15-20 minutes taking a break and trying to figure out where we were.  I really enjoyed the climbing.  We climbed for at least the first hour and there was some climbing on the way back.  Total distance was 10 miles.  I took the Juliana knowing that there was a lot of climbing and she is lighter than the Nomad.  It would have been nice to have the Nomad for the descents.  Another positive is that I met 2 new ride buddies.  Jennifer and Charlene.  Charlene lives in Snoqualmie (which is close to my area).  Jennifer rides the Thrilla regularly and for several years I've been wanting to learn that route.  The Thrilla is in Woodinville and is about 20 miles (if my memory serves me right).  It is a training route, not so much a fun ride; although it comes with beer afterwards.  Jennifer rides it early so that she is finished when the guys are.  I need to figure out how to get out to Woodinville early enough to ride with her.  I'm wondering if there is a park and ride out in that area; if so, I might be able to leave my car in Redmond and bus from there.  I can take my bike in with me and then bus back.  The traffic is pretty tough getting to Redmond after work...although if I leave early enough it might not be a problem.  I covered myself with bug spray before I left and I finished the ride without being eaten alive.  I forgot my chamois butter which I'm still regretting.  The best part is that I rode all the climbs (except the early single track which was not really an option for me).  I didn't stop on the climbs and i didn't push my bike on the climbs).  Overall I rode conservatively (walking some fairly technical trail features) but I rode one gnarly drop on the way back.  I was riding behind Charlene who is still coming back from an injury and was riding conservatively.  She rode the drop and so I figured it was tame...I got up to it and it was just barely rideable (due to the height of the drop); so I rode it and did really well.  I'm going to like Tokul...but it isn't an area I'd feel comfortable riding alone...so I may need to talk someone into riding it with me.

Monday, I'm hoping to take my road bike to work with me on the bus and ride home.  We are working on Bainbridge Island.  I'm not interested in riding the Island but I am interested in riding home.  I have to figure out the route from the ferry to the I-90 bridge.  I'm sure there is a good route...since many people ride to the ferry for the chilly hilly.