Hardware Store Ride

4/11/20


Hello reader,
Saturday I needed to pick up some pipe cleaners for a project that my wife was doing and I wanted to get out and ride. So I looked it up online and found that the closest store that had what I was looking for was in Edmonds about 7 miles away.
      I have driven to the area before but I had never ridden it. It was a nice cool, dry day. I headed out and found out why it is called the Edmonds bowl, going there was good, but coming out was more work than I expected. I made it out but there was a block (on the road in the picture with the bike laying down on the curb) that I had to go about half a block in my lowest gear, my legs and lungs were burning at capacity.
      But all in all a good ride, and I'm glad I made it a functional trip to the store without having to use the car. Mr. Money Moustache would be proud of me for that!


Keep the rubber side down,


TDC

520 Loop Ride

520 Loop Ride

4/8/20

Hello reader,

On Monday I was able to make a ride happen that I have wanted to do for nearly 2 years. With all of the “stay home” order in place it was a very quiet peaceful ride. Very few people on the trail, very few cars on the road. A little over three hours in the saddle, and since I haven’t been riding nearly as much, the roughly 32 miles was a real stretch for me. But I did this ride instead of my usual “leg day” so I wasn’t too sore the next day.

One of the reasons I really like the Northwest is that there is a lot of green, mountains and water. Also here in the Seattle area we have a lot of “rail to trails” (old railways that were turned into bicycle/ running/ walking trails), because of that most of the ride was on dedicated trails, very little riding on the road. The temperature was low 40s, high clouds and dry, perfect for a east facing morning ride across the 520 bridge.

I left the house at 7am and I got back at about 10:15am. Even with breaks for pictures and a chance to stretch and catch my breathe, I think that I made decent time all things considered. It was a good day.

 

Thanks for reading,

Keep the rubber side down,

 

TDC

 

Busy weekend on the trail

4/1/2020


Hello Reader,
As everyone has been talking about, here in Washington and (seem ably a lot of places) there is as "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order in effect. Well all of the gyms, events, most stores, etc. are closed. So as I figure out how to incorporate my exercise routine into current turn of events, I realized that still my favorite kind of cardio is real bicycle riding. Two reasons I prefer bicycle riding to any gym cardio:


      1) I enjoy actually going somewhere, and seeing the beautiful scenery of Western Washington.


      2) I get more cardio work done, because it is not easy to just get off of the machine when  I am thinking of all of the other things I could be doing.




So since it had been a while since I had been in the saddle, I rode a little over 16 miles Saturday, then a little over 20 miles Sunday. A good weekend for bicycle riding! Also the trail was packed, I guess people are getting stir crazy and needing to get their exercise too!


Keep the rubber side down!


TDC