Photos From the Saddle

A great ride, all in all. I’d hoped for the century on Saturday, but our pace from the start was a bit too relaxed and we would’ve run out of time. No worries, though… had plenty of fun.

Some quick meaningless numbers:

Saturday:

• Distance: 71.3 mi.
• Time: 5:06:05
• Max speed: 43.5, Avg.: 14.5
• Max cadence: 113, Avg.: 71
• Ascent: 3,660 ft.
• Max heart rate: 181, Min.: 74, Avg.: 134
• Calories burned 4,051

Sunday:

• Distance: 72.2 mi.
• Time: 4:34:03
• Max speed: 34.9, Avg.: 15.9
• Max cadence: 107, Avg.: 75
• Ascent: 1,760 ft.
• Max heart rate: 179, Min.: 84, Avg.: 132
• Calories burned 3,506

I think I need to recalibrate the altimeter.

The ride really was a blast. Such a great crowd of supporters and volunteers, and so many smiling riders, too. I saw some beautiful bicycles out there, including some hand bikes, a unicycle and a fixie. Saw some Davidsons, two Independents, a couple Long Haul Truckers and a number of Litespeeds. Oh, and a lot of costumes and riding decorations.

Some pictures…

Off to the MS Ride, which is looking like it will be a blast—our team is 30+ strong, with all levels of riding ability. It looks like I’ll be out for the century tomorrow, then an open-ended Sunday of either 50 or 75 miles. Planning on taking lots of pictures, as the ride is through a gorgeous region.

Thought this article was interesting: Microsoft giving workers a free ride

More after the weekend.

Looks like it’ll be a short week for commuting by bike. Today was the first day I rode since the long haul on Sunday; it was a fun little sprint to the train station this morning, as I was running late. On my way home this afternoon, I got a chuckle out of this little conundrum:

A passing freight train had caused a backup and the bus ended up straddling the bike lane. Thanks to the glory of bicycles, I passed all the stopped cars.

I’ve been thinking more and more of what I’m going to do once the rainy season starts. I want to keep riding, however I don’t want to subject the Ninjabike to that kind of torment… and I’m selling the Element to help fund my trip to Spain (plus I don’t want to ride it again). I’m leaning heavily toward steel… and the Raleigh One-Way is prominently on my mind. We shall see.

In other news, turns out it’s not just drivers that dislike bicyclists around here: Bear attacks MTB’r.

Been a while since I wrote, though I’ve been riding plenty. Last week entailed catching the 5:45am train and then riding all the way home most days. Friday, I drove out to the cabin and then Saturday I did a quick hour-long climbing session before coasting back to a day of reading and relaxation. Sunday was a sunny 70-mile trip along the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes… and while we certainly had the legs to make it a full century, our asses hurt too much to make a go of it. There’s definitely something to be said for varied terrain when you’re riding.

Some pics…

Interesting building falling into oblivion along the ride home:

The “border” around this house’s front yard consists of many large toy trucks, mostly dumptrucks… and while you can’t really see it, one corner of the border is a large cactus. Definitely a “different” take on landscaping, but I love it:

Ooooh… cliche:

One of the few shots from the TotCDAs ride… if Jesus were a cyclist, he’d welcome the masses like this: