Mile 710 - The Olympic Discovery Trail

Back from a really wonderful 41 mile, trip from Sequim to Pt.Angeles and back.  I wanted to post the route with Google maps but it simply doesn't recognize any bike-only trails.  Seriously, that is pathetic.  There is a beautiful, bike-only, paved road along the northern Olympic peninsula, yet Google Maps thinks you should ride along the highway instead.  They've got a ways to go with that.

I did this same ride about 6 months ago as part of a half-century benefit, called "Pedalling the Muse" for the Pt. Angeles Art Center, a really wonderful spot that I recommend visiting.  It's a mostly flat ride, with just a few ups and downs, through farms and small ravines, along the coast and through forests.  Just the best of Northwest rides.  Here are some photos from today, none of which do it justice:





Stopped in at a little restaurant named Rick's in Pt.Angeles and devoured 2 beers and fish and chips. The waiter was this unbelievably earnest and sweet teenager who kept getting things wrong (who brings balsamic vinegar for fish and chips!?). In the middle of lunch, an old man walked in and asked for an order of fries. When the kid came back with the styrofoam container (like the ones you get takeout teriyaki in), the old man opened the lid, and said "I need you to fill it up the top". The kid went back and put some more in. The old man opened it up and saw that It Was Good. That container had enough fries to fill up maybe 10 side orders on a regular plate. What he was about to do with that many fries, god only knows. Funny little scene.

If anyone who owns a bike near Seattle is reading this, I demand that you make it a summertime goal to bike this trail at least once this year. It's really worth it. Here's the link again: Olympic Discovery Trail

Mile 664 - Google Bike Maps, Thumbs Down!

Today was bike commute day, on a route I had never done before.  There's been a lot of recent hoopla about Google's new bike maps, so I decided to use it, and ride whatever route it came up with.  Survey Says: Up Yours Google!  Without a doubt, the worst way to get there, with a long stretch on Rainier Ave, a 4 lane road with zero shoulder.  I rode for miles on the sidewalk, cursing Google the entire way.  It'll be while before I use it again without consulting a whole lot of other resources.  Here is the route I took.  I only post it here so you know exactly what to avoid.  Here's some photos of the ride, including a bonus dog photos at the end of the slideshow.





On the way back, I used my friend's directions, coupled with some help from the Seattle Bike Map.  The route was pretty bad the whole way: terrible roads, no bike lanes, only "sharrows".  It's better than nothing, but only just a bit.  Drivers were very respectful and safe, which made it fine.  But overall, the bits of south Seattle I rode were not fun at all.  Compared to the places I've been in north Seattle, it's a whole different ball-game, when it comes to bicycle infrastructure.  The city's got a long ways to go before you'll get a casual cyclist to brave some of those roads.  For reference, here's the route back.

Trip Plan - Leg 1: Zurich and the Bodensee

The Trip to the Old Country begins with an airplane ride from Seattle to Zurich on Air Canada.  It's an early morning flight, so I'm going to have to get to the airport around 5 in the morning.  Considering that I'm shipping a bike along with me, I want to make sure I've got a ton of time in case there are any last-minutes hassles.  All 4 panniers will be going into my enormous REI duffel bag and checked.  I'll have my Arkel Big Handlebar bag as my only carry-on luggage.

Once I land, I plan on putting together the bike in a corner of the Zurich airport and pedalling my way out.  I may or may not spend a few days in Zurich - it's one of Europe's most expensive cities and my budget is about 40 euros a day.  I could probably blow that in Zurich with a few cocktails at a bar.  However, I've been in touch with someone off of the WarmShowers.org site and may stick around to see what Zurich has to offer.

Photo of  the Bodensee from International Haplifnet (via Google Images)

From Zurich, it's off to the Bodensee (also called Lake Konstanz/Constance), using some variation of this route to get to this campground.  The Bodensee is an extremely well-travelled and built-up tourist place, but that is nonetheless cheap for bike tourist.  I'll get my head on straight over the week, sleeping on farmhouses, hostels and campgrounds and taking it easy on the generally flat terrain.  If I'm feeling hardcore, there's tons of fun rides in the hills and valleys surrounding the lake.  I bought a nice guide from Bergstrasse Books called "Mainly in High Gear: A Cycling Guide Around Lake Constance", which has great information for bike tourists cycling the Bodensee.

This first leg of the Trip is mostly a shakedown - very easy terrain, highly populated, plenty of shops and services around in case I find my gear lacking.  Also, the Bodensee is supposed to be a beautiful area and I'm looking forward to experiencing it from the seat of a bicycle.

I'm giving myself a maximum of 10 days from the time I land in Zurich to the end of my time at the Bodensee. The probable dates are May 14th to May 23rd.  Next up, the Black Forest!!!

Mile 631 - Ride to Pt.Townsend

Did another training ride out to Pt.Townsend, and it felt really good.  Nearly the entire inventory was packed on the bike; the only thing missing was a set of off-the-bike clothes.  Everything went smoothly except for a minor shimmy problem.  When I go above 20 mph, a slight wobble gets set off in the front, mostly due to my enormous handlebar bag and my front panniers which are mounted fairly high up.  It's not much of a problem, however, unless I'm headed into a descent of more than a mile or so - then it gets annoying.

It was 47 or so miles to get there.  I met up with someone for beers and burgers and took another 9 mile ride, so the whole day ended up being around 56 miles.  My legs were a bit worn out, but this morning they feel just fine.  Here's a map of the route with elevation data.  There weren't very many hills on the route, so it wasn't as good of a workout as some other rides.

The weather was fantastic.  Another bright spot is that the residual anxiety I was having after taking a number of spills this winter is nearly gone.  Last time I did this ride, the enormous floating bridge that you see in the slideshow below really spooked me, due to wind, rain and grated roads.  This time around, none of the anxiety and nervousness kicked in.  In fact, I stopped mid-bridge and took a picture, something I would've never done last month.

Mile 575: Rainbow and Blackout

Yesterday was a bit surreal. There was a fairly strong windstorm that blew through Seattle and Bainbridge, knocking out power sporadically throughout the area. While on a call, I watched 4 window washers frantically trying to secure their ropes which were flailing around in the street and on the roofs of a neighboring building.

Got home and hitched a ride with mein Mutter, who had to dodge tree debris to get home. Power was knocked out at The Hovel. I didn't have any food in the house, but the nearby generator-powered Rite-Aid had a box of the Double G (Golden Grahams), which I purchased and ate too much of.

On the way out of the Rite-Aid, a hairdresser told me to turn around and look at this:

From Rainbow

From Rainbow

A full rainbow! After cereal time, I biked around the neighborhood, surveying the damage. Much to my dismay, nearly everyone had power except for in a two block radius from The Hovel. It stayed that way until one in the morning, when my iPhone woke me up with the little sound it makes when you plug it in. I celebrated my return to civilization by turning off Airplane Mode and listening to the Best Show on WFMU and drifting off to sleep to sounds of Tom Scharpling.

Mile 573 - A Quick 20-miler

Today was the first day I've been able to go out in shorts, regular cycling gloves and only a single pair of socks. Yes, spring seems to be here. It was a beautiful day and I took off around 3 to tool around the south end of Bainbridge Island, some of my favorite riding. The entire way there are views of the sound. Lots of sea life, birds, seals and parks. Here's the route link

The longest hill on Bainbridge was at about mile 6. I have only done that hill once while fully loaded and last time around it made me dizzy. Today, at the base of the hill, a small yellow ladybug landed on my glasses. An obvious sign that the world is on my side; that ladybug helped me up the hill and then disappeared once it became obvious that I could manage the rest of it under my own power.

At Fort Ward, I went to my favorite resting spot to look at the goofy birds that like to hang out there. All of them sit perfectly still except one or two at a time who hold their wings out, like Ice Cube in "Boyz in the Hood" when he holds his arms out and says "Is there a problem?", while flashing his handgun. Those birds are there year in and year out and always make me chuckle.

Further south I saw a bald eagle sitting at the same spot he's been at for a while. I snapped a cruddy picture (you can barely make him out in the slideshow below), and he immediately flew off and began circling and hunting some kind of sea grub he spotted. He never caught it, and after 15 minutes, I finally got bored and left the drama.

Here's the photos from today:

Another positive ride, in terms of gear and fitness. I'm contemplating another overnight soon now that the weather's turning in my favor.

Mile 554: Better Weather and Spring Ahead

Today is daylight savings, and I couldn't be happier. Longer afternoons, better weather: I love this day. My usual routine is to bitch and moan my way through February and March until daylight savings, and this year in particular, the return of spring is very, very welcome.

I've done a few rides recently with my bike fully loaded with most of the gear I'm taking to the Old Country. There's a few odds and ends missing (laptop, camera, some random camping gear, off-bike clothes), but for the most part the weight and the gear are a done deal. I've managed to pack it in a way where everything fits into a pannier except for the tent poles. All of the panniers then can go into a huge duffel bag (gotten for a steal at REI for 25 bucks) in case I want to lock the bike up in a city and do a bit of shopping or something.

Anyway, yesterday's weather was sunny, rainy, cloudy and windy, all at the same time. Here's a map of the exact route. The destination was this tasty Italian restaurant that I can't recommend enough named Burrata Bistro in downtown Poulsbo.

Here are some shots of the water taken from a particularly blustery spot on Lemolo Shores:

In the second one, if you squint your eyes, you can make out a passel of sea lions luxuriating in the 50 degree weather (that's damn near tropical here in the Northwest). You can see how choppy the water was. It was windy enough that I was getting ocean spray hitting me and was nearly knocked over a couple of times. About 5 minutes after I took this pictures, a 2 minute torrent came down and made me use my handlebar bag rain cover for the first time ever. When I reached the Agate Pass Bridge, the windsock stood at full mast (no double meanings, I assure you), so I walked the bike across to avoid getting knocked into traffic.

So, almost 29 miles, some middling hills and plenty of weight on the bike. All in all, a nice little training ride and perfect way to celebrate whatever comes next.