The day was too sunny and pleasant to not ride. So, I headed out to Bellevue Pond via the Burke Gilman Trail over the north side of Lake Washington. The cool, crisp air numbed my right foot while invigorating my soul at the same time. Great ride!
I recounted the number of traffic lights I pass through on the way to work. I counted this before, but wasn't sure if I got the numbers right. I did, I pass through 42 lights on the way to work. Interesting tidbit- over half of these lights are in the last three miles as I approach downtown. You can imagine how much of a difference in ride time this would make depending on how many reds and how many greens I hit. I've improved a lot in anticipating the timing of many lights, and adjusted where I sprint and where I cruise in some places. This cut 10 minutes off my ride time. I could work on this more and save even more time, I'm sure, but I am not real motivated, especially since my lungs limit me from sprinting in some areas I see other cyclists take full advantage.
I lost my commuting base this year, much to my sadness, but I just simply didn't feel like riding in the traffic and urban roads any more. It's more tiring that fun. But, today I rode! And I gave it my 100%. It's been a goal of mine to ride this certain hill without breaking below 10mph for almost 3 years-and I never did it- until today! The hill is particularly bad, it starts out quite steep, then appears to level off. But it doesn't, the hill lessens in slope, but keeps going, and going, and going. That's why it such a killer, it's too easy to push so hard trying to get up the steep part of the hill that you wimp out at the end of the hill. The fastest riders start out slow, a pace slow enough to maintain the whole way. I never manage to do it, I've gotten close, but have always dropped below 10mph, even if for only one pedal stroke. Of course, my heart rate was above 170 for the whole thing, and I rode the rest of the way in with a burning throat. I chickened out on the way home, so I didn't ride home. Still, I'm happy I did it and rode. I am going to set my goals light, and give myself a full four weeks to ramp up to the 60 miles a week I've been riding for a couple of years. But I am going to do it. It starts today.
Today I rode into Boulder via left hand canyon. The day started out cold with my winter jacket and legs, but within an hour I was super hot. For some reason I saw lots of women on the road today, which is rare. Maybe all the women do all their riding on weekday mornings, or maybe I was on a popular route for women. Whatever it may be, that was inspiring! What was not inspiring was the hills. I am tired of hills. I flat out (har har) don't want to ride any more hills for a very very long time. I spent most of the day being very grumpy because of all these hills. Needless to say, the ride was beautiful. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. And as annoying as the hills were, the views they allotted were breathtaking. I am taking the long, long descents for granted, and know that I will look fondly back at them when I reach a time where such descents are not so readily available. I also love NCAR. It's one of my favorite places in Boulder. I met my dad there and we walked around. We planned on hiking but a thunderous rain fell upon us as soon as I finished my ride, so we stayed in and l0oked at the exhibits. Then it was off to Tokyo Joes for lunch and Sunflower Market for groceries.
Today I left the cold and snow and mountains for a ride on the sunny front range. I couldn't have picked a more perfect day. These are the days to ride in Colorado, when you can find that nice mix between snow and sweltering. I hadn't ridden in Longmont before, but I what I found was a pleasant similarity to many of the rides I've done in other parts of the front range; Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, etc. It was at that point when I realized I that these trails were no worse than any of the trails we rode in Italy. This trail particularly reminded me of Ravenna. Since Ravenna is, besides being the mosaic capitol of the world, is also considered one of the world's most bike-friendly cities. It was at this moment that I decided to pretend I was a tourist. First, the wildlife. Early on my way I caught an epic snake sighting! This guy was just making his way across the bike path! Only every once in a while do I get to see something other than a garden snake! So cool! I hope he made it all the way across safely!
Later on, as I entered into more marshlands, I saw some unique and colorful birds. I wish I was able to photograph birds so I could later identify them, but sadly, birds just move too much. I also came across some ducks, which was very Oregon-esque. When I came into a park that was a sea of geese, I was floored. Like always, it was then that I was reminded that we've taken away the homes of all these creatures that were here first so we can have our pavement. But, before I got too sad, I had to appreciate the City of Longmont for recognizing and valuing what was originally here. At least, as part of their city planning, they retained some places for these animals to go, albeit crowded places. They keep the species alive and provide some education to the young and pleasure to people like me.
I should interject here, that I really admire a town that builds such wide, wonderful bike paths. The cool thing about these paths is, while they connected park and greenways and rivers, they also connected to strip malls and big box campuses. I admire a town that thinks about alternative modes of transport. I thought a minute about the people who work in these stores. They are huge, they must employ hundreds of people all for a very low wage. The expectation is to buy some $20K car and also pay $4 for every 20 miles they drive it. On the flip side, some person can spend $300 on a decent bike and the only fuel they have to pay for is the Chipoltle they had for lunch. Bike commuting is such an economic way to live, and yet, so many city designs prohibit it. Las Vegas, for instance, makes it very difficult for one to ride around in town. Now, the weekend warriors can escape town and have world-class riding nearby, but these sorts of pleasures and income-restrictive, and I admire any town that thinks of it's every person. Even Denver has a huge and wonderful network of bike paths, but they are not entirely helpful for actually trying to get someplace, and going off the bike path is pretty unpleasant. I did have to veer off the trail for a few miles on this ride, and for a short while was riding on one of the town main thoroughfares. It had no bike lane and not much of a sidewalk, but that was only for a mile or so, and I'm sure only because there was a more appropriate road nearby. For the most part, the entire town was littered with wide roads and bike paths.
The last animal I want to mention on the tour of your typical flatlander's bike path is the prairie dog. The prairie dogs run rampant in these parts, almost to an epidemic level in some places. They are always poking in and our of their holes near roads and bike paths. I guess they are the places they can get away with digging holes. Like all rodents, I admire how prairie dogs wait until the last minute before they have to find safety. They are always testing their limits. Every prarie dog that got scared would run to its hole, but rather than instantly burrow to safety, they would hang out at that hole for a while, knowing that everything isn't a threat and they could find safety in a second. They all took a similar stance, poised at the hole, tails thumping. I know their epidemic populations are doing something bad to the Colorado ecosystem, but I still like watching them as I ride by.
Another great thing about this ride was the random trinkets of art all around. Every mile or so, I'd come across footprints in the walkway. They were always something different. That's a lot of footprints! They were quite entertaining, and I was pressed to stop and photograph every single one, but, I didn't, for fear I'd never reach my destination! There was stretch of footprints, though, man's shoes, that was imprinted a little too deeply. It caused quite a jolt on the bike and I feared I'd pop a tire. The footprints spanned the whole walkway, so there wasn't any avoiding them. Other than that, though, the footprints were and absolute delight!
There were so many other fun things to see as I passed by. It made for a very casual, laid-back ride, as there was so much to see. It made me miss my Steph, as this ride would have been perfectly paired with a latte. Apparently, Longmont passed a public art bill which explains the bits of art all over. None of it was that mindblowing, but it was these little details that entertain on what could be a boring ride. Left hand canyon, for instance is signified on one of the bridges. Although the hand is also the logo for Left Hand Brewing company, which also makes it's home in Longmont. Perhaps the hands were made by them.
There was one spot where I had to detour as the existing bike path was being dismantled. That was loud. Really, it was a very Front Ranch typical bike path. If it weren't for the art, it could have been any other town. The beauty of it is not unlike the beauty of Alaska. Once glance you see a barren, brown, desolate dirt pile, but at another glance you wildlife and geology and land formations that you just don't see anywhere else. What is this white striation in the rock, rock people? Quartz? Limestone?
All in all, this was a great ride. There was no point that I wasn't perfectly entertained. With the exception of a few bodily complaints (sore back, not enough sunscreen) the ride was absolutely perfect!
