Emerald City Bike Ride Recap

The Wooleaters crew. photo courtesy Chris/Wooleaters

I pedaled my bike down through the lovely Green Lake and Ravenna neighborhoods on a dark and early morning to meet the Wooleaters at the University of Washington. Every cyclist I met along the way was going the same place as me. That comforting sense of camaraderie among strangers is one of my favorite, most powerful feelings. A sea of people, hundreds of people deep flooded the start line in the chilly morning. We waited a while for the whole group to get together, then stood in line for an hour to get to the start of the start line. From the start we walked our way all the way to the SR520 bridge ramp because the roads were so congested with riders. You would think spending so much time moving so slowly would be frustrating, but it's one of the best ways to be waiting; waiting to do something you love. 

Waddling the Montlake Bridge Emerald City Bike Ride, Seattle, Washington. 

Once we got going on the 520 Bridge, the ride go really fun. The best thing was seeing families out with their children. There were plenty of tweens and school-aged kids, unsteady and insecurely trying to pedal bike that were a little too big for them. The cutest thing, though, was the tiny, tiny children. Children so small the didn't look like they were old enough to walk. Children that barely came up off the ground. Children covered in pink or blue and streamers and helmets, coats, light-up shoes and bikes all color-coordinated and matching. How did they even do any of this? How were they even pedaling? I tried to imagine myself at that age, not only being on a bike, but being able to navigate around some 7,000 other riders. 

Crossing the SR520 Bridge Emerald City Bike Ride, Seattle Washington, April 3, 2016 by SheRidesToday.com

Then it was on to the express lanes. Over a bridge, down the center corridor between both directions of Interstate 5, and into the expressway tunnel. This was the highlight of the ride. 

Jessica, me, and Abby on Interstate 5. Photo courtesy Chris/Wooleaters

Me with my rear-view sheep. Photo courtesy Chris/Wooleaters

I am not sure which part of being on Interstate 5 I liked better. Was it hearing the cyclists cheer in unison when we got to another cool part of the ride? Was it the amazing views of the city? Was it having the time to absorb Seattle in it's full glory from a vantage point usually seen behind a windshield? Was it the colorful, crisp and sunny day that this first Sunday in April was turning out to be? Maybe it was the strength felt by riding down a center road, straddled by rushing freeway traffic on both sides. The din and fume-riddled stench of all that traffic contrasted against the simplicity of legs silently pumping up and down created a sensation that cannot be described, only experienced. I took out my GoPro and held it in my hand. I wondered if some time in the future, one of the photos from this ride would be taken out of context, perplexing people for hours as to why so many cyclists pedaled on a desolate Interstate. Sure, I've ridden on Interstates before on bike rides like this one, but never before quite this way. Being surrounded by speeding traffic on all sides is pretty incredible. 

Biking the I-5 express lanes downtown Emerald CIty Bike Ride, April 3, 2016. Seattle Washington 

This post is late in coming because I spent some time trying to piece the video clips together. I used iMove which has changed considerably since the 5 minutes I used it 2 years ago. The video editing software was easy enough, but I had a hard time figuring out where to click and getting my mouse to click where I wanted it to. I am actually impressed with how well they turned out considering how barbaric the editing felt. 

Personal stats for this ride vary quite a bit from the sanctioned ride. Less than half of my ride that day was on the actual course, due to getting there and back and following along on a quest for brunch. 

Stats:

• 29.7 miles

• 3 hrs elapsed time

• 9.7 mph

• 26 mph max

• 61 rpm average cadence

Photo courtesy Chris/Wooleaters

New goals

Back in December of 2015, I made a goal to gain 5 lbs. of muscle (while staying the same weight). My trainer thought I could achieve this in 4 months following his plan. After following his plan 12 out of 16 weeks and not gaining as much as a tenth of a pound of muscle, I began to reconsider this goal. The real goal was to get stronger. I needed a way to measure results, so I picked a “5 pounds muscle” goal arbitrarily. Problem is, I have been getting stronger. My muscles are getting more defined even though they measure the same (exactly!) and I can lift tens of pounds more with every limb. I began to wonder the validity of this “5 pounds of muscle” goal and spent a couple of weeks contemplating what I really wanted to do.
So. I established new goals. 

1. Leg press my body weight in 2 weeks. What a fun goal! Nothing sounds cooler than lifting your own body weight, so this is a motivating one. It is also very attainable. I’m almost there. I remember doing this back in 2007. After I beat this one, I’ll make some new fun goals. Can I leg lift (quadriceps) my body weight? I am 2/3rd of the way there now. 
2. Gain some amount of muscle. I have to gain something here, just for meet a goal for goal’s sake. I am curious to find out what it will take to make this happen. I am within 5 pounds of muscle mass of every body composition test I’ve ever taken, all the way from my first time when I was 18 years old. 
3. Climb the Dexter hill without going below 10 mph. While it took years for me to be able to do this at all, I can now do it every time I try. But it is still really hard and my heart rate redlines. I want to try for it every time I ride the hill now. 
4. Climb the Fremont hill without going below 9 mph. I have no idea what it will take to do this or how long the hill even is. See, for the past 4 years I’ve climbed this hill exclusively in the dark due to my work schedule. When I ride in the dark I use my headlight, which transmits a frequency that interferes with my bike computer. So I have no record of how fast I’ve been climbing this hill at all. I only know that it is longer and harder than the Dexter hill. 

Are you ready for Bike Everywhere Month?

The first 2 years I participated in Bike to Work month, I reveled in riding more miles than everyone else on my team. While I couldn’t compete in number or percentage of trips, I easily shot over everyone in miles. I consider myself only mildly competitive, but I was pretty proud of this fact. It made spending 40 hours a month commuting worth something. Then, the focus changed from “Bike to Work” to “Bike Everywhere”. Inclusiveness is the goal, and it doesn’t make sense to exclude those who don’t work or they do and have a job that is flat-out not bikeable. That’s cool. I’ve had those jobs before and admittedly felt like I was missing out. But now, I can’t compete. Nearly all my miles are commute miles, and while I have a long commute, it doesn’t compare so the single joyride ridden by my peers. I like to blame this on me working more weekly hours and having half the vacation of most of my co-workers, but that probably isn’t actually true. Needless to say, I look forward to this year’s Bike Month with more trepidation than I had in the past. The biggest hesitation is the timing of my ride. Now that I commute during rush hours, I am leery about the increase in bike traffic. More riders and newer riders add hazards that can be a hassle. However, I still endeavor to make the most of it. Because free bagels! 

Protected lefts are still not safe

The other day, during evening rush hour, I made a left-hand turn on a 5-lane intersection. I waited in the left-hand turn lane until I had a protected turn with a green arrow. Sometimes this intersection is busy, sometimes not. Just as I was completing the turn, a car facing me in the opposite oncoming lane decides to turn right. There is nothing against a car turning right when the light is red. However, it’s typically most accepted to do when the intersection is clear. While still dangerous in a car, this sort of thing is especially unnerving on a bike for a few reasons. First, I essentially have 6 lanes of traffic to cross before my light turns red. Traffic lights are timed for easy-to-accelerate cars, and a cyclist with fully loaded panniers starting up from a dead stop need to generate as much momentum as possible to have the speed to cross in time. It’s a law of physics. By the time I reach the end of the intersection, I am pedaling as fast and hard as I possibly can. I was also turning onto an uphill road (Stone Way), another count against a cyclist’s speed. When the car turned in front of me, I had no choice but to brake as the speed at which he accelerated made it clear he was not going to yield to my right of way. I doubt this driver has ever tried to put on the brakes while turning a bike. Braking on a bike when going at full speed while in the peak of a turn is not a good idea. I’ve never lost ground, but it feels like the wheel will just skid out from underneath you and you end up landing on your side. Hard braking is just not an option. I had to straighten my turn while braking. As my rear tire fishtails across the pavement, my front time comes within inches of ramming into the car’s bumper. My angle was such that I was able to change direction and turn to the inside of him rather than stop. Had he decided to brake at all I would have hit him.  As I watched my wheel approach his bumper, I pumped my brakes harder, skidded further, and gasped a little. Luckily nothing happened. A few feet ahead we both had a red light (all his rushing was for nothing; the cars turning with me, in front and behind me, all had to wait at this light). As I approached and passed him, he didn’t appear to have any idea I existed, much less just saw my life pass before my eyes due to his actions. 

The picture above depicts my fear, what really happened was that when he accelerated, I braked and the bumper I nearly hit was the opposite (passenger side) rear bumper. While the above collision would probably have been the most damaging to my skull, we could have collided in many other ways that still would have been a bummer on my part. These are the things you ponder while pedaling in the city.

Extra precautions required

Last night I began crossing an intersection when my light turned green. A car sitting in cross traffic sat with it's bumper overlapping the cross walk (see diagram above). This was pretty mild, as bumpers nearly always ooze past the crosswalks and into the bike lanes during Seattle's evening rush hour, especially at major roads like Denny and Mercer. I am hyper-alert when I bike in the city, trying to anticipate every potential hazard that might be ahead, especially when I cross busy intersections. But who could expect this to happen? At that moment, the car to my right jumped into reverse and backed up into my path of travel. I swerved madly, braking would have done me no good. I didn't want to swerve into cars also crossing in the next lane, so it was a maddening second of swerving and trying to grapple my air horn to alert the reversing car. Where was it reversing to? Why? There was no where for it to go except into more traffic. The white of it's rear lights came within inches of my knees. I rode the following block slowly thanking the stars for my chance to stay upright. As the surging adrenaline slowly purged from my shaking body, an SUV passed with a passenger leaning out of the window. He hollered "Are you OK?" He must have been a few cars behind me. Shaken, but OK, I gave him a big "thumbs up" and beamed a huge smile attempting to convey the message, "Thank you for caring!"

That wouldn't be the end of kindness on that ride home. Later on, a Smart Car parked parallel against a curb burst out of his spot, in front of me in the bike lane. The second he pumped the gas he saw me and slammed hike brakes, making the little Smart Car look like a cartoon. He yelled out his open window (yay for sunny days!) "SORRY!" I yelled back, "It's OK, but thank you for stopping!" While he was right there, I am used to stopping on a dime for cars with much less warning. He had his turn signal on; good sir. I was ready for him. 

A second later a pedestrian half way across the street bolted to a stop when she saw me coming on my bike. This always cracks me up (in a sad, shameful way). Pedestrians stop dead in their tracks when they see a cyclist, often in the path of oncoming cars. They will often not even look in the direction of cars, but a bike is a thing to be scared to death of. She was walking on a crosswalk and she had the right of way.  I slowed and waved her forward, "It's OK, go ahead!" I said. I hope I translated the same kindness in my voice at the other two who extended kindness to me. 

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 87 (normal time, but it's a Saturday)

• 7.94 miles
• 34 mins. (50 minutes travel time so 16 minutes stopped at lights)
• 13.7 average mph
• 29.5 max mph
• 339 feet climb

It will be fun to compare these stats with a typical weekday.

Smile!

Last night, I stood at a red light while pedestrians crossed in the usual flood in front of me. A long-haired tween and a heavily-tattooed father figure walked together holding Top Pot doughnut bags (this was the intersection at the famed doughnut bakery). She looked right at me, gave a knowing glance, and smiled! She made my day! 

I try to make eye contact and smile at as many people as I can on the street, but this is particularly hard to do. Often people refuse eye contact unless they want something. Getting someone to smile back at me is especially challenging, and more so when I am on a bike. It's sort of a mission of mine, to induce smiles on others, and so there is nothing better than to have someone do the same to me. Hooray young woman! It's hard not to smile when you have a doughnut on a sunny afternoon walk with your father, and I thank her for sharing her joy with me. 

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 351 (normal time)

Red-light Jumpers

credit: http://www.croydoncyclist.co.uk/

As I pulled out of my apartment, a guy (hereafter dubbed “Antsy Yellowjacket”) zipped past me on his bike. He and I pedaled at about the same pace, but he ran every red light he could. When I see these folks, I always imagine myself casually catching up to them, proving how futile running red lights is (not to mention reckless). Sadly, this never happens, as someone who pedals at half my speed on a big wheel beach cruiser still wheels ahead out of sight when they run red lights. No matter how hard I try, these lawless pedalers have a clear speed advantage. But not today. Not today. Light timing ruled in my favor. I never lost sight of Antsy Yellowjacket. I caught up to him at every busy intersection, and we rode side-by-side when we parted ways at 5th & Bell. We rode over 7 miles together, and his pushing ahead got him nowhere. I will admit that red-light-runners have the best advantage downtown, as those intersections have slow-moving, easy to cross traffic. 
I got to work an hour earlier than normal today, which meant I needed badge access to the parking area. But today my badge didn’t work. There is a special exhibit in my building valued at about 21 million dollars, which means security of the building is button-tight. But for me, it only translates as annoying. I have 4 more early shifts to finish before the exhibit, and our tight security, leaves. I can still access the bike parking cage, it just takes 5 extra minutes and requires me to walk my bike around loops of tight corners. Wah. Also, the super fabulous amazing shower head that was just installed in our shower room got replaced with the same old, limp shower head it had originally. Double wah. Biking is hard work, I savor every advantage as a special treat and encouragement. 
I am still getting dreamy-eyed questions on these sunny days about my biking, “How was your ride? It’s soooo nice out!” Curmudgeon me still hasn’t recovered from the winter. Just the other day a guy on a 10-speed jumped off the sidewalk, over a curb into the bike lane, cutting me off and making me squeal my brakes. A patch on his back pack read, “FUCK YOU” in large print. These are the sorts of things sunny days bring.
My Fremont Bridge bike counts have been all over the place lately. I’ve had numbers from 180 (this morning, an hour earlier than usual) to 540 (the other day, super sunny, an hour later than usual). I am seeing about a 200-count variance between sunny days and rainy/windy/stormy ones. This is interesting, as the numbers were so steady for so many months.  

Back to those red-light runners. Bikeyface reports a similar problem:

Chilly Hilly 2016 Photos

Photo from: http://www.marathonfoto.com/

MarathonFoto released professional samples of photos of the Chilly Hilly ride. Similar to the one shown above, most of the photos insinuate that I am miserable. Perhaps I am about to make an intense and powerful turn?  I am not sure what exactly is going on in the above photo, but it is a definite lean of concentration there. Or maybe the photographer caught me mid-fart. Just kidding. I don't fart and ride, that would be dangerous.  

Photo from: http://www.marathonfoto.com/

Luckily, MarathonFoto also took photos of me looking like my normal pedaling self. Whew! Now, I must point out one obvious thing. Given the dominate and plentiful watermarks on these photos, MarathonFoto didn't want me to do anything with this photo beyond decide to purchase it. MarathonFoto surely doesn't want me to do what I just did, which is take a screen shot of the photo their photographers worked hard to capture and share it like my own without paying them.

I've been paying money for organized group athletic events for 17 years. It's kind of my thing (you may or may have noticed from reading this very blog). I have purchased professional ride photos from many rides, but passed over countless others. For the photographer reading this and wondering why I haven't purchased photos, there are a few reasons: 

1. Not enough money. There have been years that covering the cost of the ride itself required several months of saving, so tossing $10 for a photo was a luxury I couldn't afford. I could afford it now, and still didn't cave (sorry, Marathon) 
2. No use for the photo. Obviously I have a use for these photos, as I have just posted screenshots on my blog and am waxing philosophical on them this very moment. But, back when photos offered were print only, I simply didn't know what to do with them. Hang a photo of myself on the wall? Weird. Give it to my mom? Do you really think anybody in my life needs another photo of me in a bike helmet? I think not. 
3. Just not a good photo. Many come through blurry, poorly centered, boring, or capture me in a way I don't want to look at (see top photo above). But here's the sad thing, that second photo actually looks kinda cool. I thought about buying it. Why not, right? Well, Marathon's Watermark is right over my face and I have no way of knowing if my face looks "good". I ended up buying a photo from a ride 4 years ago that had some key parts covered up by watermarks. When I got the photo, I found that the watermarks covered up features that would have kept me from buying the photo. I guess the joke was on me. Not this time, I'm not taking the risk. Sorry, MarathonFoto. Maybe some other day. 

Getting ready for the Emerald City Bike Ride

I have a feeling that there will be something magnificent about the inaugural Emerald City Bike Ride. Assuming I ever get there. At the moment, my bike is clean and shiny, but my brake cables aren't behaving. Hopefully I will get them in line before tomorrow morning!

I am surrounded by the Emerald City these days, between the anticipation for the Emerald City Bike Ride and going to the Emerald City Athletic Club. I wonder what  L. Frank Baum would think if he knew so many real cities would adopt the name of his bright, lustrous, and utterly artificial city in Oz. I wonder why any city would so ready adopt a name the is synonymous with smoke and mirrors? 

Well, wish me luck on these brakes, because I won't stop until I get to the Emerald City!

Squirrel!

A squirrel crossed my path in a residential street this morning. It occurred to me that this seemed strange and shouldn’t. I regularly saw “wild” animals in all the other towns I’ve lived in, especially while biking. Squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, ducks and geese would be normal sights. In Seattle I see droves of pigeons every day, but nothing else. I hope to see more squirrels as the summer unfolds, he was a fun sight.
What I didn’t see was any other cyclists. I didn’t come across a single other rider for the first 5 miles of my ride. This is unheard of. My home sits on a major bike corridor, and the route I take to work is one of the heaviest traveled by bike in the state. Filled with a Twilight Zone sense of eeriness, I wondered if I missed some important news about pending doom. Apparently it was just a fluke as riders congested downtown like usual.
As I pedaled downtown, I hit a red light at Pine. This is also unusual. I have a long light at Bell, that I meet while red about 99% of the time. Since downtown lights run on timers, the wait at Bell puts me on the exact same lights routine every day. The only variation is the one I mentioned before- the light timer occasionally changes at 5th and Virginia. It was set the “right” way today, but then I had to stop at Pine. Weird. Also,  Pine was flooded with water for a block in every direction. Weird! It hadn’t rained in days, so all other roads were bone dry. Why was the road so wet that I made a wake as I passed? 
Then, I get to work and someone parked their bike in my spot. MY SPOT! I parked my bike in the exact same spot every day since June 2015! Every single day! I always go for that spot, but cannot during Bike Month because so many people ride that month that the cage would fill up before I could get to it. But why now? It was the only bike in the cage. It’s not really a big deal, but these fair weather riders should pay respect to those who have suffered through the long, dark winter! Pay some respect! The sun comes out, which is great, but now the roads, MY ROADS, are littered with swerving wide-eyed riders. And  taking MY PARKING SPOT! How dare they?!?!?! 

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 395 (30 mins. later than usual)

Wettest winter in Seattle history

Source: http://www.seattleweatherblog.com/

I just heard word that recently meteorologists deemed this winter to be the wettest in all of Seattle’s history. This means I am justified in complaining, right? I mean, I like to focus on positive or at least constructive topics for this blog. I avoided whining about the dark and the rain. I get it, I live in Seattle, it’s rainy. If I don’t like it, I can leave. I know, I know. The thing is, I’ve worked a swing shift for the past 3 years; since I moved to Seattle. That meant that I rode one way of my commute in daylight year-round. Also, Seattle’s weather patterns somehow make the 11 am hour, my old commute hour, the driest time of the day. I knew switching to an 8 to 5 schedule meant I’d be riding in the dark both ways for 4 months straight. I knew it would be hard. But I didn’t know it was going to be 4 months straight of dark and wet. And this hasn’t been “northwest rain”, either. “Northwest rain” is a lovely rain; a kind of mist that fills the air and runs on the street, but doesn’t really get you wet or weigh you down. No, Seattle’s rain this year has been a “Rocky Mountain rain”. This is the rain that drenches everything it touches within a minute and then keeps going. This year of commuting hasn’t just been hard, it’s been really hard. But I did it, I persevered. It’s left me a little rougher around the edges, however. It will take me a while to recover this long winter of commuting, and I can’t honestly be certain I’ll do it again. If parking didn’t cost me $30 a day and the bus was at all reliable, I would have quit commuting long ago. Daylight savings hit me like a final blow. My commutes went from wet and black to wet and grey. It was like I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and every day it got brighter. Then daylight savings hit. I met my mornings in black darkness again. It’s been practically unbearable. I’d rather sleep in and miss work than have to commute in that. Now with this new data, I don’t feel like such a wimp after all! This is the wettest winter in all of Seattle history! My struggle is somehow suddenly justified! Never mind that it’s only a hair wetter than it was in 1999, I didn’t live here then so it doesn’t matter. 

"As of 1:56 p.m. yesterday (March 1), Seattle had received 38.22 inches of rain during that period of time (the water year that runs from Oct. 1 to March 1), just a hair over the 1998-1999 record of 38.19, but about 13 inches above average"           -Cliff Mass, University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Sciences professor and KPLU radio personality

Sources: 

• http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-wettest-winter-in-seattle-history.html
• http://komonews.com/weather/scotts-weather-blog/congratulations-seattle-youve-made-it-through-the-wettest-winter-on-record
• http://q13fox.com/2016/02/19/wettest-winter-ever/
• http://seattle.curbed.com/2016/3/2/11144086/wettest-winter-in-seattle-history

Women and Men, Women and Men*

Out of curiosity, I decided to count all the men and women I saw biking this morning. When actually pressed to label a cyclist with a gender, I found it difficult to do. So many cyclists wear the same black plants, reflective jacket and helmet. Both men and women tend to have long, board-like body types. I noticed my own body shape change and straighten the more I started riding more than other activities. Tufts of hair or ponytails poking out from under the helmets did not confirm gender. I opted to only count those with determinate characteristics (beard, hourglass figure, etc.) This meant that I really only counted those who passed me. Several cyclists would catch up behind me at stoplights to later trail off who didn’t get counted. I didn’t feel like looking behind me and staring. I counted 26 men and 5 women. Tomorrow I think I’ll count pedestrians and/or bus stop lines. The more I paid attention, the more I felt like there were more men out there in general, and I’m curious to confirm that. 

And the light on 5th and Virginia is back to normal! For the past few months one light has been out of timing with all the others on 5th avenue. This is the only stretch of road, to my knowledge, in all of Seattle that is timed so that cars can drive through all the stoplights at the speed limit without having to stop. While I can’t keep up the 25 mph speed limit, without traffic I can make it .6 mi. all the way to Union. A car without traffic could get to Spring at .8 mi. After 7:30, I almost always have to stop at Pine for a bus, cab, or cars turning right, and then at every other block where cars turn right until I get to work. It’s been frustrating to have to stop at Virginia every day, because this is a flat stretch of road that I can blast through at about 20-22 mph, fast enough to not tick off the cars behind me. Of course, this stretch is often  full of green-light-texters, and timid-parkers who slow everyone down. The great thing about this stretch though is that all right-hand turns have a turn lane, so no one is slowed down by a turner (they have to wait until pedestrians clear the road, which is never). The light at Virginia regularly goes out of sync on Sundays, as it's been, but not usually during the week. I am not sure what the goal with that is. Perhaps, if I am lucky enough, a traffic engineer will read my blog and comment (hint, hint, you traffic engineer you!)

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 263 (I was 155 yesterday, crossing it an hour before normal)

*Today's blog post inspired by TMBG

Move along, nothing to see here

I apologize for having not said much about this week's commutes. I know you are horribly disappointed. The truth is, I haven't had much to say. It rained a lot. It stormed a lot. The wind gusts knocked my socks off during another one of Seattle's "gale warning" days. Actually, I lied. My socks stayed put, too scared to move. The wind did blow the giant gas grill over at home, tearing the door screen and nearly shattering the glass. Chilly Hilly left me sore and tired. I have been in high hundreds to low two-hundreds on the bike counter. Perhaps next week's rides will have more nail-biting tales to offer. 

Progressing toward goals

This guy makes me chuckle every time. From BikeSomewhere.com

Today I had my second monthly assessment with my trainer today. Three months in, I am finally seeing some progress after all this work! I didn't gain any muscle weight (my main goal). However, I am not discourage because I did loose 5 pounds of weight. The weight came nearly entirely from fat, which brought my lean mass/fat mass ratio closer to where I want to be. My current body fat percentage decreased by 2%, which means I am at 27.3% fat. It sees like forever before I'll get to my goal of 22%, and I don't think I'll get there is I don't start building lean mass, but at least I'm headed in the right direction. I have another 5.3 percent to go. If I keep up this 2% a month rate, I should get there by the first of June. 

I could be discouraged knowing that I was only 24.8% exactly one year ago, but I'm not. I really feel like I am moving forward with every decision, and what I do today matters more than what I did years ago. I have this new health club to blame. Something about it just fits, it feels right. I've spent years not feeling that way; lamenting at the greener grass over there; the grass from my past, from my future. But I feel good when I go to this place. It's like "Cheers"; everybody knows your name. I feel like Norm every time I start my workout. 

How did I make this progress?

• I visited the health club 16 times. I lifted weights as prescribed and offset the drain of biking with yoga the rest of the days.
• I kept my cycling up as per usual. 
• I followed the prescribed food plan. I resisted at first. They wanted me to eat a lot more protein and a lot less carbohydrate. I have seen too many fads come and go, flip flopping nutritional guidelines. I assumed the slowly growing hatred of all thinks carb over the past decade was just that,  a fad, and an intention by America's corrupt agriculture market; pushing things on us that we don't need, like milk, corn, and meat. But, I said, what the hey. Body builders have been pumping protein since before the war on carbs. I increased my protein intake to 20%, reduced my fruit intake to just 2 servings a day, and reduced my whole grain portions to just one meal a day. This accounts for 70% of my eating decisions. The other 30% is either an extra carb or a "splurge" like dessert or pancakes for breakfast. The recommend I follow the plan 80/20, but I haven't gotten there yet.

average week of macro consumption for February

What obstacles do I foresee?

• Keeping up gym attendance. I like going in the morning the best, I don't have to modify my routine due to crowding. I wake up easily at 5. But I often feel like I didn't get enough sleep, or it's raining too hard, so I ignore the natural wakefulness I feel at that time. I spent so many years not ever feeling wakeful that this feeling is weird and I am not sure what to do with it. When I wake up at 6, I drag, I fall asleep again mid-sentence, my alarm sounds like a silly joke someone is trying to play on me. My hands and feet are lead bars without phalanges. 
• Putting the prescribed food plan aside to placate others. When eating in a group setting, I either eat something delicious and indulgent or I eat something I don't really feel like eating because it's there, or I have limited choices, or it seems like fun. But why eat food I don't even feel like eating if it counts as a "splurge"?
• Putting the prescribed food plan aside to feed stress. I am not very stressed or busy right now. But I worry that, my 70/30 ration will drop the second a drop of stress comes on.

Overall, I feel good. This goal is obtainable. I am enjoying myself along the way.

Wooleaters ride-ready

The Wooleaters bike group all got together to create out own woolen-sheep patches to proudly display when we go on group rides together. We got together, enjoyed some wine and cheese and crafted away. The felt we used was actually partially made of wool! Each person crafted a unique and creative sheep. Every sheep came out amazing! 

We will have our inaugural sheep-showing at Chilly Hilly this Sunday where all Wooleaters on the ride will wear our new logos. If you see us on the ride, give us a "Baaaaa!" as you pass by.

I also made some sheep cookies for the crafting fest, pictured below. They are actually Timmy, the young and mischievous lamb, from the "Shaun the Sheep" children's program. Yummy! Good energy-filled simple carbs!

Left lean bike pain

by sheridestoday.com

After several massages, stretches, and joining a health club, the pain lessened at the knee, but grew in complexity. I came to find that my left “middle” it tight and contracted. My left side, lower back, hip, psoas, quadriceps, and hamstring are practically immobile compared to my right side. Now, ever since my teen years, the various osteopaths, physical therapist, and massage therapists I’ve seen all note a left-side drop in me. It’s not that my left leg is longer, it’s that my whole spine is curved in such a way that my left shoulder and hip sit lower than the right. However, I have a hankering suspicion that this tightness comes from cycling. Not only is cycling a very physically contracting sport, I always land on the ground using my left leg. I am left-handed, so it only makes sense that I trust my left foot to land more than my right. After a few years of riding in the city, where I sit at stoplights just as long as I pedal, I think the left-side lean is getting to me. When I had a more physical job, the pains of the day would rotate around my body. Now that I have a desk job, my body moves in the same way every day, and I feel the same strain compounding on itself as the day moves on. 

From an amazing article about cycling tightening issues: https://physiotonic.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/is-cycling-really-good-for-you-a-must-read-for-office-workers-and-cyclists/

I tried to solve the problem by using my right leg when stopped on a bike. This is not as easy as it may seem. Brushing your teeth with the “wrong” hand is very difficult at first, but you quickly catch on. Thing is, this is the only muscle memory swap that could cause falling down if done incorrectly! I found my right leg simply didn’t reach the ground. I changed the side I hold my bike pannier from the left to the right, hoping the weight would help. The road seems curved in a way that it is sloped downward the closer you get to curb, so I feel like my right side actually has farther to go to reach the ground. Perhaps this left-side drop In my body makes it too hard. Needless to say, it just wasn’t working. 

I compromised by getting fully off the saddle and bringing both feet parallel before stepping the left foot down. This shortens the travel between both sides. Before I would stay sitting on the saddle and lean my whole body to the left to reach the ground before popping off the saddle. 

I am also doing a series of active stretches every day:

• One-legged lunges

• One-legged lunges with pelvic tilt

• One-legged reverse lunges (with butt up to stretch the hamstrings)

• Standing squad stretch

• Standing side angle bends

These are all stretches I can do while I wait to meet people or wait for the elevator at work, which ensures I will do them at least once a day. At home on the weekends I will stretch using a foam roller before meditation time. I haven’t seen any changes in my flexibility thus far, but the body does feel better with all this stretching. 

EGGS-actly!

An EGGS-ample of my breakfast; eggs and veg links

I decided to bring eggs to work this week to have fancy eggs-poached-in-the-microwave breakfasts. Yesterday I nestled them on a spinach pillow inside my lunch bag. I worried about them breaking and oozing all over my lunch all the way to work. See, Seattle’s bike lanes are riddled with seams, cracks, man-hole covers, pour-over fixes, and potholes. As it turned out they arrived just fine. Color me EGG-static! 
EGG-cited to take in all my eggs for the rest of the week, I placed them in a plastic egg carrier used for camping. Because it’s for travel, right? I heard my eggs rattle with every bump, lump, and divot I ran over. LOUDLY. The sound was EGGS-treme! I tried my best to navigate the smoothest path possible. But still, all I could hear was clunk, clunk, rattle, rattle, rattle, shake. I am not EGGS-aggerating here. A few miles in, I stopped to EGGS-ercise and tentatively checked out my eggs. I was a little scared that they’d all be cracked, but took comfort in knowing that they probably wouldn’t keep rattling so much if they were broken. One poor little guy didn’t make it. It was EGGS-plosive. I removed the unharmed toughies and put them back upon a bed of spinach in my lunch bag. The remains of the EGGS-iled weakling sat perched still in the plastic carrier, out of contact from the others. Rhymes of humpty dumpty filled my head the rest of my  ride into work. All the kings horse and all the kings men…

Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 209

When school bus drivers get distracted

Enough daylight rose above the horizon at 7am for me to change the setting on my headlight. Which means that my bike computer won’t have interference and I can use it. Since I started climbing “the hill” at 7, I took this opportunity to track my speed for the first time in many, many dark months. I had a strong and powerful start, and didn’t drop below 10mph- which is the goal to stay at throughout the length of the hill. 
Yet, it was all for naught. Just at the first apex, the “false summit” as it were, just past the public bus bump-out, a school bus sat parked right over the bike lane with its “unlawful to pass” flashers on. Crushed, I pulled to a complete stop. Other cyclists behind me, piled up doing the same. Moments passed, cars started to pile up. None of us saw any children, and a lady next to me (I’ll call her 90’s neon jacket) commented that this shouldn’t even be a bus stop. Just then, the flashers changed to steady red lights and we passed on. 90’s neon noted that the driver was sitting in her seat texting. All that for texting! Moments later the school bus passed us, with the driver still texting as she passed. She pulled just ahead of us into a real loading zone, not on the bike lane, with her yellow lights flashing. She chose a much better place to sit. As we passed her, we saw her still chin-deep in her phone. Maybe I'll get to attack that hill tomorrow. 
Fremont Bridge Bike Count: 201

Ready for Chilly Hilly

I registered so early that I got my rider number and route map in the mail! I am so gonna crush this thing! Bring it, Bainbridge! Show me all you got!