It will be here before you know it, the first week in August. I've been posting little bits here and there on my facebook page. Check it out!
There may also be some changes to my Bike MS Page since your last visit. Check that out, too!
Bike Everywhere month is underway. I am riding for tacos. It's Friday night and I am a few tacos short of my goal. We vacation to Bellingham spend the first night at the casino run by the Lummi Nation. The next morning, I blast down a lovely route into downtown Bellingham and meet my taco goal. It's mostly on designated bike path. The paths are not new, but they are clean, solid and smooth. I ride among the trees, the marshes, and I hear the bird song the whole way. I cannot be happier. Impeccable, perfect weather blessed us all. I think I enjoyed the perfect sun and mild temperature the most of all, speeding along the quiet country, far away from the sounds of the city. This ride feels as close to euphoria as one can get.
The next day, I ride from the viewpoint at the top of Chuckanut drive, down through Bow and Mt. Vernon, finishing at The Angel of the Winds Casino in Arlington. It's a little warmer, and the ride is a bit more stressful than the day before. Chuckanut is especially scary after driving the road and seeing how close cars have to get to bikes. It's mother's day and cars congest the roads stopping at every eatery possible for brunch. Google Maps crashes several times and I pedal past my turns, unawares that Google can't tell me where to go. I forget my sunscreen and my skin burns a little in the blaring sun. But, I am blessed with a tail wind the entire time. I ride through country I road through on the dreaded Tulip Pedal ride that had nothing by headwinds. The ride is mostly downhill, and I fly, still enthralled that I am lucky to live in this beautiful country.
It's happening! The Swift Campout is this weekend! Onward to Manchester State Park via 2 wheels and a ferry ride. I can't wait!
Vastly opposing ride experiences cycled back and forth during today's ride. I'd ride on quaint, smooth and quiet roads with fast and long descents, chirping birds, interesting houses, and the bluest ocean views you've ever seen. Then I'd turn onto steep highways, bumper-to-bumper with rushed cars spitting dirt and oil on my legs and nary a shoulder to ride on. The contrast was jilting, and gave me chance to ponder the many things in the world that are more beautiful because of the ugliness that surrounds them.
I spent some time the other day reading through past ride blogs. I used to list ride stats at the end of each entry. That sort of went away once MapMyRide and Strava started tracking all the stats for me. Still, they were fun enough to read that I decided to bring them back. I'll just include the bits apps don't catch:
I'm starting a new blog series; the Ride Time Capsule. Ride Time Capsule captures images, thoughts, and notes about rides that happened some time ago that haven't been posted on SheRidesToday before. Here's to saving treasured memories!
Mary's Peak is my signpost of progress, change and growth. During college, friends and I drove up to Mary's Peak a few times. We hiked around and enjoyed the view. You can see many of the Cascades and even a glimpse of the ocean on a clear day. It's an amazing vista and so close to Corvallis. I remember seeing spandex-clad cyclists in their fancy bikes and thinking, "They are insane. Never in a million years could I do that" I couldn't imagine I'd ever be able to ride a bike like they did. And now I can. I slugged my way up Mary's Peak. I felt slow and distracted. My hands hurt terribly. Reynaud's made my hands white and numb. It was scary and difficult to grip the breaks- which you do a lot on the ride down!
But it was all worth it. Just as I finished soaking in the view, carloads of college kids started arriving to the scene. I decided to hop in the porta-potty and be on my way. I overheard a college lady say, "Oh my god! Someone rode up here on a BIKE." I stepped out of the porta-potty and waved. They sort of gawked a little and I awkwardly clip-clopped on my cleats over to the rock my bike so gallantly leaned on. I wonder if I planted a seed in those younger ladies, creating a me for the next generation? I have to assume the last thing they expected was for that lone rider to be a woman, just like them.
Comparing a previous climb up Mary's Peak back in 2010, I rode farther and travelled a while 1 mph faster this time around. The previous ride was a cold February day with snow on the shoulder, and I probably hadn't warmed up to doing very much distance in the weeks prior to the ride. Still, I'm going to take it as an improvement over the years because I felt so guarded this time around and knew in my heart I wasn't giving the ride everything I had. It still holds true, Mary's Peak is my signpost, my pedestal of progress.
I rode past Cookie Monster pinata, complete with patches of various local breweries and wondered what it was. Did someone die at this water fall with Cookie Monster stationed in thier memory? No, it belonged to this friendly fellow hiking around nearby. He carried his pinata with him all around. We crossed paths again at the top of the mountain.
An example of collaborative planning in the simplest sense. Abby suggested we ride on Saturday (rain was planned to saturate Sunday). Bryant picked the Green River Trail Route (the route proved to be low in wind and traffic). I picked the start time (rain started just as our ride came to a close). We had a delightful finish at Uneeda Burger where I enjoyed a tasty Rhubarb Seattle Cider.
The Bike Everywhere challenge is over! Our team captain, Jessie (also a Wooleater) led our team of 10 riders to logging no less than 1550 miles! Between the 10 of us, we took 283 riding trips in one month. Not bad for a bunch of nerds! I personally rocked it. I usually ride about 65 miles a week, but I exceeded that this month somehow. No wonder I've been so tired!
I earned all 8 tacos for Bike Everywhere Month in just 3 days! I set me goal next week for 12 tacos! Will I make it? Only taco will tell!
It's "Bike Everywhere Month" once again. Bike Month happens every May, and each time I feel bittersweet about it. This year I have a new goal. Tacos! Can I burn/earn 8 tacos in 1 week? I am new to the taco measurement system, so I am not sure what it takes. Needless to stay, I'm already 1.41 tacos down and it's the first day. Looking good!
When I am looking for a pick-me-up, the easiest thing for me to do is pretend I am a tourist in my own home town. Oftentimes I find I am surrounded by amazing beauty, but the familiar pales behind the unusual. This week offered a rare tease of sunshine and blue sky, so I took the opportunity to take a long route home from work and enjoy some amazing scenery that I don't usually see.
The Wooleaters are planning a bike camping excursion! I am very excited about this! Adding self-supported camping is a thing I've been wanting to add to my biking repertoire for a while.
I spend a lot of time thinking, "What's next on the bike?" Long ago, I had an idea of riding an MS ride in every state. But with limited time off and many rides happening on the same weekends, it would be a long time before I could hit all the states. On top of that, I'd have to more than triple the amount of fundraising I do. It occurred to me that I could just ride the states on my own. Sure, I wouldn't be putting money to a charitable cause, but maybe I could plan out a way to simply promote bicycle transportation, if nothing else. It seemed like a pretty attainable goal. Then I mapped out how many states I have left. Hm, maybe this goal isn't so attainable after all. Still, if I start mapping out a plan now, I'd be one step father to doing it.
When you start riding at 5:30am in a heavy downpour with 30mph wind gusts...on a Sunday, you know you are going to an organized ride. When you see dozens of other riders on the streets with you, you know it's because they are going to the same ride as you...and that they are only going because they paid for it.
Beautiful start to #EmeraldCityRide! A little light rain isn’t gonna stop us! pic.twitter.com/UDQ0CrvpJq
— Cascade Bicycle Club (@CascadeBicycle) April 8, 2018
We started out wet and chilly. My Showers Pass jacket lost its waterproofing, so I layered another rain jacket underneath...that also lost it's waterproofing. My right arm has streams of water running down my sleeves within moments. I tried to prevent my Reynaud's fingers from acting up by lining my thick winter gloves with hand warmers, even though the 45 degree temp didn't call for that much warmth. It didn't work. Water soaked through to my hands and my precious shifting digits went numb before I even got to the start. Abby didn't have shoe booties and struggled having the same disappointing jacket as me. Bryant had a better jacket, but didn't seem to be any more comfortable. The cluster of a start line didn't know anything about our "souvenir" tickets and lacked the breakfast-y food options I planned for. What were we doing?
The the road started. Riding up the SR-99 viaduct opened up into quintessential Seattle; rain, ferries, the big wheel, The Space Needle (complete with construction), construction cranes as far as the eye could see, sea gulls, Elliott bay. We reveled in the glory of riding on a wide, smooth carless road. What would it be like to commute to downtown, safe from hazards and with views of the Olympic Mountains?
We rode up Aurora Avenue, crossing the Aurora Bridge. This infamous bridge is known for the tragic tour bus collision of 2015 and the bus driver shooting of 1998. Judging by it's outdated design, I can only assume many more died less sensationally over this bridge. On a bike, the bridge felt pleasant and delightful. The road seemed more accommodating on a bike than it does in a car.
Then, it was onto the I-5 express lanes. As we rode of the ramp during Emerald CIty's inaugural ride, I only felt tingling sensations of splendor with increasing magnitude. Today's express lane experience couldn't have felt more opposite. The cold wind howled. Water dumped in regular breaks from the breaks in the bridge above. The dismal view gave nothing to the spirit. And it just kept climbing. The deafening sound from cars on the freeway hurt to listen to.
Then we hopped into the tunnel. Fun again! Hoots and hollers, call and response, bells dinging. I even caught a guy writing graffiti in the soot of the tunnel walls. The day increasingly improved from here. The spirits of each Wooleater lifted. We crossed the finish line, and started the ride all over again. More people seemed to be starting the ride than when we started the first time. The sky got a little brighter, the air got a little warmer, and we started having a lot more fun.
The Wooleaters and I rode the first-ever Emerald City Bike Ride. It felt so epic being part of a first, that I felt no interest being part of the second. The route enticed me this year, however, and I feel compelled to do it again. We'll be riding over the Aurora bridge, which seems novel, especially since the bf once suggested it as a commute route. More exciting is the route taking us over the viaduct. The viaduct! Can a bike takeover in Seattle get any more epic than that? I don't think so.
Join me in getting pumped for this ride by revisiting posts I made about the first time. And for all of you non-cyclists in Seattle: don't get in a car on Sunday. Period. Especially if you have any interested in getting downtown, or out of town, or anywhere really.
Hotshot tail light earns a solid 4 bike score
This HOTSHOT USB Rechargeable 2 Watt light was a gift for me a few years ago. Since I commute in the dreary year-long gray of Seattle every day, strong lighting is key to my safety. This light does a great job. The battery lasts a long time for the moderate price of the light. It's USB-charged so the LEDs don't dim as time wears on. There are a variety of light options, but I find only a couple of them best to be easily seen without being annoying. Sometimes I accidentally change the light pattern when I am turning the light off, but it's easy to leave it at whatever pattern seems right.
I've been riding with it for years and the battery is still holding out. It is easy to remove for charging, but doesn't ever fall off the bike (yes, this has been a problem with other lights!).
The light has 2 flaws; it requires a micro-USB charge so it's not so convenient to charge out of the home. It also doesn't give me any warning that the battery is running low. I know it says it has a low batt indicator, but the light is behind me and to be honest I've never noticed it. I keep a cheaper light just below it for redundancy. If it dies, I still have something to keep me visible until I get home. I actually have 2 additional lights, however I usually use one of the 2nd lights along with this one, just to add dimension to my silhouette. If I get the "feeling" that this light will die soon, I turn all 3 on just in case. Overall, I've been very happy with the simple lasting durability of this light. I would easily buy it again.
I finally got around to adding this year's rides on my bib display! Actually, I only did one organized ride in 2017, but I am still proud!
Schwalbe Marathon Plus HS 440 Road Bike Tire earned a 4-bike score. It's not the tire for me, but it is certainly bombproof.
I wore the stock tire that came with my commuter bare, and I desperately needed it replaced. The existing tire was unridable, and I couldn't bear to take the bus to work. So, I decided to order one online. I researched tires, asked questions, visited forums. The 2 best reviewed and most popular commuter tires were the Continental Gatorskin and Schwalbe Marathon. I commuted on Gatorskins in Portland. They rode fine, but I felt like trying something different, so I ordered the Schwalbe.
This is a time where buying from brick and mortar would have been better. The tire arrived in a GIANT box. It didn't occur to me that I could mail-order a non-foldable tire. I should know better. The thing also weighs a ton. I mean, it's really heavy. I feel like this tire completely changed my bike from a nimble road bike to a heavy, lumbering beast. That's what it feels like when I ride my commuter now, a beast. Sure, sure, it hasn't had a single flat yet. Sure, it holds it's 100psi tire pressure for weeks without wavering. Sure, it has a cool reflective stripe all the way around the tire. Yeah, OK, it's a great tire. It's my own fault for not noticing that it was a BEAST. I can't fault it for that, right? But, yeah, I won't buy another one. I'd happily take a few flats a year to not feel like SUCH A BEAST!
Youngsters wandering willy-nilly all over the bike path? Adults readily round kids up to the sound of screeching brakes and seem to completely ignore dinging bells or "excuse me!" hollers. At least that's the case in Seattle. I've been running a quiet survey during my recent sunny rides on bike paths. Luckily, I can get a good loud squeal by lightly squeezing my disks just so.
Mind you, I never give the customary "On your left" to pass youngsters unless they clearly show they are path-trained before I approach. I'll happily wait, it often cheers me up to see how much fun one can have on a path. Oddly enough, adults seem to hover most closely around kids learning to ride a bike than on foot. What they don't know is that I can predict where a kid on a bike will go. They only have so many directions they can do, and they don't change pace quickly. I quit riding The Bridge Pedal ride in Portland because too many kids swerved left and right, without any awareness of the people around them, The Bridge Pedal was so saturated with riders that options were limited should you need to swerve on account of a kid swerving. A bike path though, there is room to bank wide around kids on bikes. And any tentative kid, just trying to get the hang of a bike gets an emphatic "Whoo hoo! You got it!" from me as I pass. Kids of foot, though, you can't guess where they are going. I won't pass kids on foot before their adult is alert.
Garmin Vivoactive HR scores 3 bikes out of 5.
My beloved Pebble watch started to die shortly before the company was destroyed by one of its greedy investors. I had planned to replace it with a new Pebble, seeing as this watch/piece of wearable tech was one of my all-time favorite devices. I couldn't believe the company ended just like that. It was the business story of horrors. Here I was, with an amazing device I loved, that became increasingly unusable every day. The screen started to pixelate and garble. Apparently this was the one flaws of pebbles, something that eventually happened to all of them. I felt pretty lucky, since mine lasted years longer than my boyfriend's. Still. Time to get a new device.
I spent hours upon hours reading reviews online, comparing features, and looking as devices in stores. I settled on a Garmin Vivoactive HR, in hopes to offset the expense of the device by having it serve as a watch and bike computer in one. From everything I read, the device's one flaw was inaccuracies with it's sleep tracking, which wasn't a concern for me. Sleep tracking was the one thing I didn't care to venture into.
I started writing a review for this watch when it was still new. I'm glad I waited over a year to finally publish it, as my feelings for it have warmed with time. It seems to work a little bit better with every update. I've had a lot of issues with this watch. I'll start by pointing out that I generated 17 threads thus far on the Garmin forum, trying to understand inconsistencies with this watch that haven't been addressed on the web. For instance, buttons on different windows respond differently. The two physical buttons on the bottom of the screen do the exact same thing with every window except one, the "review workout window." On all other windows the left button is a back/exit and the right a forward/toggle. For some reason the review workout screen, they do nothing. The touchscreen is also variable. For example, on the "review workout" touchscreen, the "no" option cannot be selected. Other users agree with my observations, but in over a year no one can explain why they are like this.
It has several other weird inconsistencies. If I use the "live track" option when recording a workout, the device won't sync to the app on my phone afterwards. If I am lucky, I can sync just by turning off live track and restarting both the device and my phone. If I am not lucky, I have to unpair the watch, restore it to factory settings, turn it off, clear app cache and data on the phone, uninstall the app, restart the phone, and then reinstall and pair the two devices all over again. Pairing the watch to my phone used to be a complicated dance that often took hours on hours of attempts until it would finally, randomly, connect. Luckily, I haven't had this issue for several months now. I imagine these annoyances might just as much be due to my phone as the device.
Still, the Garmin software itself seems bizarre. The Garmin Connect app for the desktop needs to be updated almost daily. Frequent updates are par for the course these days with phone apps, but not so much with desktop apps. It's annoying to have an update for Garmin every time I try to use my computer at home. The mobile app is the most fun to use out of the whole Garmin experience, although it's strange to me why Garmin Connect online is inconsistent with the mobile app. Take a look at the 2 calendars below. They are both for the time period, but I can see all sorts of daily data on mobile. Is there any reason Garmin opted to not have all this juicy, colorful data viewable from a desktop browser? I'll never know.
My biggest gripes with the watch are it's functional inconsistencies. One day it stops syncing, the next day it unpairs. I used to have to go to the watch, Garmin Connect Online, Garmin Connect Mobile, and Garmin Express all at the same time to disable my "move bar". Then, the second I have to reset any settings, which is frequently because all of the software is so buggy, the move bar enables again. And don't even get me started with this move bar!
“The red bar on the epix, fenix 3, Forerunner 920XT, vivoactive, vivofit, and vivofit 2 is referred to as the Move Bar. The bar will be displayed after one hour of inactivity. This bar builds in length the longer you are inactive. The first red bar equals one hour of inactivity. Each additional bar equals 15 minutes of inactivity.”
There is all this data out there indicating that just moving a little bit, but frequently and throughout the day, is healthier than being highly active for long periods of time paired with long periods of inactivity. So, I get the intent of the move bar. Apparently, people need to be reminded to get up and move around. Me, I have the opposite problem. There are often times when I need to concentrate, or at a minimum, focus on one thing for a even a short period of time. That's great if I can move around while doing so. Our culture is a sitting one though, and I really struggle staying put. This makes the move bar all the more annoying. First off, the move bar doesn't adjust to any other activity you do. I could have just ridden 100 miles on my bike, which takes me several hours. I could be home, taking a shower, getting dressed and eating some food (things the move bar timer doesn't sense). The move bar can vibrate before I even get a rest. However, the move bar is most frustrating when it vibrates when I am sitting and have little choice about it. The move bar goes off when I am in the dentist chair, at the theatre, sitting in traffic, stuck in a meeting, on an airplane with the seatbelt light on, and all the other times when taking walk would be quite welcome, but quite inconvenient. I hate the reminder. It's not for me. I don't need it and I don't care about walking or "steps" or whatever the trend is these days. I wish it were less of a hassle for me to clear. It's bad enough there there is no watch face that doesn't include the red move bar line into it's design. I just don't care.
One true problem is the hardware's temperature sensitivity. The unit is rated to work in conditions to -4, but mine can't handle temps below 10 or 15 degrees. The screen freezes and the devices stops tracking. Once the device continued to track with the screen froze, but I lost all my data the 5 other times I skied in cold weather this year, even though I had the device tucked in a pocket where I hoped it would stay warm.
Now, you might be wondering why I gave it a 3 bike rating with all these complaints. It's a buggy, annoying piece of technology, sure, but it's also pretty fun. I have always been fascinated with tracking my own activity. Garmin does this well. Garmin tracks what I want to track better than any other competitor I've seen. Nearly every wearable tracker these days is step-based. Since my activities are cycling, skiing, and gym-based, step counters counter my activity. Garmin tracks what I want; distance, elevation, speed, weather, heart rate, maps and more. The newer software interface is colorful, fun to look at, and motivating.
Take a look at some of the images below. It is really gratifying to see data like "you've logged more cycling activities than 99% of other users (all ages, male and female). Who knows how many commuters use Garmins, but it feels like a nice pat on the back regardless. I also get to see a super low resting heart rate, and it helps me to feel healthy and strong. I enjoy how the new interface gives you a snapshot of the day or the week. I enjoy the graphs of various attributes over time. The Pebble is a better piece of hardware, but I never had so much juicy sports data as I do now.
The Vivoactive has a great battery life for my level of use. It lasts almost a week for my typical activities, a couple of days when I am riding for hours on end. Not only that, it charges very quickly. It charges fully in about an hour. If I wake up in the morning and notice I let the battery die, I can charge a couple of day's worth in the few minutes it takes me to get dressed. Syncing with My Fitness Pal, Strava, and MapMyRide has been flawless. I get awesome videos from Relive, too. Relive pulls data from Strava, which uses data from Garmin.
And I trust my data. I can't say if the "calories burned" data is at all accurate, but it is consistent and predictable at this point. I burn about 300 calories commuting to work in one direction. I burn anywhere from 350 to 550 calories taking a boxing class, and the burn is consistent with my perceived effort. The heart rate tracking seems true. The wrist monitor is consistent, and tracks continuously. It also tracks a low heart rate, something my old monitors couldn't do. My older Polar, Suunto, and Sigma tended to lose connection when my heart rate dropped below 60. What it can't do is manage sudden surges in heart rate. When I am biking to work, I can see the wrist monitor under report when I suddenly put out a big effort. Compared to commutes when wearing the watch with a chest strap, the wrist monitor seems to lose accuracy above 130. When my heart is pounding at 160bpm or above, it may report a 40 or 50 reading. At least the inaccuracies are easy to spot. I don't mind this, as it's know that wrist monitors do a better job tracking the heart rate at rest anyway.
I went on a couple of ski trips with other people who had other Garmin GPS devices. While the devices never agreed, they were consistently close within a couple hundred feet, both in distance and elevation. One device would tend to rate the elevation higher than me, so while neither were probably perfectly correct, they all seemed consistent.
This watch has been a hassle, but the activity tracking is fantastic. It works as a bike computer, too. I just strap it on the handlebars like it's a bike and pedal on. Overall, I am glad I made the purchase, but I am going to do a lot of research before I'd buy one again.
