The Devil Made Me Do It.

Today was one of those training season milestones, required, vital and Devillish. Midway through the training season, first ride yah pony up an entry fee and then to boot... road side Devils!. Rode the Skagit Spring Classic - metric century (100K). This is a nice ride in beautiful country east of Mt Vernon and south of Bellingham. The highlight of the ride is riding over Chuckanut drive. For years the ride has had the 'devil' stationed on Bow Hill Road to cheer you on. This year, I stopped and asked if we could get a pic. The devil said in a very nice (female) voice... "sure, if you dare!" Did not know the Devil was female! The devil was very gracious and gave accolades to our fine bicycles. It's the only pic of our ride today. BTW- I'm the guy in the green Jersey. My wheel mate is in the red... jersey. The devil is the one with the horns.

We were able to crush the route. Smoked it in 3:32:12 at an average of 17.8 mph. The total mileage was 62.86 mi and total elevation gain was 2,310 ft. This was probably the best day I've ever had on a long-haul mileage event. It really helped to ride with someone and you pull, they pull, you pull and they pull again and at some point you look down at the computer and realize you're moving at 22 clicks per hour! Freakin' brilliant.

After the ride, we rewarded ourselves in Mt Vernon at Skagit Brewing with a few pints of cold beer. Ahhh, was in heaven.

Finally. The length of my ride is not inversely proportional to the temperature!

What a day in Seattle today! I think it topped out at 78 degrees! I did a 55 miler today. And for once, the temp was proportional to the miles I road. Usually, it's the other way around. Last weekend, I needed to do about 50 miles and I swear it felt like 40 degrees out there. More miles... seems to get decreasing temps. But not today!

Here is today's ride stats. Courtesy of my new Garmin Edge 500.

Enjoy!

ORCOMM, On the Road Communication

So, I'm a big fan of on the road communication. With the ubiquity of cell phones and cell towers, we have grown accustomed to communicating at the push of a button. And now, at least on my Iphone, I can hail Suri and say - "call Mergatroyd" and by God that durn device knows to call the wife! No button pushing needed. Well, believe it or not, there are some places in this world, that cell signals are... wait for it... wait for it... flat-lined! Can you believe it? My ride last year (The 2012 Cascade Traverse By-Pedal Expedition to Save the Endangered Human Folly) did indeed see a fair amount of "dead zones". The good part, I did not bump into Christopher Walken. Ok, silly reference, I know. I did use a satellite tracking device that allowed others to see my progress as well as allowed me to issue an "SOS" to EMS if something went awry in my travels. This made me have some comfort on the road and Meragtroyd likes it too. This year, I am implementing a better COMPRO (aka communication protocol) and I have to tell you it's pretty cool.

So, on Lolo pass, in Idaho and Montana, there is no cell service. I dunno... must be pretty desolate up there. That is why Lewis and Clark had a whole bunch of problems in the late summer of 1805 trying to cross the Bitterroots. Enter 2013, enter technology. Or at least, enter... a different technology. This year, I will be usng the Delorme InReach satellite communication device. This baby allows two way texting, when out of cell service, as well as SOS functionality. I have been using the SPOT Tracker for a 5-6 years for motorcycle rides (my other two wheel passion) as well as last years Folly Tour, but it's pretty limited in its capability. The Delorme definitely ups the ante and I feel much better being on the road now. Of course, my rides are pretty tame in terms of adventure (I ain't going across Africa on my own), but as the Boy Scout motto says... be prepared.

Lewis and Clark Trail, Spokes Instead of Muskets

The route is set. I am riding part of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's expedition through Washington, Idaho and Montana. I plan on leaving from the stellar wine region of Walla Walla, WA, riding into Idaho, over Lolo Pass and then into Montana to Missoula. I will be camping and staying in a couple strategically placed motels (I'm not one to totally be hardcore and rough it the whole way). Total mileage is about 350, which is a bit more than last year. This trip will have about 7,000 feet of elevation gain, which is a little less than last year. I guess that balances things out pretty well. I will travel from the eastern Columbia plateau in Walla Walla, ride through the Palouse, into the Clearwater river basin with an overnight in Lewiston, ID and then over the Camas Prairie to Kamiah, ID. From there, I rejoin the Clearwater river and head up stream to the middle fork of the Clearwater, and start to enter the Bitterroot Mountains (which are part of the Rocky Mountains!). At Lowell, the middle-fork of the Clearwater results from the confluence of the Selway and Lochsa rivers and I turn up the Selway for a few miles for a night of camping. The next day its back to Lowell and with a right turn, I head up the Lochsa river for a long day (70 miles) shadowing the Lochsa the entire way. I will spend the night near the top of Lolo Pass. From there the river disappears and I start to head down hill, out of the Bitterroots into the Bitterroot valley. At Lolo, Montana I turn north and head for Missoula on the last day. In Missoula I will visit the head quarters of the Adventure Cycling Association, tell them what a great job they are doing and then ride off to meet my S.O. and find a tall cool beer to celebrate the journey completed! I still need a name for this adventure. Last year the ride was all about human folly. This year, it feels more like a ride to learn some history of our  distant past. Or it could be a ride from "Vines to Bitterroots". Heck, I'm gonna see a lot of several rivers on this trip, maybe it should have river theme?

Cheers!

Road Hazards - Errant Projectile

Whooda thunk? Almost taken down by a blistering, errant golf ball from 1 o'clock. Direct hit to the face.

I had just finished a quick 15 miles on a beautiful early evening here in the Puget Sound. Rolling quick, slight down hill - past Wayne Golf Course. Bam. Direct hit on the right lower cheek. It definitely jarred me, but I stayed up right on the bike. I pulled over and was bleeding. I was torqued to say the least, but OK. Spun around, tried to find the dimpled, spherical weapon and scanned the course for any person that had this ... oh shit, I just hit a cyclist look on their face. No ball to be found and no guilty golfer. Off I went - a mile to home base, still smarting in the face.

The quickness with which your own time-space continuum can change, is simply unbelievable. Granted, only my ego was hurt and a little blood shed - but it does not take much to send one careening into disarray and chaos. On my last mile home, I pondered my riding and the inherent risks. I won't tell you how my pondering ended up, but tomorrow, I'll hit the pedals and ride out, again. I get so much from riding, there is no second guessing or reconsidering why I do it. It is a forgone conclusion, riding for me will always be.

Cheers!

Riding Season is Open, Slogging To Another Epic Summer

Ok, so it has been a while since I slogged and blogged. Winter was... winter. I did not do a ton of riding. The Burro stayed in its corral and the Seven hibernated through the cold and rainy season of winter. But that was yesterday. Today there is good sign that spring is here. I have been already riding and doing some early training as well. It's almost tax day (why do we use this as some grand time point on the calendar?) and I should be well on my way for some event starting in mid June or so. Am I? Um, yah, mostly. At least this is what I have to tell myself.  I've got the spreadsheet filled in for training goals and have a new training toy (Garmin Edge 500) for GPS training and things are a hummin' and a groovin' as me dad would say. I need to update the blog layout to clean out some of the old details from last years grand tour. So, you'll see some changes. I got a tour plan already bouncing around the cerebral cortex and it will be unveiled soon. 

Below is the snap shot for last year's tour. You may remember it; The 2012 Cascade Traverse By-Pedal Expedition to Save the Endangered Human Folly. This year may not have such a catchy name, but heck, half the fun is naming these silly adventures, so we'll see! The pic below is to immortalize the trip in perpetuity in these hallowed computer bits and bites that make up my blog. A new grand pic of the sat track will emerge soon. Stay tuned.

Blackbox for Cyclists - Interesting Idea

Yes, it can be a jungle out there, on the road, you against the cagers. This could be helpful, for a worse case scenario. But, riding smartly and defensively can go along way to preventing the worse case scenario.

Anyway- have not posted in a while. Consider this post my first March update. Hopefully, I'll be posting up soon, again, with some actual riding.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/25/4029248/helmet-of-justice-uses-cameras-as-a-black-box-for-bicyclists