Recent cycling accidents make me think...

This seemingly random rash of recent bicycle deaths around Seattle (see here and here and here) is rather disconcerting to someone who rides quite a bit and on all of the roads where these occurred.  First, no matter how careful we are as cyclists this could still happen to us, so be ever more hyper-vigilant.  Second, you never know when your time is going to come, so don't sweat the small stuff and get as much joy out of every day that you can.

Stay safe out there! 

6,000 cycling miles in exactly one year

I said I'd start updating you on what I've been doing over the past 8 months.  Well, here's the first.

I didn't stop cycling, that's for sure.  This is a picture of my odometer at exactly 6,000 miles on the eve of the 1st anniversary of the purchase of my current favorite two-wheeled mode of transport.  It seems like a big milestone to me though maybe to some of you more serious cycle guys it's just a drop in the bucket.  I have to admit I would not have made it to that number without the help of this indoor trainer.  You do know we live in the rain capital of the US don't you? You can't possibly expect me to take those skinny, no tread tires and fenderless wheels out on the streets during the 8 months of craptastic weather we get here.  I've said before I'm only a fair-weather cyclist.  But with the trainer, I was able to average about 16 miles/day even during those wet months.

Then, around June 6 I looked down and realized that I was about 24 days from A-day (anniversary day) with about 800 miles still to go before I hit the magic 6K number (a number mind you which is larger than the number of miles we have put on our X6 M over the same one year period).  The weather had finally started acting like summer (though you wouldn't know that now given that we are in the middle of July with more rain than ever in the month's history of reporting) so my Type-A personality kicked in and I decided to go for it.  It was going to require a lot of committment and at least 33 miles/day to make it to the finish line.

On that last day, with exactly 40 miles still to go before I hit 6,000, I almost had to give up because of the weather (go figure).  But mid-afternoon we finally got some clearing .  I took the opportunity and set out on one of my favorite rides, around the south-end of Lake Washington, which as it happens is exactly 39.4 miles.  As I reached home from that ride I couldn't just stop at 5,999.4 miles.  Noooo.  So I waved to my other half who was on the balcony waiting for me and continued down the road another .3 miles so that when I finally returned home my odometer would look exactly like this picture.

Over the next year I'd like to do 7,000, but this weather we're having right now isn't helping my cause.  Wish me luck.

Navigating Renton

As I've written before, my first time time through Renton I was irritated with the chaos I encountered simply trying to get from one major bike route (Lake Washington-east side) to another (Green River), essentially trying to go around the south end of Lake Washington.  The city literally sits in the middle of the two trails with little or no bike-friendly routes in-between.  I have no idea how this city was named one of Puget Sound's top ten bike friendly cities and have no idea why no one is taking the scorecard to task for the pick of this city.

Regardless of my dislike of this traversal, I do like biking around Lk. Washington, so I have had a few other occasions where I could try different routes each time to find the most bike friendly.  Here is my original traversal.  It was okay, but not very direct and had more interaction with heavy traffic than I like.  

Here is a possible favorite.  

It uses what bike lanes Renton does have (though which ends at a really bad point of heavy traffic), less utilized streets and sidewalks where necessary (S. Grady Way).

And here is an alternate which avoids the above mentioned bad traffic point.

There is probably a combination between this and the previous that should become my preferred route the next time I need to traverse the city.

W. Seattle to Kent

I have a regular weekly meeting in Kent, so I when the weather is nice, I use the opportunity to get in a 36mi round-trip.  The great thing about this ride is that with the Interurban trail I could keep going all the way to Pacific (though I have no idea what I'd do once I got there).  It is flat flat flat.  A great training ride and good ride for beginners.

Another impromptu ride...South Lake Washington Loop

I started out thinking I was just going to go do the Mercer Island loop and return home.  Because I had to drop one of the cars downtown for service, I was out of the house pretty early and finished the loop before 11am.   My schedule was clear (a rarity which I am sure surprises some of you) so instead of returning home I decided to cross over to the east side of Lake Washington and head around the south end of the lake through the city of Renton and then north as the way home.

It was a great ride that I would do again but with one big challenge.  Safe cycling, it turns out, is an anathema to the city of Renton.  If you look at this map of bike trails provided by King County, Renton is made up of mostly "Caution Areas" roads.  It is the typical suburban car-centric city.  There is no good way to get across the city (to Tukwila where the Green River trail heads north) without lots of sidewalk travelling.  Until I figure out a better way through this city, my suggestion would be to just turn around at the south end of the lake and head back rather than try your hand at vehicular dodge ball.  Or you could try heading around the Renton airport to Rainier Ave S and head north along the west side of the lake (eventually getting to Lake Washington Blvd) back to Seattle.