First commute of the year...

Cliff Mass and Jeff Renner said it was going to be dry, and by golly, they were right! As I shoved off from Mt. View Ridge this a.m., the sky to the east was beginning to get light, with no clouds, and the moon was still above the horizon to the west. Cold, but dry. In Seattle, the major arterials had been swept so there was little sand and grit left over from the Great Christmas Blizzard and Freeze. But, once I crossed 145th, leaving the land of the Pillsbury Doughboy and entering Shoreline toward points north, flotsam, jetsam and detritus became abundant along the road side.

Still, made it to the Factory in normal time. The afternoon return, backtracking along the morning route, meaning an ascent up the Meadowbrook Hill on 35th NE, was under gray and colder skies. Nothing unusual, but much more pleasant than the auto commute.

13 miles each way....

What I Saw Riding in the January Drizzle

What? The parking lot is empty? Why is there no NFL playoff game this Sunday?

So, the only guy on the team, besides Ichiro, who hustles, can steal a base, can bunt, and actually plays like he enjoys the game, is going to Kansas City. Is January 11 too early to ask, 'Wait until next year?"

It's in the PI! But probably not for long.

We've lived here for 29 years and have been to the Locks hundreds of times. I've never seen them open up the floodgates to let the runoff into the Sound. Too much water!

59 miles YTD. Now that the quarter has started, maybe I'll get organized enough to start bike commuting regularly.

Starting Over

In the beginning, there was the void. Then, we rode around Magnolia, down to Zeitgeist, back up through downtown, across the U-bridge and back home, 29.44 miles worth, all before it started to snow again.

The parts and the whole still work.

My Mileage Will Vary

First ride of 2009! Time to reset the bike computer to keep track of progress toward the big NY mileage resolution! Of course, resetting means digging out the instructions, figuring out the correct sequence of the tiny buttons, making sure that the tire circumference measure is accurate (are they 26 x 1 1/2, or 26 x 1.5?), adjusting the time, and then getting back out of reset mode, and snapping the tiny unit back into the slot on the handlebars.

Good to go! Load up the water bottles, bundle up because it's cold and there's still a bit of snow on the side of the road, and proceed down the hill to the BGT. And, when I get to the bottom, I look down, and where's the little fershlugginer unit? Nowhere to be found!

So, I retrace the steps up the hill. In vain I search for the little unit, wondering if I did find it, would it have survived hitting the pavement and tumbling down the hill? Probably not. Oh well.

So, stopped at Recycled Cycles, purchased a replacement, reset and calibrated, but neglected to change the setting from KM to Miles. Took a short loop through Fremont, back up 8th NW, and around the north side of Green Lake. Is that 10 miles? 12? Who knows? And, at this point, given that I reset the unit one more time when I hit the homestead, I don't care.

We start fresh (again) on the next time out.