January Totals

Today's 37 mile North Lake Loop raised the January total to 254 miles. Damp roads, cool temperatures, and sinus/phlegm issues didn't help, but a fine ride nonetheless.

Riding across Lake Washington on the I-90 floating bridge is always fun, with great views, sounds, and just the experience of being on the bike out in the middle of the lake making it an "E" ticket. But, at the overlook, a Starbucks Racing Team speedster pulled up angry, as he had just collided on the way down with a rider climbing the steep ascent to get to Lake Washington Blvd. He complained that the group was in the left lane. They complained that he took the drop at about 30 mph and didn't watch where he was going. Slow down, people, and pay attention to the rules of the road!

On the way back, stopped to assess progress at the Husky Stadium Light Rail Project. They have a ways to go.

And, I also came across another sure sign of spring!

Dueling GPS Systems

30 mile loop to Golden Gardens, Locks and Magnolia Loop this afternoon, in what continues to be an unseasonably warm and spring-like January.

So, which is the better GPS system, the Garmin 305 that sits on the handlebar, or My Tracks, the Google Ap on my new Droid phone?

The Garmin has the cool player feature, showed an elevation gain of 1553 ft, some calorie statistic, and the time. I can export it to Google Earth with a converter, and can also keep track of all my rides, mileage, time, etc.

My Tracks has the advantage of being able to send to Google Earth with no converter software, and adds more Google Maps detail, including photos, videos, Wikipedia References, Transit and many other useful (or useless) facts that adds to the dork quotient. My Tracks shows an elevation gain of 3,454 ft, and I don't know why this is different from the Garmin Stat. But, there's more detail here.

I'll continue to use both, and then select the data I like better.

No Ride Today

So, no, I didn't ride this morning. Thought about it. Intended to. Checked out the bike yesterday. Made sure that bike clothes were laid out, wool socks paired up. Woke up early. Had the good breakfast, eggs and toast. Orange juice. Coffee. Even made the second cup.

But, I didn't want to. I woke up tired, and with a bit of a sore throat and a stuffy nose. When I stepped outside to get the Sunday paper, it felt cold, damp and smelled like rain on the way. When you've lived in Seattle long enough, you learn to recognize the smell of oncoming rain after a few dry days. Checked the King 5 weather radar, and sure enough, showers are creeping up from the South. Maybe we could have made it around the lake before we got wet, but maybe not.

Rather than going for it, I called the riding buddies and wimped out. Went back to bed.

I'll hit the gym later, he thought, lazily. The Eastside loop will be there another time.

Landslide

Rode up the BGT to Sheridan Beach to check out the damage and destruction wrought by Mother Nature (or property owners with inadequate drainage systems) at about 145th and the BGT, where a landslide blocked the trail. Riding north, the whole hillside to the west of the well-traveled trail seemed saturated, with numerous little slides noticeable since last week's spin.
Took some photos, and turned around, heading out to Ballard to see more effects of the daily rain that we've experienced since New Year's.

On the return, along Shilshole, I stopped to snap a few photos of the Ballard Terminal Railroad locomotive, the Lil' Beaver.

The engineer remarked that they had come out to the Salmon Bay Cafe for a cup of coffee. I smiled, waved, and headed on, wondering if this was another one of the reasons that the BGT Missing Link was being delayed, along with the lawsuit from Ballard Business Owners.

Cumulative mileage in first two weeks of January is up to 150 miles, remarkable given the lousy wet weather this winter and no commute rides. But 2010 is off to a productive start.

How To Prevent Road Rage

Biking Bis reported on this link, and it's a good one. Great advice to all.

Ommmmmmmm.

First of the year...

44 miles around Boeing Field, with stops to see the Dreamliner, the Merry Go-Round at Westlake Center, and Pioneer Square for a Zeitgeist break.

Off to a good start toward a goal of 3,000 miles, and without either the STP or the RSVP.