Hub on Wheels

There's an annual bike ride every September in Boston called Hub on Wheels. The highlight is that Storrow Drive, a major roadway along the Charles River, is closed for the event and cyclists get to ride on a road that is usually closed to us.

Last year Audrey and I rode the 10-mile route - the Storrow Drive portion - together. At the point where the riders on the longer routes split off, Audrey toyed with the idea of riding farther.

Fortunately we didn't. She hadn't had any training, and she was tired after 10 miles, and sore the next day.

This summer I asked Audrey if she wanted to ride the longer route. I told her we would need to do some training rides to work up to the 40-mile length of this year's route. She was game.

So, several weekends in a row leading up to the event we rode. First a little under 10 miles. Then 20 miles a couple of times. And finally 30 miles on the Cape Cod Rail Trail while were visiting the Cape with friends. When Hub on Wheels rolled around, we were ready.

Oh, before the Cape ride I also bought a computer for Audrey's bike so she could see her own speed and distance.

We had to get up at 6am to go on the ride. Audrey wasn't too excited about that.

I had stocked up on energy foods and had them stashed in my jersey pocket. Good thing. Audrey needed boosts now and then throughout the ride. But she powered through and we finished! Just over 40 miles on our bike computers. I was very proud of her.

She was a little sore the next day but not too bad. We'll see if she's game again next year.

The age minimum is 12, so Charlotte has another year before she has to decide whether to give it a go.

Here's the route:

Cape Cod - September

For the fourth year in a row we joined our friends the Latta-Giulianas at their family cottage in Dennisport, Cape Cod, for the weekend after Labor Day.

We've established a bunch of traditions as part of this weekend:

• Eat hot dogs at The Dog House
• Eat ice cream at the Sundae School
• Visit a cool outdoor place (this year it was Long Pasture Audubon Sanctuary)
• Lots of independent kid play in the quiet cottage community

This year Audrey and I added a 30-mile bike ride. Last year she and I rode the 10-mile route at Hub on Wheels. Audrey said she'd like to ride the longer route. So we've been going on training rides to work up to the 40-mile ride around Boston next weekend. We rode on the beautiful Cape Cod Rail Trail.

It was warm and a little humid this year. But we slept with the van side door and hatch wide open (we have screens), and the girls enjoyed the screened windows on three sides in the tent upstairs. It was delightful sleeping in warm temps and a breeze.

And now it's time for fall. After the 85 degree day we're going to have on Wednesday, that is.

Martha's Vineyard

Remember me? I used to blog here once in a while. Man, It's been a long time! Life has been busy.

My employer is the leading maker of drugs for Multiple Sclerosis, so it's a big sponsor of the Bike MS rides. I'm doing three this year, with the first being the 60-mile "Ride the Vineyard" on Martha's Vineyard yesterday.

We've been living in New England for seven years now but we had never made it to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. We were excited for our first visit.

A year ago at the school auction, Carol went with other moms. It was Casino Night. For some reason, as other people left they gave her their remaining chips and she ended up with a large number. She was able to choose any silent auction item she wanted and she chose a two night stay at the Bayside Resort on Cape Cod. We decided to use that stay for this weekend, and Carol and the girls came over to Martha's Vineyard to meet me after my ride and see the island.

Unfortunately I misunderstood the ferry routes and schedules and our hotel was actually 30 miles from the proper ferry landing in Woods Hole. Oh well, Carol was generous enough to get up with me at 5:35 AM and drive me to the 7:00 ferry, then go back and have breakfast with the girls and take a noon ferry.

My ride was great. The first half, "up island" (the western end) was hilly and tiring early in the season, but the second half, though windy, was flat and pleasant. I had a great tour of the island. A highlight was visiting Gay Head. The current incarnation of the lighthouse was built in 1874, quite far back from the bluff. But 140 years of storms have eroded the bluff such that the lighthouse was threatened. They are just completing the project of moving it farther from the bluff. The project happens to be the subject of NOVA this week.

We met up easily after the ride and I changed into normal clothes and we were off to sightsee.

The first order of business was lunch. We went to the Offshore Ale Company in Oak Bluffs, one of the two main tourist towns on the island. It also has the oldest continuously operating carousel in the country (which wasn't open yet - we were visiting well ahead of peak season), and "the campground" - a collection of 300 very cute gingerbread cottages that were the origin of the town.

Then we shopped a little. Carol and the girls all wanted MV sweatshirts. Coincidentally, they all chose purple!

We thought we wanted to rent scooters so I could show them some of the island highlights I had seen on my ride. The guys at the scooter place reminded us that it was kind of chilly out. They offered to rent us a jeep for the rest of the day for a very reasonable rate, and it had a big sunroof flap that would simulate a scooter ride if we wanted. We took it.

I had been reading about the geography of the island and learned that Chappaquiddick is reachable by a 100-yard ride on a 3-car ferry. There is also a conservation property there called "Mytoi" that I had read about years ago but thought I'd never visit. We headed to the ferry!

Finding it was an adventure. The streets in Edgartown are very narrow. The ferry dock is down at the end of one of them.

Mytoi was pretty. It reminded us very much of Kubota Gardens in Seattle.

The parking lot at Mytoi had a map that showed that there were multiple related conservation lands quite nearby. One of them was Cape Poge, a large barrier island that is only navigable by 4WD vehicle over deep sand.

Guess what? We had a Jeep!

We were all over that.

We had a blast navigating the sand up the ocean beach, then slightly more inland, until we reached Cape Pogue Lighthouse - our goal. The girls really enjoyed the ride, especially since it was at 15 mph and they could stand up out of the sunroof the whole way.

Cape Pogue, by the way, is reached via the tiny Dike Bridge, which happens to be the bridge Edward Kennedy's car drove off of in 1969 (although it's not entirely clear he was driving it).

We eventually made our way back to the tiny ferry and back to Oak Bluffs where we found ice cream. Then we headed back to the big ferry and returned to our Cape Cod hotel very late.

Sunday we slept in, then enjoyed the hotel breakfast and a swim in the pool.

As were leaving, we encountered another family from Melrose who noticed a Melrose sticker on our car. They were headed to the Edward Gorey House. That sounded like fun, so we headed there, too!

We ended up taking a charming tour given by his cousin. Then we spent a bunch of money in the gift shop, including a piece of art for our newly finished basement.

One more stop for a late lunch. Carol had a Monte Cristo sandwich that was delicious and we decided we need to make them at home.

Finally we made the two-hour trek back to Melrose. We all enjoyed that weekend very much.

Hub on Wheels

Today Audrey and I rode the Hub on Wheels event in Boston.

For those of you who don't know, one nickname for Boston is "The Hub of the Universe", or "The Hub" for short.

The event has 10, 30 and 50 mile routes. This was Audrey's first bike ride of more than a mile or two so we chose the 10 mile route.

For the ride, they shut down Storrow Drive, which is the parkway (treated like a freeway by drivers) along the Boston side of the Charles River. It's novel and fun to have a main road closed to traffic for bikes!

Audrey did great and enjoyed the ride. Although she is outgrowing her bike.

She was sad when we turned off at the place where the 10-mile split from the longer routes. Most people went the other way and she liked riding in the crowd.

Next year we'll get her a larger bike and tackle the 30-mile route. Charlotte will meet the 10-year-old minimum next year, too. Perhaps she'll ride the 10-mile with Carol and Audrey and I will ride the 30.

Oh, there's also a video.

May-July 2015 Miscellaneous

Once again I've gotten way behind in posting family photos. Well, now I've got a bunch in the queue and will get them to you forthwith!

I'm going to start protecting the photo albums with a password to prevent search engines from crawling them. I don't want people to be able to google the girls' adolescences in the future. I'll use the same password for all albums going forward, and it's easy to remember - my last name, all lowercase. If you forget, there is a way to get a hint on the screen that asks for the password. Let me know if you have problems; if there a lot of problems I'll reconsider.

We've had a pretty busy late spring and early summer!

The girls finished up the school year with the school play: Cinderella. Charlotte was a mouse in the chorus and Audrey was a stage hand. They both did very well. The school plays are put on by a mom from the school and are surprisingly good!

Since Audrey was in her second year of taking flute, she was eligible to participate in the Melrose Youth Band. She practiced a lot. The first band concert was June 2 in the middle school auditorium with a large crowd. It was Audrey's first time on stage in front of an audience and she was nervous. She said later she felt like she might faint. But we couldn't tell from the seats - she did great. Here is some video of the concert.

The free state pool is just a few blocks from home and it opens mid-June. The girls have already visited many times. Sometimes I join them after riding my bike home from work. It's a great way to cool down.

Continuing in the musical theme, we've been to a couple of concerts as a family.

The Rockport Music Society received a large donation just before we moved to Boston, and they used it to build themselves a fantastic, state-of-the-art performance theater that seats about 400 people. It was designed with exceptional acoustics. But the highlight of the space is the 30' tall wall of glass that forms the back of the stage and looks out over Rockport Harbor. I read about it when it opened but hadn't yet found a concert to see there.

We went to see Pokey LaFarge, who's 7-piece band of wonderfully talented musicians play old-timey, folky, bluesy music. The girls thought it was fantastic. I loved showing them quality live music.

Later the same week we drove to Portsmouth, NH to see one of my favorite bands play on an outdoor stage in a park: Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. There's a common thread through my favorite musical acts through time: interesting instrument combinations and creative arrangements. Thao has them both.

The evening was absolutely perfect and the setting was gorgeous. We all enjoyed the concert very much and ended it by all dancing together to the last few songs, right in front of the stage. The girls learned how to clap and yell until the band comes back for an encore.

The girls have also been off at a plethora of camps this summer, and we've had a couple of camping trips. Those will be the subject of more posts in the near future.

Boston Bike Commute Video

I've been thinking about making time-lapse videos of my bike commute route for many years. Now that I have the GoPro camera it's dead simple. Yesterday morning I finally remembered to mount the camera and off I went.

The video is shot with an image taken every half second. After conversion, the end result is that the motion is sped up about 10 times. Some of those cars crossing my path look like they are cutting right in front of me (which does happen a lot) but I'm not approaching them as fast as it appears.

One thing I notice is that with the distorted time and the resulting rapid light changes as I ride in and out of shadow is that you lose all sense of up and down. There are several hills along the route but one can hardly tell in the video.

April Bike Riding

Way back on the first warm weekend in April Audrey and I took our bikes to the school parking lot and rode for a very long time. Later that week we rode with Charlotte in the driveway. Click the image for video.

Audrey Rides a Bike

I have dad guilt that Audrey got to be 6 years old without learning how to ride a bike. Last year when she was five I was very busy getting ready to move and then moving. This spring I've been very busy with the kitchen remodel.

Audrey's personality has had something to do with it, too. She sometimes can have a very hard time taking instruction. She wants to figure it out all on her own. But some things are too complicated to figure out that way.

We bought new bikes earlier this spring for both girls. Audrey tried hers a few times with the training wheels on but didn't like it. The training wheels were a distraction - she didn't like the jerk when the bike came to rest on a training wheel.

This past weekend we went camping on Cape Code for 4 days (I'll post photos and video as soon as I can, but that's probably going to be after I return from Seattle). I figured a campground would be a perfect place to learn to ride - paved roadways with very little, slow-moving traffic. I was kind of determined that she was going to learn to ride. A little too determined, it turned out, because we ended up getting into a little battle of wills. Audrey decided she wanted Mom to teach her to ride her bike. Only Mom could hold on just so.

So she did that with Mom a few times for maybe a total of about 20 minutes. Next session I took her out and promised to hold on just like Mom. I did so for about 30 seconds, but it was clear she had the knack. So I changed to just having my thumb on the back of the seat and she still did fine. So I removed my hand and just ran beside her. She didn't notice. After about 30 more seconds I told her, "Look, Audrey, I'm not holding on." She gave me a quizzical look and then it sunk in that she was riding on her own. There was no looking back after that. And all she wanted to do the rest of the trip was ride her bike. Ah, success!

Next we worked on getting started. She still has a little trouble getting things ready to go, but once she does she can get started every time. She was also afraid to go downhill at first, but I talked her through modulating the brakes to control her speed and by the time we left she was going downhill with confidence.

As a parent learning to read and learning to ride a bike are big milestones for me. Now that Audrey has achieved both of them I have to figure out what the next milestones will be. Maybe music. Carol taught Audrey Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the piano and Audrey loves to play it. She also makes up pretty decent music of her own.

On My Ride Home From Work

Several times I've thought about stopping to take this photo. Today I finally did. This is from the Massachusetts Ave ("Mass Ave") bridge that connects Boston to Cambridge across the Charles River. I'm at the Cambridge end, near MIT.

Temps got down to the low 60s last night. It felt a little chilly when I first got on my bike this morning. The first hill about 1/2 miles from home took care of that. It got up into the 80s for a high and was a pretty sweaty ride home. But pleasant nonetheless.

News of the day? We might get a cat tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Acclimatizing

I wasn't looking forward to the extremes of Boston weather when we decided to move. The hot and humid summers and the long, cold, snowy winters both seem like hardship to me relative to Seattle's moderate climate. But so far I (and we) have been doing just fine.

For one thing, the weather in the Northeast has been unusual this spring and summer. Boston had a very rainy and cool May and June before we arrived (while Seattle had a very unusually warm and sunny May and June). As of last week neither New York or Boston had seen a 90-degree day since summer started. We also had unusually un-humid weather our first couple of weeks here. We've had some humidity since but it's bearable.

Yesterday it was 79 degrees at 7:30am and it felt normal. I guess that means I'm already used to it.

I tend to walk fast, so when I was taking the train to work I had a couple of days when I would arrive at work pretty sweaty. Now that I'm riding my bike to work it's no big deal. When I get to work I strip down and just sit in the locker room for 5-10 minutes radiating heat and evaporating sweat. But then I get to take a shower. My helmet pads never dry out: I have my helmet hanging in front of a fan at the moment to try to get that to happen tonight. It's pretty gross putting on a helmet that has pads still wet with yesterday's sweat.

Speaking of biking, I've been biking to work every day for a couple of weeks now. It is just over 11 miles and takes me 40-45 minutes. I can feel my conditioning starting to come back - I'm not huffing up the hills as much as when I started two weeks ago.

The cyclists in Boston are completely nuts. Most don't obey a single traffic law. I wonder if I'll adapt to the local riding style, but I don't think so. They blow right through red lights. I'm sure if you asked one of them, s/he'd say they look and that they know no one is coming, but they don't slow down enough for a real look. No, thanks. I'm not in that big of a hurry. There's also only maybe 50% helmet usage.

During my commute in rush hour, I can travel much faster than cars. One evening I noticed a red pickup because he passed me aggressively. We leapfrogged several times as he kept getting stuck in traffic. The last time we saw each other was 6 miles after our first encounter. Given the traffic, at pretty much every light I can ride between traffic and parked cars and pass 20-30 cars. Some drivers will try to squeeze to the right to block cyclists from doing so, but we can wriggle through a pretty small space. Very slowly, of course, because you never know when a door is going to open on parked car.

For the most part I find the drivers to be pretty respectful of my safety. As I reported before, my route is surprisingly quiet except for a few major intersections. I'm enjoying bike commuting very much.

First Boston Bike Commute

W00t! I finally got motivated to find my own way into work on my bike. I followed a similar route on bikely.com. The route was a lot calmer than I expected. A few busy streets and lots of riding next to parked cars - that's alway a little nerve wracking.

Overall 11.75 miles and it took me 49 minutes with stops for map reading. The train and T combination has been taking me 1:05-1:10 so the bike is both more pleasant and faster.

I haven't ridden my bike since June 12. I can feel it. But it'll come back quickly.

I mapped my own route at bikely.com.

Last Days in Seattle

Album | Slideshow

Seattle has been giving us a fantastic sendoff. Usually the weather in late May and June can be depressing because it can be wet when you want Summer to start. This year the weather during that period has been fantastic. We've had a lot of good times outdoors.

On May 23 the Eastgate Cycling Club held a farewell ride in my honor. It turned out to be a short ride but then we all went to the Islander Restaurant on Mercer Island, which is owned by fellow Eastgate member Brian Patton. We had a great time hanging out in the sun. Bryce was even kind enough to go get donuts for Audrey & Charlotte.

I've written a lot about cycling exploits with members of the Eastgate club. I've been riding with them since 2002 and I have really, really loved it. Faster riders have joined and transformed the club since I first joined, and I have learned a lot and really expanded the limits of my conditioning by riding with them. Thanks especially to Scott Sensenbrenner for holding the club together all these years (for at least 10 years before I showed up). I'll miss you all.

On a different day we had Britt, Ken, Ian and Kaia over for breakfast. We hiked down to Alki Beach midday and the kids got to play in the forest and at the beach. Then we came back home and the kids were having such a great time that everybody stayed for lunch and then dinner. A very fun day. We'll miss them, too!

Our families have been wonderful babysitters and Audrey and Charlotte love to be with all of the aunts, uncles and grandparents. Aunt Betsy got in the habit of taking the girls for a few hours every Friday evening so Carol and I have had very regular date nights. We are really going to miss that.

Winter Bike Commuting

Album | Slideshow

We're currently in the middle of a Pineapple Express weather pattern in Seattle. This is a recurring winter pattern in which the jet stream conveys tropical moisture to us and keeps it aimed at us like a fire hose. This one is unusually massive: we are expected to get about 6" of rain in a couple of days in the lowlands and as much as 20" of rain in the mountains. There is already significant flooding and huge natural avalanches in the Cascades.

This weather makes bike commuting especially fun. Personally, I like the challenge. I assume even more than usual that drivers won't see me, so I take all street crossings and such with extra caution. I have ample reflective gear and obviously lights front and rear and I wear light-colored clothing (I'm amazed how many idiots I see on bikes after dark in black clothing and no lights or reflectors).

I don't bother with waterproof clothing. My commute is only 25-35 minutes depending on direction and wind, and I always ride pretty hard so I generate plenty of heat. Rain gear would make me as wet inside from sweat as I get outside from rain. I do wear clothing that is warm even when wet and I have my system down pat after several years. I've learned what pieces of clothing to wear for any conditions.

Today I happened to leave work just as a big wave of rain was arriving. Riding in heavy rain adds some challenges. I have to take my riding glasses off because the rain drops refract the city and vehicle lights and make the world way too psychedelic. And I have to remember that my brakes aren't going to work for several seconds after I apply them - they have to dry themselves off first. So I have to think way ahead and anticipate when I'm going to have to slow down or stop.

The worst part of bike commuting in Seattle winters is how filthy my bike gets. I don't clean it as often as I should - perhaps once every two weeks. We just had a huge snow event last week and the roads on my route were heavily sanded. Wet tires pick up all that sand and grime and deliver it right on to the rest of the bike. The grit also wears the brake pads faster and produces brake dust, which when mixed with water produces a dark gray paste that gets everywhere. Changing a flat tire on a bike coated in all that material is an especially dirty job (and not very fun when standing in a downpour next to a highway).

One of these days I plan to obtain a mini camcorder and make a speeded-up movie of my commute. For now, you'll have to settle for photos of the aftermath.

Getting Back on the Horse

It's been almost 5 weeks since the big crash and I continue to slowly improve. I started getting itchy to get back on my bike, mainly because riding the bus was getting tedious. Biking to work takes 25-30 minutes each way. Riding the bus takes an hour including the walking on each end.

Seattle is enjoying its typical Indian Summer. We often have beautiful weather for at least the first three weeks of the month before the rainy season (which lasts until July) begins. Sometimes the nice weather lasts into October.

Anyway, today is a gorgeous day and I felt pretty decent so I got out my bike and rode to work. It worked out great. Not much pain, just lots of paranoia. My friend and neighbor Jason gave me an escort.

Unfortunately, my good bike was terminally damaged in the crash. So it's back to my steel Lemond until I can afford to buy a new frame. May the Kestrel rest in peace - it was a great bike.

It's nice to be back in the saddle. Don't worry, I'm taking it easy.

Bike Crash Follow-up

It's been eleven days since my bike crash. I figured I'd write an update on my experience since then.

The ER doctor was right that the worst was yet to come. My crash was on Thursday. Friday the pain started coming on, but Saturday and Sunday were the worst.

I couldn't recline at all. I spent the first three nights sleeping sitting straight up in a chair with pillows supporting me as much as possible. It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds and I did actually sleep, but it got old really fast.

The very worst part was sneezing. I sneezed exactly once each day (I remember!). The first time I did it with Audrey in the room it terrified her. There was Dad writhing in pain and unable to breathe. I think those sneezes might have been the absolute most painful thing I have ever felt.

By Monday morning I was feeling a little better and getting slightly more mobile. Sunday night I was able to sleep on my back until about 3am (then back to the chair) and that helped. I was dying to lie down.

I went to work Tuesday through Friday but I was on narcotic pain meds and was completely unproductive. In retrospect, I should have just called in sick all week.

I had a couple of little setbacks. Some days I would gain some range of motion in my arms (i.e. I could use them without too much pain) and that would lead me to do too much. I'd pay for that the next day with more pain.

I went to work today and actually did some work. Went to my doctor at the end of the day for a follow-up to make sure I'm not developing pneumonia - seems like I'm in the clear there. Today I sneezed twice - it's still really painful, but I recover in a minute or so now rather then 5 minutes. Audrey is used to it, too. This morning I sneezed while she was sitting next to me and she barely noticed the writhing.

The girls have been very sweet. They tell me every day that I must be getting better because my owies are smaller. Audrey tells me all the time that she's sorry I fell off my bike and got hurt. She forgot a couple of times and accidentally pulled my arm during the worst of it and then felt really bad. I've told her that I really look forward to being able to pick her up again.

I can now lie on my right side (the injury is on my left side) and on my stomach (for a while) and even on my back if I arrange the pillows to raise my shoulders a little.

I had taken two weeks off the bike after RAMROD on July 31. I had only ridden to work one day before the day of my crash (August 14). I can't see getting back on a bike for at least another week and probably longer. That means about 5-6 weeks of essentially no riding. That's the most contiguous time I've had off my bike in at least 10 years; perhaps as many as 13 years (I started mountain biking seriously in 1995). I'm going to lose a hell of a lot of fitness. C'est la vie. At least so far I've only gained 4 pounds.

Hitting the Pavement

Album | Slideshow

I had a little accident on my morning commute today. Don't click on the photo album links if you're squeamish.

Since I'll have to tell all my cycling friends about it anyway, I figured I'll just tell the story in a blog post.

On the uphill side of the low-level Spokane St. bridge (3 miles from home) I overtook my coworker Diane on her bike. I slowed and chatted with her to the crest of the bridge, where she told me to go ahead. So I sped up on the downhill side of the bridge. The bridge has a good separated bike path that cyclists use. The bike path then takes a circuitous route that was obviously not designed by someone who had ever ridden a bike since it goes way out of the way to circle under the bridge and then make several right angle turns to cross a couple of branches of an industrial road. Instead, fast riders ride straight at the intersection of the bottom of the bridge, sideways across a wheelchair curb cut and then continuing east on Spokane St. My buddy Jason and I do this every day on our commutes.

I may have been going a little faster today because it was gorgeous out and there were no vehicles around. Regardless, I somehow hit the transition from the sidewalk to the street wrong and lickity split I was going down. I remember tumbling and trying to just go with it. Then I remember what felt like endless pavement going by my eyes really fast. It felt like I would never stop sliding. I was probably going between 25 and 30mph when I crashed.

Obviously the sliding eventually stopped. I was pretty dazed and had the wind knocked out of me. But my first instinct was to get out of the middle of the intersection. I grabbed my bike and dragged it and myself over to the weedy area on the corner. It took a while before I could breathe and even then deep breaths caused stabbing pain.

My coworker Diane was not far behind me when I crashed and she witnessed the whole thing. She reports that I did a couple of "cartwheels". I suspect my front wheel dug into something and I went over the bars. She stopped, very concerned. I told her she should probably call an ambulance. I suspected I had a fairly serious chest injury - maybe broken ribs. My breathing was constricted by pain in the area of my lower rear left lung.

The fire department showed up quickly. The station is just at the west end of the bridge. They checked me out and put some simple dressings on the more obvious wounds. By then I figured I didn't need an ambulance. Diane and the fire crew waited while Carol arranged for the neighbors to watch the girls and came to take me to the hospital. That probably took about 25-30 minutes from the accident.

The ride in the car was kinda painful. Bumps gave me stabbing pains in the back of my lung. But we got to the ER at Swedish Hospital soon enough. I had great care from the ER doc and a technician and nurse. They took chest and elbow X-rays and a urine sample to make sure I didn't have kidney injury. The Tech (Brett, a cyclist who is riding RSVP - Ride Seattle to Vancouver and Party - tomorrow and was disconcerted by having two injured cyclists in the ER at the same time) did a great job cleaning out the deep laceration in my left elbow - it had bits of road embedded in it. They numbed it so I only felt tugging while he was doing it and no pain. Then the doc examined it again and decided not to suture it because it will need to be able to drain freely.

The X-rays showed no broken bones in my chest or elbow. And no kidney injury either.

The crash happened about 8:45. I got home from the ER at 12:40. Lots of waiting in the ER, as usual. Got to listen to a couple of patients with mental problems ranting about various things in adjacent treatment bays. Had a National Geographic that kept me occupied. Plus I used my camera phone to get some photos of the damage before it was treated. I didn't get the scoop on the other injured cyclist I saw walk into the lobby just as I was going back for treatment.

By the time I left the hospital the chest pain was getting worse. We dropped off the painkiller prescriptions at the pharmacy drive-through. It hurts to lie down, so Carol wrestled the glider from the living room downstairs to where the TV is. That's pretty comfortable for me. Carol will have to go back to pick up the prescriptions, but I had some big ibuprofens left over from when I got my dental implant so I took one of those. That made a big difference within about 20 minutes. The doctor tells me the pain is going to be a lot worse tonight and tomorrow and then start to improve, but at the moment I'm having a little pain holiday.

The firemen took my bike back to their station since we didn't have an easy way to carry it without the bike rack on the car. We have to go retrieve it later. I'll have to have it checked out thoroughly by a shop for damage. All I remember is the handlebars are cocked sideways and there is a scrape in the bar tape near the left brake hood.

By the way, I may have been the cause of my own accident. For years, there has been a "temporary" traffic sign post in a 55-gallon drum full of dirt that was positioned very close to the wheelchair ramp I was crossing when I crashed. It was annoying because one had to slow down to avoid it before riding off the sidewalk, and sometimes people would throw road debris in it (like pieces of lumber) that would stick out over the bike path. There hasn't been a sign on the post for ages - just an empty post in a barrel. A month or so ago I stopped on the way home and moved the barrel off into the weeds on the other side of the path. That cleared the way for a faster approach to the sidewalk/street transition. Perhaps I reaped what I sowed today. I'll be taking that transition with a lot more caution in the future. Unfortunately, it sounds like I'm going to be off my bike for a week or two. The doc says this chest injury can take a month or more to feel normal.

At the hospital, Carol noticed some black spots on my fingers. They were little embedded particles of asphalt (the place I crashed was repaved about two months ago). Inspired by having just seen Iron Man, I guess, Carol asked if any superheros were associated with asphalt. We decided I would be Asphalt Man. My superpower is my rough skin - I rub the villains vigorously and give them road rash.

I've been riding a road bike seriously for 10 years now, and commuting year-around for two and a half years. This is only my third spill (one was caused by a car). That doesn't seem like too bad of an average to me.

RAMROD 2008

Today was the 2008 edition of RAMROD: Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day. This is my third time riding RAMROD, having also ridden it in 2003 and 2005.

I wasn't sure how RAMROD would feel this year. I've gotten in plenty of miles by completing my now standard spring and early summer long rides (Inland Empire Century, 7 Hills of Kirkland, Flying Wheels, Tour de Blast and of course STP) plus a pretty good smattering of club rides. One thing I didn't do this year, however, was any special hill training. RAMROD has two huge climbs of 18 miles and 10 miles that supply the majority of the 10,000' of climbing along the entire 154-mile route. I had no idea how those climbs were going to feel, but I was expecting them to be a struggle.

We left Enumclaw at 6:33 AM with a group of 10. Most were Eastgate Cycling Club riders plus a few friends. The Eastgate riders were among the strongest climbers in the club. We had a very nice paceline going for the first 32 miles to Eatonville. I rode ahead since there is a small climb out of Eatonville and I knew I'd get dropped. That plan worked well since the group caught me exactly at the top of the climb. We then got together again for the ride into Elbe and on toward Ashford just before entering Mt. Rainier National Park.

The section between Elbe and the park entrance is 14 miles long and slightly uphill the entire way. We were doing a hell of a pace, with the stronger riders pulling at 21-22mph. I was starting to have trouble hanging on even in the draft, and the section ends at the base of the biggest climb of the ride. I had no interest in arriving at the base of the climb exhausted, so about 6 miles from the end I said goodbye to the group and left the paceline. I knew all along I'd get dropped like a rock when we got to the big climbs, so my goal was to stay with the group until the park entrance. I essentially made it to that goal.

A couple of miles before the food stop at the park entrance I came across club member Gary, who had come to the same “too fast” conclusion a few miles later than I had.

We got to the food stop at mile 59 right as the rest of our group was leaving. The stop wasn't very well organized this year and had a huge line. The main gang decided to skip it. Not me. I was hungry and couldn't afford to bypass a main feeding stop, especially with a 2-hour climb about to begin.

Once fed Gary and I took off together for the park. Now was the true test. It's pretty easy for the first few miles to Longmire. Then it starts to kick up. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good. The slope is not too steep, about 5 or 6%. I was able to get into a very steady rhythm and climbed at 9-11mph for the entire climb. Gary was locked in right next to me, and we had a great conversation which made the climb go faster. Before we knew it the two hours had passed and we were at the top. The climb was a little shorter this year than normal because of construction at Paradise – the route turned off a few miles below Paradise on the Ohanapecosh Road.

Ah, now the first big descent, about 10 miles of sweet downhill with some nice sweeping corners. It can also be dangerous because areas of sun and shade can hide obstacles like rocks that have fallen off the roadside cliffs. But we didn't encounter any of those this year and were soon at the next food stop at mile 88.

After a 4-mile climb up Backbone Ridge there's another big descent down Stevens Canyon to the Ohanapecosh park gate. Then a left turn onto Highway 123 and the dreaded 10-mile climb to Cayuse Pass. It's dreaded because you've already ridden 100 miles by the time you get to the base of it. Also you get there in mid-afternoon so it can be bloody hot, and the climb is the steepest of the route at 8% or so. It feels endless. And monotonous. At least this year the monotony was broken up by sections of gravel roadway. The road washed out in a huge storm in 2006 that did major damage to the park. The highway was closed for months afterward and they are still repairing it. But like the Paradise climb, Cayuse felt a lot easier then the previous times I've ridden RAMROD. Slower though because of the steeper grade – we did about 7-8mph most of the way.

From the summit of Cayuse Pass at 4694' it's a fun 8-mile descent. The road used to be poor, but it has been repaved since last time I rode it and was fantastic today. 36-38 mph all the way down. And at the bottom is the turnoff to the last food stop at mile 118. The hardest work was over! At the food stop we caught up with Brian, another Eastgate rider and decided to team up for the remainder of the ride.

Even though the climbing was all done, there were still 35 miles to go before we were done. And the legendary headwind was present the whole way. We were all tired and we were stiff after the food stop. I thought we might go fairly slowly. But Brian immediately cranked it up to 23mph. It's slightly downhill the whole way back to Enumclaw, but with the headwind it can still be work. But the three of us had a wonderful paceline going and we made pretty quick work of the 35 miles. Only 1.5 hours. Toward the end the route goes down a sweet technical descent through a forest for a couple of miles and then spills out into farmland for the last 4 miles or so. We were all pretty done, but we managed to hook onto a tandem and drafted them the rest of the way to the finish.

Even this morning I wasn't sure if I would complete the ride. But it turned out I felt far more comfortable on the whole ride than I have before. This is the first time I've done RAMROD since I started bike commuting to work regularly (in December 2005). It's also the first time since discovering the benefit of lots of early-season miles. And I also did some serious carbo loading both Tuesday and Wednesday nights with huge plates of spaghetti. One or more of those factors contributed to a much easier ride. I still can't say I “enjoyed” RAMROD, but I survived it so much better than before that I'm quite satisfied. And like after STP, I feel pretty normal tonight other than leg fatigue when I walk down stairs.

IN 2003 with a motley crew and a lot of waiting, we had 13:30 elapsed time and roughly 9:30 rolling time.

In 2005 I rode it (solo) in 12:45 elapsed time and 9:45 riding time for a 15.8mph average speed.

This year I had an elapsed time of 10:30, riding time of 8:45 and average riding speed of 17.02mph.

13:30, 12:45, 10:30. There's a trend! If I keep riding RAMROD eventually it won't take me any time at all!

By the way: those faster riders in my club? They did the Paradise climb at 12-14mph and finished the whole ride with an elapsed time of 9:00. I'm very glad I didn't try to keep up with that.

STP: Seattle to Portland 2008

Yesterday was STP 2008. This was my fourth year in a row completing the 200-mile ride in one day with friends from the Eastgate Cycling Club.

I didn't bring a camera this year, so there are no photos.

We have been under 10 hours riding time the last two years for an average speed over 20mph, but we have tended to take long breaks and had an elapsed time last year of almost 14 hours. This year I suggested a goal of 12 hours elapsed time; then the rest of the gang upped the ante and decide to aim for 11 hours.

We left Seattle at about 5:40 AM with 10 riders. We didn't start at the official start. It's too chaotic and all of us live toward Portland from the start. Three of us started from our homes in Seattle proper and the rest met on Mercer Island and started from there. We met about 5 miles into the official route (which is 8 miles from my house, so I'd get an extra 3 miles for the day).

We skipped the first rest stop at the 24 miles point and steamed onward. Our first stop was at the second official food stop in Spanaway at 53 miles. We set ourselves a limit of 10 minutes, and I think we were back on the road in 15. We got a little race going with our neighboring Lakemont club on Highway 507 between Spanaway and Roy, but we finally got that sorted out.

Between Rainier and Tenino the course follows a bike path for about 14 miles. In this section I unintentionally got ahead of the group, but hooked up with Ernie, a member who wasn't riding the club group. We in turn hooked up with an anonymous rider from the Habitat for Humanity group. Ernie and the other guy were big and strong and I felt like the weakling of the bunch. Ernie and Mr. Habitat was doing long pulls at 24-25mph, but when I came to the front into a moderate headwind I could barely hold 22, and not for very long. I should have been eating but I knew there was a food stop coming up at Tenino so I didn't. I had forgotten how low that section is. But I survived.

In Tenino at mile 86 I hooked back up with the group and we stayed pretty much together into the halfway point at Centralia. I had ridden 103 miles in 4:51, breaking the record for the fastest century I have ever done. I stuffed down a peanut butter sandwich, a bunch of fruit, a bunch of fluid and we were on our way again. I think we were there about 20 minutes.

I was still feeling pretty good. I had some moments when my legs felt tired, but then before I knew it I'd be pulling strongly. The second biggest hill of the course, at Napavine at 110 miles, felt pretty easy.

At the Winlock mini-stop (an "unofficial" stop presented by local community organizations to to raise money) I held with tradition and ate a hot dog (well, half) and downed a Pepsi. I also soaked my head in the cold water faucet. Temps were getting up there - they would reach 93 by afternoon.

From there it was a mad dash to the Lexington Park food stop at mile 144. We again tried to get in and out quickly. I think we may have been there 15 minutes.

Like the Napavine hill, the Lewis and Clark bridge from Washington into Oregon over the Columbia River didn't feel as difficult as it has in the past. Our group had it's only flat tire of the day a couple of miles before the bridge and I took the opportunity to eat and drink.

The next section is the least favorite of a few of us: from the bridge at mile 150 to the last food stop at mile 174. It's boring highway that follows the Columbia River but with no view, and it has some rollers that start to get painful with 160 miles in your legs. Our fastest five guys rode off into the distance. Four of us switched into survival mode and made a nice little constant-rotation paceline and kept up 21-22mph. When I suggested that we stop at an upcoming convenience store even though it was only 5 miles to the food stop, I found unanimous agreement. It was getting really hot and we were starting to hurt.

At the convenience store I drank an entire liter of Coke and ate a bunch of cashews. I didn't intend to drink the whole thing and was amazed that I did. I also filled a water bottle with ice and Coke and it was heaven on the road. And while were there we collected Brian who had been riding just behind us.

Then we powered on to the last stop. The fast five had already left. We took a brief break and then managed to get back on our bikes for the final push.

At about mile 190 I was mentally done. Toward the end I always start staring at my odometer and it seems to take forever. It's kind of strange, because my body, while tired, still feels fine. No cramps or serious pain or breathing problems, etc. Just mental fatigue.

But before you know it we're doing the last little steep 1-block climb entering Portland proper, the crossing the river and then we're in the cheering gauntlet at the finish. We came in at just about exactly 5:00pm. I did 207 miles in 9:59 for an average riding speed of 20.7mph and elasped time of 11:15 from our meeting place. Very satisfying.

I felt fine coming across the line, but after a few minutes lying on the grass I felt horrible. No specific symptom, just fairly serious overall discomfort. It was probably a touch of heatstroke, although, my pulse was 65 and strong. I didn't even feel good enough to get in some fluids, which is probably what I needed most. But I sat on a bench for 5 minutes and then laid down for 5 more and started to feel better. Carol was there and we finally got up and headed to our hotel across the street. As soon as I walked into the air conditioned lobby I felt much better.

We usually have a group dinner but this year people kind of scattered to the winds. Carol and I went and chilled (literally) for a while and then had our traditional post-ride meal at Red Robin. That Royal burger, with bacon and a fried egg on it, really hit the spot, along with the big chocolate milkshake. Then it was back to the room for a Law & Order marathon until I passed out around 10:00.

My only real post-ride physical problem was sore feet. I think my cycling shoes are about worn out. But I always have foot cramps after really long rides. While watching TV, though, I drank two liters of electrolyte drink plus more plain water. I think that did me a world of good. My feet stopped cramping and I slept well and didn't wake up thirsty in the night. And this morning I felt quite good. I remember last year I felt uncomfortable in the car on the 3-hour drive back to Seattle, but today I felt pretty much normal. The foot pain was all gone by midday and this evening I can't even tell I did STP yesterday. Oh, except for the saddle sores. I've give those a break from bike commuting and take the bus to work for the next few days.

At about mile 155 or so I was talking to a fellow rider and he commented that I looked relaxed. It made me realize that I was much more relaxed this year. I remember the first time I did this ride I was tense the entire ride wondering if I could keep up. But now I know I can keep up, and I know how to manage my energy intake and output for 200 miles. That was a nice development.

Next up: RAMROD in three weeks. Only 154 miles, but 10,000 feet of climbing.

Eastgate Cycling Club

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Photos courtesy of Laura Spencer

Back in October I wrote about a gift we gave to Scott "Scottie" Sensenbrenner, the leader of the club I ride with on Saturdays. I mentioned that although Scottie has been leading this informal group for 20 years the group had never chosen a name or been able to decide on team jerseys.

Scottie took the bull by the horns this Spring and picked a name and came up with a jersey and shorts design. The Eastgate Cycling Club sprang into existence! About 32 people ordered clothing out of the 65 or so who are on the club mailing list.

It's great to be able to identify club members while out on the road. Although I got used to identifying individuals by their regular clothing - now I have to actually remember faces or bikes (I'm horrible at recognizing people).

Someday we'll have a club web site, too. Then we'll really be official.

Looks like we have a pretty good (and fast!) contingent for Seattle-to-Portland on July 12. I'm going to be hanging on for dear life for 200 miles.

Honorarium for Scottie

Scottie Honorarium 10/27/07

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I started road cycling as a serious hobby in 1998. I'd been a pretty serious mountain biker throughout the 90s, but I kept getting injured. In the summer of 1998 I moved to an apartment in downtown Seattle. That made mountain biking less accessible as well as hazardous. So I bought a road bike. I think I rode my mountain bike about twice after that. I immediately liked the speed and smoothness and the more sustained workout one gets from road biking.

I rode mostly solo for several years. In 2001 or so I decided to try some group rides and went on a few with the Cascade Bicycle Club. I love the club and am a member, but I found their organized rides annoying - the rides I went on stopped way too often to regroup - negating the aforementioned sustained workout benefit. But on one aborted ride I met Greg Scott and we made up our own ride. We became instant riding buddies and rode together almost every weekend and some weeknights for a couple of years.

After a while, Greg asked if I wanted to try a Saturday ride he knew about that left from the Eastgate area of Bellevue. We joined in that day and I've been riding with the Saturday group semi-regularly ever since.

The Saturday ride is organized by a fine gentleman named Scott Sensenbrenner. Scott sends out an email in the middle of every week reminding people of the ride and suggesting the start time (earlier in summer, later in winter). The ride goes almost every Saturday year round. The only reason it's usually canceled in advance is a forecast for snow or ice. Scott's been doing this for something like 20 years.

Scott's the friendliest guy you could hope to meet. We often pick up strangers on the ride. Scott gets their email and they become a permanent part of the list. Everybody feels welcome. The group has a wide range of riders, from those who are new to cycling to current and former racers. Every year we talk about getting club jerseys. But the group is so informal that we can't even agree on a name, much less a jersey design.

I've made many good cycling friends from the Saturday ride. It's with people from this ride that I ride STP and the MS Bike Tour and all the other local annual rides. Many of my best days on the bike have been with this group. In the summer when everybody's in their best shape we have some fantastic paceline riding.

A few weeks ago, fellow member Dutch sent out an email organizing a collection. He wanted to give Scott a token of our appreciation for making this ride happen every week for so long, and being responsible for so much enjoyment by so many people. Dutch got a pretty good response. When he went to buy the gift certificate at VeloceVelo in Issaquah, they knew Scott and kicked in some more. Then Dutch waited for a week when he knew turnout would be high. This week he announced that today was the day.

Indeed about 20-25 people showed up on a cold, foggy morning to witness the gifting and show their appreciation to Scott. The "ceremony" such as it was contained the usual amount of sarcasm and ribbing. But it was clear that we all feel gratitude toward Scott.

Then we headed off for a 40 mile ride to Issaquah, Maple Valley and Renton. Fortunately it warmed up a bit after the first 10 miles or so and our fingers came back to life.

Thanks, Scott! I know you don't think you do much, but your welcoming spirit and friendliness are the glue that holds this whole thing together.