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Tag Archives: winter training

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Winter Hills

11 Saturday Feb 2017

Tags

cycling, Miyata, Whidbey Island, winter training


Late January rides are hit or miss in the Northwest, but when a nice day comes along, they may be the best time to be on the roads.  Little traffic greeted me a few weeks ago on a winter ride on Whidbey Island.

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This one was to have some hills, and my bike was a fendered island bike – an old Miyata RidgeRunner Team. Not the lightest bike, but it seems to go as fast as I can go on anything this time of year. I have ridden a few of these hills recently, but wanted to try out Swede Hill on the south end of Whidbey.

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As the elevation graph shows, most of the big climbs were done in the first half of the ride. A couple were quite steep.  Swede Hill hit at about the 12 mile mark.  It went straight up from a picturesque beach area into a forested ridge.  No real views west, but this picturesque farm awaited me at the top.

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The next scenic stop was just past Clinton at the 20 mile mark.  This area of the island is mostly high bluff.  You can see Camano Island peaking out on the left.

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The mountains were out, and I had great views of the Olympics and the Cascades, but I find most roads on the southeast side of the island are buried in dense forest with sporadic scenic stops.

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This stop overlooked Baby Island – a small refuge where Holmes Harbor meets Saratoga Passage.  It is on a small dirt road with a mean, steep hill up to the main road near the end.  Very secluded, it offers a great rest stop and views north and east into the Passage.

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The next time out, I’m going to reverse the course and see how it works out.  It felt like a lot of work too soon going counter-clockwise.

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I shaved about 10 miles off what I had planned when the route got a little too close to the cabin. I was done. The hills had taken their toll…

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Cycling, Northwest

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Wet one

12 Tuesday Jan 2016

Tags

rain, riding in rain, Winter commute, winter training


Nothing like a commute where it pours the whole way.  I squeezed a cup of water out of my gloves tonight.  Cold, too.  I had a nice case of numb arms when I got home.  Kind of great!

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Something is grinding on my pedal stroke on the Toussaint.  I figure it is either pedals, chain (needs lube), or bottom bracket (hope not).

Oh well – have to use the other bike while I figure it out.  Off to DC for the rest of the week.

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under Cycling, Northwest

≈ 1 Comment

WTS 1 Redmond – Carnation

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

a. homer hilsen, acorn bags, brooks, brooks Finesse, randoneurring, SIR, winter training, WTS


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WTS 1 Redmond – Carnation, a set on Flickr.

Seattle Randonneurs (SIR) puts on a Winter Training Series in January that gets us ready for the spring series of riding. It’s interesting in that it is usually pretty dismal weather, but I have to remember that 30’s and 40’s aren’t bad when compared to my old stomping grounds (Minnesota).

To that end I rode in the first ride of the series this year, and will try to get in as many as I can. This ride started in Redmond and went out to Carnation and back in a nice hilly loop that had about 2300 feet in elevation gain. The second hill was a killer, but there were some really great descents. Nearly no traffic on this route, and fairly good roads. I rained on us most of the route, but I didn’t hit any slippery spots.

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As the bike goes, I was riding the Hilsen in rando garb. The Acorn Tall Boxy Rando bag was awesome and useful. I had extra clothes in it and a clif bar, but not much else. I also brought 2 bottles of h2o and only used one in the 38 miles we rode. I had the Brooks Finesse Ti saddle I recently purchased from Kent Peterson on the bike. While it was comfortable, I think I am going to go back to a full size saddle as it felt odd to me – not as much room to move around? Perhaps it was just less gripping area from what I am used to. I still want to give the Rivet a chance on a longer ride – perhaps I’ll put that one back on…

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