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.

WTS1Map

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…