WIND & TRAINS

Finally a new voice - Monica's story of her jaunt into work.

Actually the train was first. The Burlington Northern line is about three blocks from my house, and I left home just in time to see the engines crawling past as I got to the tracks. Note to self - leave a couple minutes earlier to beat this train on Monday.
Normally the mile-long freight trains go by in a couple of minutes.
Today, it was going so slowly, it took like eight minutes. Really. I looked at a clock. That's a long time when one is just starting on a morning commute, running later than one wanted to be, and not yet warm.
Not a good time to have to stand around. I did take the opportunity to dig the iPod out of my backpack and turn on some tunes, which was nice, but then I waited some more.

The Interurban trail tends to become something of a wind-tunnel, situated as it is between large industrial-ish buildings where there used to be train tracks. And for some reason, the wind is almost always blowing from the North. I'm accustomed to riding into a bit of a headwind in the mornings because of this. But today the wind was trying to blow me back home to my warm bed. I looked down at my computer toward the end of the 4-mile stretch of the trail that I ride, and saw 8.8mph. Oyh, that's slow. I normally average around 12mph. Not a speed-demon, this one, but 8.8mph is really slow. Yuck.

The upside of the headwind? Assuming the wind doesn't change direction, I'll totally fly on the way home tonight. And really, any day I get to ride my bike is still a good day.

-Monica

Bike: Route 66

YEP - ANOTHER DAY ON 2 WHEELS

{click on images to enlarge}New Found Bridge

Speeding Along {you can't have enough rear shots in cycling}

Solid Stays {we were a little too ambistious riding without fenders in Jan.}
Red Sunshine

{Words soon}
Bikes: Brian & Carey - Prestige

Coffee: Same old
Rant: Nothing like the air licking your bare skin - we can't wait for summer.

THE HAZY SHADES OF WINTER

Energy

Blue Field {Tukwilla}

Keep It Coming {Tukwilla}

A Rare Calm River {Green River}

Yes! Warm Enough for Bare Skin

A WARM SOLO MORNING

1997 IFab

Retired Fire Extinguishers {South Park}

Retired Fire Extinguishers 2 {South Park}

Really, I am Loving It {Tukwilla/Green River}

Remnants of Snowman From Previous Post

No Toe Covers! {Warm Morning}

Pedaled solo this morning. Brian failed to tag along, only because he had such a FUN- FILLED weekend riding bikes around Lake Washington & hitting the trails of Black Diamond. He forgot to take pictures, except for a pre-ride profile shot of his super rad 1997 IFab single speed. He promises to take some more next time.

My pictures are all self-portraits; a couple are of a strange yard filled with retired fire extinguishers. This spot is near South Park, a small industrial district that has so much visual stimuli that I would be late to work if I acted on the impulse to stop and take snapshots. Altogether a peppy ride with ipod rocking and legs pumping and a little curb jumping.

Bike: Carey – Rx 1.0
Coffee: Zeitgeist
Rant: Oxygen – I crave excess amounts of it – riding is a perfect way to satiate it.

WINTER WONDER WHEELIES

Sunrise {Finally Some Sun}

Boeing Stretch {Mt. Rainier Sunrise}

Mmm...

Snowy Rockstar & Carey

Snow Rockstar & Brian

{words by carey}

Well, this posting is about 6 days late. I guess that's what happens when you have a blue bird weekend in Seattle; sitting in front the computer doesn’t sounds as inviting as the ski slopes. So, here it is:

On Friday, Brian and I rode in on one of the coldest but sunniest days that Seattle has had in probably 3 years. With 2 to 4 inches of snow on the ground, we bundled our bodies and went for it, jibbing our way through troughs of ice and snow for 20 miles. By the end of the jaunt we had frozen toes and two massive smiles on our faces.

There is a longish strip we ride on occasion that starts around Georgetown and parallels Boeing field. Generally, on a long boring stretch such as this, we chat away. But on this day we were fairly silent, each of us thinking about which part of our body was the coldest, I guess. Brain chuckled and said, “It's amazing how temperature dictates conversation.”

We hope you enjoy the images; we enjoyed our time on the trail. Matt tagged along on the ride home and handled himself superbly, considering the fact that he was atop Diamondback's Podium 5 carbon race bike with zero traction on his tires; he encountered a couple bridges that begged for cyclocross dismounts and some sprinting.

Awesome times in Snowy Seattle.

Bikes: Brian & Carey – Rx 1.0 Matt – Podium 5.
Coffee: Zeitgeist & French Press
Rant: Put knobbies on and go for it!

{More pictures will be added later}

SOON OUR STORIES WILL BE LIVE

Today's ride consisted of 1/2"-2" of snow!
Bikes: Rx 1.0 w/ cross tires & XXIX+G
Coffee: homemade french press & later 2 double tall americano's from Cowgirl's Coffee Drive-Thru.