The Perils of Cycling

Butterball, and myself were having a great ride to Cougar Lake. Coming down toward Campbell Lake is just a great descent through a pretty meadow. I guess the exhilaration got to me, over the handlebars I went when the front wheel stopped in some sand. I didn't want to know how bad it was when I picked myself off the trail. Luckily, it wasn't all that bad, fractured collar bone is all. When you think of all the other things that happen with sudden deceleration and blunt objects. Anyway, be careful out there. 

LiveStrong Challenge 09

My son Jake rode with with me in the LiveStrong Challenge last Sunday. We opted to ride 45 miles because for Jake that distance was an unknown. No worries, I chased him all morning and we rolled into the LiveStrong village at the Seattle Center finish line at 11:30. It was a perfect day for a bike ride and the course was pure Seattle. Great views of Lake Washington and the surrounding mountains. 

We are thankful we could participate in this event and for the people who donated to this important cause. 

Wishing everyone a great summer of riding.

Methow Valley Tour

Today Leslye, Jake and I rode the Chewuch loop opposite of the bike races and had a fun time watching the various pelotons go past us. There were over 200 racers here for the fourth annual Methow Valley Tour. The weather was perfect and we hope everyone had a good time.

For more information go to http://www.mvsta.com/summer/mvtour.html. It was fun to see the racers go through town and stop traffic at the main intersection.

Andrew's Creek ride

What a beautiful day! bb and me rode to Andrew's Creek which is up the Chewuch to the end of the pavement. That's 26 miles from my doorstep. Slight uphill climbing all the way up and nice descent down except today a headwind made it a little more challenging. There were quite a few people riding today and very little car/truck traffic. That makes for lot's of conversation and an enjoyable day. And like all good rides it ended at the bakery. Our regular hangout after rides. Remember the Methow Valley Tour coming up June 13 & 14th. 

Ride to Sun Mtn #2

The ride to Sun Mtn can be done on the road or on the trail, aka single track. That is what we did this afternoon. I gotta say, it is a little more demanding. We had a great ride and the trip down is always fun. 

Ride to Sun Mtn.

The Sun Mountain road is always a challenge climbing over 1000 feet in nine miles from Winthrop to arrive at the lodge at 2824 feet. Its a great cycling workout if you just don't have two or three hours to spend. Today my climbing partner bbBob and I rode up to the lodge to enjoy the wonderful views of the valley. After a quick moment at the bench in front of the lodge we headed back down. Since my ski accident where I broke five ribs I am more cautious descending and I don't think I hit over 32 mph. Sliding down the chipseal rode on my a$$ doesn't seem like much fun so caution will prevail. To sum it up, great ride on a great day. Cycling season is upon us.

North Cascade Highway

A group of my friend's ride from Colonial Creek camp ground to Washington Pass every year with me acting as support, usually in August. Just saw on Facebook through Brian Drye's site where Shawn Pederson rode across the north Cascade Highway and back on a new bike without ever have driven it in a car. Talk about one ironman. He posted some great pictures. And this one I really like. I envy this guy's stamina and sense of adventure. I would ask why he didn't get someone else to go along but I think the answer is obvious. Great effort Shawn. Hope you post more of your rides.