Cap'n Ron and I set out for a ride this morning. I swear we agreed to meet at 8:43, which means I was right on time. Cap'n must have been early.
From Everett Station east to Snohomish was fast and calm, aside from Cap'n Ron's complaints about his seat being too high. Something about his nuts hurting and his wife coming home from a trip tonight. Whatever. We half-ass searched Snohomish for a bike shop but quickly gave in and rode on to Monroe, where we knew there was a decent one.
Halfway to Monroe, and 15 miles into the trip, Cap'n Ron realized he hadn't started his computer. So instead of a detailed GPS map of our route, we have the map you see above. The red dot is our route. You have to push "start" for those things to work. Oh, and he forgot his sunglasses, which led to my realization that the Cap'n and I have the same retail trick when it comes to toys:
"I 'forgot' my glasses, I should go buy some new ones." This works for anything that fits under the credit limit of whatever card you are carrying. This, you might recall, is how I got my new iPod Nano, and how I intend to procure my new Garmin Forerunner. Here I am in Portland without my Forerunner! Oh NO! Better go to REI.
Short version of this retail trip, Cap'n Ron got some groovy new riding glasses. And a new friend. The girl at the counter acted like Cap'n Ron was the first man to pay any attention to her in her short and no doubt brutally torturous Monroe life.
The ride back from Monroe was fantastic. But who would have thought that a road named "High Bridge Road" would have so many fother mucking hills?
The last two miles sucked. And blew. Right on our faces. With rain. Ouch.
I still need a new saddle. The one I have is just not touching me the right way. Or in right places. Maybe they make a "Pocket Rocket" seat?
In other news, Al Bangorhard kicked some miles in the Queens Half Marathon. I looked it up, it isn't a marathon for Queens afterall. It's IN Queens. I like my version better. Anyway, Al B pulled 7:38 miles. Nice work there, Sparky.
Currently I am trying to decide if I should bring the bike with me to next week's conference in Portland (Ok, ok, Vancouver, shut up). I know I'll have a lot of down time between presentations...maybe I'll just hang out in the hotel room the whole time? Any votes here?
GVB's Moment of Joy and Spite for the day:
JackAss in F150 pulls up in front of Casa GVB and looks at the For Sale sign (which will remain up until the sale closes). JackAss looks at the flyer and reads the price. JackAss yells down the driveway to GVB: "Good luck with that buddy. Snort."
GVB says to himself: Good luck indeed. We got that plus some.
Still, Ms Realtor can take that sign down any time.
4 comments:
take the bike. the possibilities in Vancouver/Portland by bicycle are too numerous and too pretty not to try - especially if your conference is thoughtfully located in or near the Doubletree (formerly Red Lion) Inn at the Quay.
Ok, Ok, the Cap'n has redeemed himself by providing the GPS profile for the ride. At least most of it. There are still 20 miles missing. You'd think Garmin could install an "Auto-Start" feature.
CAG, they have not marooned me at the Stephen King Hotel this year. That joint down on the water is, well, er, scary. We're in some new joint "downtown". I'm optimistic that there will be no actual ghosts in my room.
Bike is going into the shop while I'm gone. I'll take the New Balance express around town instead.
Ok all, try this link and see if it pulls up a map our our ride:
http://www.favoriterun.com/28267
map seems to work. nice ride.
"downtown" Vancouver? hmmmm....
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