Old black water, keep on rollin'
Jun. 17th, 2013 11:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melaniesuzanneAs promised, I took a bike out for a ride. Only one ride, unfortunately, as the urge to nap after work on Friday overwhelmed me. But, Beatrix the loop frame made a triumphant return to the streets of Sterling sporting her new Basil double pannier. Since she's so heavy (45 pounds of pretty blue steel plus the added weight of accessories), I thought I'd make it a nice and slow ride to Target and back. But after loading her down with my purchases, I decided to explore the new Pacific Blvd cut-through to Sterling Blvd.
One lane on each side is blocked with construction barrels and it was pretty nice having my own personal "bike lane" once I got past AOL. I did note the wide asphalt walking path for future rides when/if that cut-through becomes a heavily traveled route. The rise of the Sterling Blvd bridge wasn't too bad; although Hubbyfink was impressed by my determination when he drove that route later, especially considering how heavy Bea is compared to Lily the hybrid (~25 pounds) and Circe the road bike (~15 pounds). I didn't have any trouble until I crossed Shaw at which point my options were to ride amongst car traffic on the boulevard or take the gravel shoulder. I chosepoorly the shoulder and experienced one of the more terrifying bits of two-tenths of a mile I've ever ridden. Let's just say that Bea's narrow tires aren't terribly happy on big chunks of gravel. I am happy to report that we stayed upright, although it was close a couple of times. At Glenn Drive, I ducked onto the office park's streets and cut through the bank parking lot until I got back on sidewalk and side streets until I got back to my neighborhood.
I'd ride that 6.3 mile/131 ft gain in elevation route again, but on the hybrid and not loaded down with cargo.
Hubbyfink and I spent an hour or so in the community pool yesterday and talked about triathlons. He's participated in one and I'd like to do one if only for bragging rights. Although, I feel that this will be more my speed. ;)
So anyway, he mentioned a mini/sprint triathlon coming up in August and I thought I'd see how many meters I can swim. With myhead condom swim cap and goggles in place, I crawled 50 meters and thought my heart would explode. Hubbyfink cheerfully coached, "Now do that seven more times and you've got it!" I was panting too hard to even glare at him. He did say that my form was very good. I then impressed him with my backstroke (another 50 meters). He admitted that his backstroke was awful, and boy he wasn't kidding. It was mean, but I couldn't stop myself from laughing at his floundering and splashing.
I feel daunted by the 400 meter swim of a sprint triathlon -- even moreso than the mile and a half run (I don't run; I even have a bumper sticker with that sentiment) -- but considering that only a week ago I could crawl only 10 meters, I'm counting 50 as a victory.
One lane on each side is blocked with construction barrels and it was pretty nice having my own personal "bike lane" once I got past AOL. I did note the wide asphalt walking path for future rides when/if that cut-through becomes a heavily traveled route. The rise of the Sterling Blvd bridge wasn't too bad; although Hubbyfink was impressed by my determination when he drove that route later, especially considering how heavy Bea is compared to Lily the hybrid (~25 pounds) and Circe the road bike (~15 pounds). I didn't have any trouble until I crossed Shaw at which point my options were to ride amongst car traffic on the boulevard or take the gravel shoulder. I chose
I'd ride that 6.3 mile/131 ft gain in elevation route again, but on the hybrid and not loaded down with cargo.
Hubbyfink and I spent an hour or so in the community pool yesterday and talked about triathlons. He's participated in one and I'd like to do one if only for bragging rights. Although, I feel that this will be more my speed. ;)
So anyway, he mentioned a mini/sprint triathlon coming up in August and I thought I'd see how many meters I can swim. With my
I feel daunted by the 400 meter swim of a sprint triathlon -- even moreso than the mile and a half run (I don't run; I even have a bumper sticker with that sentiment) -- but considering that only a week ago I could crawl only 10 meters, I'm counting 50 as a victory.
