Sunday ride report - Summer Parkways and Artfest

Ok this is a little late, I'm a slow writer. It's also a little rambling.  And no pictures - I couldn't be bothered with that. Well, I left my phone home. Left my Garmin home. Rode my Marin hybrid without a bike computer on it, so I was riding without the assistance of any electronic gadgetry.  Felt funny at first, but refreshing.

Here goes, hold on fast and be sure to tighten your valve stem caps:

My wife Debbie and I rode from our abode in the Shadle area to the Summer Parkways event in the Logan area at Mission Park and Chief Garry Park. It's funny - Mission Park seems far away from our home, but it was an easy 6 mile ride there. We just get too used to going places by car, when it can be so easy to bike to places.

Once we got to Mission Park I was a little confused where to go. Being hopeless with directions, I'd meant to check the map of the Parkways before we left but forgot. We found a nice volunteer at the SW edge of the park who wasn't too sure either, and handed us a map. Luckily, my born and raised in Spokane wife quickly figured which way to go, and we followed the route to Chief Garry Park. We might make a good Amazing Race team.

Discovered there are some nice wide streets to ride on down in the Logan neighborhood. (I know I should fill in some more details about the Parkways, but you'll have to use your imagination or check out the Summer Parkways Facebook page. I gotta get this post finished.)

After the Parkways, I was getting hungry, so we took the Centennial trail down to Riverwalk. Where do we want to eat? There's the Brewery there and a Thai place. Oh, let's take the new MLK Jr Way to downtown, and maybe eat at Madeleine's. Or maybe Rock City. Or head to Indaba, I have my Indaba card with me.  Or maybe eat in Browne's Addition.  I'm hungry and not good at making decisions!  Then I felt like a sandwich from the Brooklyn Deli. Made our way there and didn't see a good spot to lock the bikes up. Felt uneasy about it.  Ok, let's just go to Browne's addition, either eat at the Elk or Pacific Pizza.

Headed west on Second. Debbie's a real trooper. She's just been getting back into riding after tearing her ACL last winter, but was handling the city riding like a pro. We noticed a lot of traffic heading into Browne's.  Suddenly, Debbie yells out "Artfest"!  Oh of course - we'd talked about heading to Artfest after the Parkways. And forgot about it.  That solved the problem of where to eat. We both got shrimp tacos from the Baja Babes truck.

After Artfest we headed down Riverside and crossed the river on the Sandifur bridge by People's/High Bridge Park.  We were both wondering why we decided to go downhill, as we both knew we were going to have a big ride back uphill to get home. We both made it up the twisting hill climb across the river up to Summit drive without stopping. Proud to report I didn't use the ol' granny gear.

From there it was just a few miles back home. According to Debbie's Garmin, it was about 18 miles. A pretty good day, and it followed some good rides on Memorial Day weekend to the Farmers Markets and out to 9 mile.  Which I was going to post about but didn't get around to it.

Anyways, looking forward to the next Parkways on the South Hill. Will we bike uphill all the way there after work from downtown? Can I not get lost?  We shall see.

Raleigh Record 10-speed

The 3rd Annual Spokane Vintage Bicycle Swap & Show is coming up next week June 9 at the Swamp, which reminded me I should try to get my old 70's 10-speed into semi-rideable condition.

Made in England. I think everything on it is original. I kinda like how the yellow sidewalls match the frame color. I did a quick online search a year or so ago and was a little disappointed to find it was the bottom of the line Raleigh and worth maybe $125 now. But it's been a good bike.

Overheard at the bike to work breakfast on Monday

"did you ride?"
"No, I drove. I don't bike in the rain"

Me, I'm feeling pretty smug and pleased with myself.  I had the day off, and I biked down to the kickoff breakfast for our Bike to Work week anyway.  But when I woke up at 6am that day I could hear the rain coming down pretty hard, and I thought maybe I'll just stay in bed, I'm sure they'll get along fine without me.  Soon the rain lightened up, though, so I hauled myself out of bed and "geared up" as they say. Put on some rain pants over baggy shorts and biked on down. By then the rain had almost stopped and I discovered the rain pants and jacket were overkill. Enjoyed the breakfast, and got to go for a short ride afterwards.

Dogs on the beach

A few pics from our trip to Oregon last week without the bikes, but with the dogs. Dash and Scout - two hard partying dogs.

Slight disconnect at Powell's in Portland

which two items don't go together?

We were in Portland last weekend and I made a quick visit to Powell's Books to pick up some light reading material. It may be a little ironic, but I already had the Bicycle Times issue that was there so I picked up both Just Ride and Bicycling magazine (which have competing views on carbohydrates, among other things). Didn't notice Just Ride was autographed until I left the store - woo hoo. (Actually didn't know who Grant Petersen was until maybe last year). Both seemed good for flipping through randomly, which seems to be the way I read as I get older.

It was a little odd being in Portland without our bicycles, but we didn't want the hassle of dealing with dogs, luggage and bikes on the back of the truck. Almost got a Tern folding bike at REI but it was the Uno and I'm not familiar with the other options available in folding bikes so passed on it. Wasn't sure if we had enough room for it. Also almost picked up a nice orange single speed from the downtown Bike Gallery (seemed like a good shop, by the way), but was sure I couldn't fit it in or on the truck unless I tied it to the top of the truck bed cover. Shoulda left the bike rack on the truck before we left.

TJ Meenach Drive on Bloomsday

If you're from the Spokane area, you're probably well aware the big foot race/fun run/walking party called Bloomsday happened Sunday.  I was able to ride down TJ Meenach Dr. to cheer on my wife and a few others as they ran up Doomsday hill. The above was a nice sight and a nice ride - the road closed off to traffic. Plenty of room to maneuver for a biker like me who can only brake with one hand.

So Many Choices

hey long time no hi-C. Not much going on here, but this is all I got, something I started and abandoned before my little hand problem.

Drop bar, flat bar, swept-back bar, chopper style.

Cycle Chic - "Style over Speed"; Vehicular Cycling - "fast, efficient"; Try to follow most rules of the road but don't stop fully at stop signs when it's clear (just like cars do); Just ride

Bike Specific clothes, racing kit, street clothes, combination Street and Bike.

Clipless pedals, platform pedals, half and halfs

caliper, disc, v-brake, no brakes.

Sit up, hunch over, relaxed, aggressive position.

Mountain, urban, racing, road, touring, hybrid, rando.

26, 29er, 700c, 27x1&1/4, 650b, skinny, wide

10 speed, single, 24, 28, 20

triple crank, double, single

I give up, there's just too many possibilities to list all of them. But they all seem to be good.