Coping without Dave by biking A LOT!

On Sunday Blake, Dana, Laurel, and I rode around Lake Sammamish. We hoped over to the Burke Gilman, went to Marymoor Park, and then moved over to West Lake Sammamish. There are great bike lanes, and Blana and I had done the stretch down to just before Issaquah. When we reached the end of the portion we did for the Seattle Century, I recognized the roundabout I had turned at when I biked to Dave's office. We went along the stretch I had taken on that trip into Issaquah. I pointed out Dave's office as we cut over the East Lake Sammamish Parkway. At this point we had to take to the sidewalk for a bit. Eventually the bike lane picks up again.

Overall the ride was really nice. Just under 30 miles, so a good ride to fit into an afternoon. There are a good number of small hills that help with training, but aren't killer. Overall the route feels very safe from cars. I learned how to properly use my clips on this ride and I'm loving them. No falls yet (knock on wood). We were very quick, which was good for me. I pushed myself to a little faster than I would good by myself. We did the whole ride in just over an hour and a half with an average speed of 15.3 mph. To add to these accomplishments, I found a way to fit by bike in my car only taking off the front wheel - hooray!

I've also biked to work the last two days and I will be biking again tomorrow. Thursday I probably won't be able to, but I plan to get in some miles on Friday and maybe Saturday morning. I'm really starting to feel like a cyclist. Getting in the saddle is becoming easier and easier. Biking to work seems much easier now than it used to - even after a long day of work. It's been interesting to find how much energy goes into riding on the road starting and stopping, merging, etc. Biking to work seems to take so much longer and so much more energy than a recreational ride. It doesn't help that there are a lot of hills to climb after a long day. Given that, finding the ride easier feels like a real accomplishment!

On another note...I figured out how to take photos with the gnome. I rediscovered some useful settings on my camera. Amelie-style pictures here I come!