More training

Well, here's a breakthrough of sorts.

I rode a ten-mile loop this morning on some quieter roads in the Ferndale area. Starting roughly from the Post Office, I rode southish out of town on Hovander Road, to Slater Road, then to Northwest Drive, which I followed north to Woodlawn Cemetery, a bit past the intersection with West Axton Road. From there I took Paradise Road through a semi-rural-suburban area, and came out on Barrett Road to the freeway overpass back to downtown Ferndale, where I rode Main Street back to the PO. It's a pretty ride, with some small hills along the way, but nothing too challenging.

The big breakthrough is, after I got home I messed around with Google maps a bit, and succeed in creating a map, and posting a link, right HERE:

http://goo.gl/maps/di1Ul

This is part of my plan to ease in to training for the Red-Bell 100 century this spring. This route is also a pretty nice ride for any local beginning riders who want to get in better shape and work up to riding longer distances. I'll try to post similar rides as I continue with my DIY training program.

Pre-Season training

Around noon today the fog began to dissipate and a little sun and blue sky showed through, and I decided I'd better get out for a little ride while it lasted. I rode an easy ten-mile loop along the river to Slater Road, then back through Hovander Park. My front derailleur is jammed, so I've been staying in low gears and spinning faster, which is probably for the best at this point.

I've been very lazy since fall quarter classes ended, but that was my plan: to take it easy and let my body recover for a few weeks. I've been going to a weekly yoga class, and practice a little at home, though not as much as I like to think I do. I'm adapting the Team in Training training guide that we used for the Seattle-to-Portland ride back in 2007 to work out a training schedule for the Red-Bell 100 this summer.

I'm also planning to take my bike in for a once-over by a professional mechanic, and also for a bike-fit consultation, as I've been feeling that my Surly Cross-check is a little bit too big for me. I have about a half-inch of gap in the stand-over height, which I could live with, but I'm beginning to feel a little over-stretched reaching for the brake-levers. Before I bought the Surly I was riding a woman-specific hybrid which was starting to make me feel a little too hunched-up and hamster-like. Thinking that I was just getting stronger after six years of riding it, I decided regular, old-fashioned double-triangle geometry would be better. At first it did feel good to stretch and straighten out my spine, but now three years on I'm feeling some twinges and strain in my upper spine, between the shoulders, and pain in my hands and wrists. But it's close enough that I think some expert adjustments or replacements in the areas of the seat and handlebars will make it fit.

The Cascade Bicycle Club Red-Bell 100 is a century ride from Marymoor Park in Redmond to Boundary Bay Brewery here in Bellingham. It's a fund-raiser for World Bicycle Relief, a charity that provides free bicycles to people in rural Africa. The event also benefits the Major Taylor program which creates bicycle clubs and bicycle education and safety programs for local kids here in Washington state. A link to my fund-raising page is below, with more information about World Bicycle Relief.

Anna Silverfish - Red-Bell 100 - Red-Bell 100

Pink Clouds & Silver Linings

For several days last week Whatcom County had severe wind storms, not too much rain, but gusts of wind up to sixty miles an hour. At night sometimes the wind roared so loudly it drowned out the sound of the freight trains passing through town, and blew steadily for hours in the 35-45mph range.

But Tuesday, on my way to class, I noticed the air felt mild and soft, like spring. Buckets of tulips and daffodils have appeared outside the grocery stores. This afternoon the sun shone for a few hours, though there were dark grey clouds on the horizon. Mount Baker appeared pink and white before sunset.

So I registered for the Red-Bell 100, a century bike ride in late June, that starts at Marymoor Park in Redmond and finishes in Bellingham. It's a fund-raising ride sponsored by Cascade Bicycle Club, to benefit bicycle education programs for local young people, and World Bicycle Relief, an organization that provides bicycles to poor people in rural Africa.

That will be one item off my "places to go/things to do" list.

Oversharing? maybe

The purpose of this blog is to share my personal experiences as a middle-aged female bicycle commuter and recreational cyclist. Sometimes, especially in the winter when I'm not riding very much, I get preoccupied with weather reports or accounts of activities that are only indirectly related to cycling. Sometimes I've written about personal crises like getting evicted; and often about general life circumstances like going to school, job hunting or job changes, where bicycling has been an essential part of getting by and coping with changes.

At times I think maybe I get a little bit too personal or off-topic, but I'm concerned with basic, practical day to day realities. So one of those times might be coming up right now, just so you're warned. Here goes.

Along with the usual explanations beginning bicyclists receive about why you shouldn't wear underwear with cycling shorts, authorities usually suggest using chamois cream like "Butt Butt'r" to prevent chafing. To me this always seemed like a good way to make a big mess of an expensive pair of spandex shorts and I never tried it, but now that I'm over fifty years old I sometimes do feel a need for something to protect and sooth sensitive, delicate skin.

My recommendation: good old-fashioned KY jelly. Just a little bit because it seems to melt down and spread enough to lube a Trident submarine. And that's probably enough said.