Summer of 2021 was not a lot of fun, as you may have guessed, seeing that I haven't posted since June 21st. The Pandemic kept me mostly close to home, along with the threat of forest fires, although the smoke level didn't seem as bad as it has been some summers. We had record-high temperatures (100F+), but only for a few days. There were only a few nights when it was difficult to sleep because of the heat, and one day I spent outdoors in a park, hoping to keep my apartment cool during the day (didn't work). Then there were spells of unusually cool, rainy weather which must be what dampened the smoke and fire threat. Rain is good!
I've made up my mind that next summer will be my year for travelling, when I will finally get going on some of the tours I've wanted to take since I began riding more than fifteen years ago. I plan to start with some Washington State trips on new railtrails being completed west of the Cascades, and along the Columbia River and in the Badlands east of the mountains.
To set me on my way, today I bought a new-to-me touring bike - actually a used consignment bike from Earl's Bike Shop in Bellingham, a 2018 Specialized TriCross. My Cannondale Synapse is still fine for road rides, but the hub on the rear wheel has been knocked loose after I rode it with panniers on the gravel Galloping Goose Trail. The TriCross is meant to carry racks with baggage, and it has mechanical disc brakes, with shifters and brake levers that fit my small hands and arthritic thumbs.
I took it for a ten mile test ride on the gravel pathways in Hovander Park, wearing the silicone footballers sleeves that have given me some reassurance on bad pavement and loose gravel since my crash on the Slater Road roundabout in June of 2020. After the first quarter-mile I was plowing through deep loose gravel with more confidence than I've felt in more than a year.
So long ago! I need to get moving before I get too old and decrepit to be able to ride.
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