Cyclopath

Progress

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:16:00 GMT

We replicated a ride we did last year (part of the Ramrod Training Series) today. I remember last year the ride being a kick in the butt, and I cramped up hard. This time was different - I'm much further along in my fitness this year and was able to finish the ride strong. I did get dropped like a rock on the Issaquah-Fall City climb (as expected), but the rest of the ride went relatively well.

It's always exciting to see progress.

We finished up with a tasty lunch at Smiths on Capitol Hill. I had them drop a scoop of Molly Moon ice cream into a glass of stout, and it was yummy!

Salt Creek Part Deux

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:45:00 GMT

Sunset on the Strait of Juan de Fuca

We took our Westy back to Salt Creek Recreation Area for a 4-day camp trip this past week. Like our last trip there, the weather forecast glumly called for rain the entire time. As it turns out, just like last time, Mr. Weatherman was totally wrong and it didn't rain until our return trip home.

Unlike last time, the gray weather report didn't scare us out of bringing our mountain bikes. The last mountain biking we did was at Whistler back in September 2010! Since then, we've replaced both of our bikes and we both have newer and lighter Santa Cruz full-suspension bikes to ride. We took an afternoon and rode up to the top of Striped peak. I always forget how much fun mountain biking is - I'm definitely going to make time to do more of it this summer.

We rode to the lookout on top of Striped Peak (in the background)

Stacey's Santa Cruz blur

My Santa Cruz Superlight

We're really starting to get a hang of camping in the Westy. As is true of most of our trips, food was one of the high-lights, and we had plenty of great meals. We bought a new dutch oven at REI and enjoyed using it to make an Apple Crisp and Frito-Chilli pie.

Steak and eggs with croissant for breakfast

Pasta with chicken and garlic bread cooked over a campfire... mmmmm good!

We chose to go at this time of year for two reasons: the normally packed campground is almost empty in the off-season, and it was a very low tide which let us go tide-pooling:

There is wildlife aplenty around the area. Ten deer make a daily appearance at the campground, and we saw a young eagle being pestered by a couple of crows:

We really enjoy Salt Creek and I'm sure we'll make it a yearly ritual to go back.

Photoalbum Here

Beautiful Saturday for a bike ride

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 19:38:00 GMT

Low tide at Alki

Spring weather... finally! Saturday saw a 45 mile ride with moderate hills and a do-able pace. I'm feeling stronger every ride now. It feels good!

We're so fortunate to live in such a beautiful area

Southern route through some of Pete's old stomping grounds

Week in review: COGS like hills

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:42:00 GMT

Last Wednesday our group shook things up and we all joined the COGS group for a northend ride. Can you guess what the acronym COGS stands for? "Creepy Old Guys in Spandex"? "Crying Over Grape Soda"? As it turns out, COGS has the more boring meaning of "Cyclists of Greater Seattle". The sky was bright and beautiful when I left the house, but just after the 6:30PM departure from our ride-start location of Gasworks park, the heavens opened up and thoroughly soaked us. That didn't stop us from tackling some heinous hills, even in the shortened route we took. We followed that up with pizza at Papa Jeff's house, and we got to see the new baby for the first time.

Papa Jeff looking domestic-y

Any ride that ends with pizza and beer is a good ride!

On Monday, due to a last-minute suggestion from Svend, a few of us took advantage of fantastic weather and met up for a Mercer Island power-loop ride. My back is still sore, but the ride felt pretty good, and it was nice to get an extra 35 miles in for the week.

Alki beach was crowded due to the beautiful weather

My beautiful wife topped off the evening with a wonderful dinner waiting for me: Steak and rice, with a side of spinach and leeks sauteed in garlic butter. A Malbec nicely complimented the meal.

mmmmm! Good!

Since we're on the subject of food, check out some of our other meals this past week. Steak salad topped with onion straws and home-made Greek pizza (with a nice Sangiovese), and a couple more home-made pizzas that were dee-lish.

Baking a pizza makes your house smell like an Italian restaurant.... Yummy!

Yesterday, we chose to join COGS again, and a relatively large group headed north from Gasworks to Richmond Beach. Despite onimous-looking clouds and a wet forecast, we stayed dry all night. The ride was just a bit over 30 miles, but it felt longer, and the undulating course had my legs screaming for mercy at the end of the night. Fortunately, burgers and a Hales Porter at the end of the night put things to right. From the restaurant, we crammed 5 people and their bikes into the van for rides home.

That's a big group for a night ride when there's rain in the forecast.

Burgers and Beers at the Red Door

It looks like the riding/training is getting into full swing. If it were not for the two planned vacations I have before the 2012 Cheasty Boys Tour, I'd feel a little but better about my training outlook.

Here's a random shot: Proof that we really are a Volkswagen family...

Two Passats, a Westy and a GTI parked out in front of the casa.

Wednesday Night Flats, Saturday Hills

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Saturday, 3-24-2012 from Alki Beach at sunset

On Saturday, Tom, Tim, Ray, Jody, Jeff and me met up for a later than usual afternoon start for our weekly long ride. As it turns out, this particular long ride was longer that usual; the longest ride for me in some time in fact, and I didn't handle it well. I am painfully aware of the need to put more miles into my legs, but my leg's capacities for miles is very limited. Saturday's 65 miles were too much. About half-way through, my back started cramping up and I had to send the rest of the group ahead without me.

Despite the beautfully sunny conditions, it was still quite cold, and I was under-dressed in just shorts and a summer jersey. Fortunately, I made it home just before dark, and I got to see the sun set over Alki.

65 miles is too many!

On Wedneday night, our normal group split into two, with the North-Enders joinng a C.O.G.S sponsored group out of Gasworks, and the Westies group of Tom, Jody, Pete, Svend and me doing "the old usual" south route. The intensity was high, and Svend had one of his bonk nights, where he pedals strong until the lights just go out. I flatted in SODO and stopped on the lower Spokane bridge to change tubes. Once fixed, we headed out only to find that Jody's tire had also lost all it's air. Once that was fixed, we climbed Admiral and stopped at Circa for burgers and brew. Stacey and I had gone to Circa earlier in the week and found that their steak salad was superb. I'm sure we'll be going back there real soon.

The Circa burger - a perfect ending to the night!

"The Old Usual" south bound route

Surly Blog

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:42:00 GMT

This was too cool not to post. From the Surly blog (an entertaining blog is there ever was one):

Some answers to just about any bike forum post I’ve ever read
Thursday, June 16, 2011

posted by Skip Bernet

If you think your bike looks good, it does.

If you like the way your bike rides, it’s an awesome bike.

You don’t need to spend a million dollars to have a great bike, but if you do spend a million dollars and know what you want you’ll probably also have a great bike.

Yes, you can tour on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can race on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can commute on your bike – whatever it is.

26” wheels or 29” or 650b or 700c or 24” or 20” or whatever – yes, that wheel size is rad and you’ll probably get where you’re going.

Disc brakes, cantis, v-brakes, and road calipers all do a great job of stopping a bike when they’re working and adjusted.

No paint job makes everyone happy.

Yes, you can put a rack on that. Get some p-clamps if there are no mounts.

Steel is a great material for making bike frames - so is aluminum, carbon fiber, and titanium.

You can have your saddle at whatever angle makes you happy.

Your handlebars can be lower than your saddle, even with your saddle, or higher than your saddle. Whichever way you like it is right.

Being shuttled up a downhill run does not make you a weak person, nor does choosing not to fly off of a 10 foot drop.

Bike frames made overseas can be super cool. Bike frames made in the USA can be super cool.

Hey, tattooed and pierced long shorts wearin flat brim hat red bull drinkin white Oakley sportin rad person on your full suspension big hit bike – nice work out there.

Hey, little round glasses pocket protector collared shirt skid lid rear view mirror sandal wearing schwalbe marathon running pletscher two-leg kickstand tourist – good job.

Hey, shaved leg skinny as hell super duper tan line hear rate monitor checking power tap train in the basement all winter super loud lycra kit million dollar wheels racer – keep it up.

The more you ride your bike, the less your ass will hurt.

The following short answers are good answers, but not the only ones for the question asked – 29”, Brooks, lugged, disc brake, steel, Campagnolo, helmet, custom, Rohloff, NJS, carbon, 31.8, clipless, porteur.

No bike does everything perfectly. In fact, no bike does anything until someone gets on it to ride.

Sometimes, recumbent bikes are ok.

Your bikeshop is not trying to screw you. They’re trying to stay open.

Buying things off of the internet is great, except when it sucks.

Some people know more about bikes than you do. Other people know less.

Maybe the person you waved at while you were out riding didn’t see you wave at them.

It sucks to be harassed by assholes in cars while you’re on a bike. It also sucks to drive behind assholes on bikes.

Did you build that yourself? Awesome. Did you buy that? Cool.

Wheelies are the best trick ever invented. That’s just a fact.

Which is better, riding long miles, or hanging out under a bridge doing tricks? Yes.

Yes, you can break your collar bone riding a bike like that.

Stopping at stop signs is probably a good idea.

Driving with your bikes on top of your car to get to a dirt trail isn’t ideal, but for most people it’s necessary.

If your bike has couplers, or if you have a spendy bike case, or if you pay a shop to pack your bike, or if you have a folding bike, shipping a bike is still a pain in the ass for everyone involved.

That dent in your frame is probably ok, but maybe it’s not. You should get it looked at.

Touch up paint always looks like shit. Often it looks worse than the scratch.

A pristine bike free of dirt, scratches, and wear marks makes me sort of sad.

A bike that’s been chained to the same tree for three years caked with rust and missing parts makes me sad too.

Bikes purchased at Wal-mart, Target, Costco, or K-mart are generally not the best bang for your buck.

Toe overlap is not the end of the world, unless you crash and die – then it is.

Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.

Yes, you can buy a bike without riding it first. It would be nice to ride it first, but it’s not a deal breaker not to.

Ownership of a truing stand does not a wheel builder make.

32 spokes, 48 spokes, 24 spokes, three spokes? Sure.

Single speed bikes are rad. Bikes with derailleurs and cassettes are sexy. Belt drive internal gear bikes work great too.

Columbus, TruTemper, Reynolds, Ishiwata, or no brand? I’d ride it.

Tubeless tires are pretty cool. So are tubes.

The moral of RAGBRAI is that families and drunken boobs can have fun on the same route, just maybe at different times of day.

Riding by yourself kicks ass. You might also try riding with a group.

Really fast people are frustrating, but they make you faster. When you get faster, you might frustrate someone else.

Stopping can be as much fun as riding.

Lots of people worked their asses off to build whatever you’re riding on. You should thank them.

Fixie, Snow, and the Bike Expo

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:53:00 GMT

Fixed

A catch-up post, three things:

1) I am a sucker for a good deal, so when I found a cheap but interesting steel lugged frame for sale on Craigslist, I jumped on it. It was partway through the process of being converted into a fixie/single-speed by its previous owner, and I've decided to complete the job. It's almost all put together, but I still want a front brake so I'll need to get one at Recycled Cycles

You must have Adobe Flash installed to watch!

2) Whoa... Snow! With the good weather we had a few weeks ago, I though Spring had sprung. How wrong I was!

Ferrari co-branded Colnago

3) The Bike Expo. This year, I went alone and got a couple of things (tires, a jersey). I took the above picture for Dan (a Ferrari aficiando). Strangely, the guy in the bike corral recognized me and remembered how many bikes I've owned from a conversation he overheard last year between me and Pete... What a memory!

Total bikes owned: 54

Random Thought For The Day

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:23:00 GMT

Ugly Weather

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:52:00 GMT

Team 7-Eleven

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 10:53:00 GMT

Last night, Pete and I got to go to a book-signing event.

The event was pretty lightly attended, which was good, as the Elliot Bay Bike shop is pretty small. Also, the books that were supposed to be there didn't make it in time!

The speaker, Geoff Drake, is the past editor of Velo News and Bicycling magazine. He got to know the racers on team 7-Eleven, and has written a book that I'm really anxious to read. Last night, he told a few good stories, then hobnobbed with the crowd for a couple of hours.

Pete had brought a fabulous prop for the evening, as he has in his posession Davis Phinney's (on of the stars of team 7-Eleven) official team race bike!

Pete dusted it off, put on the original wheels and tires (which had been sitting for 20 years) and we took it to the event. That bike is part of a really important piece of cycling history in the U.S., as the 7-Eleven team was the first major American presence in European bike racing. The 7-Eleven team would go on to become the Motorola / U.S. Postal / Discovery team, which is where Lance would go on to win 7 Tours de France.

Here's a description of the team from the book:

In 1980, there were exactly four professional bike racers in America. Six years later, an American cycling team would wear the coveted yellow jersey of the Tour de France. And that same team would go on to win Italy's greatest race—the Giro d'Italia—only two years later. Team 7-Eleven is the extraordinary story of how two Olympic speed skaters, Jim Ochowicz and Eric Heiden, pulled together a small group of amateur cyclists and turned them into one of the greatest cycling teams the sport has known. From humble beginnings in a barn in Pennsylvania to soaring victories in the French Alps, Team 7-Eleven is the complete history that has never been fully told—until now.

Davis Phinney

The only difference in Pete's bike from the picture above is that the paint has been stripped off the fork so that it's all chrome. It even has the little tab welded on where they would attach their race number. Davis' son, Taylor, is now one of the new starts of American racing. Unfortunately, Taylor had to pull out og the Paris Nice stage race a couple of days ago with some kind of sickness.

Ramping Up

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:15:00 GMT

post ride pizza and beer - yummmm

I'm finally getting a little more riding in, as I'm terrified of all the riding/climbing coming up in this year's Oregon tour. I have 4 months to whip my legs/heart/lungs into shape, so I've got to buckle down and get moving. Last night's ride proved this, as I cracked as we were getting back to West Seattle. Tom towed me in on the final flat run on Marginal before the final climb up California, where I limped up the hill with major cramping in both legs.

The ride was quite spirited last night, and quite cold. It was probably the cold that motivated everybody to keep moving so fast, just to keep their body heat up.

Strava stats

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:32:00 GMT

1st place!!! Woohoo!

I recently signed up for a service called Strava, which is much like the MapMyRide or Garmin Connect sites. It allows me to upload the recorded results from my Garmin bike computer to the website and analyze the results.

One of the cool features of the Strava service is that it tracks "segments" of routes (I don't have any idea how it chooses "segments"), and then tracks everybody who rides that segment for later comparison.

As of today, Strava lists 290 recorded times for a stretch of road that we regularly ride on our way back to West Seattle, ridden by 68 total people (they call it the "Duwamish River Trail Northbound" segment). Of those 290 recorded rides, I have the first place speed ranking for that stretch of road! Now, I'm pretty sure that none of the other 67 people who were riding that segment knew that they were racing me for digital bragging rights. In fact, most of those rides were probably commuters on their way home after a long day at work. But that doesn't really matter to me. Since there are so few things in my life worth bragging about, I'm taking this opportunity to toot my own horn.

I also like that Strava has a "widget" you can place on your own site recording your recent rides and certain totals. You can find the widget at the bottom of this site.

Dues Day

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:39:00 GMT

It seems the weather reports have been even more inaccurate than usual lately. A dire weather report for Wednesday night was followed up by a wet forecast for Saturday. As it turns out, rain stayed away both days. The forecasted rain for Saturday compelled our crew to hold off until Sunday, and then half of us rode in the morning, and the other half later in the afternoon.

The morning riders included Jody, Joel, and myself. Jody has been keeping in shape by regularly commuting (and climbing California every day will keep you in pretty good riding shape!). So he was eager to show off his legs on Sunday. (Funny how "showing off your legs" means something so different to a cyclist). Jody decided we all needed to pull on our big-boy pants and do some climbing, so we hit Marine View Drive from Fauntleroy, and 3 Tree Point in Burien. Both of those hillls are what I'd call "Summer Climbs", when you tend to be in a little better shape. It was hard! But paying your dues and riding hard in the early season means you'll have some fitness when the good weather rolls around, so it's all worth it.

I'm happy to report that the Capo jacket I bought at the Swap Meet is working out great. I've had a few rides to try it out, and it keeps me warm and dry, even in the cold and windy conditons we've been having.

Stacey was nice enough to reward a hard day's riding with a wonderful dinner of shrimp scampi, spinach sautéed in garlic butter and lemmon pepper, mashed potates, and freshly baked rolls with garlic butter. A nice Walla Walla Pinot Gris and a Belgian Tripel made for a great accompaniment.

As for our Wednesday night ride earlier in the week, the bad weather forecast almost scared everybody away. According to the weather man, there was cold and possible snow in store for us. Incidentally, a little over a year ago we had the same weather report for our Wednesday night ride, and only four of us showed up to brave the elements. Well, the same four showed up last Wednesday and were treated to a cold but completely dry night.

We followed up the ride with a Tom's Special at Pegasus Pizza. Along with a pitcher of Blue Moon Belgian beer, it was the perfect end to a nice night of riding. Sarah came to pick up Svend, and I heard for the first time that Jeffrey had become a father earlier in the week!

(The same group of 4 showed up a little over a year ago)

Brandon at the Nectar

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:44:00 GMT

Non-cycling related post:

Stacey and I went to see our friend Brandon (of Passenger Side) play the Nectar Lounge last night. This is a relatively major venue that gets lots of big-name acts, so it was pretty cool to see Brandon doing his solo acoustic set. Here's a low quality cell-phone video capture of one of his songs:

You must have Adobe Flash installed to watch!

Bike Swap

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:03:00 GMT

I've been ridiculously inactive this winter, and it's really getting me down. I went for a short ride today, and judging how long it took me to climb the California Ave hill from Salty's, I'd say I'm a few good weeks of training away from being in any kind of riding shape.

In other news, I went to the Seattle Bike Swap a couple of weeks ago, and I was able to sell of a whole bunch of miscellaneous flotsam and jetsam that had accumulated in my bike box over the last few years.

2012 Seattle Bike Swap

I also was able to find exactly the item(s) I had targeted for the swap: a jacket, and a replacement wheel for my broken Easton Tempest. The jacket is a very nice Capo Limited Edition thermal jacket (new with tags) that I got to replace my ripped-up Gore jacket that's served me so well over the past 5+ years, and I got it for 1/6th the msrp!

I actually eneded up buying two jackets; the second one from the Major Taylor Project charity table. It's a jacket that belonged to Dale Knapp from the Kona World cycling team. Dale and his wife Ann are local cyclocross celebrities, and they'd donated some items to the charity to sell. Both Ann and Dale won a huge number of races, and Ann was good enough to go to the World's in Belgium and place 4th.

Dale Knapp winning the state CX Championship at Fort Flagler

Capo jacket on the left, and Dale Knapp's Kona World Racing team jacket on the right

Incidentally, it's appropriate that I should have a Kona jacket, since it was a Kona that got really got me into cycling many years ago: I saw a Kona Stinky at a bike shop up in Canada and fell in love with it, so I immediately went out and bought myself a similar full-suspension mountain bike to replace the cheap mountain bike I'd had for years. Since then, I've owned about 50 bikes, including a Kona Stinky, and my current Kona Kapu.

As my final Swap Meet purchase, I was able to replace my broken rear Velomax/Easton Tempest with a Velomax Ascent. I got it from the guy who had a table next to me - at the end of the day, he was trying to just dump stuff so he wouldn't have to take so much back home. It even has a tire and tube still installed! The Ascent is the lighter weight version of the Tempest (now they call it the Easton EA90SLX), and it's still in very good shape.

Velomax/Easton wheels have been good to me: I've had three pairs of Circuits, the Tempest set, and now the Ascent. The only problem is that they use proprietary spokes, so it's a bit of a hassle to get the wheels fixed if I pop a spoke. But the Circuit wheelset lasted through a few CX races with tires at really low pressure, and they didn't even really need truing afterwards.

So I'm going to make an effort to start riding a little more and getting back into riding shape. Until then, I just don't have the legs to hang with the gangster crew. I can't believe the Whallop Tour is just 4 months away!!!!!

P.S. After taking pictures of the beautiful weather from my last picture post (see below), I assumed Spring had sprung. Apprently, nobody told the weather gods, and here's the current 5-day forecast:

brrrrrrrrr. Snow?!?!?!?

Beautiful Day

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:26:00 GMT

Today was an almost perfect cycling day. It was cold and crisp, with the first truly sunny day of 2012.

Our route was a modified reverse version of last wek's.. About 45 miles that were blissfully free of any demanding climbs. In my current shape, climbs are my enemy.

I installed the Aksium Race wheelset that I bought at last year's Swap Meet (which is next week!) along with a new tire, and tried a new Selle Italia saddle. The saddle was great, and it looks good in white.

Now is the time to buckle down and put some real training miles in. There's less than 5 months until this year's Wallop Tour, and I've got to get into shape!

Can you believe that a little over two weeks ago we were buried in snow and ice!

Snowmageddon 2012

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:50:00 GMT

Wednesday Night Lights and steak sliders

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:31:00 GMT

MMMMMmmmm! Steak and gorgonzola sliders with sauteed onions and mushrooms!

Another beautiful Wednesday night in the books, and another good ride. Jeffrey came up with the random route of the night, which took us south with a detour and a train stop thrown in. But it ended up being a nice change of pace, and the 34 miles was a good length.

On the way to our house for steak sliders and orecchiette pasta, the guys stopped to marvel at the Menashe house down on Beach Drive. Their electric bill must be almost as high as ours!

Tom couldn't make the ride as a result of knee pain. Pete and Ray are also experiencing knee troubles, and I'm having some pain as well. That's at least 4 out of our little group that are somewhat hobbled.

We must be getting old.

Pete's body is in for a quite a shock when he gets back from his trip. From 70° to 80°F temps in the Baja down to near freezing back here at home!

Brrrr! Icy Cold Coffee Run

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:10:00 GMT

The coffee wasn't cold, but the weather sure was! This past Saturday's coffee run to Macrina bakery and cafe in turned out to be the coldest ride of the year. Six of us showed up and headed North, then South to Seward Park before heading back to SODO for our java treat.

Seconds after the above picture was taken, a Campagnolo vs Shimano fight broke out.

On the way home, along Harbor Ave by Salty's, I saw this:

How fast do you have to be going to do an endo in your SUV?

The ride ended up being a very mellow 40 miler. I suppose the cold weather kept the speed down. Whatever the reason, my legs were grateful.

The next day Stacey and I went to a local Westy Meetup at Marymoor:

The average Vanagon / Westy meet around here usually sees about half a dozen vans show up. On Sunday, well over 50 VW owners braved the cold weather to mingle with like-minded dub-o-philes.

Here's all the stuff we've been doing to the Westy in short time we've had it:

Jensen VM9414 7” touchscreen AM/FM stereo, CD/DVD w/MP3, GPS, iPod control, Bluetooth
Jensen Power 7604, 4x75 watt-channel audio amplifier
Polk Audio MM1040 10” Subwoofer in Bassworx box
Infinity Reference 6032 6.5" coaxial front door speakers
Infinity Kappa 4” coaxial speakers in rear
Alarm
80W Mono-crystalline solar panel
30 feet large gauge MC4 solar cable
10amp HQRP solar charge controller with low-voltage-disconnect (used to power relays for fridge, inverter, 12V outlets, etc.)
Vitrifrigo AC/DC fridge
1000 watt DC->AC watt inverter
Fog lights
Dual house-bank FullRiver DC60-12 60ah batteries (120ah total!)
ProMariner Pro Sport 12, 12amp dual battery bank charger
ProMariner remote bank status monitor (need to install!)
Stinger 80amp dual battery isolator
Rewired interior and dual batteries with large gauge wiring, multiple relays
Fiamma F45s Awning, 10 foot with GoWesty mounting brackets
Heavy duty 2” receiver hitch
Locking 2” to 1.25” hitch adapter
Sportworks 2-bike hitch mount carrier (used)
Triple 12V outlet with USB charger (rear), Single 12V outlet (front)
Replaced fluorescent bulb with dual LED strip lighting in rear
New AC outlets in cabinet
New in-tank pump for sink
Pressure regulated water hose for city-water hookup
Propane filler extension
30amp -> 15amp campsite hookup adapter
Mr. Heater Buddy propane heater
AllergyLuxe fiber bed
IKEA rug (for under awning), smaller rug for front, IKEA baskets and storage containers
Pelonis ceramic AC heater (for use with campsite hookups)
REI Camp Stove cooking set, REI campfire grill
Coleman enamelware plate / dish / silverware set
French press, Bialetti Moka pot, tea pot
New windshield wiper blades
“Serenity” and “Firefly” vinyl decals, “Peace” emblem (replaces front VW emblem)

Picture Catch-up Post

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:48:00 GMT

I have been negligent in keeping up the blog, so here's a catch-up post:

Jeff leading the pack into the first turn at Magnuson on October 29. The rest of our group rode down to watch him race. It would have been a great course for Pete and me - not too technical or hilly. I prefer my races flat and fast!

On 11-5-2011, we rode the North Lake Washington Loop and stopped for coffe in Kirkland. It was cold but beautiful.

On 11-9, we did our familiar Golden Gardens run, with a post ride Porterhouse stop:

And for a non-cycling related Westy Update, I was able to get the new fridge in the van:

Since then, we've also gotten the Fiamma awning installed. We love our Westy!