Lieb's Log
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Step 1: Be nice to each other. </h3>
I mean what good is saving the world if we're all going to be assholes. Without this the other steps don't mean much, however steps 2 and 3 can help us achieve step 1. Be nice. Treat everyone with respect and dignity. Or, as has been said, love one another.<br />
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Step 2: Plant a garden and grow as much of your own food as possible. </h3>
I had a three day conference to attend in Seattle so I took my bike and rode up on the Amtrak. I really liked bike commuting in Seattle.
It's mid-winter and my thoughts are on the season to come and long rides in warm weather. I thought I'd write down some audacious goals for this year. Why not?
Yesterday's ride put me at exactly a thousand miles on my Soma Grand Randonneur. I've had the bike a little over four months now and have had some great rides over varied terrain and conditions. I certainly went out on a limb with the decision to get this bike, as I had no experience riding one like it. I was basically buying in to Jan Heine's kool aid about low trail, 650b, wide tire bikes.
Green Peter Reservoir - January 19
The valley had been fogged in for weeks. I knew the sun had to be out if I was willing to drive into the mountains. Turned out to be well worth it. A beautiful day on a quiet scenic road.
Summit - March 1
Exploring, and discovering, new roads in the Coast Range. I was scouting a route to the coast, but ended up finding a great gravel road back to Kings Valley.
Its not every tire change that I get this excited about new tires. The first thing to get excited about was how well my old tires held up. I got 6,548 miles on a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x35 touring tires. I did all kinds of riding from touring to commuting to club rides to just riding around town, in all kinds of weather on all kinds of roads. I had exactly zero flats. I had a slow leak once that required me to pump up the tire once a week until I got around to changing the tube, but I never got a flat.
I put on a lot of miles this year. Here are some of the highlights.
Daily Commute
On the bike each day by 7:30, all kinds of weather, and loving it.
The climb starts immediately when leaving the Ferry County fairground and stays at a very steady 6% for the 15 miles to Sherman Pass. It was nicely wooded the whole way until I got to the area burned in the White Mountain forest fire of 1988. Still lots of dead trees standing but much of the area had very healthy looking re-growth.
Got on the road by 5:00, a new record for me. The road started climbing right away. It follows Bonaparte Creek up a steep canyon. Pretty soon it was quite green. The couple I talked to in Tonasket said the road to Wauconda had no trees, so I was glad to see more and more pines the higher I got. Indeed soon I was in a mixed forest of pine, for, and tamarack. My spirits were greatly improved. I'm just not a fan of barren landscapes. I got to Wauconda before the store opened at 9 so I kept going. It was only a couple more miles to the pass. I ran into a group of cycle tourists heading west.
It was too far, and too hot, to consider pushing on to Wauconda pass today so I took a short day and spent it in Tonasket. Met Wes and Shawn from Detroit who are doing Portland to Portland. Wes just retired and didn't waste any time getting out on tour.
The early morning ride down the Methow valley was quite nice.
The town of Winthrop is all decked out in old west attire, touristy, but nice.
This was the big day over Rainy and Washington Passes. The climb started right away but then eased up for a while. Now that I was past the hydro-electric stuff the scenery was much more beautiful.
It was a long slow climb. It never looked steep, but all I could manage was about 4 mph. One of these days I will get smart and learn to not carry so much. I found my self stopping to cool off about every 15 minutes for the last couple of miles.
Got an early start, out by 7:15. Low clouds and cool. Second breakfast in Sedro Woolley. South Skagit highway to Concrete. Nice low traffic road but there was some road work going on and a bunch of gravel trucks. The Skagit river is quite a bit bigger than the Willamette and a lovely aqua green color. Also very fast moving.
Got out by 7:50. The sun was already shining and it was warming up quickly. The ride to Marblemount was on a very quiet back road. Very pleasant. Had to beg for wi-fi at the Buffalo Inn so I could text Linda. After Marblemount the road got narrower and more uphill and soon entered the NP. It would have been nice except for the power lines. Newhalem a.k.a. Seattle City of Light is home to a huge hydro electric plant and the people who work there. It's actually quite nice with lots of trees and a park. After this the road got steeper, and the sun got hotter.
Leaving this weekend for a 10 day tour, starting out with a ride over North Cascades Highway.
<br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/116323603138300579796/Mobile#5901765854823… src='https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5FE3EPv9oeo/UedIxqxNZFI/AAAAAAAAGvY/…; border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />This picture is from Mary's Peak. I'm testing the BlogPress app, which I've used before. <br />
June first promised to be a warm clear day, just right for riding McKenzie pass. The road is closed to cars for another week so this would be the ideal time to do it. Normally I avoid a long drive to a ride, but I had to make an exception for this one. It was 2 hours from Corvallis to the ranger station at McKenzie Bridge. Even this far up it is a mighty big river.
I did a lot of riding this year. 5025 miles worth to be exact, making this my second highest yearly total. 2010 was my highest with with 6313 miles. Of course I wasn't working that year, and did a month long tour. Coming in third is 2005 at 4639 miles, the year we did Rideaho.
This year I spread the miles over a variety of bikes:
Shortly after president Obama was elected for his first term I read an <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2022636,00.html">alarm…; in Time magazine about the sharp rise of extremist militia groups. Least we ever get comfortable in the feeling that maybe America has risen above hate and racism stuff like this comes along and slaps you in the face.