After a long spell of quirky winter and spring weather, the past two weekends have seemed too good to be true.
This Saturday’s pre-ride coffee was complemented with an epic Stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia and images of complete misery: Bleary-eyed racers crossing the finish line caked in mud. Even though Cadel Evans won the stage he looked disgusted, and Alexander Vinokourov looked even more ornery than usual. Meanwhile here in Seattle, the weather was happy and sunny, and perfect for a long-ish ride with some buddies.
The past few Saturdays have been outings with Cascade’s High Performance Cycling Team. Last weekend we did a gorgeous loop from Log Boom Park out to Sultan and back. This Saturday we started from Sam Smith Park and looped out to Carnation. Part of the route took us past the site of my Jan 2 wreck on Hwy 202, which was thankfully uneventful this time around.
We encountered TONS of other riders on the roads south of Carnation–a great sight which contrasted with Carnation area organic farmers readying for the weekend farmer’s markets.
In contrast to cycling through the countryside, Sunday’s ride was an urban outing with my spousal equivalent. On this sort of ride, specific constraints are in effect:
1. No lightweight bike allowed. Instead, the ride is a circa 1989 ~30 lb former mountain bike with vintage Deore XT components.
2. No electronic gadgets.
3. No lycra or cycling clothing.
4. Always follow.
Panniers loaded with organic veggies from the Broadway Sunday Farmers Market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Sunday started with breakfast at the Hi Spot in Madrona. En route to 2nd coffee at Caffe Vita on Pike we watched riders streaking down Broadway as part of the 2010 Urban Assault Ride. We finished the morning with a visit to the Broadway Sunday Farmers Market with purchases of fresh organic goodies from the Carnation-area farms I had passed the previous day, including Full Circle Farm.
Which of course made it a full circle Seattle cycling weekend: Farm to market; Road cycling and urban pedaling.
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