Ribs are going to be ok

Went to see the doctor on Monday. He said my ribs were either cracked or bruised, but either way they don't do anything unless you puncture a lung. He said I had been doing everything right, except for going on a ride on Sunday. Oh well, how could I resist when Peter at Blackdiamond Bike and Backcountry waved a $3000 demo bike in my face. I'm on the 800mg ibuprofen 4 times a day and I took 3 days off. This morning I rode my normal 20 mile road ride and felt great. The chest just feels a little tight, but there is no sharp pain. I'm going to be fine. Of course I'm headed to Portland this afternoon for work, then haning out downtown with my lovely wife until Saturday. That should be fun, but it's not going to give me saddle time. Oh well. I'm enjoying life and that's the ticket.

Date: April 19
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
April Miles: 205
Year to date mileage: 682

Ouch - Gold Creek/Lower Dungeness

Saturday I met Doug at his place at 6AM and we headed to Bellevue to pick up Brett, and then hit the Edmonds Ferry where we met Igor, Paul and Stephanie. From the ferry it took about an hour to hit get to the closed FS road #2860. From there we rode the closed road (pretty much gone, and maybe soon unridable) to the Gold Creek trailhead. From there we climbed roughly up some super steep singletrack and then descended back down to the Gold Creek Shelter where I crashed and either bruised or cracked some ribs. It was a painful ride up to the Lower Dungeness trail where we could descend back to the closed road.

Sunday I headed out to Black Diamond Bikes to beg the quick return of my cross bike since I was trashed and so was my mountain bike. Peter had a Specialized Roubaix in my size and asked if I wanted to demo it. I knew I shouldn't ride, but how could I turn that down. I did a very easy 20 mile loop and man did that bike feel fast and sleek compared to my cross bike. Of course I couldn't test it to it's limits because accelerating and just breathing in general hurt pretty bad.

I'm at a loss on what to do. I need to be putting in big miles the next two weeks because I'm set to ride Kokopelli's Trail with Doug starting May 5. I don't think seeing Dr. would do any good, and I don't want to stop riding either. I think it's just going to be smooth road rides this week, and lots of Ibuprofen. We shall see....

Oh, if you want to see how much better a writer's descripton of the day was, check out Doug's version here.


Date: April 15
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Road/Loaner Roubaix
April Miles: 185
Year to date mileage: 662

Date: April 14
Mileage: 23
Ride type/Bike: Mtn. Bike/Pisgah
April Miles: 165
Year to date mileage: 642

Getting in shape for longer rides

Last Thursday was a gorgeous day for a ride so I conned Doug into doing a road ride with me. We road from Ron Regis Park, around the east side of Lake Washington, did one loop of Mercer Island, and then came back down the west side of the lake and back out 169 to the park again. It was great.

This Monday and Tuesday I just couldn't get my butt out the door and rode the trainer instead.

Wednesday I hit a famous BBTC ride called the Thrilla. It's 20 miles of dirt and single tracked glued together through neighborhoods in Redmond and Woodinville. It's pretty impressive what Kevin Axt put together.

Last night I just took a slow 20 mile road loop to stretch out my legs in anticipation of riding Gold creek/Lower Dungeness on Saturday. That should be about 20 miles and 5000' of climbing and I'm very much looking forward to it. I'm still thinking of racing Sunday. I know I'll get crushed, but who cares. We shall see!

Date: April 12
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
April Miles: 142
Year to date mileage: 619

Date: April 11
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Mtn./Pisgah
April Miles: 122
Year to date mileage: 599

Date: April 6
Mileage: 39
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
April Miles: 102
Year to date mileage: 579

Cashmere's Canyons

Monday morning I drove over to Cashmere in an attempt to find some sunshine. I was successful on the sun part, but it was still mighty cold at least in the AM.

I arrived Monday afternoon and decided to ride my cross bike up Mission Creek just to see how things were looking. I made it to the Sand Creek parking lot just fine, but only a mile or so past there was too much snow for a cross bike. Most of the north facing slopes still have plenty of white stuff.

Tuesday I decided to be smart and go for a southern exposure. I climbed to the top of the pavement, and then to the top of the dirt road up Naham Canyon topping out at around 3200 feet. It was all clear till I hit the top and then I was only able to go a couple of miles before the road became covered in a couple of feet of snow.

Today I figured I hit all the other canyons in Cashmere just for good luck. I took off on the cross bike and headed up Yaxum Canyon. The pavement on Yaxum ends after just 3 miles and 500' of climbing. Since this was so short, I figured I better hit Mission Creek again. After that I headed up to the end of Brender, and then made the quick side jaunt to the end of Briskey. It was a pretty mellow day. About 28 miles and just over 2000' of climbing. Since Google just released a new interface into Google maps, I thought I'd map out for you here.

The Hitching Post Tavern across the highway from Cashmere still has great burgers and cheap beer. The Cashmere Brewery is open again Wed - Saturday and they make some killer brews, I'm particularly partial to their IPA. They don't have food though. All the peanuts you can eat, but you better eat something elsewhere if you have just done a long ride. Country Boy's BBQ is excellent, as well as the Mexican food place across the Highway next to the Hitching Post.

Date: April 4
Mileage: 28
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
April Miles: 63
Year to date mileage: 540

Date: April 3
Mileage: 17
Ride type/Bike: Road-Dirt Road/Pisgah
April Miles: 35
Year to date mileage: 512

Date: April 2
Mileage: 18
Ride type/Bike: Road-Dirt Road/Tricross
April Miles: 18
Year to date mileage: 495