[bobco85]

Hey, guess what I got on my ride tonight? ANOTHER FLAT, YAY!!!

This one was on my front tire, and luckily I was about 200 feet from the spot at Alki Point I was going to hang out for a bit in order to get some photos of the Seattle skyline across Elliott Bay with my new camera. This one had the pssssSSSSSSsssssssSSSSSS (getting louder/softer as the wheel turned) sound. And I was riding on a trail, too (Alki Trail)! Cause of flat: metal staple, went right into and through the tire.

I believe this puts my flat count at 14 (3 front, 11 rear) since moving here in September 2017.

My bike commute takes me through the southern parts of Seattle including industrial areas with all kinds of goodies on the ground sometimes (glass, metal shavings, hypodermic needles, small rocks). A majority of my flats have come from riding in these areas, and even the mighty Continental Gatorskin tires that I eventually switched to after flat #8 have had their share of flats. I even had some awful ones that look like someone just slashed at the tires, and I had to change my commute route to compensate (it’s on some less comfortable roads, but I’ve gotten used to it along with finding more efficient solutions).

At the very least, I have gotten much more efficient at fixing a flat tire. If I get desperate, I will switch to chain mail tires (if they don’t exist yet, I’ll invent them)!

[bobco85]

Yesterday, I needed some alone time to use for exploration, so I did a ride from the southern end of Lake Washington to Maple Valley along the Cedar River Trail. I then rode back on various roads and the Soos Creek Trail in the dark. I plan on making a video of the Cedar River Trail portion, so stay tuned in the coming month or so.

The weather was typical for winter in the Pacific Northwest: temperature in mid-40’s (F), overcast skies, occasional light rain.

I managed to get a flat in the rain in the dark while riding on one of the shoulders of the 45 mph speed limit roads (a little uncomfortable, but hey, I gotta get home somehow), but since I’ve gotten so many flats since I moved out here, I was able to quickly and efficiently find and fish out the piece of glass (of my 13 flats since moving here, all but one have been from glass) before replacing the tube. I’m going to take a pic of the jagged mess that is my rear wheel’s Gatorskin tire (it’s done the best after replacing 2 other tires but has still taken a beating). If there is such a thing as a magnet for glass, I surely have it on my rear wheel!

(left) from the Renton Rowing Center at the southern end of Lake Washington with Seattle left, Mercer Island center, and Bellevue right; (right) small airplane in a nearly continuous line landing at nearby Renton Municipal Airport
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(left) riding the Cedar River Trail which is adjacent to the 50 mph speed limit Renton Maple Valley Highway; (right) we’ve got a logjam on the river!
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(left) taking a break under a bridge; (right) hanging out on an iron truss bridge in Maple Valley
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(left) after reaching Maple Valley, I turned onto the Cedar to Green Rivers Trail which is packed gravel, not unlike the Metropolitan Branch Trail; (right) my destination in Maple Valley was Lake Wilderness which has a park and an arboretum that I will peruse on a future trip
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(left) I had never ridden the Soos Creek Trail, but riding it in the dark was a lot of fun. It had a couple of low spots including one that was submerged with a helpful sign reading “Water Over Trail” (right) one of the slightly elevated concrete bridges over the marshy landscape
[ATTACH=CONFIG]16417[/ATTACH]

[bobco85]

“Didn’t you ride in today?” “Look, I don’t want to caulk about it.”

[bobco85]

I love this (happy to represent the Pacific NW)!

Here’s a screenshot of the extent of BAFS 2018 worldwide as of this morning:
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[bobco85]

Hi there, I’m Bob. Up until last September, I had lived only in Virginia (grew up in Arlington, college time in Harrisonburg, moved back to Arlington then Alexandria for 2 years). I’m now living in Tukwila, Washington (just south of Seattle), and the sun takes 3 hours longer to rise here compared to most of y’all. This will be my 4th BAFS.

Kitty, I am sad I couldn’t see you in your ‘guin costume (though I have seen you wear it in past BAFSHH’s), but I am honored to be on the team of the person who told me the greatest number of times last year that everyone would miss me when I moved (I miss everyone so much, too!).

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who’s out-of-state for this competition! If I were to yodel loud enough, would you hear it, Edelweiss?

I have been car-free for just over 10 years now, and I bike everywhere for exercise, errands, commutes, and fun. I am also an uncle to nieces (9 and 7) and nephew (4) who live in the Burke area of Fairfax, and I was successful in convincing my brother to teach them to bike which they love doing (I got to do some riding with them). For 2017 Bike to School Day, I rode with my brother to his school (he teaches 4th grade).

I love to make videos of bike rides and bike infrastructure (and post them on this forum). While I am no longer making videos of DC-area bike stuff since I moved, I still have a healthy back catalog on my YouTube page (I believe our team captain is in at least one of the videos). Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/user/bobco85

@cyclingfool 171668 wrote:

Hello everyone! cyclingfool here, AKA Eric. I live in Del Ray in Alexandria and work at Trader Joe’s in Bailey’s Crossroads as a mate (assistant manager).

Before my move, I was living in Alexandria (Mark Center) and working in Arlington (Ballston), so I would pass by that TJ’s (the nearby Performance Bike is my go-to bike shop) on an almost daily basis (depending on mood and route chosen, sometimes shopping at that TJ’s, too). I have a request for you: go to the spot shown on this map and take a picture of what is there (no spoilers): https://goo.gl/maps/fErwVs2s1Mo That route is part of my shortcut for getting through Baileys Crossroads, but the thing that is there is really cool (it will be on your right on the ground on the side of the road, might be hard to see at night).

@cyclingfool 171668 wrote:

Go Penguins (though not in the NHL sense of that phrase)!!!

The only penguin I will ever cheer for (C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!!!) is Chill Penguin. He’s the boss of the first stage that everyone knows to choose (you get the dash upgrade which is awesome) in Mega Man X. Kitty, if you added some blue and yellow armor to your costume, you could totally go as him!
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While I will be unable to meet any of you during this year’s BAFS, I hope to ride in parallel from 2,300 miles away and hopefully meet and ride with y’all when I come back to visit sometime this spring. Happy biking!

[bobco85]

My new goal for BAFS2018 is to have more ride days than any other competitor because the glitch amuses me
@bentbike33 171351 wrote:

No kidding. Bobco’s “extra day ridden” gives him a 1037.5% bump (as of 2:01 pm EST 1/10/2018) on the Steve O leaderboard.

I just took a look at the Steve O leaderboard, and HOLY JEEBUS!!! I broke it!

[bobco85]

I wish I could be there for this, but I’ll be there with you in spirit 😎

I’m not sure I’ll be able to have a beer from across the country with y’all; it’s probably looked down upon to have a beer in the office at 3 o’clock in the afternoon (my time when the happy hour starts).

[bobco85]

Update: I added #NoBAFS to both the ride title and description. Hopefully this will remove that ride from the list (in hopes of being fair).

[bobco85]

A good way to warm up during a ride in cold weather is to get some delicious hot chocolate.

I made a video of a group ride I did with Cascade Bicycle Club on Christmas Eve Eve which took us around parts of Kent, Washington (about an hour ride south of Seattle). My friend who introduced me to biking in Seattle was mentoring her first ride with Cascade (she has already revealed her plans for me to become a ride leader this year).

Long story short, the hot chocolate (I had hot white chocolate since I really like the flavor) was good, and even though there was a fall, everyone had a good time. I added the comedic sound as I knew the cyclist would get a kick out of it (hence why he sprawled out and said, “I win!”).

Here’s the video. Enjoy!

[video=youtube_share;UIikUU8FtrE]https://youtu.be/UIikUU8FtrE[/video]

[bobco85]

It’s the last Wednesday of 2017, so I’ve got a last few bit of pictures to share.

On Saturday, I went on the Holiday Hot Chocolate Ride with a group from Cascade Bicycle Club. We rode around parts of Kent in freezing and just above freezing temperatures. The cold made the hot chocolate even more worth it!

(left) group taking a break at Three Friends Fishing Hole on the Green River Trail; (right) our destination was Dilettante Espresso & Mocha Cafe
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(left) long line for hot chocolate; (right) I let Santa sample my hot white chocolate (with whipped cream) and cherry almond scone
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On Christmas Eve, I biked to Bellevue for lunch to meet up with komorebi who was in the area for the holiday. After lunch, I saw that it was snowing outside, so I had to bike across the nearby SR 520 Trail bridge over Lake Washington. It was fun!

(left) fellow Freezing Saddles veterans and trail snow-shovelers; (right) onto the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge in the snow
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(left) Chinook is not a snow bike, but I left my hybrid with bigger tires back at home; (right) cockpit view with accumulation on the trail
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(left) taking a selfie at the monolith/counter on the west side of the bridge which got stuck at 12; (center) the other side of the NEW monolith wasn’t looking too hot in the wintry weather; (right) my favorite thing about this pic at the Link light rail’s University of Washington station is that all of the bikes at the racks in front are LimeBikes!
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[bobco85]

@bobco85 169995 wrote:

The guidebooks for this ride have now arrived in Virginia! I sent a box of them each to Steve O and CaseyKane50 for distribution. If you want an electronic PDF version, let me know so I can send one to you.

Quick clarification: if you want an electronic PDF version, let me know either via private message on this forum or send me an e-mail at bobco85@gmail.com – either way, I will need your e-mail address (but this way you can keep it private).

[bobco85]

@Judd 170005 wrote:

Glad that you got to see ‘Rebi. Sorry that you went down. It looked like one of those, “how the heck did I just fall?” kind of falls.

I had a local cyclist tell me after seeing my video that it’s likely I hit a bit of “slime” where the top snow/ice layer stays frozen but underneath melts, mixing to form a really slick surface. It was luckily also a slow speed fall, but hey, I slip and fall once every winter, so it’s good to get it out of the way, right?

[bobco85]

On Christmas Eve after meeting up with komorebi in Bellevue (thanks for dropping by!), I went on a bike ride to cross the SR 520 Trail bridge which had just opened last Wednesday to cyclists/pedestrians. It’s on the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, the longest floating bridge in the world.

The best part: it was SNOWING! Also, I figured out how to attach a rear-facing camera to my Chinook bike, so there’s footage from both sides.

After seeing the state of the roads in Seattle (read: terrible), I decided to head to the light rail station to get home (I was on my road bike, not my hybrid all-terrain bike). However, on the way, I slipped and fell on the sidewalk, and this is gloriously preserved in my footage (used a split-screen for maximum effect). No worries, I’m fine, only a small bruise.

Enjoy the snow (we apparently don’t get it often here, but already it’s the 2nd time it’s snowed since I moved here in September)!

[video=youtube_share;0cuxluZOUMM]https://youtu.be/0cuxluZOUMM[/video]

[bobco85]

The guidebooks for this ride have now arrived in Virginia! I sent a box of them each to Steve O and CaseyKane50 for distribution. If you want an electronic PDF version, let me know so I can send one to you.

[bobco85]

Fresh from Seattle, I’ve got a new video of the trail named for the person for whom the city is named: Chief Sealth Trail. (Quick hint: think of saying the word “Seattle” without the t’s)

The Chief Sealth Trail is a paved trail a few miles in length and runs through southern Seattle. It is a hilly trail, with 463 vertical feet of climbing over its 4.7 mile length. The climbs are worth it, though, as one gets really nice views of downtown Seattle, Mount Rainier, and even a glimpse of Lake Washington (the downhills are fun, too). It’s close to the popular Lake Washington Loop and passes near a few Link light rail stations.

[video=youtube_share;z_fQTjFdsjY]https://youtu.be/z_fQTjFdsjY[/video]

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