Early June Biking Update

• 2015 miles as of June 7th: 787
• Miles to go toward goal of 1,500: 713

April was a little slow for biking which is why I didn’t post an update. We had a big family vacation in Hawaii where I didn’t do any biking other than coasting down Mount Haleakala after watching the sunrise there. The views were amazing and the bike ride was about 15 miles of downhill, starting at 6,450 ft above sea level and riding down to about sea level.

Back in Seattle, it became time for a new bike. The bike I’ve been riding is a Gary Fisher mountain bike I bought back in Colorado in 2004 so I could do the 27-mile Elephant Rock Ride. Its been a good bike but the fat tires and front shock aren’t ideal for commuting.

I now ride a Cannondale CAADX Rival, which has been great so far. It’s so much easier to go fast, in fact on my first commute ride I set new personal bests on three segments of my route!

A friend of mine that lives on Mercer Island invited me and my wife Krista over for fried chicken, so I rode there and back while Krista drove. This was my first time going over I-90 on a bike and it was a nice ride, but a lot harder than other rides I do! Lots of hills and climbing, which my commute and the Burke Gilman trail don’t have. The ride was 20 miles round trip but left me considerably more tired. I need to do more hill climbing!

Also, I’m getting Krista more into biking and she’s getting more comfortable riding on the streets and using her bike as a way to get around. We’re slowly increasing the distance of our rides together.

I’m past the halfway point!