Apr 4, 2008

Portland's Bike Boxes


I saw this and was so impressed with the bold use of color and clean and simple design. It would be great if more areas would be so bike friendly.

For a full coverage of Portland's new bike boxes, check out BikePortland.org. Also, check out the City of Portland's brochure explaining the bike box. The youtube video is very very cheesy but does explain how it should work.

Apr 3, 2008

midday run

I got my 4 mile or 32 min run done. I ran from work down the Seattle water front. I was sort of annoyed because my garmin can not seem to get a signal near my building so it took almost half a mile before I had distance. So i sort of ran on time out and then used the lap function to get the milage on the way back and it was just over 2 miles so I may have went over my 4 miles but oh well. I ran for 34 min. At least the weather was LOVELY - 43 degrees and sunny, not much wind. I ran in a tank top and shorts and it felt so nice not to have a million layers.
Now back to work... and horrible posture at my desk that would make my pilates instructor cringe...

Apr 2, 2008

ride home

Went much better. Kyle was still way out in front but good for him :) I ate all day so I at least was not low on calories. The weather was warmer and very sunny and I dress accordingly. Though I did take off my gloves about a third of the way. I figured out since I'm not riding in daily I will bring my work clothes in the day before and take them home the day after I ride so that I can ride with a smaller bag or no bag at all. I don't like how the bag messes with my balance to much. I think this weekend I may spend some time in a parking lot with some cones to work on my bike handling skills just to get some confidence back - I was super cautious around corners and just felt a tiny bit wary of everything.
All in all I got in 2:30 of riding today and finally rode in and back from work. yeah I saved gas money lol. Every time I ride in it will get easier and a smoother process (hopefully faster to). Here is to the start of getting my bike training in during the week.

ride to work

This morning I rode into work with Kyle - or more correctly I fallowed Kyle into work. I did not feel 100% and Kyle seemed disappointed I was riding so slow but I did the best I could. About half way I had to stop and have a gel and some cytomax. My balance felt off since I'm not used to riding with a pack and I still feel a bit off from my crash - I was very cautious around corners lol. Other than me being a bit off or slow or whatever - the ride was gorgeous - it was sunny a bit crisp to start but with all the hills I warmed up.
Since it was my first time riding into work I learned quite a few lessons. To start eat a full dinner the night before - a bowl of cereal and a recovery drink will not cut it (a good thing to remember in general now that training has picked up again). Also unless Col tells me to make my work outs a brick don't - last night I ran then swam because I did not get up early enough to get to the pool before work but that effected how much energy I had today.. Eat breakfast or at least something - a cliff bar, a gel what ever - eat before riding. The route is very hilly I will warm up so don't need to wear so much clothing. Pack light! - I was smart enough to leave my laptop at home which I could not even imagine riding with now. I may want a smaller pack eventually - the one I rode with fit everything but it pulled on my shoulder and was not super comfortable. The last thing is that Kyle will kick my ass no matter what bikes we are on - he rode his single and I rode my cervelo and we were never together - and that is ok I'm happy with my training and I'm not Kyle and don't feel the ned to be.
All in all I'm proud of my self for riding into work and will defiantly make it part of my training this year. Now I have to eat some more so I will have energy to ride home.

Apr 1, 2008

feeling better

The sun is out and I feel a lot better today. Yesterday I napped and rested and generally let my body recover some more. I did not mange to get up early and swim like I was supposed to but I will get it in after I run with Col tonight.