Monday, January 28, 2019

Auburn (2018-12-27)

The first metric century I've done since my bike fit and corrected pedaling technique. I started off pretty tired after the previous day's ride back from the usual Christmas visit, when I pushed myself really hard, but still managed this time.

Battlefield Addiction Coffee: Battlefield Addiction is an organization whose goal is to help recovering addicts reintegrate with society. This coffee shop is one arm of that goal, where said recovering addicts are able to gain work experience by serving coffee. This shop used to be Jason's Coffee Shop, but has since changed hands.
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More after the break…

Whenever I visit my parents, I always ride a bike over there. I usually push myself a bit harder than usual on these trips, too, since they're only around 20 miles each way, and the visit this year was no different. I wasn't originally planning to ride the day after a return trip, but it was supposedly going to be the only day with good weather, so I had to start this ride with tired legs.

Outbound

Outbound

I started at about 06:30 and took my usual route south out of Seattle. There was a bit more traffic than I'd usually hit on one of my rides, so I had to be more careful, but once I was south of SoDo, it died off.

Rather than taking my usual path through Allentown, I crossed the pedestrian bridge at S 119th St.

Crossing the Green River: I still like this pedestrian bridge.
Green River
Green River

And then I took the Green River Trail south to the Interurban Trail.

Green River Trail Bridge

When I got to Starfire, rain started to fall, but I managed to avoid it by standing under a table's umbrella while I ate my first bit of food.

Once the rain had largely gone away, I continued south.

Things looked odd when I crossed S 228th St, but the road was simply closed for construction.

S 228th St Construction: The road is closed around the Interurban Trail here, so the crosswalk signal is turned off.
S 228th St Construction: The road is closed around the Interurban Trail here, so the crosswalk signal is turned off.

It was along the Interurban Trail where my speed started to fall. Part of it was definitely my tired legs, but I would later notice that the wind had been from the south as I'd have an easier time on the return trip.

Minor Flooding on Interurban Trail: Fairly regular.

I left the trail at Main Street and visited downtown Auburn to take a few quick shots.

Auburn
Auburn

And then I stopped at what I thought would be a familiar coffee shop, only to discover that it had changed.

Hot Chocolate at Battlefield Addiction Coffee: Battlefield Addiction is an organization whose goal is to help recovering addicts reintegrate with society. This coffee shop is one arm of that goal, where said recovering addicts are able to gain work experience by serving coffee. This shop used to be Jason's Coffee Shop, but has since changed hands.

The shop was now being run by Battlefield Addiction, an organization whose goal is helping recovering addicts reintegrate with society. This coffee shop is one arm of that goal, where said recovering addicts are able to gain work experience by serving coffee. The staff were very nice, and the woman managing the shop was bubbly and energetic like nearly nobody else I know in the Pacific Northwest.

Inbound

Inbound

I started heading north after the coffee shop, following the Interurban Trail and Green River Trail to Frager Road. Only a few seconds after getting onto Frager Road, I heard the familiar hiss of a punctured tire, and was dismayed to find that a mere thorn had punctured my rear Panaracer GravelKing. Getting the tire off was easy enough, but I was pretty sure that I couldn't patch the tube: The tire was previously set up tubeless, and the remaining sealant from when I switched it to a tube coated said tube. At that point, I decided that if my existing tire was weak to mere thorns, I might as well just put the Marathon Supreme I had as a spare tire on.

Getting that tire on was very hard. The tubeless rim strip made the tire's beads want to sit in the middle of the rim, so I made my best effort to not pinch the tube. It took multiple times, but I finally got it on so I could get going.

Open Land
Frager Road: I still prefer this route over the Green River Trail.

I stopped to eat again under a road bridge due to the rain starting up again, before continuing up Frager Road and the Green River Trail. At this point, I'd noticed that the stiffer, higher-pressure rear tire had changed the handling of my bike in addition to making bumps harsher.

Weather Contrast: The ride had alternating clouds, sun, and scattered showers. There's also a rainbow in the center here.
Crust Romanceur at Green River

I stuck to the Green River Trail all the way to its northern end, which featured a lot of sticks and wet leaves. One nice change was how the previously unpaved connection with Cecil Moses Park was now paved.

Green River Trail Connection: This has been paved since my previous visit.

I then started off on my usual route north out of South Park, but then deviated from it to avoid traffic. Airport Way ended up being a pretty reasonable route, and it took me right up to Uwajimaya where I bought some snacks since I was starving and out of food.

I went straight home from Uwajimaya. My legs were pretty beat, but I still went over the Dexter hill on the way home.

While in Auburn, I called my local bike shop to schedule a crankset swapout. The bike fitter I'd seen a few weeks back told me to get cranks arm of differing lengths, so I decided to take this chance to switch to nicer touring cranks. The shop told me to bring the bike in the same day I called, so I did that after heading home.

Here's the end result:

Crust Romanceur: Sugino Cranks: Just picked my Crust Romanceur up from the shop with the cranks of differing lengths installed. I didn't get to removing the shim and straightening my saddle while there, so no word yet on the fit. The crank arms definitely have different finishes, though, but I still prefer this set to the matching Deore arms that were removed.
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