Monday, March 30, 2015

Another Bicycle Fitting Adventure (2015-03-28)

I think I got it right in the end.

Since I was focusing so much on the bike fit, I didn't get very many photos. Here are some older photos from the areas through which I passed.

More after the break…

Outbound

I started at about 05:00 like usual, riding a fairly new bike. Due to the closure of the Fremont Bridge, I had to detour via the University Bridge.

I had originally intended to cross the Duwamish River at the new South Park Bridge, but wasn't paying attention and cut over to the Green River Trail at S 112th St instead.

The fit wasn't quite right, so I fiddled with it quite a bit. The strong winds also hindered my speed.

As I approached the end of the Green River Trail, I found a closure.

I took to the local streets, then hit the trail again, which quickly took me to the Interurban Trail, which I left in downtown Auburn to seek water.

I had originally intended to stop for water at the Sun Break Cafe, but it was packed to the point that the foyer was full of people waiting. Deciding against that, I stopped at a nearby bistro instead and had some decaf coffee.

As I was pretty far south already, I went straight to the C Street Trail and took that to its end, then stuck to the E Valley Highway until Sumner. I rode in a graven shoulder for a bit as the road narrowed, which surprised me.

I just passed through Sumner without stopping, taking SR-162 to the Foothills Trail.

I then stopped at the Trailside Cyclery in Orting.

I had been there a while back, then again another time in February (it was closed then). Apparently, the shop was leased to the owner of CycleTherapy that first time, but then was taken over by the owner of the property again once he realized that he needed money when 'semi-retired.' The closure was during the owner transition.

The owner of the shop was really knowledgeable, to the point where he recalled when a certain reputable custom bicycle builder did a poor job welding frames. He also offered advice.

Inbound

With that, I decided to turn back to avoid the foothills this time, but first stopped for coffee and a doughnut.

I essentially went back the way I came, with the stiff headwind from earlier providing a tailwind. With that, I made pretty good time!

Instead of the E Valley Highway, however, I took the W Valley Highway, then the Interurban Trail. In order to avoid the detour from earlier, I cut over to the Green River Trail at S 196th St, then stuck to it all the way through the Duwamish Route and the West Seattle Bridge.

At some point here, I started moving the seat up bit by bit until the pain in my lower quads gradually went away.

The pain was gone when I crossed at the Ballard Locks.

Once across the locks, I rode the last couple miles home and was done for the day. I ended up getting 110 miles instead of the intended 129 miles, but that was good enough.

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