Month: April 2011

preRA: Snows in Washington

The group remains in a state of conditioning and planning. Gary, Frank, Jesse, Jack and I continue to ride around town loaded down with tent and sleeping bag, or in Jack’s case, blocks of wood. Frank has learned that our intended route on the North Cascades Highway SR20 is currently closed due to heavy snow this year. This affects about 35 miles of our planned passage between Newhalem and Mazama. Washington DOT crews started clearing the snow on April 11, but the projected opening date will be right around the time we’ll be there, i.e. early June. Possible contingency is

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preRA: Fountain Hills #4

Off the bike for 5 days in a row this week, playing in a golf tournament.  My partner and I didn’t do too badly, so I made a brief post about it here. [By the way, if you’re into exquisite dining and a way cool celebrity encounter, you should check out a couple other very recent posts on our travel site – start here.] The desert up by Saguaro Lake is always beautiful, and this morning the temperatures were a perfect 75F or so.  Most of the penstemons have waned, but the desert marigolds are in full glory. The other

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preRA: Fountain Hills #3

Another loaded spin up by Saguaro Lake, then down the Beeline to Fountain Hills.  When the weather behaves we get NE winds in the mornings, and it makes the hills out by the lake interesting.   At Beeline and Bush I spied this outrageous orange-red cactus in bloom in the desert and trudged out for a photo. Rolling down the Beeline is almost always fun, and this morning I did so for about 7 miles at 24 mph.  Approaching Fountain Hills, I watched the end of the fountain’s cycle, realizing that it was actually the 9AM cycle I was watching, with

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preRA: Rain Gear

An unexpected opportunity presented itself this Saturday morning.  Steady rain and 43°F!  A great chance to try out some rain gear!  I did a simple 12 mile run out for office supplies and groceries, but did so fully decked out in rain gear.   A few things discovered: Rain Jacket – I continue to really like the Performance Ultra rain jacket.  I’d say it is practically waterproof.   In the hour I was gone, the inside of the fabric just barely started to moisten, and even that could have been sweat.  This jacket fits great, is ultra lightweight, and provides excellent

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preRA: Love Those Panniers

This started as a loaded conditioning ride to IHOP and turned into a shopping trip.  Sure is nice to have the panniers.  President Obama needs to learn about these – they could help solve our Middle East oil-related problems (as well as domestic health problems, traffic problems, pollution problems, …) IHOP: Breakfast with Jesse and Gary REI: Bought a touring jersey and a fluffier camp pillow, using a 20% off sale plus credit from last year’s rebate. Landis Cyclery: Bought a new cyclometer for the Surly (the wires pulled out of the last one).  Also, Vanessa suggested I try some

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preRA: Fountain Hills #2

Yet another loaded conditioning ride, same route as my previous ride to Fountain Hills.  I battled some steady 18 mph NE winds out to Saguaro Lake and up to the Beeline – a bunch of work. Jesse and I met at the fountain.  We decided that the breakfast prices in Fountain Hills are not a very good value, and so this time we both brought our own food and drink, and sat and watched the kids, ducks, and fountain for a good 75 minutes or so, discussing our upcoming tour. While we sat, my bike spontaneously toppled over.  When I

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preRA: Bartlett Lake

Solo conditioning ride – loaded down even more than usual.  I anticipated high temperatures and climbing and got plenty of both. Started at Thompson Peak Parkway in North Scottsdale and chugged north up Pima Highway to Cave Creek Road, and eventually out east onto Bartlett Dam Road.  I’d always wanted to try this popular route, knew it was hilly, and figured it’d be a good test for a lot of reasons. It surely was a physical test, with about 4,700 feet of climbing and early afternoon temperatures that hit over 100F.  But in many ways, I thought the ride was

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