Galloping Gertie

Ed's home looks out on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the newest replacement for the original bridge that shook apart shortly after it opened in 1940 due to vibrations from the wind.

Salmon Beach

Kris and I made it to her brother's house in Tacoma. Weather is great, sunny and a little cooler than we have been having in Colorado!

We're gonna hang around today and head up to Anecortes tomorrow and spend the night to get an early ferry to Orcas Island Monday morning. There will be five of us, Ed and his wife Chris, and Kris' sister Julie.

Here is a picture of part of Salmon Beach and a picture across the Sound toward Gig Harbor from Ed's front deck.

Beer Snobbery

Modern Drunkard Magazine

Bike update

I hit 1,000 miles on my new bike, which I got in October...so I'm averaging about 200 miles a month. Not bad for me in the winter.

This was on the way back from Hygiene on Sunday. We had our St. Pat's Party the night before...and I still got my 40 miles in. I've been doing the Hygiene run a lot the distance is good for me and I can knock it out in three hours, with a short rest stop at Mary's in Hygiene.


The route is mostly north/south so the westerly winds don't factor into the ride much... although it seems they shift to head winds from time to time.








They announced the full route for the RAGBRAI this weekend. We heard the stop over towns a little while ago, but they filled in the little towns that are so much fun to visit:



Saturday, July 21
Sioux Center


Sunday, July 22
Orange City
Alton
Granville
Marcus
Cherokee


Monday, July 23
Aurelia
Hanover
Schaller 
Nemaha
Sac City
Lake View


Tuesday, July 24
Auburn
Lake City
Lohrville
Farnhamville 
Gowrie
Dayton
Stratford
Lehigh
Webster City


Wednesday, July 25
Kamrar
Jewell
Story City
Roland
McCallsburg
Zearing
Saint Anthony
Clemons
Marshalltown


Thursday, July 26
Garwin
Clutier
Garrison
Vinton (Meeting)
Shellsburg
Covington
Cedar Rapids


Friday, July 27
Mount Vernon
Springville
Viola
Fairview
Anamosa


Saturday, July 28
Hale
Oxford Junction
Lost Nation (Meeting)
Elwood
Delmar
Charlotte
Goose Lake
Clinton

It has been a long time since I posted. I picked up a new bike in October. It is the same style as my "old" bike, but has upgraded components and a carbon frame. The old bike was a Trek FX 7.6 the new one is a Tek FX 7.9. I was gonna wait for a year to go with the upgrade, but I found out that Tek was not going to make the 7.9 after 2011. I found the last one in my size in Colorado down in Wheatridge and it was on sale as a left over.

I was told I'd like the carbon frame, and I do...I was surprised how much different it feels than the aluminum frame on my old bike. The Ultegra gears shift nice too. I don't know if I'll sell the 7.6 or keep it. It can take wider tires, and I may do that so I'll have a bike to ride on dirt...I like the Dirty Bismark and my old mountain bike is getting pretty sad.

I have over 600 miles on the bike since October, which is pretty good for me for this time of year. I have 160 miles since 1/1/12. I've done several runs to Hygiene which is just about 40 miles round trip. There have been a few trips to the Avery, which is more like 15 miles and 2 pints round trip.

I've biked to work a bit as well. This Wednesday is Winter Bike to Work Day...I'll try to do tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday. Tomorrow's high will be around 35...Wednesday should break 40. My fingers get cold in the morning when it is below 20...I use lobster claw gloves, but it is still cold. My daughter got me some heated glove liners for Christmas...I've used them once already and they help. I'll be using them this week for sure.

I'll post a pic of the new bike soon.

bob

Bike update

2,000 Miles

On the way to work yesterday my odometer turned 2k. I'm averaging about 500 miles a month this summer...