Manzanita Weekend

Took myself down to Manzanita, Oregon for my birthday weekend. My furry campanion, Cassie, and I stayed at my brother's and girlfriend's place they recently bought. My family and I have been going down to Manzanita for years. It's amazing now that one of us has put down some roots there, at least in the form of a incredible house and a nice mortgage.

My brother, Cassie and I hiked Neah-Kah-Nie mountian on Saturday, which, at around 1,600 ft. poduced a spectacular view south, featuring Manzanita beach and the big, blue Pacific. We then hiked down on the west side, which reminded me of the dramatic sea and mountain landscape of Hawaii.

We descended until we crossed the highway and picked up the trail on the other side and took it down to Short Sands Beach where, in any season, you'll find surfer dudes and dudettes. A seriously young and hearty bunch to brave NW waters for a short ride.

A Hazardous Bike Commute

I had a sobering ride in this morning. A car and bicylist accident just past the Ballard bridge on the Burke at one of the Fred Meyer intersections. The good news was the cyclist was starting to stand up as I slowly rode by. Who knows whose fault it was, nevertheless, typically riders are on the losing side of that proposition.

Last year I witnessed a cyclist taken out as a women opened her driver's side car door just as the rider was coming by and threw him to the middle of the street. It also dented her black Mercedes door. I saw the rider later at the hearing and he had suffered a broken collar bone. The women was not fined or cited since it was her first offense, or something like that. She didn't even have to appear in court.

So the point is, it's dangerous commuting on a bike. The Seattle PI wrote a good piece on that concern and a published report by the advocay arm of the Cascade Bicylce Club. Besides the story describing how many of the routes and paths are not connected, leaving us riders to fend for ourselves out on the street, it also noted a silent ride on May 17 to raise awareness for cyclists on the rode and to remember the people who died riding their bikes. Sounds like a war story. Maybe it is.

Fix-a-flat

I was only into my second week of communting to work when it happened: My first flat tire. No warning. No spare tire or patch kit in my pack. And right inbetween somewhere and nowhere. Luckly I had a bus pass so I didn't have to walk all the way home. But still. The shame. Walking your bike while others zoom right by. One whizzing biker asked if I was okay when he zipped by. "Yeah," I responded sheepishly. "It's just a flat." I know he was thinking "loser." At least that's what I was thinking about myself.

If you don't know how to fix-a-flat then you might learn something from REI's helpdesk.

Google Pedometer

Super cool milage tool and calorie counter (but who's counting calories?) from Google.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/index.php

My route from Magnolia to Montlake is abouit 6.5 miles. Some days it feels like 25 miles!

http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_run.php?r=8e7e22dad3557b815916a9cb97707f07