Biking Into The Wind
Bike Routes
Went for a great bike ride today. A friend of ours likes to cobble bike routes together on Google Maps and then go ride them. We go along as willing victims. “We” in this case would be me, my husband, my best friend, her husband, and another friend.
This other friend and her boyfriend are doing a self-supporting bike tour in Italy soon, so her bike was loaded down with extra weight. We all benefited from her labors, because the extra weight turned out to be our lunch – bagels with cream cheese and/or peanut butter and muffins. It was unanimously decided that while she’s training for Italy, she should come on all our rides.
Lunch
The instigator of this ride, who is the great route creator, really did a wonderful job with this one. We started in Renton on the Cedar River Trail and then picked the road back up when we got into Maple Valley. The roads weren’t too busy and often had a shoulder to ride on. We stopped for lunch at Flaming Geyser Park and ate out of our soon-to-be-in-Italy-friend’s portable bakery.
When we hit the road again we picked up Green Valley Road, which is without a doubt one of the nicest riding roads in the greater Seattle area. Bucolic scenery (farms, an occasional cow) and a good flat road surface made this section of the ride like biking in heaven. I was told that they do bicycle time trials on that road; I’m not surprised.
Riding into a Wall
48 miles later we had looped back to where we started. Perfect weather (low 70s), a relatively flat route (one not-too-long uphill and one great downhill) and good company made this a memorable outing.
My question of the day though is this: When you’re riding your bike into the wind, it often feels like riding into a wall. You can definitely feel the air pushing against you and hear the wind as it blows by your ears. Why, then, when you look at tall plants and trees to get confirmation of the force you’re fighting against, they look like they’re barely moving? Doesn’t seem fair somehow.
