Summertime

Summer, like life, is short. So it’s important I think to maximize time in the saddle during these months where the days are long and the touring possibilities are many. This summer so far my riding time has been limited, and I’ve been somewhat geographically scattered due to work, but I’ve made an extra effort to work cycling into as many of my movements as possible, wherever I go.  Here are some thoughts on that theme, and an update on a few rides I’ve taken lately and haven’t written anything about:

• I think a sort of seasonality is part of the human tradition, at least for people who don’t live near the equator. For my own part I know that I adjust my internal clock and schedule during the summer — I’m more active, awake more, and more energetic. My cycling habits change too — I feel like doing more miles and more rides.
• Like most people, my job doesn’t allow me to pause for any particular season. In fact, I tend to travel for work a bit more in the summer months than at other times. Luckily my job sometimes takes me to interesting places, and I’m occasionally even able to add a few days onto a trip here or there to make the cycling more interesting (as I did in France).
• for business travel, I’ve found that almost anywhere of any size that you can fly (or at least where I have recently) there are great places to rent serviceable touring bikes. I’m on my way back from Scotland now (more on that in a minute) where this was super easy to set up. Paris was the same.
• unless you’re the owner of one of those cool folding touring bikes (I’m not) shipping or flying with a bike, while not impossible, can be difficult and expensive, especially internationally.  Inside the US, it can be more realistic to bring your large bike, but still for business travel (which for me tends to last about a week usually) this still represents a lot of overhead.
• an indispensable item for me has been a set of traveling panniers that double as cary-on-able luggage. Ortlieb makes several examples of this sort of bag, which will come with shoulder straps, a really great quick-release mounting system that pretty much fits any bike, and a 5-year guarantee. This isn’t the only way to pull off portable bike luggage (I can imagine, for example packing traditional panniers in a compressible duffel) but if you can swing for the really good panniers with straps, I’d recommend it.

So anyway … with those notes out of the way, where have I been riding this summer so far? Post-France, it was important to me to keep in the saddle and in shape for the rest of the summer, so in addition to some rides around Seattle I did somewhat of a repeat of a trip I did up the John Wayne trail through Iron Horse State Park. This is the route that departs from North Bend/Snoqualmie and continues all the way to the Columbia River and beyond. This time I rode up the hill after work one Friday, camped just beyond the pass at one of the state backcountry sites up in that area. These sites are very primitive, with no running water, but aside from a few mosquitos, it was a pleasant sleep.

The next morning I linked up with my other half, who had driven up the pass with our dog. We spent a the next day and a half meandering through the cascades on a warm summer weekend, me hitching rides and sometimes cycling. After Cle Elum we crossed over Blewett Pass and then over Stevens (I didn’t ride all of the passes) and I finished early on Sunday by drifting down the Skykomish valley on Highway 2, which I found to be particularly pleasant before the traffic started up for the day.

The following weekend I was due to fly to Scotland for a team meetup at work. Since we were meeting in Dunoon, a little town about 35 miles west of Glasgow, it was easy enough to arrange for a touring bike to be waiting for me in Central Glasgow when I got off the plane (shout out to Joe and his staff at Gear Bikes — they do a great job.) The only concern I’d had about riding for a couple hours that afternoon was the fact that I don’t sleep super well when flying, and was therefore looking at some exertion on little or no sleep. And while I’m not sure I’d fly overnight and then immediately bike in every circumstance (or in every city) it worked fine in Glasgow, due in part to the excellence of the British cycling network. I was able to get from the middle of the city, out the through the suburbs and over the fields to my destination on the coast while remaining on single-use bike paths for 90% of the ride. The signage (and ok, sure, the British are fond of their signage) was particularly amazing, with every turn and confusing junction excellently explained. This is often the worst part of getting in and out of a city on a bicycle — the lack of a clear, not to mention dedicated, route. This can lead to annoying situations: dead ends, limited access roads, and actual danger … so much so that I think I’m going to come up with a page or two about how to correctly and safely get in and out of my own city (Seattle) after having to figure out so many others. But in the UK there’s no need for such posts — just follow the red white and blue signs. Amazing.

While at my work meetup, it was possible to get out and do a bit of riding around the Loch we were staying on and a little bit up and down the valleys surrounding Dunoon and the southern reaches of Loch Lomond National Park. I invited some co-workers to come with me on a couple of occasions, which was fun. For the most part it was shore-riding along flat and not-overly trafficked roads, though there was some fun climbing in a nearby valley as well. Scotland is a place to which I’d love to return on a bicycle … amazing stuff.

I’m now on my way to Minnesota for a week of not-working and riding. I pledge many more updates about that! I’ll be mostly camping and riding through the Great North Woods from the Canadian Border to the Twin Cities. Gratitude.