Yesterday was a good day in Seattle.  I rode about a little and then met Keith and we did a lap of South Lake Washington.  I never would have found or done that ride without him.  It was a little heavy traffic, being Friday afternoon and all, but it was fine for just two of us.

I had walked to the Pike Market in the late morning to just sight see some.  Man is that a tourist area.  So crowded.  Pretty interesting with all the different types of fish and vegetables, etc., but the crowds of people are kind of constricting.

On the ride my cranks started feeling pretty weird.  Sort of wobbly, like my crankarm was loose of something.  Then these loud pops started.  With a titanium frame, the noises are all amplified.  I realized that I was going to be a close to a catastrophic failure at any point.  When we started back West, toward Mercier Island, I told Keith I needed to stop at a bike shop and get a new bottom bracket.  I could feel a ton of play in my cranks, plus the sound was pretty horrible.

Keith’s  team is sponsored by Veloce Velo, a shop just off the bike I-90 bike path, so we stopped there.  They had a Dura Ace English thread bottom bracket.  I just put it in my pocket with only a few miles to ride back into Seattle.

So, we made it back, just about sunset, which is like 4:45 here.  Man, it is dark alot here in the winter I’d guess.

This morning we’re heading out to Kenmore to ride.  The ride mets at 9 a.m., so we’re leaving around 7:30.  Pretty ugly, but it should be a nice ride.  We’re gonna stop at Fremont Coffee Company on the way.  Todd Herriott took me by there a couple days ago.  Super good coffee.

Changing the subject a little, or maybe a lot, tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down.  That was such a huge thing for the whole world and now it was a quarter century ago.  I raced in Europe a lot when all those countries were “communist”.  I did a whole stage  race that was only held in West Berlin.  It is amazing how quickly things change, even though they lasted so long.

Okay, I’m off to ride.  Supposed to be nice here in Seattle today, then back to the normal wet weather on Sunday.

This is a photo from the Tour of Berlin I raced back in 1985.  It is Andy Paulin, Jeff Pierce, Roy Knickman and myself.  I wrote a post a couple years ago explaining a story associated with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s my last day in Seattle.  I’m heading to Denver to Vincent’s in Arvada.  It is supposed to be cold and damp the next, maybe 4 months here, so it’s not a bad time to scoot.  You know, it’s not the temperatures here, it’s the humidity.  45 degrees here feels like -5 in Wisconsin.

We’re in a little of a time crunch.  We’re going to try to ride some, before it rains, then head over to watch a cyclo-x by the zoo, which is just a few miles from here.  It should be perfect cyclocross weather.

Last night we went to a little pre-dinner art display at one of Catherines’ co-worker’s condo.  It is always fun seeing where other people live in big cities.  It sort of amazes me that there are so many people living so tightly packed.

I’ll have to post about the “Rocket RIde” I did yesterday from Kenmore.  It deserves a post of its own.  Lots of observations on that ride.  I had 84 miles, which felt like 135.  I was never really warm the whole day.

Okay, think we’re going to head up to Freemont and get some coffee at the Freeemont Coffee Company, then do a couple loops of Discovery Park or something.   Maybe just wander around the neighborhoods and enjoy.  Not a bad way to spend Sunday.