Nothing Like the Feeling of the Wind in Your Face

For our second OFFICIAL full team training ride we left from Factoria and took the I-90 trail across the lake and into Seattle. The weather was a bit dismal at first but nothing a Seattleite like ourselves couldn't handle. About 6 miles into the ride, Jocelyn was barely moving and in near tears-- couldn't figure out why it was so damn hard.... Come to realize that her back brakes are riding on the wheel and really not allowing her to move. Thank goodness for modern technology becuase using his phone, Leo located a bike shop in Leschi... so we kept riding, three fist pumps (apparently a Jersey Shore thing) for Joc. Oops the bike shop had moved location, so what is a stranded biker to do? Ah! Call Tom!!!!!

So I rang up Tom over at Gregg's and he gave us some good advice. Take off the brake and put it back and see if that makes a difference. The best we could achieve with our limited expertise, though Leo really did give it the Old College try, was to loosen her back brake so it wasn't rubbing. This made her ride easier but not having a working back brake can be scary- not so much for super Jocelyn.

Side note: TOM IS the greatest, talking us through our amateur worries over the phone! Another three fist pumps for TOM!

Thus, we rode on- needing to make our 30 mile ride goal. We rode along Lake Wa blvd into Madison park and then got the GENIUS idea that we could ride East on 520 and then back up north into Bellevue...except (Insert Lightbulb) there is no bike lane on 520. Leo, being the brave macho MALE that he is, he rode up onto 520 to only have to turn around. So we retraced our steps back towards home.

Side note: Now is probably a great time to mention that Leo switched out his mountain bike tires for SLICKS and he is STINKING FAST. Also important to note: Joc and I are both pretty DAMN SCARED of riding on the street when there is NO BIKE LANE... Which through much of Seattle, this was the case. UGH

By this time we had literally been on the rode for 3 + hours and had only made it 16 miles or so.... Okay so that is ridiculously long for 16 miles but it was COLD, WINDY, and quite BLUSTERY.. NOt to mention the whole brake issue. So what is a proper bike team to do? Ah... Go to Cactus and get beers and some snacks. MMMMM

Sitting in Cactus, Leo thinks he spots a famous person.....wrong... and then we look out the window and notice it is all of a sudden STORM WATCH 2010 and we still have about 14 miles to get home.

A couple beers later we ride on home back towards Leschi and across I-90.. IT sure felt uphill BOTH WAYS. The best part (sarcasm) must have been going East bound across Lake Wa on I-90 with the wind in our faces and the lovely combo of dirt and rain PELTING US so that we couldn't even keep our eyes open. Did I mention that Joc's back brake is not really working?

We got back to our cars in Factoria at 5:50- exactly 5 hours and 20 minutes after we left RACKING UP A GRAND TOTAL OF 27 more miles!!!

TOM if you are reading this, we promise to be faster when we ride with you!!!! We also want you to know that even though it was a dreadfully, slow ride we LAUGHED more than you can imagine and thanks for the Phone Consultation... maybe next time you will do roadside assistance!