I started this blog to see if it was actually possible to get around Seattle by bike as a very casual cyclist. After two months of casually biking around Seattle, I can absolutely say the answer is … maybe.
The weather hasn’t been as much of an issue as I would have guessed. The hills, on the other hand, are both better and worse than I initially feared. Continue reading…
Someday, I hope to look back on these early rides and laugh.
I’ve already fallen behind on my goal to do four rides a week (of any length – later I’ll try to work up to distance goals, but small steps are called for here). This afternoon I decided to do a short ride, with the goal of tackling a hill on the way.
I wasn’t quite sure what the terrain would be like, but found a hill where I wasn’t quite expecting it. The downs in this town are glorious – coast away – but the up on the other side is painful. I’ve quickly learned that although I’m fine pedaling at a steady pace on a flat surface for miles, my body is not set up for powering up hills. I’m badly in need of some cardio help (which is what this is all about, right?). About halfway back up the hill, with thighs burning, my lungs more or less shut down. As I stopped to catch my breath, my pulse was pounding hard enough that it affected my vision.
I really need to get out and bike more.
[fitmap id=”141098023″ type=”ride”]
Find the hills – and avoid them.
Obviously, Seattle is built on hills. The grades on some streets are daunting even in a car. The steepest of the streets are pretty obviously not to be tackled by a biker at my level (fat and out of shape, although hopefully moving a bike around Seattle will begin to change that). There are other streets, however, which don’t appear so bad in comparison, but are still too much for my beginning fitness.
I know this, and I knew this before I started my first trip across town to the University of Washington. I started at a higher elevation north of campus, so in theory I could find a route which minimized elevation gain. On paper, I thought I’d found one. And then I felt so good going downhill, I missed a turn somewhere and ended up funnelled to the wrong corner of campus. I started to make my way up a hill without an escape route; the only sidewalk was across three lanes of traffic. Halfway up, though, the realities of my body won out, and I managed to squeeze out of the way of most of the traffic until I could make a break across traffic to the sidewalk, where I walked the bike up the rest of the way without shame.
Lesson learned. No matter how good I feel going down, I am not yet going to win in a face-off between me on a bike and a Seattle hill. When I map a route for my own well being, stick with it. Although the goal is to be able to make it up at least the mid-range hills after a few more weeks on the bike.
