Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.lhbernhardt
11-04-06, 05:21 PM
Drove down to Blaine today to pick up a package and took my fixed gear rain bike with me. Blaine, which is the town on the US side of the Canadian border south of Vancouver, is a nice place to start rides in the northwest corner of Washington state. They've got a free parking lot next to the library, and the librarians don't seem to mind that I come in to use their clean and warm washroom (that's restroom to you Yanks) without sitting down to read a book.
I also needed to deposit some cash into my US$ checking account, but the nearest Washington Mutual ATM (transactions are free when you use their ATM's, and I tend to be really cheap) was 37 kilometers away in Bellingham. Hence, the bike. The roads between Blaine and Bellingham are really quiet. It was raining, but the big problem was the wind, blowing at gale force from the southeast, exactly the direction I was headed. But I figured I needed a three-hour-plus ride since I wouldn't be able to ride tomorrow (Sunday).
So I plowed into the wind for about an hour and 45 minutes. It would get ridiculous at the tops of hills, with gusts of wind pushing me sideways, but fortunately there was hardly any traffic. At one point, I was starting to get a little cold, with the wind blowing all that rain into my face and my rain jacket getting completely soaked. But my feet were still warm inside the neoprene booties, so I kept going. I made it to the ATM, deposited the dough, then headed back into the wind, only in the opposite direction.
I was hoping the wind wouldn't change direction or intensity at noon, and it held steady. Yeah, it was a wild ride back, getting pushed up hills by the wind and getting totally spun out in 42x16 at over 50 kmh on the gentle descents. I was thinking that I could probably have disconnected the chain and just got blown back. So I got back to my car in Blaine in an hour and 20 minutes, and I had taken a slightly longer route back. Yes, about a 25-minute difference over about 38 kilometers just due to the wind direction.
- L.
I also needed to deposit some cash into my US$ checking account, but the nearest Washington Mutual ATM (transactions are free when you use their ATM's, and I tend to be really cheap) was 37 kilometers away in Bellingham. Hence, the bike. The roads between Blaine and Bellingham are really quiet. It was raining, but the big problem was the wind, blowing at gale force from the southeast, exactly the direction I was headed. But I figured I needed a three-hour-plus ride since I wouldn't be able to ride tomorrow (Sunday).
So I plowed into the wind for about an hour and 45 minutes. It would get ridiculous at the tops of hills, with gusts of wind pushing me sideways, but fortunately there was hardly any traffic. At one point, I was starting to get a little cold, with the wind blowing all that rain into my face and my rain jacket getting completely soaked. But my feet were still warm inside the neoprene booties, so I kept going. I made it to the ATM, deposited the dough, then headed back into the wind, only in the opposite direction.
I was hoping the wind wouldn't change direction or intensity at noon, and it held steady. Yeah, it was a wild ride back, getting pushed up hills by the wind and getting totally spun out in 42x16 at over 50 kmh on the gentle descents. I was thinking that I could probably have disconnected the chain and just got blown back. So I got back to my car in Blaine in an hour and 20 minutes, and I had taken a slightly longer route back. Yes, about a 25-minute difference over about 38 kilometers just due to the wind direction.
- L.