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View Full Version : xythen,Khuon, and ngateguy part deaux


ngateguy
02-10-04, 04:19 AM
Well the three of us did another ride on Sunday. xythen had successfully achieved a few 20 mile rides so it was time to take her on her first 30 miler (31 and some change). We met at my house in Everett and headed up the Valley toward Monroe. This is personally one of my favorite rides since I can do it right out my front door and in 5 minutes you are pedaling through farm land. This was xythen's first long ride on the open road. We had one incident with an SUV when we were getting ready get on a bike trail that parallels Hwy 2 (The Hewitt Ave Trestle). He calmed down rather quickly when he noticed the state patrol cruiser in the other lane. But that was after he went screaming by us. That was the only problem driver of the whole trip.

Coming down the other side of the trestle there was a mattress and box spring that somebody dumped on the trail. After a couple of jokes about nap time we pushed on. The run is fairly flat for most most of the trip. But it is broken up by some rolling hills and a a ton of great scenery. khuon and I took turns acting as sweep and taking point. That gave us a chance to stretch our legs and still keep xythen company.

The weather report was mixed (chance of showers) so the sky was pretty dark and it was on the cool side (mid 40'sF) it did look threatening for a while but we never got hit by any rain. It seemed like no time at all when hit Monroe and after a quick break we decided to head back and stop for lunch in Snohomish (no micros on this run thats still about 10 miles back to Everett). We stopped and had lunch at a Mexican place on the river. The food was good and we all cleaned our plates and put a healthy dent in the chips and salsa. We sat around and talked about world travels (well khuon and xythen my world travels consist of a cross Canada car trip, several visits to Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and a couple of vacations in Mexico), skiing and other stuff. We also planned on doing an organized ride together in March up in the Marysville neighborhood. We saddled up and headed out for the last leg of our journey which was a long flat run along the river back in Everett.

The sun and blue sky began to appear so it made a nice end to our journey. We all got pack to my place and I helped khuon and xythen load up (they carpooled) and we made plans to ride again in a couple of weeks. xythen is planning on buying a new road bike so she is probably going to start kicking our butts in the up coming rides. All in all it was another outstanding way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Of course khuon took some pics so here is the link (xythen has a better agent than I she got more photo ops than I ;) )

http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/gallery/20040208-everett-monroe

P.S. Sam I don't know if you can tell but I lost the hippie look :D

BlastRadius
02-10-04, 09:28 AM
Glad you guys could hook up again. It must be nice to have nice long flats so close to home.
Xythen, make sure you get another Bianchi!

Robert Gardner
02-10-04, 11:49 PM
It is really nice seeing photos of where other people ride recreationally.

khuon
02-11-04, 03:44 AM
We had one incident with an SUV when we were getting ready get on a bike trail that parallels Hwy 2 (The Hewitt Ave Trestle). He calmed down rather quickly when he noticed the state patrol cruiser in the other lane. But that was after he went screaming by us. That was the only problem driver of the whole trip.

Actually as we were heading out of Snohomish on our way back to Everett and you were ahead of us, a pickup truck came within inches of me. He actually crossed into the shoulder. I was in the tail position and feared he was going to edge over even more and strike xythen who was just up ahead. Luckily he managed to swerve back over into his lane.



Of course khuon took some pics so here is the link (xythen has a better agent than I she got more photo ops than I ;) )

That's not really fair. If you peruse the rest of my gallery, you'll find plenty of pictures of ngateguy... of course a good many of them has him holding a deflated inner tube. :) Luckily, he didn't have any mechanical troubles on this ride although xythen's bike started developing a clicking-noise ten miles from the end of the trip. We think it might have been her pedals.

It's too bad my battery pack, which was half-charged, decided to crap out midway through the ride and I forgot to bring my spare. However, you can see more pictures of the same route from a previous ride (under much more pleasent weather conditions) I did with ngateguy by going to:

http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/gallery/mukilteo-monroe/

Xythen
02-11-04, 12:27 PM
Thanks for the trip report and the photos! That was fun! *pant* *wheeze*

Xythen has a better agent than I she got more photo ops than I.


I think it was more that Khuon spent more time babysitting me than you did. :p If you hadn't been larking around so much- you might have gotten some photo ops. It's all about being in the right place at the right time, baby! ;)


Make sure you get another Bianchi

Oh, the cruel temptations that exist in the LBS! Get thee behind me Specialized...and Trek...and Litespeed...and...

*tee*

Zin
02-11-04, 01:41 PM
Thanks for sharing!

I just can't get over all the GREEN in the photos! Everything here is either BROWN or WHITE.....

ngateguy
02-11-04, 01:42 PM
If you hadn't been larking around so much- *

Larking about, you call that larking about. Girl I was advanced scout, and thats a lot of hard work. Keeping the road clear of any potential dangers like lions, tigers, and bears. :eek:

Not to mention injuns and banditos, very dangerous work indeed :D

I've just got two words for you: Bianchi Eros

khuon
02-11-04, 05:14 PM
Larking about, you call that larking about. Girl I was advanced scout, and thats a lot of hard work. Keeping the road clear of any potential dangers like lions, tigers, and bears. :eek:

Not to mention injuns and banditos, very dangerous work indeed :D

... and matresses and boxsprings and emus! :D

Xythen
02-11-04, 07:47 PM
Larking about, you call that larking about. Girl I was advanced scout, and thats a lot of hard work

Oh! It looked like larking to me... but if you say not :rolleyes:

What do I know?


Eros, huh?

ngateguy
02-11-04, 08:39 PM
Oh! It looked like larking to me... but if you say not :rolleyes:

What do I know?


You didn't see any lions,tigers,bears,injuns,or banditos did you? ;)



Eros, huh?

Well you already know I have a bias toward Bianchi. The Eros is designed for long distances. It is steel framed with a slightly longer wheel base, which makes it a more comfortable ride for doing things like the STP. I was seriously looking at the Eros to replace my San Remo when I decide to go with the Grizzly and rebuild the Remo. It has Campy Mirage components which I really don't have any experience with so I can't tell you what it's like.

However as a cross over to racing you might want to look over the Giro it is Aluminum framed so it is lighter and it has shimano 105's on it. Thats what I have on the Softride only it is a triple ring so you would be able to do hills better than I can on the Softride. The 105's are what give me my speed it ain't my skinny legs :D

The aluminum is not a comfortable on long rides. Check with khuon on Ti and Carbon bikes if you want to go that route he is more knowledgeable about those.



Giro (http://www.bianchiusa.com/giro.html)

Eros (http://www.bianchiusa.com/eros.html)

Eros Donna (http://www.bianchiusa.com/eros_donna.html)

BlastRadius
02-11-04, 10:35 PM
Bianchi Volpe = Vixen. Plus you can Cyclocross on it in the Fall :D

Xythen
02-13-04, 11:30 AM
You didn't see any lions,tigers,bears,injuns,or banditos did you? ;)


Hmm...no. I didn't see those. But I did see Emus, and various bedding bits. So hopefully you'll do a better job next time. :D



Bianchi Volpe = Vixen

I like the sound of that! Meow! ;)