3speedseattle

[3speedseattle]

that's kinda clever

[3speedseattle]

Had a fun time exploring the Snoqualmie Tunnel and surrounding area. 3-Speed "mountain biking" anyone?

[3speedseattle]

Got a hefty package in at the post office. Fortunately, my trailer was juuuuust big enough for it

[3speedseattle]

Was biking home last night and hit a bump and felt something under my butt snap. Looks like I busted my nice Brooks saddle :C

[3speedseattle]

Bike news: my hub kept slipping out of gear so I took it to the shop. Two options: a complete rebuild, or buy a new hub. I opted for the second, and got a brand new Sturmey-Archer SRC3 rear hub. Laced it into my wheel, and I'm good to go again

[3speedseattle]

Okay but this particular style of bike rack is so annoying because it's impossible to get a u-lock through both the frame of the bike and the rack. I hate seeing these racks.

Shout out to my true love: waveform bike racks.

I love you bike racks, please come and visit my city some day. You add so much to an urban environment are the only form of parking that looks presentable

[3speedseattle]

World's most useless bike rack?

[3speedseattle]

3 Speed October Week 2 Ride 2: 10/11

Miles: 5

Weather: Rain

I forgot something at work, so I made a quick jaunt down to the ship. It's a nice ride, using the Westlake Cycle Track. The weather held off on my way down, but while I was getting my stuff out of the ship, the heavens opened. Oh well, fortunately I had my rain cape with me!

@urbanadventureleague

[3speedseattle]

Three Speed October: Week 2 Ride 1 10/8

Miles: 5

Weather: Overcast, low 60's

In honor of Indigenous People's Day, the National Nordic Museum over in Ballard was free on Sunday! I've been meaning to check out their new temporary exhibit (Arctic Highways: the art of 12 Indigenous Artists from Circumpolar communities), so I decided to drop by before work.

Of course, getting to Ballard means dealing with the dreaded Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman trail. Since it was a Sunday, it also meant dismounting to walk through the Ballard Sunday Farmer's Market, which closes off the street I usually use. (That was okay, it gave me a chance to grab lunch)

The museum has teamed up with a Danish artist to install giant trolls all over the state, so of course I had to get a photo with one.

I also bought some spoke reflectors from the museum gift shop. I'm a sucker for shiny things.

I then headed straight to work (with another stop to walk through the Fremont Sunday Market, since it blocks the bike lane that gets me up and over the Fremont Bridge)

@urbanadventureleague

[3speedseattle]

Three Speed October: Week 1 Ride 3. 10/7

Miles: 4

Weather: Sunny, upper 70s

I had a little trip to make after work on Saturday, so I headed up to REI for some shopping. (Boy, I could spend hours in REI I swear)

That done, I headed home with a stop at a place for dinner. They had a neat hanging bike rack, with an old air pump and tools on chains. Love seeing creative (but still usable) bike racks like this.

@urbanadventureleague

[3speedseattle]

Three Speed October 2023: Week 1 Ride 2. 10/5

Miles: 6.5

Weather: Sunny, low 70's

On Thursday, I had to make an unexpected trip to the storage facility where I keep my car. (I know, a car, who are you and what have you done with Ed?). I got a call that one of my tires had gone flat, so I needed to go fix that.

So I left work and biked home to fetch my bicycle tire pump, then took the Ship Canal Trail over to the storage facility (with a pause at the Fremont Bridge, which went up to let the daily Gravel Barge through). Ten minutes of pumping brought my car tire back to full (boy was that hard work), then I biked home to make an appointment to get my tire fixed.

@urbanadventureleague

[3speedseattle]

Three Speed October 2023: Week One, Ride One 10/4

Distance: 10 miles

Weather: Upper 60's, sunny/ Upper 50's, clear

On the first wednesday of the month, I go to a certain bar to hang out with friends. It's a bit of a grind getting there, I must admit. First, I have to ascend my nemesis (Stone Way Hill), before skirting the eastern shore of Greenlake. Then I can cut east and keep climbing, until I finally reach the bar.

The nice thing is that I can do this ride almost entirely by bike lane, except for the last bit, which is on a quiet residential street.

Getting home is a bit easier, since it's all downhill!

@urbanadventureleague

[3speedseattle]

It's been a bit of a storm of bike trouble. I was getting ready to head to work when I noticed that I had a broken spoke and a flat tire. I had a spare spoke in my repair kit, so I pumped up my tire and went to work (I couldn't work at home due to heavy rain)

On my way to work, my pedal suddenly felt funny. And that's when my crank arm fell off. So I walked the rest of the way to work and got a socket wrench to put my crank arm back on.

Got my wheel off and discovered that, because my old spoke broke off at the nipple, I couldn't reuse the nipple. So I had to make a trip to a bike shop in the morning to get a new nipple.

Finally, I laced in the new spoke, trued the wheel, and patched the hole in my tube. I also took the time to clean my whitewalls (which weren't looking too white anymore) and scrubbed the road grime from my bike.

Of course, over the next few days, my crank arm kept loosening itself. Turns out, I wore out the crank arm. Must be biking too much. I dropped my bike off at a shop, and hopefully I'll have a new crank arm when I go to get it today.

[3speedseattle]

These are kind of fun. It's nice to know the stoplight loop has detected me.

[3speedseattle]

Went for a hard ride on Tuesday.

I needed to meet up with someone in Kirkland, so I saddled up and headed for the 520 bridge. My first time traveling over this particular floating bridge (I've done I-90 a couple times)

The bike lane is nice and wide and well paved, but also very undulating. I walked up a fair few inclines, and more once I got off the 520 trail and onto surface streets again.

After 12.5 miles of very hard work, I reached the person's house and we went out for a hike. Then, not wanting to return the way I'd come (I'd gone down some grades I wasn't keen to go back up) I instead went and found the Sammammish River Trail and took it to the Burke-Gilman. Longer, yes, but significantly more pleasant than a trail that hugs the highway.

Total miles: about 30, with lots of hills included.

[3speedseattle]

New books!

"The Mechanical Horse: How the Bicycle Reshaped American Life" is an interesting overview of the cultural impact that bicycles had on society, more specifically American society. From women's dress reform, to how bicycle mechanics built the first working airplane, this book covers a broad range of topics. I was especially interested in the use of bicycles in war, and may go read up more on that topic.

"Bicycle: the History" is an in-depth look at how the bicycle evolved. Starting with the kick-propelled Draisinne, going through the Velocipede or "boneshaker" and the high-wheeler, all the way to the modern safety bicycle. Each era of bicycling gets its own wonderfully illustrated and researched, detailed examination.

[3speedseattle]

Up in the stand again. I snapped my shifter cable on my way to the grocery store, and wouldn't you know it, Sturmey Archer uses a proprietary type of cable for their old trigger-shifters.

Which meant I went to four bike shops before I found one that had S-A cables in stock, and had to leave my bike for a few days to get the job done. So nice to have it back now and not jammed in 3rd gear.