A Scooter Trip to Redmond

This has been a busy summer at the bike shop and often my days off from work involve relaxing by wandering around Issaquah with Christine, having breakfast at a local cafe or reading some terrific book. It's a good life but it doesn't generate a lot of compelling bike blog content, so I've been kind of quiet here. Christine still loves biking to work and we have a bike tour planned for September but these days I'm more likely to be seen scootering around town instead of biking.

Yesterday, after a terrific breakfast, I hopped on my NYCeWheels KickPed and rolled out toward Redmond. The trail from Issaquah to Sammamish is paved now, but at the Sammamish line it turns to gravel so I rode up the shoulder of the Parkway to Redmond.

This mother deer had two fawns with her (if you look close you can see one behind her) and she acted like she'd never seen a man on a kick scooter before.

The trail pavement resumes at the Redmond town line.

I stopped at a coffee shop and then headed over to the Redmond Library. I like this little bit of art.

The Friends of the Library have a sale shelf and I got these three books for the grand total of $1.75. This is what old hippies like me spend their money on.

I'm not the only one who uses a scooter to get around town. A kid who looked to be about three years old rolled up and parked his scooter at the bike rack just as I was leaving.

The geese were sunning themselves on a log in the Sammamish River.

I rolled towards home through Marymoor Park.

Back at the Sammamish line, I rolled back onto the shoulder of the Parkway.

I tend to find things when I wander about. Yesterday's find was a nice bundle of nylon cord.

This is the view south along the trail in Issaquah.

Along Gilman Boulevard, the peaches were ripe in the trees.

I was almost home, but I stopped to eat three peaches. They were delicious.

I'm still kind of amazed at how easy it is for me to rack up miles on the scooter. Google maps tells me the Redmond Library is 14 miles from my home, but it didn't feel far. It felt fun.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah, WA USA

Wisdom from The Oatmeal

The Oatmeal writes some very funny stuff and sometimes he writes some very wise stuff. (His wise stuff is also often very funny.) This piece about why he runs is wonderful. If you run or bike or ride a kick scooter or rollerblade or hike or whatever, I think you'll find some real value (and entertainment) in this post.

So click the link and read:

The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances

Keep 'em rolling and get out there,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

Trelock FS 300: A Review

For years Christine and I have used u-locks and while such locks provide a good level of security, they are bulky and heavy. Also a u-lock isn't very adaptable when it comes to locking your bike to unusually shaped objects. The Trelock FS 300 is a different kind of a lock, more secure than a cable, more flexible than a u-lock. When the folks at Cantitoe Road offered me a Trelock FS 300 for review, I took them up on their offer.

At 750 grams the FS 300 is lighter than many u-locks. The lock consists of six metal plates that are riveted together. The plates are coated in a rugged plastic to keep the lock from scratching your bike and the rivets pinning the plates together look substantial. The lock folds into a compact package and comes with a nicely designed mount that can be either bolted to the bottle bosses on your bike or secured to your frame with some sturdy nylon hose-type clamps. The lock comes with two serialized keys and key replacement service is available. The locking mechanism is smooth and secure, consisting of a steel cam that rotates 180 degrees to completely capture the mushroom head of the last of the lock's pivoting plates.

Folded, the lock is smaller than a water bottle and unfolded the sum of the length of the plates is 85 cm.

Christine has always preferred to use a Camelbak or a bottle that she carries in her bike basket, finding that more convenient than reaching down for a bottle crammed between the twin tubes of her Allant's compact frame. The FS 300 lock fits into that space perfectly.

I have not tested the FS 300 by leaving a bike in a rough neighborhood overnight and I'm not going to destroy a perfectly good lock to see just how tough it is. My sense in examining the lock is that it could be defeated with some determined work with a saw, chisel, or a very big pry bar. While the manufacturer has a video showing the lock resisting a ton of leverage, I think a hardened steel u-lock is a better solution for the highest risk situations.

While u-locks may be the standard in security, they tend to be bulky and it's hard to find a good place to carry them, especially on smaller framed bikes. The FS 300 fits into tight places and is a good, medium security lock.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah, WA USA

Skip Bernet writes about the Middle Way

Skip Bernet (aka Eric Sovern) wrote a great post over on the Surly Blog that is quite wonderful. Click on this:

Some Things You may not Need

and read. If you're like me, you'll find yourself nodding your head a lot.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah, WA USA

MicroAdventure: Fay Bainbridge Park

You do not have to go far or be gone very long to have adventures. Take, for example, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Christine and I both work in retail, we work on weekends. Wednesday and Thursdays form our virtual weekend. The first part of the adventure was not very exciting, Christine had to go into Seattle to get a new crown for one of her royal teeth. This was the final fitting, a routine half-hour appointment. We took our bikes, loaded with gear for a camping trip. I guarded the bikes on the mean streets of Seattle (you never know when some latte swilling hipster may attempt to abscond with your velocipede) while Christine got her new crown.

After the dentist we made our way to the waterfront and caught the ferry to Bainbridge Island. The ferry offers an excellent view of the Seattle waterfront, including the giant Ferris Wheel. Thanks to Stephen King, I shall forever refer to the Ferris Wheel as a Chump Hoister.

Did I mention that the weather is a mix of clouds, rain and blah? Hey, it's June in the Pacific Northwest. If I was writing this report about going to France, I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time pointing out that people were speaking French. We had weather on this trip and sometimes it wasn't raining.

The Puget Sound ferry system is pretty nice. Bainbridge Island is a quick ferry ride across the sound from Seattle.

I think the shine on the deck will give you a good clue as to the weather when we docked at Bainbridge Island. Rather than roll right out, we stopped and had breakfast for lunch at the Streamliner Diner. After a huge breakfast that would be a great preparation for a nap instead of seven hilly miles of pedalling, we headed off for Fay Bainbridge Park.

Much of the route we are on today is part of the Chilly Hilly bike route. It's not very chilly today, but it still is hilly.

Most of the roads on Bainbridge Island are not very wide, but all the drivers we meet or who pass us are courteous. And the scenery on the island is wonderful.

This little section of Manitou Beach Road is a one way road for drivers with a little counterflow path for cyclists and pedestrians.

Yep, more hills.

The little sign on the pole says "TAKE YOUR TIME." Good advice for this steep section.

The sun is shining when we roll into the park.

We find a nice place and pitch our tent. Cyclists pay $5 per person per night for camping here.

We unpack the rest of our gear and spend the afternoon walking along the beach and curled up in the tent when the showers come (which they do now and then).

The wood is damp so the Kelly Kettle is a bit smoky, but it gets the job done of heating water for dinner.

Fine silverware is not our style, we have titanium sporks.

In the evening, the tide rolls in.

The clouds turn orange.

A bit after 9:00 PM, my pal Mark Canizaro and some of his Bike Works pals roll in. Danny and Robyn are doing this ride as a bit of shakedown trip for their big bike tour which starts on July 5th. Mark and the rest are here for moral support and what the heck, it's a good excuse to go camping.

It rains quite a bit during the night. Christine and I were snug as bugs in our tent under the trees. Mark had moved his bivy at some point in the night to the picnic shelter. But not before a slug had decided to seek shelter from the storm in his bivy. As one of his fellow campers noted, "I'd been considering a bivy until now, but this convinces me a tent is worth the weight."

Even after a very wet night, I find a few twigs dry enough to fuel the Kelly Kettle.

Breakfast is smoked trout, bagels, granola bars, tea and hot chocolate.

A nifty twig fueled camp stove.

A camping pour-over coffee set-up.

Packed up and ready to roll.

Back at the ferry.

And back to Seattle. We loaded the bikes on the bus and headed for home.

This wasn't quite a sub-24 hour overnight as we were gone for a bit more than 24 hours. Just a quick trip, a ferry ride and a few bike miles from Seattle.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah, WA USA