March 29, 2013

• A Bicycle Ride, by Steve

  I live 312 feet above sea level. Today I decided to get out in the beautiful weather, ride the bike, shop for Easter, and fill a propane bottle. For reference, my BBQ propane tank bottle weighs 18 lbs and holds 20 lbs of propane.

  I loaded up the trailer, attached it to my bicycle and set off for the nearest propane fill center. The dealer is near downtown Ballard, effectively at the bottom of my 312 foot hill. I rode the brakes all the way there.

  This is also near the Burke-Gilman Trail so before filling up I took a spin east along the trail. This picture was taken between the Aurora (left) and Fremont (right) bridges.

   

  When my speedometer read 10 miles, I turned and headed back home. The ride felt great. I met several cyclists pulling trailers with children. One noticed mine did NOT have a child. I explained this was lighter and easier than the three I used to pull. Once back in Ballard I tried to find the propane dealer. I only had to backtrack once, adding an extra fifty feet to my climb.

  Once filled, the bottle weight increases to almost 40 pounds. I still had grocery shopping to do so I climbed back up that extra fifty feet of elevation gain to get to the store. I used my cable lock to loop the bike, trailer, and propane bottle to the bike rack. My grocery list included a five pound sack of flour!

  All that remained was the nearly 280 feet of climbing to get home. Did you figure the extra weight I am pulling? Why can't the propane dealer have a store near the top of my Ballard climb?

  Throughout the ride I felt great and kept up with the UW coeds flying down the bike path trying to get to class on time. Once the shopping was done, I found myself on the third chain ring spinning about 85 rpm to get up the never ending hill. At one point I saw my speed drop to 4 mph. I started feeling the aches and pains before cresting the last hill, but finally made it home. A quart of water, beer, and two ibuprofen later I can finally relax with a gin and tonic. Good Friday has arrived!

  • 8:21 pm
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