Someday soon it will be spring.

[sara]

So yesterday we had an almost-springlike day here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, during which it was (1) not raining, for a change and (2) light late enough that I could go to and from school and it wasn't completely dark the whole time (hooray). And I went up and down a couple of big hills and felt very pleased because it looks like the weight-lifting I did when it was dark and cold is paying off in increased hill-climbing capability now that the weather's not quite so crap.

All of which got me thinking that hey, it's nearly long-haul cycle riding season and I have done some but not a lot of planning. I've promised my daughter a camping trip on the tandem once she's out of school, and I'm planning on doing the Alpine Century fifty-mile course in August (I finished last year, but it was definitely work, and I'd like it to be more fun -- there is a lot of up and down in that course!), and quite possibly some touring with friends in the upper Willamette Valley in mid-August.

How about you, fellow northern hemisphere dwellers? Anyone plotting epic bike adventures this summer? Anyone in the southern hemisphere have an epic bike adventure to share about?

(Yes, going for ice cream on your bike is totally epic. Going to work, I'm not sure about, but ice cream? TOTALLY EPIC.)

Comments

[darkemeralds]

The respite from the rain was really welcome!

Me, the most epic thing I intend to do by bike is perhaps go to a store farther away, or visit friends in a more distant neighborhood than I've ridden to before. Perhaps the really epic thing will be when I sell my car, which I'm getting very close to being willing to seriously consider thinking about probably doing.

[sara]

Selling your car is totally epic. *GRIN* We're down to one car for a family of four, which I think is as epic as we're going to get in that particular direction.

[killing_rose]

I'm planning my usual summer adventures: biking the Tony Knowles Coastal trail, which is hysterical, because I usually get distracted and it takes me 20 miles more than it really should to get home. (No lie.)

I'm also going to try Bird-to-Gird this year, which involves leaving the city and biking down the highway halfway to the Peninsula. (25 to 30 miles, I think. It takes half an hour in a car on a very good day when we're doing 70.)

If I decide to be *really* adventurous, I might even bike to Whittier. But...really, really doubtful. That dirt road's interesting in a car, and so is the tunnel (which I don't think I could get through on a bike to begin with).

Other than that, errands and work and library trips. Also grocery trips, and this might be the year that I actually add something to my bike so that I can haul groceries without aid of a backpack.

[sara]

Hee, I totally did the, "I'm going from Point A to Point B...except that I will also take in Points C-G along the way..." thing yesterday....

[copracat]

Down here in the southern hemisphere I'm hoping to spend a fair bit of time getting the hang of hills and gears. I don't want winter to be too dry - we need the rain - but some dry would be great. I'm modestly hoping to work my way up to the 30km Capital City Trail.