6/09/98
I'm finally starting to get over my illness from the last couple weeks. After my last entry, I got a slight head cold which gave me some nasal congestion. I didn't race last week, but I think that was better for me in the long run.
Since I felt better this past weekend, I went on the team training ride on Saturday, and a solo ride on Sunday. On Saturday, we did a 50 mile ride through the Snohomish area, which included many hills. Don P, Brian, Max and I did the whole ride, and Ken and Tony turned back after the first half. It was very nice weather, and a good ride.
On Sunday, the Mercer Island Time Trial race was held. I knew a few of the team members were going to be there, so I decided to ride on down there to take a look. I rode by myself, trying to keep up a good pace. I think I did alright, since I managed to do 50 miles in under 3 hours, through some hilly areas. I got to Mercer Island and went counter-clockwise, since I remember Michael Perry telling me that the TT course was clockwise. Sure enough, I saw some riders in their aero-gear going the other direction. I kept going, and ever once in a while, another person would go the other way fast. I couldn't tell if they were racing or if they were just warming up. I saw Geneva going the other way, but I'm sure she couldn't tell it was me, since I was not wearing my team jersey.
Eventually I found the starting area. It turned out they were probably racing already. Not too many people at the start area, but a few tandems. I didn't see anyone from my team, so I headed back.
Between the west side of Lake Washington and Mercer Island is the I-90 bridge. It has a bike path on it, and I ride it quite often. The bike path on the west side pulls off about where the freeway goes into a tunnel, which eventually leads to downtown Seattle. There is a big hill between Lake Washington and downtown. I had read somewhere that there was a I-90 bike tunnel, but I had never seen it before. So I decided to take a look. Sure enough, about where I expected there to be a tunnel was a tunnel. It was quite long, but clean and well lit. I decided to take a look. I was kind of surprised to find a rather nice park on the other end. Not too many people, just some sculpture and lots of grass. I kept going for a bit longer, and it was clear that I could ride my bike to downtown. I was kind of happy to find another possible bike path to explore in the future.