A New Hope

This week has been one filled with expectation and possibility. On Saturday the sun was out and it felt like a late spring day rather then a middle of winter one. Jared brought over his 'retro' style Trek bike to go riding with my sister and I.
You can see his on the right next to mine. We rode the BPA trail in Federal Way to its end and back. I was able to wear shorts and a t shirt in March! Jared looked a bit more like a biking lumberjack. The woodcutter thing has sort of been his style since Halloween. I guess not many outfits match having a bear in quite the same way.

In other news this week Jason has finally heard back that his bike is being shipped!!!! I can't wait for us to get going! I am also a bit nervous as well, because once he gets his bike and the odometers are activated there is no going back. We will then have one year to complete all 10,000 miles. If one person does not ride for one day, the other is left having to pick up the slack. Too many days off the bike could spell disaster for our goal. But lets not dwell on the negatives. This is a week of the positive!

The last big thing that happened this week is Google Maps has added the option to calculate the best route between points A and B on bicycles! It has a number of differences between bike and car. Car maps try to find the busiest and fastest roads. Bike maps try to keep you away from cars (no offence drivers - you are just a bit dangerous), as well as keep your hill climbing to a less severe angle. So for instance, to get from my work to my car I would go up Boren (a very steep hill), Google would instead instruct me to take Pike then 12th instead. I know Jason prefers this less steep option. Here is an example of the Google Bike Map from our Saturday BPA ride. Notice the majority of the trip is on trails not accessible by car. This is something Google has not been able to do until now. Hopefully this will open up all sorts of new rides in this year to come. Soon the clock begins!

-Ry