There's hardcore and then there's hardcore

Last Sunday was Halloween so I decided to dress up as a Randonneur and go for a ride. This was a special ride for a number of reasons:

1. This was my twelfth consecutive month with an official rando ride of 200km or more thus earning my first R-12 award.
2. It was the first real ride on my new bike, a Velo Orange Randonneur.
3. It was Halloween. duh.
4. It didn't rain even though it was late October. Well, it didn't rain much.
5. Near the end of the ride I rode through the drunken procession to a Sounder's game at Quest stadium... on Halloween!! (The only thing more entertaining than a bunch of drunk Sounder's fans in full green game regalia, is a bunch of drunk Sounder's fans in Halloween day full green game regalia.)
6. And if the Sounder's fan's weren't enough, I finished the ride on the top of Queen Anne where thousands of miniature Power Rangers, Princesses, Sponge Bobs, Wonder Women, Cowboys, Storm Troopers and Mermaids were parading down Queen Anne Ave and harassing the local merchants for free candy.

I really couldn't have asked for a better ride to put a fork in 12 months of Randonneuring.

The route started and ended on the top of Queen Anne. It headed North up to Edmonds, then over to Woodinville, Snohomish, Monroe, South through the Snoqualamie river valley to Fall City, on around the south end of lake Washington, and finally through downtown Seattle and back to the top of Queen Anne.

A nice Raleigh Superbe at the ferry terminal in Edmonds

I really enjoyed this entire route. It was a great mix of urban and quiet country roads. It had a bit of suburbs too which I'm never fond of, but you just can't get from the city to the country without going through the 'burbs.

The weather was pretty fantastic all day too. Cool, mostly clear, a few sprinkles but I never really got wet.

My new 'neuse taking a break near Carnation

Ah, and the new bike seems to be working out very well. It rides like a Cadillac, very smooth and steady. It's not a bike to win a Criterium on, but it loves to gobble up the miles. Even though I haven't been riding a lot lately, I felt good at the end of the fairly hilly 200km and I attribute that to the ride quality of this bike. It also doesn't hurt that it's a couple pounds lighter than the old Cross Check.

This sort of reminded me of that Rembrandt painting with all the guys standing around looking at a cadaver.

As I came through the Mt Baker/I-90 tunnel heading for Queen Anne and the end of the ride, I came upon a bike polo game underway in Judkins Park. Some people think I'm hardcore because of the long rides I do. Pffffft! These guys playing bike polo? They are hardcore! I was humbled watching what they could do on a bike.

Semi hardcore - Bike polo in Judkins Park.

Anyway, overall it was another perfect day on a bike. And I even made it home in plenty of time to head out trick-or-treating with Adam. Wait... did I say the bike polo guys are hardcore? Maybe, but Adam trick-or-treating is as hardcore as it gets.