January 6th, 2015
Bellingham, WA to Lynden, WA and back
32 miles
1140 ft ascent/descent
Partly cloudy, 45-50 degrees
I've just moved to Bellingham to start school at Western Washington University. Today was the first day of classes, and after my first class, I decided to take a ride. I had gone on one yesterday, but it was only about 15 miles and mostly just to get myself oriented, so I wanted to do something more serious today to get back into the swing of things.
What I noticed first off was how gorgeous the scenery is out here. Yesterday it had been cloudy and rainy, obscuring visibility. But today, I could see it all. To the east, jagged purple mountains jut out from these lush and incredibly green coastal plains. To the west, I catch glimpses of the San Juans rising out of the Pacific. It's pretty surreal. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera on this ride. Next time!
I picked this route today mostly because it was nearly impossible for me to get lost. There were only 3 turns I had to remember over the entire ride, and most of it was along one straight country road. Still, it was the hardest ride I've done to date! In addition to climbing 1140 feet, I had to do most of the hard climbs in traffic! And whenever I'm in traffic, I always feel compelled to go as fast as I can so I don't aggravate the drivers around me. That's not necessarily the best technique for climbing, however... It would have been better to pace myself. Because of this, I was so worn out by the end of my ride that I couldn't bike up the hill back to my apartment complex.
Peter and I want to do a mini-triathalon sometime in the summer, so I'm going to try to start swimming twice a week and running in addition to cycling! First, though, I'll get the hang of my school schedule.
