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7 Hills of Kirkland



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 30th 06, 03:49 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.rides
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Default 7 Hills of Kirkland

I've had a long recovery from some sort of chest cold, and yesterday I
finally felt like riding, after about a week off of the bike.

My husband said he'd be willing to go around Lake Sammamish, a little
bone thrown to me because that's a pretty short and doopie ride. I was
looking for at least 30 miles, so I said I'd just ride by myself. And I
didn't want to do anything that involved my regular commute (yawn) or
going around Lake Washington (double yawn, plus you don't want to be on
the Burke Gilman Trail on a holiday weekend). I finally decided I'd
ride up and around Kirkland.

So, after doing a couple hours of gardening and lunch, I headed out.
While on the way there, I noticed a freshly painted 7 with a circle
around it, and I thought, wow, they've just repainted the Dan Henrys
for the 7 Hills of Kirkland ride. I bet it's coming up really soon.
Then, as I was climbing up a hill, there was someone in front of me
riding even slower, which is a pretty rare event. As I got closer to
him, I saw that he had a ride number on his back; even closer, and I
saw it said, "7 Hills of Kirkland - May 28, 2006" on it, and I thought,
duh, that ride's today!

I rode in to downtown Kirkland, along with some slow pokes that were
still on the course. I saw a huge knot of cyclists in the downtown
park, and I figured that must be the start/finish line. I skipped that
congested scene, and as I had originally planned, started up the Market
Street hill. There continued to be Dan Henrys even though there was no
one now riding along with me, and I realized this must be the start of
the ride route.

What happened was that I ended up doing almost all of the Seven Hills
of Kirkland, about four hours after the last riders should have left
the start line, and starting it in the middle. I've never done that
ride before, although it has a good reputation. If I had been on top of
things, I would have skipped the gardening in the morning and done the
ride right for real. I guess this way I didn't support services for
the homeless (it's a charity ride for transitional housing), but then
again, I didn't draw on any ride services other than the Dan Henrys
which you'll see on the pavement for the rest of the year. Oh, and a
sign on one shoulderless road that warned cars to look out for bikes
that had not yet been taken down, that otherwise wouldn't have been out
there.

And it was a most enjoyable ride. I skipped out on a loop that would
have included Winery and Kingsgate Hill, so it was really the 5 Hills
of Kirkland for me. But I also had the ride from the house to Kirkland,
and back again, so I got a couple of hills of Redmond along the way. I
was surprised, considering that I've done a lot of bicycling in the
area, how much of the north end of the route was unfamiliar to me. I
had never been on top of Norway Hill before, and was most impressed
with the scenery and the views. In the past I was a little spooked by
the 7 Hills moniker, but I was surprised at really how easy all the
hills were. I remember even Juanita Hill being a bit of a slog in the
past; this time, while I did put it in the granny a few times, it was
mostly spin spin spin to the top, not a struggle at all. I would
definitely make a point of doing this ride officially next year. It's a
little early in the year to do the century version of it, but I'd do
the classic 7 Hills again, maybe even do the metric century version.

Anyway, the ride's website is http://www.7hillskirkland.com/, which
includes maps and elevation profiles, if you wanted to take a gander.

Warm Regards,


Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

PS, one day Earthlink will fix their &%$#@ newsserver, and then I won't
be using Google Groups to read/post, argh, how do other people stand it?

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  #2  
Old May 31st 06, 05:23 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.rides
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Default 7 Hills of Kirkland

Claire wrote:
And it was a most enjoyable ride. I skipped out on a loop that would
have included Winery and Kingsgate Hill, so it was really the 5 Hills
of Kirkland for me. But I also had the ride from the house to Kirkland,
and back again, so I got a couple of hills of Redmond along the way. I
was surprised, considering that I've done a lot of bicycling in the
area, how much of the north end of the route was unfamiliar to me. I
had never been on top of Norway Hill before, and was most impressed
with the scenery and the views. In the past I was a little spooked by
the 7 Hills moniker, but I was surprised at really how easy all the
hills were. I remember even Juanita Hill being a bit of a slog in the
past; this time, while I did put it in the granny a few times, it was
mostly spin spin spin to the top, not a struggle at all. I would
definitely make a point of doing this ride officially next year. It's a
little early in the year to do the century version of it, but I'd do
the classic 7 Hills again, maybe even do the metric century version.


Glad you're in such good condition Claire. I was at the Great Western
Bicycle Rally climbing Old Creek Rd at about the same time. One hill
was enough thank you (if you don't count all of the rollers to Highway
41 and the climb up Highway 41 and the 5 good rollers on the way back
Highway 46).

  #3  
Old May 31st 06, 07:10 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.rides
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Default 7 Hills of Kirkland

"Tom" wrote in message
ups.com...
Claire wrote:


In the past I was a little spooked by
the 7 Hills moniker, but I was surprised at really how easy all the
hills were.


Glad you're in such good condition Claire. I was at the Great Western
Bicycle Rally climbing Old Creek Rd at about the same time. One hill
was enough thank you (if you don't count all of the rollers to Highway
41 and the climb up Highway 41 and the 5 good rollers on the way back
Highway 46).


What were the grades like?

I'm not in such great condition, and I'm notoriously slow up hills. But it
seems like I can get up anything, given enough time.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky


  #4  
Old May 31st 06, 10:59 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.rides
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Default 7 Hills of Kirkland

Claire Petersky wrote:

What were the grades like?


Old Creek Road is something like 6 miles long but only about 3 miles of
it is steep and that part is steep - perhaps 9 percent over the most of
it with some really steep spots for short distances here and there. I
stopped a couple of times to let my heart rate come down but I probably
didn't have to do that. The ride was about 60 miles overall and I still
felt good at the end of it though part of that was knowing that I
wouldn't be riding the next day.

In fact I was feeling good enough that I raced a little with a couple
of younger guys who had passed me on climbs earlier. Us older guys may
not be as fast when everyone is fresh but we're faster after everyone
is tired.

I'm not in such great condition, and I'm notoriously slow up hills. But it
seems like I can get up anything, given enough time.


I always say that, but really steep stuff just gets to you. I'll be
doing the Sierra Century metric this next weekend and I've my questions
about which bike to take since I recall the climb after Volcano as a
real bugger and some 6 miles long. Think I'll take the Fuji which is my
second lightest bike and has a compact crank on it along with a 13-27.

Last year I had a 24-34 but that was on my 35 lb touring bike and after
riding 160 miles up there the preceeding two days.

 




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