Where's the hills?

Last week I ventured out to the left coast and visited Seattle with Kelly.  It was a fun trip and if I'm not too lazy I will write a little more about it.  The highlight for me was getting to take a nice long bike ride around Lake Washington. 

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to find the time to get a ride in at all.  Fortunatley some "sister bonding" allowed me to slip away on Tuesday morning and get a ride in.  I was able to rent a 7-speed bike from a local bike shop that was right on a beautiful bike trail, the Burke-Gilman Trail, that took me from the East suburbs of Seattle down around part of the lake and into the Ballard neighborhood.  In between I got to see the University of Washington campus and the Gas Works park which had an awesome view of downtown Seattle. 

The ride ended up being just over 34 miles which is a new personal best for me.  When i was down in Topsail last summer I rode 28 miles in one day so I beat my best by over 6 miles.  I'm sure the cool temperature helped as it was only around 60 degrees when I set out around 10am. 



One of the oddest parts of the ride was how flat the trail was.  Seattle, much like my hometown of Pittsburgh, has some major hills.  I ventured off the path once to make an attempt to get to the top of a hill to get a better view but had to bail out halfway because I just couldn't make it.  It didn't help that it was around mile 29 that I attempted it or that I was on a rental bike with limited gears.

 Overall it was a great ride and one that I remember for a long time.  And now I've got a new record for distance I need to break.