Well this time I decided to hit the road instead of hitting the gym to do my workout after my work shift ended. I went to the public library and spent nearly 1 hour trying to map my destination. Now...I only been bikeing since May 2009 (then my bike got stolen right out of my garage and after a bad ankle sprain which I recieved from a Schwinn Hybrid model I didn't restart my biking untill August of the same year with my current Lustre 1 Diamondback womens Mt. Bike. I returned that d^mn Schwinn bike and got my money back). I took a good look at my already beat up Seattle Bicycling Guide Map of the route that I planned out for my workout. Looks pretty clear to me so far, mapped out my major break points at the major intersections that I need to take, what can go wrong right? After all Im heading down 5th AVE NE to 80th to loop half around Green Lake and catch 65th to 15th that turns into Holman Rd and then back to mi casa. 

Well everything is going just fine. However I didn't expect the hill on 5th AVE to be quit long where I had to take a 1 minute break cuz when I head up those things I try to head up fast even in high gear so I can just get it over with. Thats not to say that I hate hills, infact I like hills as long as I don't run into�the ones that Lance Armstrong likes to train on, you know like Denny's and Queen Anne. So for the most part this ride is going well, legs are burning, heart rate is up, zoom up the hill and then its just rolling to flat for a long while. Only then it clicks into my head that my feet are freezing in 45 degree weather. Lesson learned Olga...Don't wear your running shoes when bike riding. Unfortunately thats the only shoes I brought with me because they are lighter and fit my backpack just fine. Every once in a while I stop at certain intersections to see where Im at on the map all this time while thinking to myself, "Wow I must really look like a complete dumb@$$ for rotateing my map up-side-down just to see where Im at in front of all those drivers".

Well I finally get down to Greenlake, successfully. Thats where things started to go not as I planned on my map. Im breathing, huffin and puffin at times and why can't I find that d^mned 65th St. Oh wait...THERE IT IS! Well the next 5 minutes I spent dragging my bike up a grueling but short hill and somehow wound up on 65th and Ravenna BLVD. "Wait a minute, thats not what I had in mind, how the hell did I get to Ravenna BLVD I don't want a short cut I want some nice flats to rolling hills to regular hills�AND MORE MILES to put down by the end of this next year! That is one of the other important reasons why Im doing this exercise anyway."

You know when you bike at times you have some of the most wierdest thoughts and songs going through your head. In my case I came to realize that trails+bike lanes=less @$$holes to run into on the road. Right about that time I started singing "Hail Jesus your my king" for those who don't know I grew up in Church and often times find myself singing Gospel songs when Im on my bike. Inspirational music is great but is really wrong when your pissed off cuz your lost and keep circling around the Woodland Park Zoo area to find that d^mn 65th St that turns to 15th and then Holman Rd. By this point my water supply is low, I havent even considered running to a FoodMart joint to get more water cuz I did rather well in my intake of water to make sure that I had some drops left� by the time I got onto 15th and Holman.

While riding I made a vow that most male drivers make due to embarrasment. Don't stop and ask for directions. 5 minutes later I did the exact opposite of my vow. Well I found someone, openned my map, showed him where I think I was located at the time, told him where I need to go and he pointed me towards Greenwood AVE. So I took a right towards Greenwood which was not what I originally wanted and went and took a left onto 85th and FINALLY hit Holmand Rd, went around the actually road to one of my point locations and took 3rd up to where I live. That was quite a ride. Went 16.413 miles due to me getting lost around Greenlake. Otherwise it was a greate ride. :D