thoughts from Seattle

Well it is not typical Seattle weather, ie it is not raining cats and dogs sideways at least part of each day. It has been very enjoyable weather, maybe a little chilly but other than that it is sunny and beautiful. The scenery here is amazing, when it is clear you are basicaly confronted with spectacular mountain tops graced with snow wherever your eyes may look. Rainer, the Olympics and the Cascades, just awsome. It is probably these things that keep everyone here. I took the opportunity to rent a bike from Greggs GreenLake Cyclery, and to spend some time in the saddle to get my barings so to speak. I have found that on a bike I feel more a part of what i am experience, more interacitve possiblities and just plain more alive while in the saddle as opposed to being in a car. I feel more out of the box, not so confined and just more connected. I can't really express it any other way than it makes it all seem more alive, and I have more vivid memories, I can create more lasting impressions in my mind than I can while in a car, and I can see more than just walking around, even though at times this is a very effective tool.
Yesterday my girlfriend and I rode through a majority of the neighborhoods in Seattle. She had participated in a group ride last year called the Spawning Cycle, and we attempted to recreate the route. We mad a few mistakes but had a great time. She is not much of a competitve cyclist, much more recreational than i so we took our time, and I must tip my hat to her, i was very impressed. For someone who has not been riding much at all since last year and before that she just rode casually, she did very well. For her to ride 40+ miles and stay mostly intacted except for one low sugar point is awsome. Today I needed to get out and do some more riding so I rode the Burke Gilman trail over to Redmond to meet Kent Patterson, at the Sammamish Valley Cycle, www.sammamishcycle.com, i was hoping that he would be working, and low and behold he was. We had a nice conversation and I wished that i had a camera because I took a look at his rig that he will be riding in the divide race, www.greatdividerace.com, but more on that conversation later. For those of you that dont know who he is he is going to compete in the Great Divide Race on a single speed bike, we connected immediatly and it was nice to meet another soul on a similar path in life. I hope to stay in touch with him. Time to be getting moving agian, tonight we are going out with Danielles parents and then tommarrow I am back to REno and all the guest waiting in the chairs at the restaurant, but it sure has been a nice break to be away from the daily grind and all.