Ride me out to the ball game -Year 3

For the third consecutive year I have ridden my bike to a baseball game.  It was a chance to try and regain some of the fitness I had before I was sick for 10 days and to rack up some clunker challenge miles on the Rock Hopper.

There was even some gravel to ride along the way, just a pull out but still gravel.

There weren't a ton of bikes in the lock up at the stadium but I did notice this newish Salsa adventure bike with a milk crate on the rear rack that created an interesting juxtaposition of sleek and fast with  utilitarian grocery getter.

I tend to go to games when the local Boeing credit union sponsors half price nights, I can get the experience of a beer and a dog and the crack of the bat without spending a ton and then I don't feel too bad for leaving early to take advantage of the fading daylight on the ride back.

I had fully intended to take the bus for the last couple hilly miles home but due to road work it wasn't stopping at its normal place so I ended up slogging the whole way and made it without walking.  Much like the first Clunker challenge bike the saddle on the Rock Hopper is not my friend.  I also noticed I was getting some hand numbness on my right hand towards the end of the ride. Not sure if it was the flat bars, the lack of cushion in the grips or the feedback from the knobbie tires on pavement but if I change things up on this bike eventually it will be interesting to see if the numbness goes away.  I am also interested to see if the pavement tires improve the forward momentum of the bike.  I have noticed that even after booming down a long hill my momentum quickly dissipated on a small rise.  I don't expect the RH to behave like a road bike but since it has no suspension fork I was surprised by how quickly I lost momentum. 

I was going to get a picture of the bike at the top of the bridge with the city behind but as I stopped to take the picture they started sounding the alarm that the bridge was going to open for boat traffic and I thought better of my plan and quickly scurried off the bridge.

Ride to ball game. Drink beer. Smile. Repeat.