Warm temps and sunny skies bring that tingly feeling that can mean only one thing: Track season is upon us!

But this is one good thing that requires even more waiting: the newly renamed Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome in Redmond is in need of repairs, and those got started yesterday and will last for two weeks or so. Those of us craving a track fix RIGHT NOW in this wonderful weather are going a bit stir crazy — I was quite sad to find the track already locked when I returned from California on Monday (they later reopened it for the evening, but by then I was in I-405 hell).

Since discovering the thrills of track racing last year, I’ve marveled again and again how fortunate I am to live in a place that has a velodrome (there are only 28 in the U.S.) and that this velodrome has such an outstanding program and administration. Plus, racing around a track with a view of Mount Rainier is not a bad thing.

We tracksters are very grateful to King County and King County Parks for taking such good care of our treasure!

A few weeks ago I claimed to be restarting EmeraldPedaling.com, then promptly ran out of time to do any more updates even from the Sea Otter Classic — which is perhaps just as well, since that amazing event is in California, not Washington, and somehow it doesn’t seem right to restart a Washington cycling blog with not one but two posts from separate California trips. Even if California was unusually emerald-looking on these trips.

Now life has staged further complications and I find myself having to do duplicate entries in both WordPress and a temporary Blogger  version. Don’t ask why.

In the meantime, last week some of my Team Group Health teammates and I traveled to lovely Seaside, California, for Sea Otter. Some of the team raced; I, having experienced the horrifying hills of the road course last year, joined the part of the team doing just training rides. Of course these rides included the requisite scene shots from Asilomar State Beach. I do love emerald pedaling, but this seaside pedaling sure was nice for a few days.

Hi!

So yes, it’s been a rather long hiatus. Life happened. We kept riding, and working more and more. We got married: That distracted us from blogging, in an outstanding way!  We bought a house: more distractions and time-gobbling necessities.

Timothy worked for a year and a half as a mechanic at Kirkland Bicycle, which was a great experience but put an end to our weekend cycling adventures during that time. Paula joined Team Group Health, continued to struggle on hills, then discovered the wonderful world of track racing at the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome and found a new form of addiction.

We celebrated spring, and Timothy’s father’s 90th birthday, with a trip to Berkeley and some rides up the Berkeley Hills (in this photo, we’re at the top of those hills).

Now we look forward to a summer with more riding and more adventures on and off the road (and track). Come join us!