July Rides

End of July weekend, and 110 miles over two days.  The first ride was on one of my ordinary routes, over the Ravenna ridge and up the Ravenna Boulevard, one of the best bike lanes in Seattle in the middle along the tree-line divide, to south side of Green Lake.  Then, over to Sunset Hill Park, Golden Gardens, across the locks, where the king salmon are now swimming upstream. Then, the Magnolia Bluff, which never fails to impress, especially on these warm afternoons with the summer breezes from the North.  It's been a spectacular summer, and reinforcing why we live here.    Down the Centennial Park bike way to the new Thomas Street Bridge, through Seattle Center and up Dexter to the BGT.   Nice way to burn off the week's administrative doldrums.

Day two was the big one.  Started out to ride with the Cascade Bike Club on the Marymoor-Snohomish loop, but got on the trail about 1/2 hour late and took 90 minutes to do the 20 miles to the Marymoor start point.  So, turned right instead, went toward Issaquah and then up over Newport Hill to Factoria. Followed the bike trail to the west side of Coal Creek Parkway and that worked well, getting to the Lake Washington Bike Trail without the traffic drama under I-90 and 405.   Southbound, and past the Seahawks Training Camp, with all the 12th Men visiting to watch the wind sprints and push ups.   Lunch at Ivar's at Gene Coulon Park and then down through Renton and Tukwila to hook up with the Interurban and Duwamish Trails.

While crossing the West Seattle Low Bridge, I stopped to take photos, and also to visit with a bike traveler who had a fully loaded rig.   "I've got everything I own on my bike!"   He had started from San Diego, rode to the Canadian Border.  "Followed the coast to Florence, Oregon, then up the Willamette Valley, and rode the PTS route, STP in reverse."  Now he was on the return trip, headed back, and was planning to get to Auburn that night.  "Spent last night sleeping in a cemetery!"  I'm impressed and a bit of envious of his adventure and his true freedom.  Not tied down with responsibilities, family, career and otherwise.

Finished up my ride by avoiding downtown, the Torchlight Parade and tourist crunch along the waterfront, and instead returned via I-90 tunnel, Leschi, Lake Washington Blvd, Arboretum.  By the time I started the climb up the 39th Ave NE Greenway, I was running on empty, but encountered more traffic on that new piece of bike infrastructure than I've seen before, six or seven other bikes!

78 miles, warm, great new route.