John’s Ramblings

After a week or so at 90 degrees plus, today’s 70 degree day felt downright frigid. Terri and I had planned at least one moderately long ride this weekend, but the cooler temps, occasional showers, and strong winds put a damper on those plans.

Saturday we waiting out the winds, and they finally died down around 5PM. We did a 21.6 mile loop through Kent, Auburn, Pacific and Algona. This loop was a route I picked up from the “Use it or lose it” rides I attended last winter. Terri had expressed an interest in perhaps attending some of these rides next winter, so I thought that a quiet late Saturday afternoon might be a good time to introduce her to the route. The downside to that was that she then found out that the night rides I had been doing last winter were not strictly on local trails, but on city streets as well. I think this little bit of disinformation is forgiven, but I bet I’ll hear about it again, at least once.

Sunday we got dressed and were ready to go a bit after 8 AM, but the cloud cover increased and another rain shower blew through. We waited until almost noon, and revised the plan again to just do the 23 mile loop through the Kent valley. The winds were quite strong today, about 16 mph out of the south. We rode the tailwind by going north on the Interurban Trail. It appears that Kent is preparing to redevelop a stretch along the trail north of Willis Street, as several houses have been bulldozed along this bleak little block. It still looks a like a war zone at the moment, and the smashed up SUV standing next to the trail certainly adds nothing to the scenery.

We then played cat-and-mouse with the headwind on the way home on the winding Green River Trail. Because the trail is for the most part right on the levee of the river, the direction of travel varies widely. The headwinds were still tough in places, but it was nice to have the frequent changes in direction to give you a break from the resistance. We sighted three Great Blue Heron at various points along the river today, the second one is pictured here resting along the river.

23 miles today, 44.6 for the weekend, 2,749 year-to-date.

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