John’s Ramblings

After having a day to recover from our leisure time in Los Angeles, I set out to do some miles this weekend as I attempt to reach 4,000 miles for 2006.

Saturday was cool, but sunny and clear. We headed out for a 29 mile afternoon ride along the Foothills Trail from Puyallup to South Prairie and back. Mt. Rainier was prominent and beautiful, as you can see. What is amazing to me is that so much home building is happening out here, but no improvements are being made to the infrastructure (roads). Traffic from Orting to Sumner was stop-and-go for the last mile or so, on a Saturday at noon. Rush hour has to be a real time-waster, and lookout if Mt. Rainier were to actually threaten an eruption. There are only a few routes out of this valley, on two-lane roads. Two of those routes are to the south, toward the volcano (would you drive toward an erupting volcano while the sirens are screaming for you to evacuate?). But I digress…

Sunday was to be a sunny day as well. Terri opted for the “languish with the Sunday newspaper” option, so I got dressed and loaded the bike to join a Cascade Bicycle Club ride from Tukwila to Alki Beach. The group launched itself toward Alki at 9:30 AM, and we had gone a whole 5 miles when I was stung just under my right eyebrow by a bee of some sort. Ouch ensued.

I issued a bulletin as to my predicament (I yelled “Bee Sting!”) as I pulled out of the group and stopped to assess damage. Using my glasses-mounted rearview mirror, I was able to accurately determine two things:

• no bee-bits were protruding from said orbit, and
• the swelling was coming along nicely, thank you.

Our intrepid cyclist contemplated two options at this point:

• buck up, pedal like hell, and try to catch the group somewhere between his current location and Alki beach (right-brain says “you came out here to ride, so ride!”), or
• head back to the car and call it a day (left-brain wondering if your eye is going to swell shut).

Left brain won. I pedaled at a leisurely pace back to the car.

The eye didn’t swell shut, but it sure hurt like a sonofagun all day. 10 miles on Sunday, 29 Saturday, 3,698 ytd. Tonight I’ll return to the saddle for the night ride from Kent.

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