Staff in these places either have had hours cut, or maybe soon will. Empty tables means empty tip jars, too. If you haven’t been to your local “joint” in a while, please do… and leave a tip!

My latest discovery is weekend breakfast at the Copper Falls Restaurant at the Auburn Golf Course. They start serving at 9 a.m., and the chef makes the greatest breakfast potatoes I’ve ever had. While there are a couple of other famous and not-so-famous breakfast places in Auburn, this one deserves better patronage because of the quality of the food, the excellent service, and it’s the only one of the three that can serve you a bloody mary!

We rode through Kent Station (which was the only place I heard “oh, Ride of Silence” from 2 cyclists), and old downtown Kent. From there we went south on Central Avenue/Auburn Way, a 4 lane with a 2 way turn lane that normally clips along at 40-45. We took our lane, and held it at 11 mph past every car dealer in the valley. Felt great, and we had maybe one horn-honk at the intersection at 277th. Not bad.

Right turn at 15th NW in Auburn (Fast Food Row – it’s even labeled that in Google Maps), and right again at Emerald Downs Way. Here we had our second encounter with “The Press”, as the Auburn Reporter showed up to take pictures of our little procession. First encounter had been at the start, where a woman from the Kent Reporter had circulated amongst the cyclists, asking questions.

We were harassed once, by four yokels in a jeep that yelled for us to “get those bikes off the f’ing road!”… they were traveling in the opposite direction, unimpeded, with no other traffic. Despite our attempts to remain silent, their comic behavior was good for a couple of chuckles.

How many more of these will the boys in the jeep be able to take, before they too are riding bikes?

Thanks to everyone that came out for all the Rides of Silence tonight, particularly in my local burg. Thanks especially to my regular riding mates from the Green River Riders that came out and watched the back of the pack for me. You guys are the best.