Today we rode 11 miles, and it felt fantastic. We also used our bike rack for the first time, even on the freeway, and the bikes and rack didn’t fall off onto the road and get smashed by a big rig. Success!
We decided to ride the very flat (my favorite!) Chehalis Western Trail. We saw that it was grey out, but not raining, so we ventured out, in hopes we wouldn’t end up getting soaked. We got the bikes loaded on our brand new rack, and were nervous on the freeway, and over bumps, but everything stayed where it was supposed to.
We parked at a trailhead in Lacey, and unloaded the bikes. Another cyclist walked by, smiled, and said, “Nice bikes!” I was really proud because I happen to love them.
We took off near the 7 mile marker on the trail, heading east. Again for the first maybe half mile I kept thinking that this was harder than I remember, but quickly I forgot about the effort, and instead focused on the scenery. At first, it felt like we were riding through people’s backyards. Homes backed right up to the path, and I got to see in all their backyards. You know, most people are not neat freaks. Their yards weren’t super messy, but they weren’t immaculate either. It was reassuring.
We crossed a few roads, and each time I approached one, I was a little apprehensive. I’m still worried that a car isn’t going to see me and I’ll get creamed. But each time, I crossed with no problem, and no falls.
Soon our path was no longer paved, and became muddy and rocky. I was certain I would slip in the mud and fall. I tried to stay to the edge of the puddles, but couldn’t avoid them all. At one point, an oncoming cyclist and I were separated by a huge puddle. There was a little space on my side to ride around the puddle, and I wasn’t sure whether I or the oncoming cyclist had the right of way. I apologized for making him stop and rode past. (J told me later that since the way around the puddle was on my side, I had the right of way. Who knew?)
The muddy path took us to a busy road, where the trail joins the road for 600 hundred feet. We rode under a train trestle and with the traffic, then followed the trail when it separated from the road and headed up a short steep hill. At the top, we had to stop for a second to catch our breath. We rode a couple more miles on the trail, then started to tire out, so we turned around at the 12.5 mile marker.
On the way back, I was worried about crossing the busy road where the trail follows the road. But when I got to the bottom of the hill, I made it across easy, rode under the trestle and through a huge puddle no problem, then back across the road and over the muddy, rocky part of the trail. The adrenaline rush of riding over an uneven path and making it through is pretty fantastic.
About half the way back, we got rained on. Just a light shower, and we were able to pull over into a covered rest area. Not bad for the Pacific Northwest.
As we arrived back at our truck, the sun came out, and we ate our lunch in the sunshine.
No comments:
Post a Comment