We met at Gas Works Park, her friend Karen came along. Karen is a strong cyclist even though she has only recently starting cycling and is still learning the ropes.
Nadine preparing to ride
Karen is ready to go!
We started out on the Burke Gillman Trail and rode to Ballard. This is such a standard, familiar route for all Seattle cyclists, that we almost don't think about it, but i try to remind myself how wonderful this route is. It's very beautiful, calm and friendly -- until the ugly railroad tracks at the missing link under the Ballard bridge.
Before we went into the locks, i showed them the new Salish Welcome artwork. That photo didn't come out but i really liked the drain grate in front of it and that photo did.
There was a fishing boat just entering the locks from Lake Union when we got there, and well, locks are really cool, so we stayed and watched the boat drop 23 feet in about 6 minutes and then head out and into Puget Sound!
We climbed up into Discovery Park, which is an old army base (Fort Lawton). And i do mean climbed! We're going up from sea level at the locks to about 450 feet in the park, pretty quickly. The park has many paved roads through the forests, meadows and beaches. It's a great place.
We took in the gorgeous view across Puget Sound and then instead of riding extremly scenic Magnolia Boulevard at the edge of the bluff headed along the center dip in Magnolia, admiring 1950s houses, and on into the village where we had lunch. We called a friend from Trek Tri-Island, and she was thrilled to hear from us and joined us while we ate.
Nadine & Carna
Here's the route we took around Magnolia.
We returned, more directly to the Ballard Locks, followed the bike route over the steep wooden bike bridge over the railroad tracks down to the Locks again. After watching another boat go through the locks, rising up this time, we took a brief detour out to Golden Gardens where we got another view of the sound and of about a dozen and half turtles sunning themselves in the lagoons behind the beach.
Back through downtown Ballard (with a stop at the Dutch Bike Shop).
artwork at Bergen Place
We talked about gearing and shifting a bit -- not an easy thing to figure out, and then pedaled back to Nadine's car at Gas Works Park.
I decided to run some errands in Fremont, about 5 stops later i had a muffin and soda but not much else, and i headed home. I decided to take the slightly longer but much more fun way up the hill via Interlaken. I frequently ride this way, i really like it.
This takes me around the University of Washington, where there was lots of bicycle traffic, past the stadium across the canal and into the residential Montlake neighborhood where i often pass this interesting bike art hanging in the trees.
The poetry changes regularly. Some cyclists feel it is anti-bicycle, others pro. I kind of like it.
Interlaken Park
my favorite ride through Interlaken Park
There has been some slope shifting this winter on the climb up through Interlaken park and so the park road is, happily, closed to cars.
The nicest sign a cyclist can ever see.
As i approached the road closed sign on the climb, i saw a line of five or six skateboarders coming down the hill - FAST. I was happy to stop and let them through the gap. I noticed that when each skateboarder saw me approaching they clapped their gloves loudly. I figured that was a creative way to warn the skateboarder behind them that there was traffic. I'm always fascinated by systems like that.
skateboard 1
skateboard 2
skateboard 4
full route - dotted lines are me alone, solid red is the three of us.
A fun ride, 34 miles total, 22 as a group. It wasn't half a day, but the whole day. And i got a little sunburn on my nose cheeks and especially my lips. I'm going to have to be careful as the weather gets warmer and clearer.
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