ORCA's Fin

A few years ago, a dozen or so bus (and ferry) systems around metropolitan Seattle, including King County Metro, switched from standard cash fares to a smartcard system.  This was timed with the long, long awaited opening of our first light rail line.

I was excited when the ORCA™ smartcard public transit payment system was rolled out.  I like the convenience of it -- especially the e-purse (a debit account for transit fare) since, as a full time bike commuter i do rely on the transit system, but i don't take it often enough to make a monthly pass worthwhile.  I was an early adopter and use mine frequently.  As a transit advocate i got about a dozen of them when they were still free so i could hand them out to my friends.

I like not having to think about carrying exact change and and i like that the transfers are all automatically calculated.  (Although i have noticed that the computer is not as friendly with allowing expiring transfers as the drivers were!).

Most of all i really like being able to pay my fare without having to open my wallet.  I just wave my wallet in front of the reader.  A couple of times i bumped my butt against the reader and it worked, the reader recorded my fare.  But the drivers didn't like that very much, they thought i was showing them up.  I didn't like that very much either; It really drove home to me that my transit information was broadcasting out the back of my pants all day long.

I'm fascinated with RFID, the method of communication that the smartcards use, i think it's a very interesting technology.  As a HAM radio operator i consider my ORCA™ to be just one more cool radio that i use.  I like the way it works, converting radio energy into electrical energy and back again; fitting four different electrical devices into a almost microscopic web of electrical wire. 

RFID cards have a mesh embedded throughout the entire card which acts as a receiving antenna.  When the card reader sends out a radio signal (asking 'Who are you?') that antenna receives the signal.  Here's the cool part: the mesh then converts the radio energy from the received signal into electrical energy to power a tiny computer.  And the computer? It's the mesh itself!  The mesh that makes the antenna is laid out so that it also can work as a microprocessor.

The converted electrical energy runs through the this mesh microprocessor, reading (and writing) data.  Then at the end of the run of wires, the electrical energy is converted back into radio energy and the mesh is used as a transmitting antenna to send the data back to the reader. 

There is of course loss of energy in all of this, the response signal from the card is much, much weaker than the original query signal from the card reader.  This is a benefit, not a problem since it means the card only works if you hold it close to the reader.

One day in March about a year and a half ago, i noticed my mobile phone sitting next to my wallet on the table.  I stared at them for a moment and it occurred to me that since the phone was radiating a signal (a pulse at least every 30 seconds alerting nearby cell towers to its presence) that the ORCA™ card in my wallet must be receiving and processing that signal!  Although the signal was on a different frequency than the one the card was expecting (1,200 Mhz, not 13.56 Mhz) the signal would still be received and the card must be transmitting its own weak signal, with garbage, not real data. 

The next day i was in a Mexican restaurant with a friend telling them about that epiphany.  While we were talking i had an idea.  I took the foil that had wrapped my burrito and wrapped a piece around a business card.  I stuck it in my wallet, outside of my ORCA™ card, but next to it, touching the card.  Aluminum foil can act as a weak faraday cage -- that is it can stop or at least scramble up radio signals.  My hope was that i could still wave the inside of my wallet (the part usually against my body) over the reader, but the outside would be blocked.  The foil doesn't have to stop the stronger incoming signal from the reader, it only has to stop the very weak outgoing signal response from the card.

A few days later i tried it on the bus.  The reader would not read my card at all.  Neither the front or the back of my wallet would work.  I had to remove the card.  Frustrating, but still, an interesting result! The foil touching the card disabled it.  That could be beneficial.

So after i sat down on the bus i moved the card in my wallet.  I moved it so that instead of actually touching the ORCA™ card, the foil was about 5 credit cards away from it -- still outside of it.  On the connecting bus i tried waving the outside of the wallet over the reader -- it would not read.  The driver was waiting for me, so i hurriedly flipped my wallet over and waved it and it did read from the inner side of the wallet!

Excellent!  This works.  If these results held true, i had something that could either:

1. block RFID transmission from the outside of the wallet (while my body blocked the inside.) or 
2. entirely disable a RFID while in the wallet.  

This would be useful! 

I liked the idea of using it, but it also seemed like an opportunity.  I figured i could make them pretty easily.  I came up with the name "The ORCA Fin" and designed some business card sized labels. I printed out the labels, cut some thin foil to the same size and took it to Kinkos and laminated it.  I now had a credit card size shield with a label and logo.  I made two of them -- a prototype with 1 sheet of thin foil plus one sheet of paper (with the info) and, just to be sure, another prototype with 2 sheets of foil in addition to the info card. 

On March 31st i checked the web and theorcafin.com was taken, but orcasfin.com was not; i bought the domain orcasfin.com. I created a ORCA's FIN site on my webserver and put a placeholder webpage up. 


I figure with PayPal and a simple form system i could take orders, charging $5 each, i pay domestic shipping.  I need to price printing, lamination and postage.  I think postage will be 80 cents, but that will depend on the final design.  The labels, 16 per page, are just a couple of cents.  I might buy a lamination machine rather than using Kinkos at $1.25 each time.  Then i need to re-write the instructions on the logo labels.  I'll need to write a little script on my website to run the order form.  I'm inclined to go paypal only, but maybe find a way to take credit cards.  Then i need to start talking about them, handing them out.  Send one to the Electronic Freedom foundation, maybe one to Boing Boing.  And then buy foil and start making them.


ORCA™ uses the MIFARE™ system.  A number of other transit systems around the world use this system and there are at least 3 other systems that use 13.56 Mhz credit card systems for fare paying or access (such as Zipcar).  And if this works for MIFARE™ it should work for all of them.  It occurred to me that i will need to think of a different name if i'm going to sell them outside of Seattle. I like the word play of ORCA's Fin.  I want a word that implies blocking.  I need to work on that:  Smartcard shield?, tinfoil hat?, card condom?, fare protector?, card cage?, wallet wall?   So far i think Wallet Wall is best.

So once i tested the laminated version, i was ready to go.  The next time i took the train i tested it.  It failed!  Neither prototype was able to block the signal at all!!!  Not touching, not spaced, not outside or inside.  I was a bit disappointed.  I tried again in mid April, the next time i took the train, with the same disappointing results. But this time i discovered that i can wave the card over the reader a second time to cancel my fare -- meaning that i don't have to ride the train to test the cards, i just have to go to the station.  Since i only ride the train once or twice a month and the bus less often, this was a very good discovery.

So i made two more prototypes using much thicker foil.  These were prototypes #3 & #4.  (If you count the raw foil one without lamination as #0.)  One had one layer of the thicker foil, the other had two layers.  These also each had two paper labels, one on each side, completely hiding the foil and giving me more room for instructions.  They looked pretty good.   I tested these prototypes repeatedly in mid April.  No luck.  I didn't test them touching the smartcard -- maybe i should have. 

Next i laminated two more prototypes -- the sixth and seventh prototypes, marked them #5 & #6 (still counting the non-laminated one as zero).  Prototype #5 has three layers of much thicker foil. Prototype #6 has SIX layers of much thicker foil.  In July i took them down to the light rail station to test them.   Neither seemed to work at all. 

This was frustrating, i put the whole thing aside for a while, but i may pull it out and work on it again.  I'm pretty disappointed at this juncture.  I'm not sure why they are not working, some ideas i've had:    

• Perhaps the shield is not quite as wide as the smartcard by a few millimeters on all four edges and maybe that's just enough for the outgoing signal to leak around.  That seems pretty unlikely to me.
• Perhaps the foil is still just not thick enough.  But the thin foil works without lamination.
• It doesn't make any sense, but maybe the lamination is preventing the foil from shielding.  I'm pretty certain the lamination is going to prevent the foil from completely disabling the card, i think it needs actual contact with metal for that to work.
• Maybe the first test didn't actually work and just foil isn't going to stop the signal at all.
• or maybe there is something obvious that i am missing.

I kept the ORCA's Fin in my wallet, in the outside location that i wish worked throughout the autumn.  Occasionally when i rode the bus i'd give it a try, but it never blocked anything.  In early December i walked downtown and duplicated the original test.

• My prototype #6 (laminated with 6 layers of foil and 2 of paper) has been living in my wallet for months, outside of my ORCA™ card, spaced.  I tried it. It failed to stop the signal in any way.  Damn. 
• I put the foil only prototype #0 (2 sheets of thin foil wrapped around a business card) in my wallet spaced away from the ORCA™ card. It worked!!  It stopped the card from working on that side of the wallet, it still worked from the other side.
• I moved the foil prototype to touching the ORCA™ card.  It disabled the card entirely.  Success!
• I tried a new thing -- i put the foil in, spaced away from the ORCA™ card and put the laminated (#6 with 6 layers of foil) Fin outside of it (so my visa card will slide in and out freely).  That worked.  I'm going to leave it that way, that will be my basic wallet configuration.  

(At the same time a friend tested his system where he vacuum sealed a strip of foil and put it in his wallet.  That blocked the signal completely, both sides, as he intended.)

Next time i will try with the laminated Fin inside of the foil prototype.  Perhaps that will show me something about the lamination. I can't understand why the raw foil prototype works and the laminated ones don't.  I can't see how lamination could nullify a faraday effect, besides there are several laminated cards between the ORCA and the foil in the working system.  I don't think the foil is really any wider than the foil in the lamination.  I don't get it.

 It doesn't look like i can sell them, but at least i get the functionality!!

Capitol Hill tunnel is almost finished!

A few minutes ago on my way home i walked around the Capitol Hill station dig site.  I wanted to see if Togo, the tunnel boring machine coming from the University Station, had finished it's tunnel.

I really want to see it break through the wall if i can!

None of the windows from the sidewalk have a direct view of the wall that it will break through when it arrives at Capitol Hill station.  I could see close to that point from one window and another window is directly above the wall, right where Twice Told Tales used to be. It doesn't look like they have broken through yet but there is a lot of activity. They have built a bridge for workers to cross over the wall and they have cleared out the floor of the station where the breakthrough will happen. The big mud pit where the dirt dug out of the downtown tunnel is being dumped before being loaded into trucks is much smaller now.

I walked the route for a few blocks and it seemed very clear from the placement of surveying equipment, bore test holes and shake measurements that the digging machine was under Thomas Street, between Broadway and Federal Ave. I couldn't feel any shaking.

That's only 1 block away, 200 or 300 feet left to go! I think that means it could break through this weekend.

I would love to actually see the machine break through! I know it's a long shot, but i'm going to go by there Saturday afternoon after work and i'll drop by a couple times on Sunday too. I won't be around Monday and Tuesday but i'll check in the evenings. So i hope it happens on Sunday or Wednesday and maybe i'll get to see it!

UPDATE Monday: I looked in again today and the breakthrough has not happened.  I asked a worker at the gate at Broadway & Denny and she said since that tunnel is being dug by another company she has no idea.  The worker at the gate on John seemed certain the breakthrough will happen on March 20th.  I'll be there watching!

UPDATE Tuesday March 20th: When i got home at 8pm they had not broken through and they told me it had been delayed from 3pm to 12 midnight.  At 10:30 i went out and walked around the entire project; as before i couldn't find any good place to view from.  There were two TV stations there, as well as newspapers and bloggers. I tried to talk my way in with the media, but it didn't work.  Eventually i found a window on Broadway with a little bit of a view.  I stood there for 3 hours watching the workers inside, but i slowly came to the conclusion that my view was not going to see the breakthrough whenever it actually happened and i got cold and went home.  The newspaper said they broke through at 4am.   There was a picture of me in the newspaper looking in the window.

I am surprised and a bit angry that there was no attempt to let the public watch the breakthrough.  I understand the security issues, but it wouldn't be hard to have a small roped off area with bleachers.  I really hope they do that for the second tunnel next month, but i'm not hopeful.

the view of the hole, the media tent and my little window photo from the Sound Transit webcam

That's me peering fruitlessly in the window.  photo from the Seattle P-I the next day. 

The wall waiting for the breakthrough.I drew in the approximate line of the lower limit of my view from the window on Broadway.  photo from Capitol Hill Seattle Blog

UPDATE April 5th:  Yesterday i heard back from Sound Transit about the possibility of seeing the second machine breakthrough.  They said NO WAY.  They also told me that breakthrough was due to happen this afternoon.  I walked down there this evening and there was a lot of activity, but as before all the viewpoints into the site can't see that end of the hole.  It's great that the tunnel digging is finished, but it's very frustrating to be so close and not be able to see the finish.

February Capitol Hill tunnel update

Currently there are three TBM, Tunnel Boring Machines, digging 21 foot diameter holes through the hill i live on.  In only 4 more years (22 years after we voted for it) there should be light rail trains running in these tunnels.  I've been facinated by the tunneling process:  i frequently stare down into the big hole where the station will be and a year ago i calculated the route of the tunnel using GPS and walked the entire length.  That was fun!

Sound Transit's website has generally monthly project updates, however they only show the most recent and the updates don't say WHERE the machines are, only how many feet they have dug so far.  So i've been processing the data they release and posting maps showing the monthly progress: September, October, December, January. The February data was released this week.  Here are the current locations of the three TBM:

Brenda has just started it's second run, and is under the plaza at Seattle Central Community College.

Balto has passed out from under Volunteer park, crossed E Prospect St and is heading for 13th Ave E.

Togo is under the corner of Lowell school, near the corner of 11th Ave E & E Mercer St. Getting close to the end!

January Capitol Hill tunnel update

Currently there are three TBM, Tunnel Boring Machines, digging 21 foot diameter holes through the hill i live on.

Sound Transit has a page with the most current (generally monthly) project update.  I've been using that data to plot the locations of each machine on the map.

The January data was released this week, so here are the locations.

Brenda is currently being trucked back up to Capitol Hill to start over again on the second tunnel.

 Balto is exactly where Togo was last month, under 17th Ave E & E Galer St.

Togo has made it to the Water Tower loop at volunteer park!

December Capitol HIll Tunnel update

Currently there are three TBM, Tunnel Boring Machines, digging 21 foot diameter holes through the hill i live on. Sound Transit has a page with the most current (generally monthly) project update.

The December data was released this week, so here are the locations of each machine that i calculated from that data.

 Brenda has finished the first tunnel to Convention Place is currently being disassembled and trucked back up the hill.

Balto is under the big curve in the pedestrian only section of Interlaken Park.

Togo is at E Galer St between and 17th Ave E.

October Light Rail Tunnel Map update

Currently there are three TBM, Tunnel Boring Machines, digging 21 foot diameter holes through the hill i live on. Sound Transit has a page with the most current (generally monthly) project update.

Last month i posted maps that show the location of each machine.  The October data was released this week, so here are the locations.

Brenda is digging the first of 2 tunnels from Broadway and Denny to Pike & 9th while Balto & Togo are digging from the University Station to Broadway and John.

Brenda is currently under Union St at Bellevue Ave, a block past the Northwest School.

Balto is at E Louisa St between 20th Ave E & 22nd Ave E

Togo is at E Lynn St between 19th Ave E & 20th Ave E

Autumnal Rides

We did an absolutely glorious 60 mile ride on Tuesday and another nice, shorter, Autumnal ride today.

On Tuesday I took light rail to Tukwila. I really do like the light rail, it's so easy and comfortable and it gets me out of the city quickly. A lot of these south end rides would not be possible with out it.

There's a wonderful piece of artwork at the Tukwila station that i like.

They still haven't fixed the elevator button labels, and i still have to stare at them confused every time.

I went down the steep hill to the intersection of the Interurban Trail, the North Green River Trail and the South Green River trail and met the group there. Nadine led us through Renton along a nice route that avoided the worst of the major streets to the Cedar River Trail. We stopped at a Fall farmers stand and got some banana bread and apples (and took some photos with pumpkins which i will post once Emily sends them to me). Once we finished the portion of the trail along the freeway we were in the forest. It was glorious. Emily had never been on it and she was amazed. I love that trail and this day, with the crisp, clear, cool air, the crunchy leaves on the trail and brightly colored leaves on the trees. It was perfect.

At the end of the trail we climbed up from Landsburg to the few rolling hills along to Black Diamond. We stopped for a QUICK sandwich at Black Diamond Bakery. (it's easy to get bogged down there with all the food. And Pie!) And then it was just a couple of miles until we headed downhill off the ridge in to the Green River Valley. We had actually climbed quite a bit on the trail, and then out to Black Diamond so dropping off this ridge was very dramatic, as you can see from this profile of the ride.

From there it was a gentle downhill through horse farms and pastures, with ridges on either side. Wonderful.

Today we again met at the trail intersection (i took light rail again) and rode up the Green River trail, through South Park to Alki beach for fish and chips, then back. I split off at the Boeing plant south of South Park on the return, and rode home along Airport Way and up through Judkins Park. (I stopped at Goodwill and picked up some great wool pants for cycling along the way.)

The leaves were nice, the dew was heavy, the air was crisp and we had a fun ride.

Emily & Karen under the Autumn Leaves on the Green River Trail

Alan & Linda

Nadine

Karen, Demlza, Emily, Linda

On the way north we stopped off at Jack Block Park which has great views of the port, the bay, downtown and the Puget Sound. We took a group photo.

Linda, Demelza, me, Emily, Alan, Nadine, Karen

The woman who took our photo for us was also on a bike ride. She was riding a wonderful old folding bike.

Nice old Raleigh folding bike

Long shadows on the trail in the afternoon

It was a wonderful Autumn day and i was very happy to be on the bike.

Mapping the progress under Capitol Hill

Currently there are three TBM, Tunnel Boring Machines, digging 21 foot diameter holes through the hill i live on. Sound Transit has a page with the most current (generally monthly) project update. However, it shows the distance in feet that each machine has dug, there is no map, no clue exactly where the machines are. I've asked Sound Transit to provide that kind of page, but they have not. And, in fact, they seem to be a little worried about people knowing where the machines are. They insisted for the first 2 months that they had not started digging under the Montlake Cut, until one day they suddenly announced that they had completed the tunnels under the canal. The tunnel is less than one tunnel diameter below the bottom of the water!

Since i plotted the route of the tunnel on a USGS map when they first released the route, i figured today that i could plot the progress report too. So here are three maps that show the locations, according to the Sept 27 progress report, of each Boring Machine.

Brenda is digging from Broadway and Denny to Pike & 9th. (There will be a second run for Brenda to dig the second tunnel.)

Balto & Togo are digging from the University Station to Broadway and John.
Balto

Togo

In addition, that progress report page is dynamic. It only shows the most current update and i could not find any way to read previous updates. (So if you're reading this in the future, that link will not show you the data i was working from). I will try to post maps every time they release a new progress report, no promises though.

Combination ride

What a fun ride.

After an early lunch i zipped downhill to the Link light rail station downtown. The train arrived right as i got on the platform. I love trains and i always enjoy the light rail ride. I got off at Rainier Beach where Linda was waiting. We rode down the lake a couple of miles and then cut through some ugly streets in Renton to get to the Black River area, met Nadine there and connected through the old Longacres horse track site to the Interurban trail where we met Karen. Her son dropped her off. He just signed as a collage football player and we congratulated him. He has HUGE hands!

As soon as we got rolling south on the trail we realised that we were all hungry so we stopped in Kent at Pannera and enjoyed that. Then a nice, fast, ride down the very straight Interurban trail. It was a gorgeous day, a bit cloudy and 65 degrees, very comfortable and very welcome after the terribly hot days we've been having. The trail took us to Sumner and then we rode the West Valley Highway to Puyallup. It was somewhat fresh chipseal and we stayed on the white line and rode fast.

In Puyallup everyone else met their husbands and went into the enormous Puyallup Fair, i turned around to head home. (I was curious, but $11 for 30 minutes of fair didn't seem worth it.) I pulled up to the Sounder commuter rail station and the friendly attendant told me that the northbound train would be on the left track today. Strange. I rolled my bike on the Sounder and sat down. It was a wonderful ride. Smooth and relaxing. Looking out the window i could almost believe i was on a European train.

I was tempted to enjoy the train all the way to Seattle, but i wanted some more miles, so i got off in Kent, retraced my tire tracks a bit up the Interurban trail, connected with the Green River trail and then headed into South Park. At the end of the trail i encountered a rider with a nice bike, a flat tire and no pump. He said he'd been walking for over a mile. We quickly and carefully changed the tire, he had never changed one so i was a teacher, and were both on our way in opposite directions.

I ride through the neat little neighborhood of South Park frequently but i have never explored it much (except those times i got lost!) so i did a couple of loops just to look around and then was on my way again. Instead of going all the way to Alki, I crossed the Duwamish Waterway at Michigan street, rode 4th ave to Dearborn to Judkins Park and home, with a stop for a Salmon Burger a few blocks away.

Tired. Exactly 100km - 62.1 miles. Good company, fun trains and very nice ride.

BB PPPP & Colin's machine

At Bike Works a few weeks ago Ryan, a fellow volunteer, asked if anyone wanted to help pedal a weird & wonderful 8 person human powered Machine in a parade. How could i say no?! I finally got to ride the legendary Spirit of Muckle Flugga (future blog post there!) in a parade a few years ago -- i couldn't pass this up.

The Spirit of Muckle Flugga

This parade was the Beacon Bikes People Powered Park Parade. Iit was up on Beacon Hill and the Machine was not. So Friday afternoon, after a significant amount of logistical planning, my friend Aurilee and i bicycled to Beacon Hill, locked up our bikes at the light rail station, took light rail and the #48 bus to the Central District and met up with Ryan, Liz from Bike Works, and a cool group of folks in order to MOVE THE MACHINE. We needed to position it for tomorrow's parade. We only had to go 3 and half miles.

We climbed aboard and started figuring out The Machine.

photo by Aurilee Gamboa

This wonderful Machine was built by the amazing Haulin' Colin. It's built on the chassis of a Toyota pickup truck. It still has the wheels, breaks, drive shaft, universal joint, transmission, steering, even the speedometer. But the drive, the power, is the three upright and four recumbent cycling positions. The driver doesn't pedal, but she does shift for all of us. Getting into fourth was really nice.

From the start point we had to immediately head up a big hill and almost over the ridge before we could turn south towards Jackson St. When we started up the hill; i didn't think we could make it, it was HARD. But we did make it, and it was FUN!! Aurilee couldn't believe how much fun it was. We were all whooping with joy!

While we kept the speed around 3 or 4 mph much of the time, ocne we started down the hill on S Jackson St (a major arterial) we got going much faster!

photo by Aurilee Gamboa

Once we started up Beacon Hill we needed a little push.

Or two. John was just on his commute home from work when he found us heading up Beacon Hill. He pushed us for blocks!

Now i don't mean to sound negative, but if you had 9 people on bicycles, riding 4 or 5 miles per hour together, in a full lane, through rush hour traffic on a sunny Friday afternoon, i'm pretty sure drivers would go batshit crazy.  They would hate us for just existing.  We were certainly wondering what the reaction was going to be, especially because we were SLOW! It took an hour and a half to go 3.7 miles.

In fact we didn't get a single negative reaction. People waved and laughed and some just stared slack jawed in amazement. And hundreds of people took out their cameras and took photos!

Saturday morning was cloudy and cool -- no short sleeve shirts today as we pulled out to ride a block or two to Jefferson Park for the start of the parade. Now this seemed old hat, but i was still amazed at the way The Machine moved.

A couple of Seattle City council members were going to join us in the Parade. Here i am lobbying councilmember Tom Rasmussen for better bicycle transportation.

And we were off, with 2/7 of the city council pedaling. Councilmember Sally Clark is up front.

The parade wound through Beacon Hill neighborhoods, primarily following the route of the planned bike boulevard.

Behind us was a great neighborhood parade of parents and kids on bikes.

Arriving at Lewis Park!

The Machine, with Liz changing shoes.

photo by Aurilee Gamboa

After the speeches and the music we got to ride it BACK up the hill, which was equally fun. I had brought my own pedals and one came out of the crank arm on the way up the hill.

It was great fun!

Des Moines Creek Trail

Some months ago my friend Aurilee needed to go to Des Moines, just south of Seattle, for an appointment. When we were discussing route choices we noticed an interesting bike trail on the map. She didn't wind up using the trail that evening, but we've both been wondering about that trail ever since, and this afternoon seemed like a great time to explore it. It's a short ride and we didn't have the whole day.

We started out on a sunny afternoon on Capitol Hill with a stop at Rancho Bravo and then a Molly Moon's milkshake. Milkshakes are the ideal cycling fuel!

(photo by Aurilee Gamboa)

We rode through the Seattle University Campus and down to SODO station where we hopped on LINK light rail for a quick ride to Sea Tac airport. This got us close to the trail, gave me a chance to explore some areas new to me and offered a relaxed opportunity to figure out the southbound bicycle departure route from the airport that i'd always wondered about. Yet another goal of this ride was for Aurilee to enjoy learning about her brand new camera.

When we got off the train, we were face to face with an beautiful piece of artwork called Flying Sails. Aurilee immediately pulled out the new camera.

I managed to get a photo of both of us reflected in the artwork.

I have friends who live outside of Karlsruhe, Germany, so i lined up this photo of my bicycle, which i think turned out quite well.

We left the light rail station and found our way to the bus stop next to the baggage claim. We recognized our friend Joe's bike. He's in Cleveland for the weekend.

It was the only bike in the rack that was locked up securely! The rest all had very thin cables and the wheels were not locked!

We easily found the (unmarked) bicycle route out of the airport on 28th Ave S, avoiding the major, heavy traffic streets. Once out of the airport we decided to take a loop around the Angle Lake neighborhood, just to see it. I had never been there before.

It was an interesting suburban neighborhood with a very nice park on the lake. Lots of folks were out in the park on this spring Saturday. As we rode into the park we almost got hit by flying water bottles. I couldn't really figure out what was going on. At first i thought they were water balloons (a couple exploded on the sidewalk) but they were in fact sealed bottles of water. There was a large group throwing them. But after watching for a moment it became clear that they were not throwing them at each other, or at us, but up in a tree.

There was a volleyball stuck about 35 feet up in the tree!!! We watched for a few minutes and at one point they hit the volleyball, and it jumped a foot or so up, but settled back down in the same branch. It looked kind of hopeless, and when they actually got a water bottle stuck in the tree next to it, we rolled on out of the park, never knowing the resolution to that story.

A few blocks later we stopped to check the map, to make sure we were on route to the Des Moines Creek trail.

A short ride, down a VERY steep hill brought us to the trailhead, and off we headed on a very nice trail.

This was not a flat trail!  Unlike most trails made from rail grades, this was a steady, significant downhill. I really loved the beautiful little trail cutting through the heavy forest next to the lovely stream.

It was very peaceful and pretty, but every few minutes you were reminded that a major international airport was just a couple of miles away.

There were lots of opportunities for photography.

I noticed a nice design feature on this winding, downhill trail.

When we would come to a tight curve, the center line was wide to prevent conflicts. I thought it was a neat idea.

Near the downhill end of the 4 or 5 mile trail, there was an underpass that was decorated in a fun way.

First there was the fake fern fossil!

And this salmon seems to be jumping out of the wall, while Aurilee looks like she's lost in a cartoon!

The trail which started so high up on the hill ended at sea level. We had found the Puget Sound.

The historical marker sign told us that this park on the water was the site of an old original homestead from the 1880s, and that the long beautiful downhill bike trail we had just ridden was the road to burgeoning settlement of Duwamps (Seattle)!

We spent a half an hour or so sitting on the beach, watching the kids play in the cold, cold tide and taking photos, looking out at Puget Sound and Maury Island in the distance.

It was a very high tide, and the seaweed was washing up.

There was a long public fishing pier and we walked out to the end. The clouds were starting to gather and the wind was brisk out there. I liked the fish cleaning station.

Obviously it is often windy here, because this small beautiful tree has been fighting the wind, and apparently, kids, for many years.

Aurilee taking a photo at Des Moines Marina.

As we cycled along the marina the clouds started to look darker and darker.

We decided to loop down 3 or 4 more miles before turning back. It was a fascinating area. In 20 years in Seattle i had never been there, and it was quite different from anywhere else i had seen. I enjoyed it a lot.

The magnificent old Masonic Retirement Center, now an event center, sits like a massive castle on the hill overlooking the water. I've seen it from a distance before, when riding on Vashon & Maury Islands and even, i think, from Tacoma. It was fun to ride directly in front of it.

We rode to Salt Water State Park, descending fast down to the beach. Aurilee took this amazing photo of the magnificent clouds.

photo copyright Aurilee Gamoba

The weather had changed considerably from the warm lunchtime sun. Now we knew we were in for a bit of rain soon. We were prepared.

But first we had to climb up out of Salt Water State Park. The thing about living on a fjord, every time you go down to the water, it's a big, big hill back up!

Once back up a the height of the cliffs, we discussed different routes, but decided the Des Moines Creek Trail was so beautiful that riding it again was essential, and besides, all the other choices involved riding busy streets, probably in the rain. We rode back through Des Moines as it got darker and darker. The rain started just a few minutes after we started back up the trail. We stopped and donned our rain gear. The rain wasn't a soft, typical, Puget sound rain, it was raining HARD. Riding the trail was the right decision. I can't possibly express how beautiful the trail, the stream and the forest were in the rain. I almost had tears in my eyes. The sound of the heavy rain on the canopy of the trees above our heads was amazing. I felt lucky. It was a joy to be there in the rain.

The ride up the trail through the forest in the rain was lovely, but once out, we had to climb a big hill on S 200th St.

and then it was just 5 or 10 minutes back to the airport where we got back on light rail.

We stopped for excellent, warming, Cambodian food on the way home and thrilled at how hard the rain was thundering down. There was thunder too, as we pulled up to the Cambodian restaurant in Chinatown. It wasn't from the clouds though: The Seattle Sounders FC were playing a MLS soccer game against Portland, 38,000 fans in the pouring rain were having a great time. Someone must have scored because right as we were pulling up to the restaurant, they set of some extremely loud fireworks!

A short afternoon ride turned into a fantastic, diverse exploration. What fun!