Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Centennial Trail III (2015-04-18)

Another go at it, working on a bike's fit.

Geotagged Album

More after the break…

Outbound

Outbound

I started at about 05:00, heading north the typical way.

When I got to Echo Lake Park, I saw that the renovation was finally done. The past few rides, the park was closed off for that.

Echo Lake Park Remodel: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Echo Lake Park Remodel: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Echo Lake Park Remodel: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Echo Lake Park Bathrooms: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Echo Lake Park Playground: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

While the restrooms received a fresh coat of paint outside, the inside was the same as always.

I then continued along the typical route to South Everett, avoiding the over-and-back sections of the Interurban Trail.

Then I turned off at Lowell to head to Snohomish.

Snohomish River: A bit foggy

When I got to Snohomish, I saw that the bike shop no longer contained the cafe, and one of the guys said it was down at the old location.

Even though it had moved to the old place, there was a lot done to clean it up. They now had French presses in addition to the normal espresso, and a sitting room downstairs.

I left shortly after arriving, and headed out along the Centennial Trail. I saw tons of cyclists here, including several on tandems.

Machias Valley: Just north of the Machias trailhead
Three Fingers Mountains from Machias
Stormy Skies on Duty

When I stopped to eat, I noticed that one of the bolts holding my panniers had come undone. Unlike another one that had done so earlier, at least both parts were still there so I could screw it back together. I might convert it to stainless nuts and bolts at some point to reduce this issue.

I then continued on my way north, finding myself having a much easier time after discovering something important:

While refilling my bottles at a park, I talked with one guy and he told me why the local bike shop is closed on Saturdays: the owner is a Seventh Day Adventist.

Nakashima Barn and Valley: The northern end of the Centennial Trail
Incline Out of Nakashima Barn Park

I then got to Lake McMurray, where I chatted with the store owner for a bit.

Lake McMurray: A small town between the Nakashima Barn, Mount Vernon, and Sedro-Woolley. I chat with the shop's caretaker whenever I pass through.
Stormy Skies at Lake McMurray
Lake McMurray Store Sign
Lake McMurray Store's Gas Pumps: They don't make them like this anymore!

While chilling for a bit, a couple cyclists zipped by, oblivious to my wave. They (a father and daughter) returned shortly later, and we chatted for a bit. They were training for the STP, and about a mile or so up the road was there turn back point.

While we talked, a loud siren started going off. The father thought that they had an hourly siren, as the last time he'd been in the area, it went off at exactly noon. That wasn't the case, though, as indicated by the smoke up the hill.

Inbound

Inbound

I then turned back to Arlington, stopping at the bike shop for a few photographs.

Arlington Velo Sport: Closed on Saturdays
Arlington Velo Sport Front Door: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And then I headed on my way south, but not before photographing the local railroad siding.

P4180135: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
P4180140: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
P4180143: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I noticed that my shin muscles weren't happy.

I did stop for my normal coffee, of course.

When I got to Woodinville, I got onto the Sammamish River Trail, and took the Burke-Gilman Trail later.

While waiting behind a pedestrian (as far to the right as I could) to pass while the oncoming bicycle traffic cleared, a couple of cyclists went the other way. The guy was looking to the right while chatting with the girl, and moved left (from his view) to nearly run into me. Not only did he get really close to the pedestrian, but he scraped one of my panniers and came to a stop upright shortly after due to the shock. I just kept going, getting around the pedestrian at a slower speed once oncoming traffic had cleared. This illustrates one of my arguments against riding abreast on busy multi-use trails.

My solution was to lower the angle between my feet and shins, significantly, which cured that issue. However, over the next couple days I noticed that my calf muscles were complaining instead, as the angle was too small. Of course, I didn't notice at the time because the caffeine took care of that discomfort.

To cure the calf issue, I would later raise my seat a few millimeters without pointing my toes, and avoided putting a lot of power during the part of the pedal stroke where my feet go forward.

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