What was supposed to be a fairly simple ride turned into a party!
Through a bit of serendipity, I joined the @point83 TaBROma ride down Vashon today.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 1, 2018
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More after the break…
Downtown Seattle
My partner and I started off that morning planning a fairly simple ride. I wanted to show her the Green River Trail, with hopes of showing her the Interurban Trail in the future. Unfortunately, her asthma was acting up due to the humidity and particulates in the air, and she had to turn back before we even got to Fremont. She told me to go on.
I'm at Zeitgeist Kunst & Kaffee - @zeitgeistcoffee in Seattle, WA https://t.co/gj9RTk62kC
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) June 30, 2018
I was stopped in Pioneer Square near Zeitgeist Coffee when another guy on a touring bike showed up, introduced himself, and asked me if I was going on the ride. I had no idea what was going on, but I asked a few others at the coffee shop, and they said that it was a Point 83 ride. Since I'd never been able to join one before, I went for it after calling my partner and letting her know. I did have to pick up some baked goods from the coffee shop, since the lone PB&J sandwich I had wouldn't be enough for the whole day.
After everyone showed up, we headed for the King County Water Taxi to West Seattle. Others were unaware that we could use our ORCA cards to pay for the ferry.
And then we were on our way, with our bikes filling up the boat's entire bike rack.
West Seattle
Once in West Seattle, we rode at a comfortable pace along the low route around Alki. I was pretty happy that I'd finally found like-minded cyclists! Rather than dealing with the steep climb up Lincoln Park Way SW, we rode along the water-level gravel trail through Lincoln Park. We were very early for the ferry to Vashon Island, so we just chilled for a bit.
There was still a short climb up to the ferry from the park, but it wasn't too terrible. There was a lot of confusion at the ferry terminal, with some of our group riding through the area intended for cars, and others riding on the sidewalk. After some jumping and shouting from the ferry attendants, we all walked down to the end of the pier, paid our fare, then got onto the ferry, where we met other members of our group who weren't with us earlier.
West Seattle
One of our members said that we should take the steep climb up 103rd Ave SW rather than the main highway after arriving to avoid ferry traffic. The climb was very difficult, and I ended up walking up it even though I had one gear left. A few of us walked, but we didn't get too far behind the others because they were pedaling up the hill not much faster. It was definitely a great way to warm up after the ferry!
Once on the ridge of the island, the route all the way into town was comprised of fairly easy rolling hills, sometimes with a good shoulder and sometimes without. Our first stop on the island was Snapdragon for some of their delicious baked goods. I didn't get any since I already ate something I had on hand while on the ferry, and still had more food that I'd picked up earlier.
Some local cyclists chatted with us while we were there. One guy actually rode his bike with four panniers all the way to the Costco in Gig Harbor to get his groceries, and said his bike would get to over 150 pounds with everything! He had a heavy-duty cargo center kickstand, but was unfortunate in that his bike didn't have a kickstand plate and the kickstand had crimped its chainstays. His top tube also had a big dent in it from when he was going to weigh the bike with a fishing scale, but accidentally ripped the whole thing down and into the top tube! The last thing I recall is that he mentioned some pavement that was torn up for replacement on the main highway.
After town, we left the highway for a hillier route incorporating Wax Orchard Road SW. It started with a very long and fast descent, followed by somewhat steep hills both up and down. It was quite an enjoyable route with almost no cars! Around halfway down this route, we stopped for a break, with folks eating and drinking beer.
As soon as our route merged back into the highway, we ran into the repaving, but since all of our bikes had wide tires, it didn't slow us down much. Thankfully, the work ended before the last descent to the ferry dock at Talequah, which was quite a joy!
We didn't have to wait long for the ferry to Point Defiance.
West Seattle
The first thing I noticed is how the ferry terminal at Point Defiance looks nothing like how I remembered it from last time.
Once off the ferry, there was some confusion about where we were going. Some folks were talking about a beach, while others just headed up the hill into town. I followed the latter group since I didn't really care to see the beach. It was likely not worth seeing anyway, as a couple of folks in my group said it wasn't much of a beach.
We rode through Proctor at first on the main drag, which included riding past my aunt's hail salon, before diverting onto residential streets. While stopped on this stretch, , and I ate a chunk of one.
The last stop I'd spend with the group was the Park Way Tavern in the Stadium District of Tacoma, whose bike rack was yarn bombed.
Last stop. (at @Parkway_Tavern in Tacoma, WA) https://t.co/zgQnN3GEkG
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) June 30, 2018
At the tavern, I mentioned that I was acting pretty weird because I was high on the exercise, and one of the others asked if I'd had one of the cookies from earlier, mentioning that I looked a bit glassy-eyed. At that point, I was seriously thinking that the cookies were made with cannabis, but since I only had a small piece, it didn't impact me much. After eating some tasty clam chowder, I was on my way, following the route suggested by one of our group members who was from Tacoma to the nearest Sound Transit bus stop. It wouldn't have been much of a wait for the bus, but it was 18 minutes late.
On the ride back to Seattle, I noticed that I had "the munchies," so I was even more sure that the cookies contained cannabis. (I'm only familiar with the feeling because I tried the stuff out a lot years ago.)
Return Home
Traffic was bad as we approached Seattle. Once near the stadiums, the bus was stuck in the same spot for at least 15 minutes without moving due to all of the game day traffic. I ended up getting off earlier much earlier and riding through downtown.
My last stop on the way home was at FreeRange Cycles to chat with the folks there as they were closing down for the day.
It was a great ride. Not only was it great riding through hilly terrain, I really enjoyed my first recreational group ride in the area!
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