Friday, July 12, 2019

Second Half Foothills Loop II (2019-07-06)

Another shorter ride due to impending rain.

Sumner Link Trail
Geotagged Album

More after the break…

Related albums:

Frager Road (Album)
Sumner Out and Back (Album)
Green River Out and Back (Album)
Truncated Foothills Loop: New Trail and Heat Exhaustion (Album)
Is Spring Here Yet? (Album)
Green, Carbon, and Cedar Rivers (Album)
Cedar and Green Rivers (Album)
Foothills Loop with Heat Exhaustion (Album)
Rain Dodging (Album)
Orting and Green River (Album)

Due to the threat of rain in the evening, I decided to make this ride a bit shorter. I did see some light sprinkles throughout the day, but nothing persistent until well after I got home.

Outbound

Outbound

I started at the usual time of about 5:00 and headed south through Seattle. The first part of this ride was uneventful until I got to Georgetown, when I stopped to eat: A sketchy looking guy rolled up on his bike and kept trying to strike up a conversation with me. I felt too uncomfortable to do anything other than make noises with the food in my mouth, and rolled off without a word when I was done. I always am scared of people that approach me in the early morning, because I have no idea what their motives are.

I passed through Tukwila and Allentown to get to the Green River Trail, then got on the Interurban Trail. As the latter passed by some new artificial ponds, I was pelted by a few large clouds of gnats, the likes of which I've never previously seen!

The last time I rode through Kent, I had to detour off the trail for quite some distance because of construction on South 228th Street. As it turns out, Kent is removing the level railroad crossing on that street and putting in an overpass, which also means that the crosswalk is being removed. At this point, the trail is gravel for a short stretch, with the construction on either side. There was a sign telling cyclists to dismount, but I wasn't the only one who ignored it.

Interurban Trail at South 228th Street: Surprise gravel! This will likely be paved when the new overpass is done.
South 228th Street Embankment: For the new overpass.
Old South 228th Street Level Crossing: To be replaced with an overpass.

Shortly after I stopped to take photos, an older guy on a Koga Miyata trekking bike rolled up. He said he got it from Europe, and had done touring over there. He was also going on a three-day tour in Idaho soon, on mixed terrain. He said he was hoping to tour a lot more after he retires in a year or so, as he was already 60.

I left the Interurban Trail via the C Street Trail, then made my way through Pacific to the Sumner Link Trail. At the northern trailhead, there was a sign talking about how the 8th Street Overpass was going to be widened, and how there was going to be bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure added to extend the trail linking the Sumner Link Trail and Interurban Trail. I also saw that the Traffic Avenue/SR-410 is also going to be getting a bicycle/pedestrian trail across it, and the sign was touting how it was going to be possible to go between Seattle and Mount Rainier via trails, though that won't actually be the case when it's all done.

Sumner Link Trail
Sumner Link Trail Sign: Boasting the ability to ride between Seattle and Mount Rainier all on trails, but that's not actually going to be the case when the work is done.

I stayed on the Sumner Link Trail for a bit longer than usual, as I didn't have to cover quite as much distance.

Trail Under Tacoma Avenue

Inbound

Inbound

I didn't really make a notable stop in Sumner, and instead just headed straight for the West Valley Highway. While the P9203318: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOld Valley Avenue/Bridge Street Bridge was fully gone, the new bridge was still being worked on. I thought it was pretty cool how they were stringing lights over it rather than using the more typical goose-neck street lights.

New Bridge Street Bridge: The <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/105592384@N07/15309856545">old bridge</a> is long gone. Cool how there'll be lights over the bridge.
New Bridge Street Bridge: The <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/105592384@N07/15309856545">old bridge</a> is long gone. Cool how there'll be lights over the bridge.

While riding up the West Valley Highway, I noticed that my saddle was significantly saggier than usual…which was because the cords that I'd been using to lace it had worn through. The saddle was comfortable enough, so I just kept going. The tailwind certainly helped me along, too!

Saddle Lacing Broke: My shorts wore through it because I was sitting too far back.

There are a number of options for getting between the West Valley Highway and the Interurban Trail in Algona/Pacific:

  1. 3rd Avenue SW: The southernmost trail's easement has actually expired, so the county can't legally maintain the trail. Thus, the trail's surface in Pacific is in horrible shape.
  2. Ellingson Road: A bit busy.
  3. 1st Avenue N: More time on the West Valley Highway. This is what I used to do after riding #1 enough.
  4. 3rd Avenue NW to Frontage Road, Seattle Boulevard South, and 1st Avenue N: Not a bad choice, and what I rode this time.

Once back on the Interurban Trail, I stuck to it for its length back to Tukwila. One of the first things I saw was a bunch of abandoned and decaying cars. While stopped, one guy riding by jokingly asked me if they were mine.

Junk Cars in Kent: Reminds me of the homeless situation back home.

Beyond that, the rest of the ride on the trail was fairly uneventful.

Interurban Trail

At the trail's north end, I got onto the Green River Trail and stuck with it all the way to South Park. Along the way, I saw several groups of people fishing.

At 56th Avenue South
Fishing on Green River: There were so many people fishing!
View this post on Instagram

Almost to Seattle. #cycling #bicycle #seabikes

A post shared by Neil E. Hodges (@takenji1989) on

When I got to South Park, I started seeing people riding horses on 14th Avenue S. I didn't know what was happening at the time, but later found out that it was the celebration of Grito de Dolores.

Seattle Fiestas Patrias Parade Horses: Ran into this parade in South Park.
Seattle Fiestas Patrias Parade Horses: Ran into this parade in South Park.
Seattle Fiestas Patrias Parade Horses: Ran into this parade in South Park.

I quickly made my way north to downtown, where I was meeting up with @jonpeer6 to buy a Sugarloaf Basket Bag that he was selling, which will be going on my Velo Orange Polyvalent: Completed: It's gone through a number of iterations while sitting on my wall for years, but my Velo Orange Polyvalent is finally fully set up!Polyvalent in place of the rando bag setup. We chatted for a little bit before he went to grab lunch and I headed on my way.

I did make one last stop at FreeRange to chat, where my Crust Romanceur was still awaiting its fenders.

Bikes at FreeRange: My Romanceur is still awaiting fenders.

After that, it was a quick ride home. Despite the fear of rain cutting my ride short, it didn't end up raining in any significant way until long after nightfall.

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