My partner and I went on an afternoon ride to Snoqualmie, North Bend, and most of the way up Middle Fork Road, only turning back because I was worried about riding gravel with a passenger.
More after the break…
Outbound
We left home starting a little after noon this time. I'd usually avoid leaving Seattle in the afternoon, but my partner really needed more sleep before she was ready for a ride. Unfortunately, this meant dealing with a lot of stop-and-go traffic to not only get to I-5, but also when joining SR-520. Strangely, most of the traffic was headed for Montlake Boulevard, so it was smooth sailing from there all the way to Snoqualmie Parkway, and to where we parked in downtown Snoqualmie.
Since I was overheating a little in all my gear, I thought it'd be nice to get some ice cream at the local ice cream shop. My partner initially didn't like the idea, but acquiesced.
I'm at Snoqualmie Ice Cream in Snoqualmie, WA https://t.co/HPtH0dsAlR pic.twitter.com/vW8XDXn7Sm
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) March 27, 2022
After exploring the Northwest Railway Museum a bit, we headed out.
Our next stop was in North Bend, where we headed to Twede's Cafe for lunch.
I'm at @TwedesCafe in North Bend, WA https://t.co/bXlLABQntl pic.twitter.com/gObHGFdvKP
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) March 27, 2022
While we ate, a couple of women on motorcycles rolled up, so I had to check out their bikes before we left.
The last thing we did before finally leaving North Bend was get gas, but not after waiting for a long time to make a left onto North Bend Way. Traffic in town is horrible!
We left North Bend via Middle Fork Road/National Forest Development Road 5600, as my original plan was to check out the Middle Fork Campground. Unfortunately, that didn't pan out, as some of the road had been resurfaced with gravel following a landslide, and I wasn't comfortable riding a street bike with a passenger on an unfamiliar surface. Thus, we turned back at the CCC Upper Trailhead.
Inbound
We both needed a restroom break by the time we got to the CCC Upper Trailhead, so we stopped by one of the many vault toilets to take care of business.
Then we headed straight to I-90 for our return trip, but not before being sprinkled on a bit by one of the light showers passing through.
I-90 sure wast fast! Everyone else was going around 90 MPH, so I followed suit. My partner keeps asserting that I was a speed demon, but I was only keeping up with traffic. Things slowed down significantly as we headed west from Issaquah, unfortunately. It was smooth sailing again across the floating bridge, but then we got stuck in stop-and-go traffic on I-5 in downtown Seattle, followed by even worse traffic on the Ship Canal Bridge to our exit at NE 50th Street. This, plus a trip later on, really hammered home that northbound I-5 around UW should be avoided at all costs on weekend afternoons.
Once on NE 50th Street, traffic was reasonable the whole way home.
No comments:
Post a Comment