Memorial Day Weekend

Blog (n): A place to toot one's own horn

Last Saturday I decided to try for a longer weekend ride. I commuted by bicycle for eleven days in May, 20 miles every day, so I studied my handy King County Bicycle Trails map and headed for the Green River Trail. I estimated I could reasonably expect to go 30 miles in a leisurely few hours given that my 10-mile commute takes me a bit less than an hour.

I ended up going all the way to the end of the Green River Trail (map viewable here), or at least to where it intersects with the Interurban Trail and seems to end. After 15 miles I didn't feel like turning for home yet, so when I found myself at the Interurban Trail after 19 miles I felt pretty triumphant. I ate a (disgusting) (really, those things are good for nothing besides energy...even the "chocolate" flavored ones require almost an entire bottle of water to help choke it down) Clif Bar and drank some water, watching some folks fly a remote-controlled airplane at the park between the trails, and headed home.

Miles: 38
Time riding: 3 hours 18 minutes (Time gone: about 4 hours 15 minues...I dawdled a lot)
Rabbits hopping away from the trail: 3
Oblivious people milling about (and even sitting) on the trail where it runs alongside the soccer fields at Fort Dent Park: approximately 200
Near-misses with vehicular traffic: 0
Horses heard neighing in a stable near the trail: 1
Arms sunburned due to my apparent inability to remember what the sun can do to me: 2

This is the perfect trail to ride on if you want to do that when you visit. It's flat, shady, mostly quiet, and uncrowded. There are plenty of access points, lots of parks along the way with restroom facilities and water for refilling bottles. A+. I'm definitely going to ride this one again this summer.