11/23/97
Last Saturday, me and Lan went for another long tandem ride. We were originially planning to go on Sunday, but the weather seemed to be getting worse, so we went on Saturday. It was the right call, as it turned out.
Lan wanted to go to Alki Beach, about 20 miles from our home, but on the other side of downtown Seattle, and across some bridges. as it turned out, it wasn't so bad.
First, we had to get from our home to the north end of the ship canal which separates the northern part of Seattle from the southern part (including downtown). This wasn't very bad at all. The time we left didn't have too much traffic, and it was mostly downhill all the way.
Then we had to get across a bridge, which was kind of tricky. We ended up going with car traffic, when the 'safer' way was probably on the very narrow sidewalk.
Then we had to make a strange detour, since the road didn't just go straight from where we were. We had to follow this strange bike path that wound around a storage facility of the docks. It was basically a huge parking lot full of brand new cars. it was a strange place to put a bike trail, and it was stranger because there were quite a few people on it, both cycling and jogging.
After winding around this bike path, we made it to Myrtle Edwards park, a long narrow park which follows the coast of Puget sound just north of downtown Seattle. It was actually pretty nice, although the bike path was a little bumpy. I don't think we would ever have found it if we didn't bike there.
After the park, we had to get through downtown. It wasn't so bad, since there is one road that follows the coast through the touristy areas. Not too much traffic, and pretty flat.
Following our handy little bike map, we finally found the lower level
bridge that let's us get to West Seattle. The bike path was kind of tricky,
going up and down quite a few hills. But we finally made it through, and
then followed the coast of West Seattle, all the way to Alki Beach. I guess
it was worth it, but it was kind of cold and windy...
That was probably the last tandem ride until next season, because the
weather has gotten quite nasty.
I did go on a ACC training ride yesterday. Don and Mike Petty showed up. We followed the Erickson ride up to the church on top of the hill. I was 'dropped', but I wasn't as slow as I was before. I think my weight training is helping.