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Early Spring Ride: A Photoessay

Saturday, June 13th, 2015

Atlantis in Madison Park

On a particularly warm and sunny day in early April I took a meandering ride along Lake Washington. Riding through parks along the water and then I skirted the University of Washington along the Union Bay Natural Area the wildlife was out in force. I concluded at Magnuson Park where I made coffee and hung out in a little nook next to the Community Garden. Here are a few photos from this beautiful early spring day.

The scene at the Union Bay Natural Area

While at the Union Bay Natural Area I witnessed this Great Blue Heron catch and eat something.

This log stretching out into Union Bay was lined with turtles sunning themselves.

Log of Turtles, Great Blue Heron – life in Union Bay.

I concluded my northward wandering at Magnuson Park where I made coffee in a grotto next to the Community Garden.

Next level Coffee Out of Doors: Pour over coffee with beans ground on site.

Check out all of my pictures from this ride in my Early Spring Ride photoset on Flickr.

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Tags: Atlantis, Coffee Out of Doors, Coffee Outside, Early Spring Ride, Great Blue Heron, Madison Park, Magnuson Park, Rides, Rivendell, Rivendell Atlantis, Spring Rides, Turtles, Union Bay, Union Bay Natural Area

A Winter Picnic

Saturday, February 28th, 2015

Cascades, Space Needle, Seattle across the sound

Way back on the 8th, in this abnormally warm February, I took advantage of a Sunday afternoon to ride to West Seattle for a picnic. Not much of note to really report on the ride – it was all pretty familiar territory I’ve ridden (and written about) before. But I did end up riding behind the Macrina Bakery and was drawn in by the smell of fresh baked bread and thus acquired a baguette. Later on in West Seattle I rode up a super steep winding hill up the shopping area where i went to a Metropolitan Market. There I got some nice soft cheeses and a bit of noodle salad. I descended back to where I had climbed up on an even stepper road down. Possible the longest, steepest climb I’ve experienced in the city proper. I rode around Alki, whose trail was packed with Seattle-ites enjoying the warm winter weather, until I was to Lincoln Park. There I secured a picnic table and boiled water for tea and ate my lunch. I continued through the park and across West Seattle until I was down by the Duwamish from whence I made my way back to Beacon Hill via Georgetown. Here are a few pictures from this enjoyable Sunday afternoon. As always all my pictures can be found on Flickr: A Winter Picnic photoset.

Crossing the Duwamish on the West Seattle Bridge


 Seattle from the Space Needle to the Columbia Tower

Atlantis, tree, sound

Picnic Lunch

On the beach at Lincoln Park


 Olympic Mountains across the water with container ship

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Tags: February, Photoessay, Picnic, Rides, Tea, West Seattle, winter

Pictures from First Rides 2015

Saturday, January 10th, 2015


Atlantis framing Mount Rainier

The beginning of 2015 found me waylaid by a cold and thus I didn’t get out on my bicycle until January 5th 2015. As per my wont I didn’t get out of the house until late and I ended up doing a fairly standard ride here in the Puget Sound area: South Lake Washington Loop. I rode the anti-clockwise on the loop from the I-90 trail on the west side to the I-90 trail on the Eastside. Then I rode the south half of the loop around Mercer Island before return to the westside. Two days later I did the North Lake Washington Loop again in between the I-90 trail and this time the north half of the Mercer Island Loop. It has been clear and cold with an inversion layer keeping in fog and smog, which presented some pretty views which I’ll present some photos of here with captions. For more pictures check out my First Rides 2015 photoset on Flickr.

Looking down at Beacon Hill, Seattle and in the distance the Olympics

Atlantis on Lake Washington looking at the I-90 Floating bridge

At Seward Park looking at Mount Rainier across Lake Washington

Mercer Slough reflecting an overpass

Atlantis Above I-90 floating bridge

Above Lake Washington with the 520 floating bridge to the left

Smog over Bellevue

Finger paint the sky

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Tags: 2015, Bellevue, Kenmore, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Lake Washington, Lake Washington Loop, Photoessay, Photography, Renton, Rides, Seattle, UW, Winter Rides

Last Ride 2014

Friday, January 2nd, 2015

My favorite recent Atlantis shot

The end of the 2014 has been marked by unusually wet and warm weather (pineapple express!) interspersed with unusually dry, clear and cold. Sure it’s not the approaching absolute zero of the midwest or what have you, but it’s been cold. However I wanted to get in one last ride for 2014, plus I needed to get some ingredients for a New Years potluck and I’ve had those coffee outside plans hanging fire so on NYE’s I set out for a little jaunt around the city.

I-90 with the Cascades in the Distance

As always I set out late, so I rode across Beacon Hill, stopping only once at a stairway that gave me the above view of snow speckled Cascade Mountains. It’s only been four months since my summer tour in the mountains, and I have to say I’ve been pining for them a bit. Both the Cascades and the Olympics, snow covered, but well below average, are really looking lovely on these crisp, icy blue days.

On the Waterfront

After this brief photoshoot I rode down the hill into the ID where I picked up Spicy Tofu Bánh mì for lunch at the always great Chu Minh Tofu & Vegetarian Deli. From the ID it was a short jaunt though Pioneer Square and the interminable construction to the waterfront where I had a wintery picnic.

Spicy Tofu Bánh mì

On the water there was stunning views of the Olympic Mountains across the Sound and Mount Rainier to the South, somewhat obscured by the Port and haze. While I was eating a train that was just five engines steamed up the nearby tracks. After lunch I took some pictures on the beach, but the cold air and fell winds soon pushed me back onto the bicycle. It was one of those days where you long for the climbs to warm you up and dread those icy descents.

The Mountain

I rode up the Elliot Bay Trail and then did the a clockwise loop around the Magnolia neighborhood. This begins with a good climb up to Magnolia Avenue which hugs the bluffs above the sound. Some nice views south and west of the Sound, West Seattle, the Peninsula and the Olympics. I kept moving though and when the road turned inward a bit I took a residential road that dived down right to sea level and then pretty quickly followed was a steep climb out. This brought me to Discovery Park which I pretty much just rode across and through until I was back on the scenic loop route.

Making Coffee above the Ballard Locks

I cut over to the Ballard Locks and as I was about to descend down to the locks proper I noticed a little secluded picnic area. I decided to pull off over there and finally have make my coffee out of doors. Third time is the charm! It was much cooler in the shade (and it wasn’t that warm to begin with in the sun!) so I was pretty happy when the coffee was bile’d and I sat for a spell enjoying it in the company of Ryōkan.

Coffee and Ryōkan

Even though this was a pretty isolated part of the park a few people did come through. A homeless guy came through and I chatted with him a bit. Mainly about the cold weather, but he was also curious if I’d seen his buddy on a ten-speed. I had not. He wandered off and I read this poem:

In town I finish begging for food.
Content, I carry the cloth bag,
wondering which place to call home.
Could that be my home near the white cloud?

The Spillway

My coffee drained I was rapidly cooling down, so I packed up and headed down to the locks. There were people out at all the parks I visited on this day. It may be cold, but it is sunny and many people are off – I’m not the only one wanting to get outside. The locks were active as I was down there, a series of boats cruising into one of the locks and then slowly rising up as they are brought to the level the lake. A series of announcements from the Lock commander gave everything a bureaucratic edge.

Still water in the lock

I walked my bicycle across the locks and through the park grounds and I was back on my bicycle. I rode through town and onto the Burke-Gillman Trail, which has a new separated bikeway in one of the previously more dangerous spots in Ballard. I took the trail to Fremont, where I stopped at the PCC and took care of that shopping I had to do. I loaded my groceries into my front basket – my saddlebag had my cooking kit and daybag in it – and in the now setting sun I began to make my way home. I took a mix of the BGT, waterfront roads to the U-District where I was able to take my old commute route.

The sun had set as I climbed up Capitol Hill but there was this layered yellow-orange-red glow outlining the Olympic Mountains deep in shadow above the Space Needle and the Seattle skyline. Glorious. Since the traffic seemed fairly low on this NYE’s I rode on broadway and the entire length of the newish cycle track. There was still a glow in the sky behind Sodo and the distant mountains as I crossed the Jose Rizal Bridge and began my climb up to Beacon Hill. I arrived home around 5:25 in nearly total darkness after having ridden just over 25 miles on this cold, New Years Eve. A fitting end to 2014.

See and realize
that this world
is not permanent.
Neither late nor early flowers
will remain.

More pictures from this ride can be found in my Last Ride 2014 photoset.

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Tags: 2014, Atlantis, Ballard, Ballard Locks, Banh Mi, Fremont, ID, NYE, Picnic, Pioneer Square, Poetry, Rides, Ryokan, Seattle, Winter Rides

A Rainy, Winter Ride

Sunday, December 28th, 2014

As I noted in my Solstice Ride post, I’d set out with the thought of walking along the shore and making some coffee (or tea) in the out of doors. That did’t end up happening as my wandering nature got the best of me and the lure of exploring new territory proved stronger. With the weather predicted to turn clear and much colder over the next week, plus frankly I’ve been feeling a bit sedentary these days, I set out yesterday amidst heavy clouds, wind and threatened rain on a second attempt at making coffee out of doors.

I’ve been contemplating taking part in an organized ride (!) next year that begins in the AM in Redmond so I thought I’d ride there and gauge the miles and and time that would require. But the straight shot there isn’t super scenic so I decided I’d ride to and around the east side of Lake Sammamish. There I’d be able to stop at the park and make my coffee.

There were gashes of blue sky amidst the layers of grey clouds and low black clouds blowing in on the wind. This rainy weather coming in was warmer, if not warm, and the hilly route over Mercer Island kept me warm enough. Exiting Mercer Island I continued on the I-90 Trail to Issaquah. Here I encountered Lake Sammamish State Park, but decided I’d stop a bit further on, on the east side of the lake. From Issaquah I was able to hop on the East Lake Sammamish Trail which pretty quickly took me to the Lake Sammamish State Park and boat launch where I’d planned to stop. But there were no picnic tables there so I decided to press on to Marymoor park.

Back on the trail, which is newly paved inside Issaquah city limits, but the moment you cross into the city of Sammamish it reverts to the old hard packed gravel. At which point I returned to the road. I hadn’t been on the road long when I saw a cyclist pushing his ride up from the trail and he yelled out to me. I looped around a turned out he had a flat and had neglected to bring 5mm allen wrench to remove his front wheel. I of course had my multi-tool and helped him out. He was a pretty fast tire changer so it wasn’t that long before I was back on the road.

Following the edge of a lake the road has it’s ups and downs. The wind had shifted too, so what had been a cross/tail wind was now more of a head wind. But I was in trees enough that the wind wasn’t much of a problem, but it had blown in low, dark grey clouds and as I pulled into Marymoor Park, it was quite dark, though still an hour and half before sunset. I wanted to make my coffee on the lake so I made an executive decision that I’d ride a loop around Lake Sammamish and make my coffee at Idylwood Park just on the west side of lake. But as I pulled into the main parking area of Marymoor park the skies open up and a real downpour began. I rode to the park concession building which had large eves. There were two other cyclists sheltering there along with a couple arguing in Russian. We all waited out the worst of the downpour but set off one by one as it slackened.

At this point I abandoned my plans to ride around the lake – not a bad road but in twilight and pouring rain I figured a more direct route was advisable. Plus I ended up taking that direct route I had wanted to judge the timing of. This route follows the 520 Trail to the outskirts of Bellevue and then takes more out of the way roads to where it intersects with the Lake Washington Loop route which then connects to the I-90 trail. During this ride the rain slowed and there was just showers on and off for most of the rest of the way. I was about to cross onto Mercer Island the sun set and through gaps in the clouds at the horizon I could see the orange, purple and yellow glow.

I was back on the I-90 trail and simply reversed my earlier route across Mercer Island and then onto the Beacon Hill Greenway. It was after five pm, just fully dark and my odometer ticked over to 41 miles as I rolled to my front door. Once again I failed in my making coffee out of doors, but it was a satisfying ride on a gloomy winter day.

Check out my photos from this ride on Flickr.

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Tags: 2014, Lake Sammamish, Lake Washington, Photoessay, Ride Reports, Seattle, wa, Washington State, Western Washington, winter, Winter Rides

Rootless in place

We can, if we so choose, wander aimlessly over the continent of the arbitrary.