2 Lakes and a Metric Century

Today my friend Julie was riding Cycle the Wave, a  ride beginning in  Issaquah that raised funds and awareness to combat  violence. Since the organizers decided that only women could pay a fee and do the ride, I decided to save my money and do my own ride. I noted that Cascade Bicycle Club had done a metric century the day before from Issaquah, so I decided follow that route while my friend went for a ride with the other women.


( I didn't get the recorder started until I was about .5 mile in. I had started at Issaquah High School)

It was a cold morning. I had leg warmers, arm warmers, and a tyvek jacket on but still shivered for the first 9 miles. I would have waited for it to warm up a bit but my friend and her cohorts had decided to ride the 42 mile "Middle Sister" course rather than the 62 mile "Burly Girl" route and I was going to need the time to finish about the same time as they did.

Within just a few miles I made a turn onto May Valley Rd and noted how similar the countryside was to areas of home. This area easily could have passed as Diary Creek Rd or the Mountaindale area west of Portland.  I continued to pedal west and arrived at Lake Washington near Coulon Park, an area that I recognized since I had been here just two weeks before.

I continued to work my way around the south end of Lake Washington, stopping to play tourist near the Renton Airport.

I finally took off the tyvek jacket and arm warmers as I climbed a short hill as I approached I-90. I accessed a bike path that took me across the bridge onto Mercer Island.

I had eaten a couple of granola bars I had been carrying when I stopped to take off the jacket and armwarmers, but found myself running low on fuel. As I pedaled into Medina I stopped at a small market to have a bite to eat and a chocolate milk.  I should have made sure to have combed my hair since after reading the wikipedia article (linked to "Medina" above) I presume I'm probably on some police video!

About this time I got a phone call from Julie, saying they had about 20 miles to go.  I noted that I had about 30 to pedal yet so decided to get a bit more diligent in pedaling. I skirted the southern edge of Kirkland and turned east to Redmond and Marymoor Park.  I recognized the area again since I had been here several times before.  Today I rode through the park for the first time. It is an extensive park and there was a lot of activity going on today.

From Redmond I rode along the eastern shore of Lake Sammamish. I noted as a rode along the highway that there was a rails to trail closer to the lake shore, but it was gravel.  Friendly for hikers, joggers, and horses, not so much for skinny tires of road bikes. I  kept a 18-20 mph pace as I pedaled along.  I did stop to take a photo of the lake:

I did not stop while I  posted an audio update: ;-)



I made it back to Issaquah after Julie had finished pedaling, but while she was still enjoying the finishline festivities.  It was all good.


............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today..........65..............0.............0..........0...........65 Jan...........105.............34.............0..........0..........139 Feb...........428............108.............0.........24..........536 March.........809..............0.............0.........22..........831 April........1010..............0.............0..........0.........1010 May..........1000..............0............20..........0.........1020 June.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug...........531..............0.............0..........0..........531 Sept..........399..............0.............0..........0..........399 YTD..........7326............142............20.........46.........7495