I rode from home to Mercer Island in to work. Then, my husband gave me a ride from downtown out to Factoria, where I rendezvoused with Jim Carson. Mr. Carson had the patience to wait for me several times on our ride together, beginning with our ascent of Honda Hill. We rode through the scary tunnel (which I’d show you pictures of, but Jim has removed them from his webpage) and entered this section of the I-90 bike trail. Jim descended, taking the switchbacks with the insouciance of someone who has commuted this route many times. I mostly (only?) use this route for ascending the hill, and took the rooty, mossy course a bit slower.

Soon, we could smell something that was more than the biggest weinie roast ever at Camp Sambica. A huge home was on fire, billowing smoke. For the next few miles, we saw a half dozen emergency vehicles speeding to the scene.

Based on my desire to give the steepest hill/quietest street route a try, Jim led me up 56th. This is a monster of a hill. I had to stop three times, just to get my heart rate under control, and I mostly zig-zagged up it, as traffic permitted. Eventually, we emerged on to the Issaquah-Pine Lake Road, where we rode the wrong way on the sidewalk :-P, dodging a Mercedes parked on the sidewalk, the occupant engaged in a phone call.

Carson then merrily led me into a fancy pants housing development where the hill was quite steep – he has the equipment to be able to announce cheerily that the grade we just ascended was 18%. We went up and down, but the cut through that he had hoped we could take was cruelly blocked with a wooden and a chain link fence. So, we reversed course, and returned to Issaquah-Pine Lake. Jim rode home from there, and I rode to my soon-to-be offices, just so I could say I had done it. I called my husband from there, and we finally decided to meet at a bike shop in Redmond, where my husband needed to pick up his bike.

I rode along 228th, in a terrible cycling environment, and then sped down Inglewood Hill. I poured it on along the lake, and finally ended up meeting David about 10 minutes later than I said I would.

Map of the afternoon ride here

Miles above include the ride in to work today. I saw a red-wing blackbird in the swamp this morning; I’m really going to miss this commute!