Computers Suck

Computers Suck. That's a good thing for me because if they just worked and did you want, I'd be out of a job. On the other hand, when I'm playing with them on my own time I hate it when something happens beyond my control that sets me back. Hence the long delay in posting here. I've been just stewing about where the heck my camping trip photos went. Oh well, I finally decided they were not going to randomly come back so I redid the post this morning.

This was my first week back to week after a two week vacation. We took a trip to the ocean where I got in a 10 mile ride with my daughter. Pretty impressive for a six year old. Especially when you consider over half was on sand.

Other than that I'm just trying to stay healthy. Who knows maybe I'll actually be in shape by cross season.

Date: July 25
Mileage: 23
Ride type/Bike: Road/Allez
June Miles: 263
Year to date mileage: 1563

Date: July 22
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Road/Tricross
June Miles: 240
Year to date mileage: 1540

Date: July 21
Mileage: 40
Ride type/Bike: Road/Allez
June Miles: 220
Year to date mileage: 1520

Date: July 19
Mileage: 7
Ride type/Bike: Single Track/Pisgah
June Miles: 180
Year to date mileage: 1480

Date: July 17
Mileage: 23
Ride type/Bike: Road/Allez
June Miles: 173
Year to date mileage: 1473

Date: July 16
Mileage: 10
Ride type/Bike: Beach/MB-2
June Miles: 150
Year to date mileage: 1450

Green Water S24o, ok S32o

I've been dreaming about doing a bike camping trip since this last winter and finally got to give it a shot. While it was slightly longer than a S24o as described on the Rivendell page, it still fit the bill for Zach and I. We pulled out of my house in Renton at 7:06 AM on Saturday. It was a perfect 60 degree morning:



We took the back roads and rail trails on a slow enjoyable route to Enumclaw. After Enumclaw, things got crazy. There must have been a biker rally, or charity ride going on out Hwy. 410 because group after group of motorcycles roared past us. About 2 miles past Enumclaw we heard a truck honk, and then what I thought was a gun shot. Luckily the two noise were actually completely unrelated. The horn was a gravel truck pulling out, but the blast was actually Zach's rear tire blowing out. At least we were headed up the highway, not down. We fixed the tire and headed on out Hwy 410.

About 6 miles out of Enumclaw I saw a side gravel road that I had always wondered about. I conned a reluctant Zach into lifting our heavy bikes over a bunch of boulders to check it out. It paralleled Hwy 410 for a while and then split of, and then rejoined. We were passed by a fellow from Enumclaw who let us know we could take it all the way past Greenwater! What a find. No more traffic to deal with for us.

Zach has a much older and less stable bicycle than I and he was paying close attention to the road trying to dodge pot holes when I started yelling stop! Stop! STOP! Finally he skids to a stop and I point out the bear about 40 yards in front of us. Zach smartly starts turning his heavy bike around, while I stare stupidly at the bear. The bear meanwhile stares back and then shoots off the road and up the hill side. We discuss our options for a minute, and then decide that it looked like an adult so we hope there are no cubs nearby and we hustle past.

We have a nice ride to the FR70 bridge and cross over to 410 and back track into Greenwater for a nice burger at Buzzy's. From Greenwater we ride back up Hwy 410 a bit and then jump off on some Single Track that has Zach cursing me. It's only a short push though and we arrive at our camp on a crystal clear stream.







The ride back Sunday was nice as well. We saw a large mother elk crossing the raging white river with her little calf. It was a cool quiet ride down the back roads to Enumclaw, and then not so quiet back to Renton. We got honked at, and even had a couple of firecrackers thrown at us, but we survived. I'd do it again tomorrow if I could.

This Google map from Zach's Garmin shows the route from Buzzy's in Greenwater to our camp, and then our route home. It was a perfect first overnight bike camp trip by my measures!






Date: July 8
Mileage: 55
Ride type/Bike: Road-Forest Road/Tricross
June Miles: 140
Year to date mileage: 1440

Date: July 7
Mileage: 57
Ride type/Bike: Road-Forest Road- Singletrack!/Tricross
June Miles: 85
Year to date mileage: 1385

Date: July 4
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Road/Allez
June Miles: 28
Year to date mileage: 1328

Date: July 3
Mileage: 8
Ride type/Bike: Mountain Bike/Pisgah
June Miles: 8
Year to date mileage: 1308