June 14, 1998 - Seattle - Index

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 69.80 Miles

TIME: 7 Hours

AVERAGE SPEED: 14.7 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Cool and cloudy during the day and at night a small amount of rain.

ROAD CONDITIONS: The initial trail that was taken was great since it had just recently been paved. The trail was both safe and a very easy place to ride. The road was also smooth and, at the beginning, started out with a large shoulder, allowing a great amount of space between the cars and bikers except at the bridges where you had to wait until there was a break in the traffic. Towards the end of the ride, the road narrowed leaving very little room between the bikers and the cars but it was still in good condition. The final part involved crossing a bridge that had a wooden roadbed.

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: The beginning was very easy with mostly flat or downhill areas after a very short initial climb out of Seattle. About half way there was a hill about a mile or so long that made everyone a little tired. After this, there were numerous small rises and falls but none that were very dramatic.

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
Today we all woke up around 6:00 in the morning to prepare everything for the kickoff which was to be at 10:00. We ate a quick breakfast of granola and fruit which was followed by the packing of our bags. They were then loaded into the SAG to be taken to Index where we were to stay for the night. We then finished up by doing a final cleanup of the area where we had stayed and everyone gathering outside of the church to begin the ride to Pike Place Market for the kickoff. Once we arrived at the market, we were able to meet with any friends who came to wish us off and take some group pictures. We had a local TV station come and they gave us coverage on their station of our trip. Jonathan gave a short talk about Bike-Aid along with a few other people including a city councilman, a Bike-Aid alum, and each of our partner riders. Everyone then rode around the market for a few minutes before saying good bye to all of the people who came to say goodby to us. We began our ride out of Seattle as one group but within about two minutes everyone was completely spit up with only small groups remaining. We all rode until we reached the bike trail where we rode for about 20 miles until we got off to continue to Index via the roads. Some people took a detour of about 8 miles and went to Red Hook Brewery where we got a little food and ate our lunches that we had prepared back at the church. We told them about what we were doing and because of this, after talking to a manager, they gave everyone who took this detour a free water bottle. We then went back to where we had left our original route and continued on. We continued to ride in small groups and we came to a point where there were a large number of riders who were on the side of the road with police and an ambulance. At first we didn't think that anyone was from our group but we soon found out that Eve had just put on a new handlebar bag and wasn't used to it so because of the different weight distribution, she got out of control and fell, breaking her wrist. She went to the hospital for x-rays and they put on a cast. Everyone else continued on and we came to a large hill where I decided to pass a fellow rider. I stood up to get up some speed and immediately both of my quads cramped up. I sat back down and it went away. Soon afterwards I got off of my bike and stretched, ate a banana, and continued on my way. My legs continued cramping and finally after about 10 miles the got back to normal. At this time I was completely alone with a few riders in front of me and about 10-15 in back. Finally I reached the sign that said to turn to Index and shortly after there was a sign that said that there was only one more mile. I had previously been traveling at a speed of about 8 miles an hour because my legs hurt so much but as soon as I saw the sign my speed jumped to 20. I crossed over a bridge with a wooden roadbed and there was Index with about five riders already in. We all sat down and waited for the SAG to come with all of our gear. About 45 minutes later the SAG arrived and we got out all of our gear to begin setting up camp for the night. We all changed into some cleaner clothes and washed out our biking shorts from the day. Eve came back to camp from the hospital and we soon found out that she was going to leave us for about 4 weeks until her wrist heals. We all ate a dinner of tortilini with spaghetti sauce and then said good bye to Eve for the 4 week period. After this, everyone cleaned up their dishes. Every once in a while a local would come by and ask us what we were doing. We talked to one person who bikes in this area every day after work, another man who guides rafting trips down the river, a woman who offered to bring us coffee and fresh eggs from her house in the morning, and another man who told us some poems that he had written over the years while working at inns and living in all different parts of the country. This night everyone got into their tents a little earlier listening to the drizzle land on the nylon above our heads as we quickly fell asleep due to our exhaustion. We all want to rest up for the shorter but more technically difficult day tomorrow.

TRIP ROUTE:
From Pike Place Market - Go 2 blks to Blanchart - turn rt. Lt at 7th. Go 2 blks veer rt. turns into Dexter Ave. Follow and cross freemont bridge(stay on sidewalk). Rt by statues and at stoneway wheer Burke-Gillman trail begins. Follow trail 15-20 miles(becomes Lake ... Trail). Cross gravel parking lot which buts onto 102nd. Go lt. Lt after main onto 183rd to pick up 527. Rt onto 527 for 5 miles to 524E until end @ junction where you go rt. Lt @ next intersection after T onto 522E. Go on 522E which runs into RT 2E. About 20 miles on RT 2E to get to the left turn. Lt into Index. Left at Mt Index Cafe onto Index/Galena Rd. approx 1 mile. Take left onto bridge over Skykomish river. Spend night in Index.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws