RUSA 341 Leschi - North Bend - Leschi

While I had been on a few short rides (15 miles) over the past three weeks, may lack of riding was getting to me. Even though I would be able to ride the RUSA 10th anniversary ride the next day, I couldn't wait. The stars were lining up and I could get a ride in on Friday. Yes!

I needed to come up with a new information control question for the Leschi - North Bend - Leschi ride as there had been some changes at the Nestle Regional Training Center - now Camp Korey at Carnation Farms. The old question no longer worked. So the specific ride was decided.



Since it was going to be a hot day, I figured I'd start early to take advantage of the cooler temps in the AM. I rode to the start - five miles or so - and started riding just after 6 AM. Boy,, it sure felt good to be back on the bike again. I was soon on the Burke Gilman, heading north. Around Sand Point a bunch of riders came onto the trail - turns out today is the start of the RSVP ride and they use the Burke Gilman and part of the Samamish River trail ... so I had plenty of company for quite a while. They turned off in Woodinville. I kept going and made pretty good time - it was great riding conditions.

Avondale Road, Novelty Hill, West Samamish Valley Road all zipped by pretty quickly (well, I suppose the hill part of Novelty Hill Road wasn't all that fast). Pretty soon I was at Carnation Farms, or what was the Nestle Training facility, but now is Camp Korey at Carnation Farms. While not a lot of changes from the road, the old info control questions definately no longer worked - so I came up with some new ones ... you'll have to go on the ride to find out what they are!

While the temperatures were warming up, the riding was still pretty comfortable as I climbed up to Snoqualmie Falls and headed towards North Bend ... this is such a pretty ride, especially along here. At North Bend I grabbed a quick bite qnd drink at QFC, then headed back towards Fall City. The lack of riding and the heat were catching up to me as I climbed up from Fall City towards Issaquah ... I definately slowed down. I appreaciated all the trees along the Issaquah - Fall City road ... and bemoaned the lack of them along the climb up Highlands Drive.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful ... and hot. The lady at the Shell station in Maple Valley offered me some water as I purchased some gatorade, commenting that she was concerned I was going to pass out due to the heat and she was going to have to give me mouth to mouth. Then she talked about how she would run around on the lava flows in Hawaii with her top off. It was time for me to go ...