Biking and beer
May 18th, 2008 by ktula
This had been a relatively cool spring. Warm weather finally arrived this weekend. Yesterday, it hit a record high of 90 degrees Fahrenheit - the previous high of 85 degrees was set in 1956. Smelly and i went biking along the West Seattle waterfront yesterday afternoon. It was a 8-mile bike ride along the route as shown below.
Smelly was not happy at the bike ride through Alki at all because we had to stop on numerous occasions for people walking or stopping in the middle of the bike lane. She felt that ‘it was not much of a workout’ even though i was dead tired after the uphill climb along Avalon Way SW.
This afternoon, after our late lunch at Agua Verde, our summer once-a-week lunch spot, i drove and parked at work, since the famed Burke-Gilman trail is less than half a block away. Our destination was some beer brewery or some winery in Woodinville. We didn’t know which brewery or winery - we just wanted to get there.
We rode north on the Burke-Gilman trail, most of it was along the scenic Lake Washington. Temperature was probably in the 70s when we started riding. I had a map with bike trails in Seattle and unfortunately, the map would show the Burke-Gilman trail no further past Kenmore.
‘Temporarily’ lost after getting on the Sammamish River trail.
Smelly seemed to recall that the Burke-Gilman trail connects with the Sammamish River trail, which would take us all the way to Woodinville, our destination. Initially, i thought i had left my iPhone in my car. Turned out, it was in my front pocket all along! When we were somewhere near I-405, i used the “locate” feature of iPhone and was able to figure out that we were not too far from Woodinville.
Redhook Ale Brewery, as seen on my iPhone.
Eventually, it took us a little more than an hour before we got to Woodinville. We wanted to drop by Chateau Ste Michelle winery but a passerby told us that it had already closed. We were about 10 minutes past the closing time of 1700. So we rode over to the nearby Redhook Ale Brewery instead. Even if the winery was open, going to the brewery was probably a much better choice after riding for more than 14 miles on a warm late afternoon. The brewery was full of bike riders. I had a glass of Blonde Ale while Smelly had a glass of Sunrye Ale. The refreshing cold beer tasted so good and it completely satisfied my craving for a cold drink. In no time, i had emptied my glass of beer.
Consulting my iPhone at the Redhook Ale Brewery in Woodinville.
The ride back took a little longer. Both my thighs took turns giving me crap. My left thigh started to sore after leaving the brewery. After several miles, the pain went away. But then my right thigh started to act up and it continued all the way until we got back to 70th and Sand Point Way. In total, we rode about 29.8 miles.
We are definitely going to hit the trails several more times during the upcoming months. It may be a better idea to start riding in the morning, arriving there for lunch and beer, follow by visit to the nearby wineries. And that will be a perfect way to spend the weekend.
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StHalcyon
Says
Dude! 2 statements…
1) Full hand gloves??? I use open finger gloves even on level 3 technical trails. I think you’re overprotective.
2) Hee hee… You need to get in the sun more and tan your upper arms. My monitor almost had a burnt-in spot from the picture of you consulting the iPhone! =)
By the way, what’s up with the blue highlighted stuff when I have my mouse over the Comment section of your page?
Jun 9th, 2008 at 22:11
ktula
Says
Stop whining. I use the same pair of gloves all season.
Jun 11th, 2008 at 11:06