Biking to Rivendell!

[annathepiper]

solarbird and I just got back from a very long bike trip: our house in Kenmore, up through Bothell, then through Woodinville, and on around into downtown Redmond. We made it as far as Marymoor Park on our quest to make it to Lake Sammamish; we did not, unfortunately, FIND Lake Sammamish, but not for lack of trying. We're pretty sure we got turned around somehow on the network of trails that run through Redmond.

We spotted a plethora of critters on the ride, enough to make me wish I had a digital camera so that I could have brought it with me in my backpack. Included in the critter spotting were:

• The feral chickens of Bothell, of whom Dara and I saw or heard over a dozen between us, some roosters, some hens.
  
• About a zillion pigeons, hanging out with the feral chickens.
  
• Assorted ducks, including at least one mallard with a blue head.
  
• Assorted geese, including babies! They were recognizably goose-shaped but smaller than the adults, and still fuzzy rather than feathery, with stubs where they'd eventually have wings.
  
• A cat of either Siamese or Burmese extraction (I wasn't sure which, but she had gorgeous blue eyes and gorgeous chocolate markings, but less sharply defined than I'd expect of a Siamese), hanging out on a picnic table by the trail. She just lolled a lot, though when Dara and I sat on the table she did come over to investigate us. She was particularly interested in my backpack, possibly because I'd just stuffed the wrapper for my yogurt-and-peanut bar into it, but more likely because of the squished Lindor chocolate ball I hadn't remembered was in my purse at the time. There was a small pink brush on the table, too, which Dara figured out had been left there to brush the cat as it had cat hair all over it. The really funny part was that the cat was there on both legs of our trip.
  
• Horses in the fields near the trail, between Woodinville and Redmond.
  
• A snake was on the trail on the way back, but I was pretty sure it was dead since it wasn't moving. Poor snake. O.o
  
• A heron on our way back through Bothell, hanging out on a dock. Gorgeous bird, all long-necked and long-legged, and silvery-green from a distance.

We saw lots and lots of people out on the trail, many on foot, many on bikes, of all ages and shapes and colors and sizes. It was a very good day to be out and about on that trail, and a lot of people seemed to have decided to take advantage of the holiday as we did. I even went past my boss, which was amusing! "James!" I cried as I passed him; he was walking the other way with another person, who I presumed was his wife, but as they were on foot and I needed to catch up with Dara, I couldn't say more than "Fancy meeting you here!" He grinned and waved and I zoomed on.

I had to stop more often for breaks than Dara did, which is not surprising since she's in better shape than I am AND more accustomed to biking long distances; this was easily the longest bike trip I'd ever been on, so I had to take frequent rests. But I did have a full water bottle, and that snack bar in my backpack, which helped a lot. So did stopping at a QFC in Redmond to get Clif bars and at an AM/PM in Woodinville to get Gatorade (I would have gotten some of THAT at the QFC as well, but they didn't sell any in 16-oz. containers).

The trail itself was pretty flat along the entire way. It had its inclines, but for the most part nothing I wasn't able to handle until we were on the way back and I was starting to get really tired. Mostly, though, it was easy to eat up the miles in both directions. I lagged behind Dara most of the way--see previous commentary re: her being in a lot better shape than I am. ;) But hey, I can think of it as pacing myself.

A very good trip all in all, for both the exercise and for the chance to see a bunch of new stuff we'd never seen before. Next time we do it, we're going to duck down some of the side trails in Bothell we hadn't explored before.

Miles today: about 32, though a bit of that was walking because BOY did I get tired on the way back, and there wasn't any earthly way I was going to make it up the hill to our house on a bike
Miles out of Hobbiton: 161.5
Miles to Rivendell: 296.5

Comments

[firni.livejournal.com]

BIRDS!

[annathepiper]

A great number of them. :) I am not sure which were cooler, the baby geese, the blue-headed mallard, or the heron!

[firni.livejournal.com]

You MUST get a camera for these rides! IT'S A NECESSITY!

[annathepiper]

Dara and I are going to need extra bucks first! Either to get her camera fixed back up, or else to get a smaller, new one. :) But we'll see what we can do!

Feral Chickens..

[(Anonymous)]

Feral chickens brings a weird image to mind..Sabertooth attack chicken,or some such. Miles can add up faster than you think on a bike, just riding around in town on routine errands and go-fer trips..Scott

Re: Feral Chickens..

[annathepiper]

*snicker* I have no idea how the feral chickens actually got feral, but there's a pretty good-sized flock of 'em wandering around the greenery near the bike trail in Bothell. Noisy, too; the roosters sounded off with no apparent provocation. I suppose they MIGHT have been going all attack chicken on the pigeons, but not while we were there. ;)

I've really got to get a mile counter thingie for my bike, if Dara and I keep up this long bike trip thing over the summer. Maybe when we have extra bucks again....

Re: Feral Chickens..

[(Anonymous)]

I got my speedometer/odometer/otherkindsameter for less than ten bucks at Walmart..Scott

Re: Feral Chickens..

[annathepiper]

There's not a single Walmart anywhere near where I live. If I head out to get a device of this kind, most likely I'll get it at one of the local bike shops. We'll see what happens. :) First I need to get extra bucks!